I Kissed Her First by Betty Cayouette

A promising sapphic celebrity romance that lost its shine the more I thought about it.

Riley is a social media chef from Providence, New England. Cooking, baking, and creating new menus are her passions, and even though she promised her dads that she would get a traditional job once she finished school, she applies to be the chef for an undisclosed musician heading out on a European tour that summer.

When Riley gets the job and finds out she is going to be the chef for none other than the pop star herself, Luna Leya, she convinces her dads to let her delay the job search for one summer and consider this her last job in the culinary world. Now, Riley is on tour with Luna, and getting to know her is a rush. The two find themselves in wonderful romantic settings, like picnics under the Eiffel Tower. However, they must navigate a romantic relationship within a professional one, as Luna is technically Riley's employer. They also have to deal with life in the spotlight, since many people may not be so accepting of "America's Sweetheart" dating women.

I found the progression of Riley and Luna's relationship to feel real and genuine. Cayouette did a great job creating these characters and developing the chemistry between them. Other than that, there isn't much else that I can really praise.

There were also a few things that fell flat for me. First, I found it so odd that Riley called her dads by their first names. Couldn’t each one have had a nickname? Dad, Ba, Pop, anything other than Anthony. I also found the drama surrounding Riley's sister and the culinary industry incredibly annoying. Riley supposedly can't work in a restaurant because her sister developed a drug problem, but people can get into drugs anywhere. Her dads literally own a restaurant and do not have a drug problem themselves. It felt like this conflict was added to the story without much thought or development.

Another issue was Luna's fear of not winning a Grammy if she were outed. If the story had spent more time discussing homophobia, perhaps I would have been more sympathetic to her concerns. However, she works in the music industry, where many openly queer artists have found success and won major awards. Because of that, her fears never felt entirely convincing to me.

I originally rated this book higher than I do now, but after giving it some more thought, I don't think this book was worth my time.

RATING: 2.5/5