6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) is a young-adult LGBTQIA+ romance novel by Tess Sharpe. It focuses on Tate and Penny, two 17 year old girls who live in rural California outside of Sacramento. Their moms are very close best friends, and because of this Tate and Penny have known each their whole lives. However, they have never got along, constantly bickering with each other. Despite this, Tate and Penny have always been there for each other, being the support system they both need. Tate’s mother, Anna, has been very sick since the girls were 8. First with cancer, then with Alpha-1, a disease that affects her liver. To help save her, Lottie, who is Penny’s mom, decides to become a living donor for Anna by donating a part of her liver. Money is tight for both families, so to make expenses easier, Tate and Anna move in with Penny, Lottie, and Marion, Penny’s grandma and Lottie’s mother-in-law. To make things harder, 2 years ago Penny was involved in a tragic accident. In addition to the stress of Anna’s sickness and the surgeries, Penny is dealing with the trauma and grief that followed her accident. Although Penny and Tate do not get along, they create a truce to help eliminate any more stress for “the moms”. As they become closer, they realize that maybe they never disliked each other as much as they thought, and that maybe, just maybe, it was to hide other feelings. And of course, they keep almost kissing.
I loved this book. Going into it, I thought that it would be a lighthearted romance novel that followed the enemies to lovers trope. However, this book was so much more. It explored the grief and trauma that follows after an accident and the death of a loved one. It also discussed relationships, both romantic, platonic, and familial. Familial relationships were something that was often talked about in 6 Times We Almost Kissed. It discusses how family is not always blood, and how trauma can affect relationships. Penny and Tate’s slow burn romance was both cute and realistic. I expected this book to focus a lot more on the romance aspect, but surprisingly it did not. Instead other types of love were explored, which I found very nice and refreshing.
This is a book that I very much recommend. It takes a well known trope and makes it into something more. All in all, I think that this is a book that I would read again and that others should read too.
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