Kiss Me, Maybe

Asexual representation, Mexican American women falling in love, a viral TikTok scavenger hunt—all of this can be found in Gabriella Gamez‘s new novel, Kiss Me, Maybe. This is the second in her Librarians in Love series, and even if you haven’t read the first book yet (I haven’t), it works well as a standalone romance.

What I Liked:

• Asexual identity. As someone who is on the asexual spectrum, I’m always happy to read romances that highlight ace people finding love on their terms. This is one of only a handful of ace-led romances I’ve read so far, and I appreciated how this one dives into discovering your identity, determining what your specific sub identity is, and exploring Angela’s particular experience with asexuality. In contrast to ace characters in other books I’ve read, Angela is more sex positive and does explore what sex with a partner means for her—so there is open door spice here!
• Queer identity and coming out. In addition to being ace spec, Angela is also a lesbian. Much of her journey is about coming out to her family and dealing with homophobia (her cousin, who is already out as bisexual, unfortunately had a more difficult time with his family).
• Connecting online and finding community. Since it can be hard to find fellow aces in the wild, Angela fosters community through her TikTok videos, hoping to connect with other ace spec people.
• Being a late bloomer. Hey, not everyone has their first romantic or sexual experiences in high school. Some of us don’t have our first kiss until our 20s (yes, another way I relate to Angela), and there is nothing weird or shameful about that. I enjoyed seeing Angela, 27, being so open about her lack of experience and desire to change that.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• The scavenger hunt kind of fizzled out for half the book. A major plot line at first was Angela’s TikTok scavenger hunt for someone to win her first kiss. Cute idea, but the whole middle of the book it seemed like this idea was quietly dropped as other (kind of unnecessary?) themes emerged. I wish the book had stayed more focused on the scavenger hunt and how bartender crush Krystal would factor into everything.
• Angela’s first sexual experience seemed advanced? Unrealistic? Maybe I’m naive or just a different type of person, but Angela’s very first time doing anything sexual with someone else seemed a little off to me. It took me out of the story a bit.

Audiobook:

Ruby Corazon does a great job of narrating Kiss Me, Maybe. She captures Angela’s personality and excitement without over-acting.

Final Thoughts

Kiss Me, Maybe is a delightful novel that highlights the asexual spectrum, late bloomers, and women finding love. While there are a few things I would have liked to see more or just portrayed differently in the book, it was overall enjoyable and honestly made me feel less alone in my own ace journey. It’s also the second in Gabriella Gamez’s Librarians in love series, so I’ll be going back to read Marcela’s own romance in The Next Best Fling.

Special thanks to Forever, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Kiss Me, Maybe here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez
Series	Librarians in Love (#2)
Audiobook Narrator	Ruby Corazon
Audience	Adult
Genre	Contemporary Romance
Setting	Texas
Number of Pages	384
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	May 6, 2025
Publisher	Forever

Official Summary

When a late bloomer goes viral for coming out, she decides to use her newfound fame to get her first kiss—with the help of a sexy bartender—in this “funny, smart, and spicy” romance (Abby Jimenez).

Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she’s finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event. 

Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela’s unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn’t for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and find true love. 

There’s just one problem: the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn’t sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn’t capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she’s falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back.