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Every Step She Takes
A swoon-worthy sapphic romance following two women who are thrown together on a European adventure, from the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of the “sexy, insightful, and utterly charming” (
BuzzFeed
)
Kiss Her Once for Me
.
Thirty-five-year-old Seattleite Sadie Wells needs an escape. She’s desperate to escape her monotonous routines, the family business that has consumed her entire life, and the unexpected gay panic that has her questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. So when her injured sister offers Sadie her place on a tour along Portugal’s Camino de Santiago, she decides this is the perfect chance to get away from it all.
After three glasses of wine on the plane and some turbulence convince Sadie she won’t even survive the flight, she confesses all her secrets to her seatmate, Mal. The the plane doesn’t crash, and it turns out Mal is on her Camino tour. Worst of all, Sadie learns that she is on a tour specifically for queer women, and that her two-hundred-mile trek will be a journey of self-discovery, whether she wants it to be or not.
Fascinated by the woman who drunkenly came out to her on the plane, Mal offers to help Sadie relive the queer adolescence she missed out on as they walk the Camino. As Sadie develops her newfound confidence, Mal grapples with a complicated loss and unexpected inheritance. But as their relationship blurs the lines between reality and practice, they both must decide if they will forever part at the end of the tour or chart a new course together.
With “funny, poignant” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) prose, Alison Cochrun explores the power of letting go of your past and realizing that it’s never too late to live as your authentic self.
Thirty-five-year-old Seattleite Sadie Wells needs an escape. She’s desperate to escape her monotonous routines, the family business that has consumed her entire life, and the unexpected gay panic that has her questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. So when her injured sister offers Sadie her place on a tour along Portugal’s Camino de Santiago, she decides this is the perfect chance to get away from it all.
After three glasses of wine on the plane and some turbulence convince Sadie she won’t even survive the flight, she confesses all her secrets to her seatmate, Mal. The the plane doesn’t crash, and it turns out Mal is on her Camino tour. Worst of all, Sadie learns that she is on a tour specifically for queer women, and that her two-hundred-mile trek will be a journey of self-discovery, whether she wants it to be or not.
Fascinated by the woman who drunkenly came out to her on the plane, Mal offers to help Sadie relive the queer adolescence she missed out on as they walk the Camino. As Sadie develops her newfound confidence, Mal grapples with a complicated loss and unexpected inheritance. But as their relationship blurs the lines between reality and practice, they both must decide if they will forever part at the end of the tour or chart a new course together.
With “funny, poignant” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) prose, Alison Cochrun explores the power of letting go of your past and realizing that it’s never too late to live as your authentic self.
Audible Audio
First published September 2, 2025
About the author
Alison Cochrun
10 books4,033 followersAlison Cochrun is a high school English teacher living outside Portland, Oregon. When she's not reading and writing queer love stories, you can find her torturing teenagers with Shakespeare, crafting perfect travel itineraries, hate-watching reality dating shows, and searching for the best happy hour nachos. You can find her on Instagram or at her website www.alisoncochrun.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,566 reviews
July 20, 2025
thank you to netgalley for providing this arc!
i think i’m going to settle on an exact 3 star rating for this one. this is my first sapphic romance i have read by alison cochrum, but i have read ‘the charm offensive’ which i adored, so i knew that i would enjoy her writing! sadly, overall this one fell a bit flat for me. we are following our fmc, sadie, who is embarking on a last-minute trek throughout portugal in her sisters place, and she is using this as a time to find herself and prove to herself that she can ‘do hard things’. on the way, she meets our other fmc, Mal, who ends up being on this expedition with her. it is mainly a story of self discovery - sadie is 35 and is struggling with figuring out her sexuality, so a lot of this book is based around her figuring out she’s a lesbian, and therefore having this friendship/relationship with Mal to explore that. although it was certainly a quick read, i felt at arms length for majority of this book, and i didn’t find the romance all that believable. i did enjoy alison cochrun’s writing as i knew i would, and the atmosphere and side characters were great, but was just a tad off the mark for me sadly
i think i’m going to settle on an exact 3 star rating for this one. this is my first sapphic romance i have read by alison cochrum, but i have read ‘the charm offensive’ which i adored, so i knew that i would enjoy her writing! sadly, overall this one fell a bit flat for me. we are following our fmc, sadie, who is embarking on a last-minute trek throughout portugal in her sisters place, and she is using this as a time to find herself and prove to herself that she can ‘do hard things’. on the way, she meets our other fmc, Mal, who ends up being on this expedition with her. it is mainly a story of self discovery - sadie is 35 and is struggling with figuring out her sexuality, so a lot of this book is based around her figuring out she’s a lesbian, and therefore having this friendship/relationship with Mal to explore that. although it was certainly a quick read, i felt at arms length for majority of this book, and i didn’t find the romance all that believable. i did enjoy alison cochrun’s writing as i knew i would, and the atmosphere and side characters were great, but was just a tad off the mark for me sadly
September 3, 2025
☆☆☆☆
Every Step She Takes was such a fun and engaging read! I especially loved the chemistry between Sadie and Mal. Even though they hadn’t known each other for very long, their connection felt natural and genuine, it pulled me in right from the start and kept me invested in their story. Alison Cochrun really knows how to create relationships that feel lived-in and full of sparks.
Another highlight for me was the side characters. Just like in Here We Go Again, Cochrun gives them depth and personality that make the whole world feel richer. It never feels like the story only revolves around the leads; the supporting cast truly adds warmth and texture.
This was my second book by Alison Cochrun, and I’ll definitely be working my way through her backlist. She’s quickly becoming a go-to author for me when I want heartfelt romance with real, memorable characters.
Every Step She Takes was such a fun and engaging read! I especially loved the chemistry between Sadie and Mal. Even though they hadn’t known each other for very long, their connection felt natural and genuine, it pulled me in right from the start and kept me invested in their story. Alison Cochrun really knows how to create relationships that feel lived-in and full of sparks.
Another highlight for me was the side characters. Just like in Here We Go Again, Cochrun gives them depth and personality that make the whole world feel richer. It never feels like the story only revolves around the leads; the supporting cast truly adds warmth and texture.
This was my second book by Alison Cochrun, and I’ll definitely be working my way through her backlist. She’s quickly becoming a go-to author for me when I want heartfelt romance with real, memorable characters.
Read
January 25, 2026so much to like here: queer identity discovery, "teaching" moments, the beauty of Portugal.
just... not much to love? i think too much of this story was internal. both Sadie & Mal are very real characters with tons of personality. but a lot of that was in their internal dialogue. i wish that information had been revealed when confiding in one another. because tbh i didn't really get their attraction/chemistry here.
that's not to say the sex wasn't hot or that the characters, again weren't well realized. i was just more bored than i wanted to be.
just... not much to love? i think too much of this story was internal. both Sadie & Mal are very real characters with tons of personality. but a lot of that was in their internal dialogue. i wish that information had been revealed when confiding in one another. because tbh i didn't really get their attraction/chemistry here.
that's not to say the sex wasn't hot or that the characters, again weren't well realized. i was just more bored than i wanted to be.
Want to Read
January 31, 2025the bookstore employees are asking me to leave because i am simply TOO SEATED
October 18, 2025
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria, and Alison Cochrun for a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review!**
Sadie Wells isn't quite sure what is missing from her life...but at 35 and at a crossroads, maybe Portugal's Camino de Santiago can go the Peter Frampton route and Show Her the Way. After her sister Vi suffers an injury that renders her unable to make this famous trek and blog about it, Sadie thinks this is a prime opportunity to escape the slew of bad dates, family business drama, and general uncertainty that have been plaguing her lately and agrees to go on the trip. Once she gets on the plane, though, a bout of turbulence and a hefty dose of alcohol leaves her fearing for her life - and ready to spill her guts in more ways than one. Her quirky, pretty seatmate, Mal, not only intrigues her and calms her...but manages to steer her to a conclusion that Sadie has been dancing around for some time: Sadie is not straight.
Once the plane lands safely and Sadie settles in, the hits just keep on coming: this Camino is SPECIFICALLY for queer people, meaning she has to come face to face with her new reality and finding her identity amidst a group who is VERY solid in their own identities. And guess who just so happens to be on the tour too? (Duh. The fact Sadie didn't even CONSIDER this possibility on the plane based on their conversation was pretty obtuse on her part... but after getting to know her character better, not too surprising. ) Mal considers herself to be Sadie's 'gay mentor' of sorts, and makes it her personal mission to allow Sadie to have her gay adolescence...in her mid-thirties. Along the way she has to 'teach her how to kiss' (among...other things) and yet, these two are JUST roommates...right? After Mal receives an unexpected financial windfall and subsequently struggles with her own family troubles, the two still can't deny their blossoming feelings. But when the trail winds down and they reach their final destination, will Sadie go back to her old life solo? Or has the Camino TRULY been transformative for both of these characters...in more ways than one?
I've had an Alison Cochrun sapphic romance sitting on my shelf for ages, but when the opportunity to grab an ARC of this one popped up, the lure of a good romantic travel-tinged adventure was too strong to ignore, and I eagerly snapped it up. I had no idea what to expect from Cochrun but had heard others singing her praises for a while, so I figured this was the opportunity for my own Long Walk through Portugal. (Or as close as I am going to get for a LONG time, anyway!)
But unfortunately, I felt like I twisted my ankle on day one and spent the rest of my proverbial trip stuck in a hotel next to noisy neighbors...and it left me positively ACHING to go home again.
First off, these are once again MCs that are SUPPOSEDLY in their mid-thirties and read exactly like they were whiny 24 year olds...and I'm not sure where along the way this became the norm in so many romance novels, but it once again left me ACHING for a good Sophie Cousens MC and their ACTUAL thirty-something problems. I get that Sadie is 'young' in her queerness journey, but frankly, this immaturity starts from pretty much page one and only gets worse as the book progresses. She has trouble being honest with anyone (even herself!) and I found her tendency to hit the sauce constantly to excess (and her 'buddy' Mal and the rest of their Camino group isn't much better) to be much more indicative of the twenty-something set. Even the rest of their group and the ancillary characters who were supposed to be significantly older didn't really read that way and felt more like a bunch of sorority sisters on a Vision Quest or something equally inane.
And then there's Mal, who is supposedly standing in JUST as a mentor to 'teach' Sadie about what it means to be gay. I know the author had the best of intentions with this plot line and it was more about support and understanding, but it was completely RIDICULOUS for the audience to expect that she could be sort of an impartial guide in this scenario. I mean, she was having to FORCE herself not to kiss this woman THE MINUTE THEY MET. How on earth are we supposed to believe she was going to have the sort of self control required not to fall head over heels for her when she had to oh, I don't know, TEACH her how she would be in a theoretical queer relationship? 🤦♀️ Kissing your crush platonically is pretty much NOT a thing, to my knowledge...so that took a lot of 'oomph' out of the story line, to say the least.
But boy oh boy is Sadie apparently a FAST learner. Not only is she tossing around verbiage like 'hetero-normative' with ease after, uh, just being introduced to these concepts and the entire spectrum of bi, pan, poly, asexual, etc, she goes from having literally ZERO experience with women (she is actually convinced she might not even BE queer at more than one point in the book because she is ONLY attracted to Mal), to being an apparent MASTER at uh, relations, with said partner mere pages later. 🫣 Not only is this cognitively dissonant, it's also just a bit odd. For this to feel like an 'adolescence', shouldn't there be lots of fumbling and bumbling as she figures things out? I'm not saying I wanted to watch her struggle or feel awkward, but the fact that everything came so naturally ( pun NOT intended this time...I promise! 🙈) was just a bit off-putting.
Mal's family drama is also sort of shoehorned in to give her character some depth, but all it told ME is that she wasn't ready to be in a real relationship...with ANYONE. These passages also are sort of long and between the traveling, the budding feelings between Sadie and Mal, and trying to occasionally reference Vi and the all-important blogging, there was a lot going on and none of it really got the real estate it deserved. Most of the ancillary characters on the Camino are also just sort of defined by their sexual preferences rather than anything else, and sadly, this also took away from getting to KNOW them fully as complete people. All of this eventually winds up in a completely corny and predictable ending (one that was sort of borrowed on a smaller scale from Never Been Kissed, I might add!) that left me feeling a bit deflated...and also just relieved it was over. The author's note confirms what I had already suspected: the author went on her OWN Camino (the details she used throughout made this not exactly surprising) and although I'm glad this was probably a fun and cathartic writing experience for her, I'm sad to say it was far LESS fun for me as a reader. (But it DID make me desperate to try a pastel de nata! 😋)
And while I'd hoped to end this book with a bit of a post-5k runner's high, in the end I was just as relieved to FINALLY be able to take my shoes off. 👟👟
3.5 stars
Sadie Wells isn't quite sure what is missing from her life...but at 35 and at a crossroads, maybe Portugal's Camino de Santiago can go the Peter Frampton route and Show Her the Way. After her sister Vi suffers an injury that renders her unable to make this famous trek and blog about it, Sadie thinks this is a prime opportunity to escape the slew of bad dates, family business drama, and general uncertainty that have been plaguing her lately and agrees to go on the trip. Once she gets on the plane, though, a bout of turbulence and a hefty dose of alcohol leaves her fearing for her life - and ready to spill her guts in more ways than one. Her quirky, pretty seatmate, Mal, not only intrigues her and calms her...but manages to steer her to a conclusion that Sadie has been dancing around for some time: Sadie is not straight.
Once the plane lands safely and Sadie settles in, the hits just keep on coming: this Camino is SPECIFICALLY for queer people, meaning she has to come face to face with her new reality and finding her identity amidst a group who is VERY solid in their own identities. And guess who just so happens to be on the tour too? (Duh. The fact Sadie didn't even CONSIDER this possibility on the plane based on their conversation was pretty obtuse on her part... but after getting to know her character better, not too surprising. ) Mal considers herself to be Sadie's 'gay mentor' of sorts, and makes it her personal mission to allow Sadie to have her gay adolescence...in her mid-thirties. Along the way she has to 'teach her how to kiss' (among...other things) and yet, these two are JUST roommates...right? After Mal receives an unexpected financial windfall and subsequently struggles with her own family troubles, the two still can't deny their blossoming feelings. But when the trail winds down and they reach their final destination, will Sadie go back to her old life solo? Or has the Camino TRULY been transformative for both of these characters...in more ways than one?
I've had an Alison Cochrun sapphic romance sitting on my shelf for ages, but when the opportunity to grab an ARC of this one popped up, the lure of a good romantic travel-tinged adventure was too strong to ignore, and I eagerly snapped it up. I had no idea what to expect from Cochrun but had heard others singing her praises for a while, so I figured this was the opportunity for my own Long Walk through Portugal. (Or as close as I am going to get for a LONG time, anyway!)
But unfortunately, I felt like I twisted my ankle on day one and spent the rest of my proverbial trip stuck in a hotel next to noisy neighbors...and it left me positively ACHING to go home again.
First off, these are once again MCs that are SUPPOSEDLY in their mid-thirties and read exactly like they were whiny 24 year olds...and I'm not sure where along the way this became the norm in so many romance novels, but it once again left me ACHING for a good Sophie Cousens MC and their ACTUAL thirty-something problems. I get that Sadie is 'young' in her queerness journey, but frankly, this immaturity starts from pretty much page one and only gets worse as the book progresses. She has trouble being honest with anyone (even herself!) and I found her tendency to hit the sauce constantly to excess (and her 'buddy' Mal and the rest of their Camino group isn't much better) to be much more indicative of the twenty-something set. Even the rest of their group and the ancillary characters who were supposed to be significantly older didn't really read that way and felt more like a bunch of sorority sisters on a Vision Quest or something equally inane.
And then there's Mal, who is supposedly standing in JUST as a mentor to 'teach' Sadie about what it means to be gay. I know the author had the best of intentions with this plot line and it was more about support and understanding, but it was completely RIDICULOUS for the audience to expect that she could be sort of an impartial guide in this scenario. I mean, she was having to FORCE herself not to kiss this woman THE MINUTE THEY MET. How on earth are we supposed to believe she was going to have the sort of self control required not to fall head over heels for her when she had to oh, I don't know, TEACH her how she would be in a theoretical queer relationship? 🤦♀️ Kissing your crush platonically is pretty much NOT a thing, to my knowledge...so that took a lot of 'oomph' out of the story line, to say the least.
But boy oh boy is Sadie apparently a FAST learner. Not only is she tossing around verbiage like 'hetero-normative' with ease after, uh, just being introduced to these concepts and the entire spectrum of bi, pan, poly, asexual, etc, she goes from having literally ZERO experience with women (she is actually convinced she might not even BE queer at more than one point in the book because she is ONLY attracted to Mal), to being an apparent MASTER at uh, relations, with said partner mere pages later. 🫣 Not only is this cognitively dissonant, it's also just a bit odd. For this to feel like an 'adolescence', shouldn't there be lots of fumbling and bumbling as she figures things out? I'm not saying I wanted to watch her struggle or feel awkward, but the fact that everything came so naturally ( pun NOT intended this time...I promise! 🙈) was just a bit off-putting.
Mal's family drama is also sort of shoehorned in to give her character some depth, but all it told ME is that she wasn't ready to be in a real relationship...with ANYONE. These passages also are sort of long and between the traveling, the budding feelings between Sadie and Mal, and trying to occasionally reference Vi and the all-important blogging, there was a lot going on and none of it really got the real estate it deserved. Most of the ancillary characters on the Camino are also just sort of defined by their sexual preferences rather than anything else, and sadly, this also took away from getting to KNOW them fully as complete people. All of this eventually winds up in a completely corny and predictable ending (one that was sort of borrowed on a smaller scale from Never Been Kissed, I might add!) that left me feeling a bit deflated...and also just relieved it was over. The author's note confirms what I had already suspected: the author went on her OWN Camino (the details she used throughout made this not exactly surprising) and although I'm glad this was probably a fun and cathartic writing experience for her, I'm sad to say it was far LESS fun for me as a reader. (But it DID make me desperate to try a pastel de nata! 😋)
And while I'd hoped to end this book with a bit of a post-5k runner's high, in the end I was just as relieved to FINALLY be able to take my shoes off. 👟👟
3.5 stars
May 8, 2025
it’s this bad boys pub day!! 💙💙
this was your typical late-to-come-out baby gay meets super confident lesbian who gives her lessons on love, life, and sex- the ✨queer✨ way. someone recently said they were tired of sapphic books where the trope is a woman not confident in her sexuality meeting someone who is and i don’t know if that was my gripe necessarily but it did bring up a good point
i just don’t think this was that…romantic? all these false experiences- at least they believe so- the quickness with which they “fall in love” (i’m a slow burn gal at heart y’all), and the closed off nature of the two mc’s true desires left well, a lot to be desired 😭
also they went on a queer retreat and the way the side characters treated one of the fmc’s for being straight was weird? like, they were incredibly rude and then invasive when she came out? not to mention so was her family and every person could learn a thing or two about boundaries SHEESH
this feels like such a negative nelly review and i PROMISE i enjoyed myself but i feel like i couldn’t enjoyed myself more so if there was more development here and there plot and romantic development-wise
thank you to netgalley and atria for the arc!!
this was your typical late-to-come-out baby gay meets super confident lesbian who gives her lessons on love, life, and sex- the ✨queer✨ way. someone recently said they were tired of sapphic books where the trope is a woman not confident in her sexuality meeting someone who is and i don’t know if that was my gripe necessarily but it did bring up a good point
i just don’t think this was that…romantic? all these false experiences- at least they believe so- the quickness with which they “fall in love” (i’m a slow burn gal at heart y’all), and the closed off nature of the two mc’s true desires left well, a lot to be desired 😭
also they went on a queer retreat and the way the side characters treated one of the fmc’s for being straight was weird? like, they were incredibly rude and then invasive when she came out? not to mention so was her family and every person could learn a thing or two about boundaries SHEESH
this feels like such a negative nelly review and i PROMISE i enjoyed myself but i feel like i couldn’t enjoyed myself more so if there was more development here and there plot and romantic development-wise
thank you to netgalley and atria for the arc!!
May 26, 2025
I'm a huge Alison Cochrun fan, and while this isn’t my favorite of her books (Here I Go Again and The Charm Offensive still hold that title), I really enjoyed it!
I remember when Alison walked the Camino herself and shared her journey on Instagram; it definitely shows in this story. I always get a little nervous when American authors write about Europe, and I’m not always a fan. But Alison did a great job capturing the atmosphere (though I did find Stefano a bit of an Italian stereotype).
The Camino is such a great setting for a love story—two weeks of walking with the same group of people, bonding over blisters, laughter, and long conversations. The writing was so vivid, I felt like I was right there in Portugal (and later Spain) with them. I especially loved Sadie’s journey of self-discovery, and Mal quickly became my favorite: strong, extroverted, and guarded when it came to feelings. She was such a compelling character!
Oh, and one thing Alison, I’m sorry, but I do think stroopwafels are better than nata!
Now, I can’t wait for what Alison has in store for us next!
Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley for this amazing ARC.
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I remember when Alison walked the Camino herself and shared her journey on Instagram; it definitely shows in this story. I always get a little nervous when American authors write about Europe, and I’m not always a fan. But Alison did a great job capturing the atmosphere (though I did find Stefano a bit of an Italian stereotype).
The Camino is such a great setting for a love story—two weeks of walking with the same group of people, bonding over blisters, laughter, and long conversations. The writing was so vivid, I felt like I was right there in Portugal (and later Spain) with them. I especially loved Sadie’s journey of self-discovery, and Mal quickly became my favorite: strong, extroverted, and guarded when it came to feelings. She was such a compelling character!
Oh, and one thing Alison, I’m sorry, but I do think stroopwafels are better than nata!
Now, I can’t wait for what Alison has in store for us next!
Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley for this amazing ARC.
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May 6, 2025
Pride Month 2026 #5
I love me a thirty-something baby gay that accidentally comes out to a stranger while having plane anxiety. I'm not gay and I don't get plane anxiety, but hello? Sparks?
Sadie has never left the US. When her influencer sister can no longer walk the Camino, she takes her place. After a string of bad dates with men, she is fed up. I get it.
But this tour is for queer women and non-binary people. Sadie thinks she's straight. She's so not. And her seatmate is Mal, a hot Portuguese lesbian with a mullet. And loads of daddy issues.
This is less fake dating and more FWB, but I loved it all the same. Because what do we love more than a lost baby gay? An even older thirty-something heiress that loves the honeymoon phase. And when that's over, she books an international flight out of there. They said she's a Gemini, but I clock Sagittarius placements.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books
I love me a thirty-something baby gay that accidentally comes out to a stranger while having plane anxiety. I'm not gay and I don't get plane anxiety, but hello? Sparks?
Sadie has never left the US. When her influencer sister can no longer walk the Camino, she takes her place. After a string of bad dates with men, she is fed up. I get it.
But this tour is for queer women and non-binary people. Sadie thinks she's straight. She's so not. And her seatmate is Mal, a hot Portuguese lesbian with a mullet. And loads of daddy issues.
This is less fake dating and more FWB, but I loved it all the same. Because what do we love more than a lost baby gay? An even older thirty-something heiress that loves the honeymoon phase. And when that's over, she books an international flight out of there. They said she's a Gemini, but I clock Sagittarius placements.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books
February 4, 2025
E-ARC generously provided by Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
5 stars. Written with the exact amount of pure heart and queer sensibility you’d expect from Alison Cochrun’s romances, Every Step She Takes is at once a triumphant journey of a romance and a excellent sapphic coming-of-age story.
5 stars. Written with the exact amount of pure heart and queer sensibility you’d expect from Alison Cochrun’s romances, Every Step She Takes is at once a triumphant journey of a romance and a excellent sapphic coming-of-age story.
July 28, 2025
✈️ Bookish Thoughts
Every Step She Takes is a sapphic romcom set on a queer women’s tour in Europe. Our FMC Sadie is in her mid-thirties and questioning her sexuality. And Mal is ready to step in as her sapphic mentor.
The book starts off so strong. The airplane scene had me laughing out loud and totally gave me secondhand embarrassment. But around the 30 percent mark, the pacing really started to drag.
Even though both FMCs are supposed to be in their 30s, they felt very young and honestly immature. I couldn’t fully buy into the romance either. There was just something missing. Some of the side characters also felt cringe and overly forced. I had to push myself to finish the book.
💛 What to Expect
• Sapphic romance
• Self-discovery
• Late bloomer
• Found family
• Queer women travel tour
📅 Pub Date: September 2, 2025
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.
Every Step She Takes is a sapphic romcom set on a queer women’s tour in Europe. Our FMC Sadie is in her mid-thirties and questioning her sexuality. And Mal is ready to step in as her sapphic mentor.
The book starts off so strong. The airplane scene had me laughing out loud and totally gave me secondhand embarrassment. But around the 30 percent mark, the pacing really started to drag.
Even though both FMCs are supposed to be in their 30s, they felt very young and honestly immature. I couldn’t fully buy into the romance either. There was just something missing. Some of the side characters also felt cringe and overly forced. I had to push myself to finish the book.
💛 What to Expect
• Sapphic romance
• Self-discovery
• Late bloomer
• Found family
• Queer women travel tour
📅 Pub Date: September 2, 2025
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.
July 22, 2025
I feel bad not loving Every Step She Takes by one of my favorite authors, Alison Cochrun, because it feels like a deeply personal story. But even though the main characters' journeys were inspiring, the romance just simply fell short.
I've read and loved each and every one of Alison Cochrun's books, but this one packed way less of a punch for me. With all of her previous books, I've laughed or I've cried (or both!), but this was just felt like a slog. Maybe it's my absolutely horrible luck with international road trip stories (niche comment, I know), but this book felt... muted.
I'm a huge, huge fan of sexuality discovery stories, so I would have thought this would have hit home for me. However, I can't put my finger on why it didn't. I think I felt more of a pull towards Mal and her messy family issues, but I struggled to see why the relationship with Sadie was different than the dozens of other times she "fell in love." The practice FWB trope didn't even do much for me. It felt like more of the author exploring Sadie's personal journey than building the romance for the two MCs. They felt very friendship vibes, IMO. Simply put, these two lacked romantic and sexual chemistry together
I'll admit, it did pick up a bit at the end, and I enjoyed the last 10%, but for me this is the weakest Alison Cochrun book to date. I think I either needed more pain and gut punches (yeah, I'm a weirdo) or way more humor to draw me into the story because the romance felt weak. Oh well, next time.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
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I've read and loved each and every one of Alison Cochrun's books, but this one packed way less of a punch for me. With all of her previous books, I've laughed or I've cried (or both!), but this was just felt like a slog. Maybe it's my absolutely horrible luck with international road trip stories (niche comment, I know), but this book felt... muted.
I'm a huge, huge fan of sexuality discovery stories, so I would have thought this would have hit home for me. However, I can't put my finger on why it didn't. I think I felt more of a pull towards Mal and her messy family issues, but I struggled to see why the relationship with Sadie was different than the dozens of other times she "fell in love." The practice FWB trope didn't even do much for me. It felt like more of the author exploring Sadie's personal journey than building the romance for the two MCs. They felt very friendship vibes, IMO. Simply put, these two lacked romantic and sexual chemistry together
I'll admit, it did pick up a bit at the end, and I enjoyed the last 10%, but for me this is the weakest Alison Cochrun book to date. I think I either needed more pain and gut punches (yeah, I'm a weirdo) or way more humor to draw me into the story because the romance felt weak. Oh well, next time.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
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October 1, 2025
[JUN 2026] Happy Pride Month!
[SEPT 2025]
Normally in a romcom—even one with dual POVs—there is one Main Character, who’s plotline drives the story. That’s true in this delightful sapphic romance, with Sadie being the primary FMC, but I was surprised how much the author had me invested in Mal’s backstory, even though she’s clearly the secondary love interest.
Brava to Cochrun for brilliantly developing Mal as more than just the supporting romance character. I loved Mal’s GRG* at the end, which in many romances tend to be contrived or unoriginal. Here, Mal’s swoony GRG brought the romance full-circle, which doesn’t often happen.
Anyway, full-throated endorsement for this book, and brava once again to the author. Cochrun is two for two with me, having also enjoyed Here We Go Again.
See my Goodread Friend, Juniper L.H.’s Review for a much better and comprehensive review.
*Grand Romantic Gesture
[SEPT 2025]
Normally in a romcom—even one with dual POVs—there is one Main Character, who’s plotline drives the story. That’s true in this delightful sapphic romance, with Sadie being the primary FMC, but I was surprised how much the author had me invested in Mal’s backstory, even though she’s clearly the secondary love interest.
Brava to Cochrun for brilliantly developing Mal as more than just the supporting romance character. I loved Mal’s GRG* at the end, which in many romances tend to be contrived or unoriginal. Here, Mal’s swoony GRG brought the romance full-circle, which doesn’t often happen.
Anyway, full-throated endorsement for this book, and brava once again to the author. Cochrun is two for two with me, having also enjoyed Here We Go Again.
See my Goodread Friend, Juniper L.H.’s Review for a much better and comprehensive review.
*Grand Romantic Gesture
October 5, 2025
Gonna miss the whole Camino family
September 9, 2025
This book was wonderful.
We follow a woman in the process of discovering herself. It's set in an Europe trek and I'm discovering I really like this type of book, the pairing was a favorite of last year and I really enjoyed every step she takes.
I'm not surprised by how well Alison handled the topic because she mentioned in the acknowledgements that she had a very similar experience, but I still commend the action of putting it into a book. This feels like a powerful story, it had very moving moments.
I was enjoying the book, but there was a scene around the 40% mark that changed the whole book and I immediately GOT it. It's a scene where an aroace character speaks about her identity and for personal reasons it meant a lot to me. From that on every sentence had an additional weight and I truly enjoyed the message here.
It's a perfect read for sapphic September!
We follow a woman in the process of discovering herself. It's set in an Europe trek and I'm discovering I really like this type of book, the pairing was a favorite of last year and I really enjoyed every step she takes.
I'm not surprised by how well Alison handled the topic because she mentioned in the acknowledgements that she had a very similar experience, but I still commend the action of putting it into a book. This feels like a powerful story, it had very moving moments.
I was enjoying the book, but there was a scene around the 40% mark that changed the whole book and I immediately GOT it. It's a scene where an aroace character speaks about her identity and for personal reasons it meant a lot to me. From that on every sentence had an additional weight and I truly enjoyed the message here.
It's a perfect read for sapphic September!
May 7, 2025
I belong to that immensely privileged class of Americans who have responded to an existential crisis with a one-way ticket to Europe. I hate to say it, but it worked for me too (albeit with a lot less kissing). First world solutions for first world problems, I guess.
As I’ve said before and will no doubt say again, the central question the modern romance novel asks is not who will I be with, but who will I be. No matter how absurd or unlikely the meet cute, what holds the whole creaking edifice tenuously to reality is that real romance really can work this way. Somebody shows up with their whole heart and sees the very best in you every day, and so naturally you become the very best version of yourself. Sometimes it really is easier to grow together. (Other times, of course, we hold each other back, even down—but that, of course, belongs to a whole different genre.)
Being swept off your feet by a gorgeous Portuguese wine heiress on your two week European package tour, on the other hand... I mean, I guess maybe it’s happened before? In like a someone-wins-the-lottery kind of way?
Alison Cochrun is one of my favorite romance authors because she understands how these two aspects of romance-novel wish fulfillment fit together. How emotional reality grounds the fantasy of it all, even as the fantasy of it all gives free rein to her characters’ emotional growth. She nails the tone every time: funny, light, sexy, silly, real.
And if the book’s (understandable) lack of engagement with Catholicism leaves it no choice but to lean hard into Instagram mysticism, that’s less a flaw than an inevitability.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed every step of Sadie and Mal’s European adventure. It was a perfect beach read, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
As I’ve said before and will no doubt say again, the central question the modern romance novel asks is not who will I be with, but who will I be. No matter how absurd or unlikely the meet cute, what holds the whole creaking edifice tenuously to reality is that real romance really can work this way. Somebody shows up with their whole heart and sees the very best in you every day, and so naturally you become the very best version of yourself. Sometimes it really is easier to grow together. (Other times, of course, we hold each other back, even down—but that, of course, belongs to a whole different genre.)
Being swept off your feet by a gorgeous Portuguese wine heiress on your two week European package tour, on the other hand... I mean, I guess maybe it’s happened before? In like a someone-wins-the-lottery kind of way?
Alison Cochrun is one of my favorite romance authors because she understands how these two aspects of romance-novel wish fulfillment fit together. How emotional reality grounds the fantasy of it all, even as the fantasy of it all gives free rein to her characters’ emotional growth. She nails the tone every time: funny, light, sexy, silly, real.
And if the book’s (understandable) lack of engagement with Catholicism leaves it no choice but to lean hard into Instagram mysticism, that’s less a flaw than an inevitability.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed every step of Sadie and Mal’s European adventure. It was a perfect beach read, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
August 15, 2025
This was a fantastic sapphic romance and was great on audio. I loved the narrators, they were perfect. This is the third book I've read by Alison Cochrun and I loved it. I loved the setting of The Camino. The writing and descriptions were perfect and so vivid. I also loved Mal and Sadie's characters and their journey. Another fantastic summer read and I loved it!
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
May 25, 2025
Sadie could use a shakeup in her life—and that comes in the form of a surprise trip to complete a pilgrimage across Portugal and Spain and in the process help out her sister. Meanwhile, Mal has been shaking up her own life over and over again since coming out to her father backfired...and now, with his funeral looming, she's taking a break to walk one of the Portuguese routes of the Camino de Santiago. What they don't anticipate when airplane turbulence inspires Sadie to shriek out all her secrets and insecurities: they're on the same tour. What they also don't anticipate: chemistry. But whether either of them is ready for a relationship, well...
What worked well for me:
- There isn't enough Camino fiction out there, and a lesbian romance? Yes please.
- This takes place on the Portuguese route, too; the Camino Francés (which runs across northern Spain) is the most popular route by far, with the Camino Portugues (which runs north through Portugal and Spain) a distant second, and the Francés is much much more common in both fiction and memoir. (I walked both, back to back, but—if it's not confusing enough already—a different variant of the Portugues route.)
- Sadie is unapologetically fat, and although she has some related insecurities, for the purposes of the Camino her weight is treated as a nonevent.
- I liked the tour group more than I expected to (Stefano is a little over the top, but Rebecca is an unexpected gem).
- I liked Sadie's doom-spiral on the plane (as someone without flight anxiety but with travel anxiety...relatable).
- There's room left at the end for a possible sequel (perhaps on a different route?), which I'd be all in favor of.
- This shouldn't be relevant by the time the book is published, but I read an ARC that hadn't been through proofreading yet, and some of the small errors (which are, again, normal for this point in the process) were choice. We have an aircraft maker named "Boing" and a tibia located in a character's forearm—I'm here for it. (Yes, this point is in the correct list. One of the oddities of my nerdery is that I have favorite typos.)
What didn't work so well for me:
- Too many brand names (often 10+ per chapter) and cultural references. I get why authors include them (especially for more recognizable brands, they convey info quickly and add some detail), but too many brand names always reads to me as...well, kind of lazy, and something that will quickly date the book.
- Neither Sadie nor Mal really did it for me as a heroine, and together I wasn't convinced of their chemistry. Their introduction (though not the reader's introduction to Sadie) involves Sadie drunk and crying and yelling on a plane, and even if Mal finds that cute, the cringe feeling followed me for the rest of the book. This might just be me—"messy" heroines have never really been my thing. Mal could be a balancing point, but the deeper we get into the book the more Mal's veneer of having-it-togetherness cracks and the messier she gets too. That has its positives, of course (keeps her more complicated), but it also made me wonder about the stability of a relationship between two people who are individually on such unsteady ground. (And—not to be shallow—but it killed the cool-girl appeal! Fine in real life, but sometimes in romance you just want your unapproachable cool girl to be approachable after all...but still mysteriously cool.)
- I would have preferred a setup other than faking dating. Other than being a bit trope-y, the way Sadie and Mal eventually end up in bed together () sat badly with me. That should have been a point for one of them to say "whoa, we're getting in too deep" or "hey, this is getting too complicated for me", not to demur for three seconds and then go ahead.
So where does that leave me? I came out of this with some significant reservations but am still pretty thrilled that it exists. I probably won't return to this one, but if there is a follow-up book set on the Camino or another path in the future, I'll happily read it.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
What worked well for me:
- There isn't enough Camino fiction out there, and a lesbian romance? Yes please.
- This takes place on the Portuguese route, too; the Camino Francés (which runs across northern Spain) is the most popular route by far, with the Camino Portugues (which runs north through Portugal and Spain) a distant second, and the Francés is much much more common in both fiction and memoir. (I walked both, back to back, but—if it's not confusing enough already—a different variant of the Portugues route.)
- Sadie is unapologetically fat, and although she has some related insecurities, for the purposes of the Camino her weight is treated as a nonevent.
- I liked the tour group more than I expected to (Stefano is a little over the top, but Rebecca is an unexpected gem).
- I liked Sadie's doom-spiral on the plane (as someone without flight anxiety but with travel anxiety...relatable).
- There's room left at the end for a possible sequel (perhaps on a different route?), which I'd be all in favor of.
- This shouldn't be relevant by the time the book is published, but I read an ARC that hadn't been through proofreading yet, and some of the small errors (which are, again, normal for this point in the process) were choice. We have an aircraft maker named "Boing" and a tibia located in a character's forearm—I'm here for it. (Yes, this point is in the correct list. One of the oddities of my nerdery is that I have favorite typos.)
What didn't work so well for me:
- Too many brand names (often 10+ per chapter) and cultural references. I get why authors include them (especially for more recognizable brands, they convey info quickly and add some detail), but too many brand names always reads to me as...well, kind of lazy, and something that will quickly date the book.
- Neither Sadie nor Mal really did it for me as a heroine, and together I wasn't convinced of their chemistry. Their introduction (though not the reader's introduction to Sadie) involves Sadie drunk and crying and yelling on a plane, and even if Mal finds that cute, the cringe feeling followed me for the rest of the book. This might just be me—"messy" heroines have never really been my thing. Mal could be a balancing point, but the deeper we get into the book the more Mal's veneer of having-it-togetherness cracks and the messier she gets too. That has its positives, of course (keeps her more complicated), but it also made me wonder about the stability of a relationship between two people who are individually on such unsteady ground. (And—not to be shallow—but it killed the cool-girl appeal! Fine in real life, but sometimes in romance you just want your unapproachable cool girl to be approachable after all...but still mysteriously cool.)
- I would have preferred a setup other than faking dating. Other than being a bit trope-y, the way Sadie and Mal eventually end up in bed together () sat badly with me. That should have been a point for one of them to say "whoa, we're getting in too deep" or "hey, this is getting too complicated for me", not to demur for three seconds and then go ahead.
So where does that leave me? I came out of this with some significant reservations but am still pretty thrilled that it exists. I probably won't return to this one, but if there is a follow-up book set on the Camino or another path in the future, I'll happily read it.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
May 20, 2025
This book was amazing. I requested it because of the author, then I read the blurb and I wasn’t quite as excited anymore, BUT now that I read the novel I am so incredibly thrilled with my choice to grab this one. Amazing novel. This one has it all (unless you want like, horror or something, then go away); you have a solid little plot, a bunch of emotional connection, heartbreaking moments, heartwarming moments, self-discovery and transformation, family issues, horny people, and a guy wearing spandex that will NOT stop stretching (but its ok). I laughed my way through this book, but it hit the other emotional beats too. I recommend it, plainly and simply. You wont regret it.
Then when your done and know I was right, you should go read “Kiss Her Once For Me” as well because I want to plug the first novel I read by this author that won me over.
My Rating: “A+”
Converted Rating: 5-Stars
Highlights:
-Excellent writing. Its funny, its heartwarming, its sad, its everything. The story is well plotted out, the dialogue is great…. Just overall the writing is wonderful. Not that I was surprised with this author.
-The adorable and fun little rag-tag group of queers. Excellent collection of side characters that added a lot to the novel.
-Body Neutrality for the win! This isn’t something that I see very often, let alone in a novel.
-Ace representation is always appreciated, as well as the rest of the diversity on display in this novel.
-EMOTIONAL SUPPORT RUFFLES! I will not explain, read the book. This sentence/section had me laughing more than anything else I have read in… years. It might have just been the right thing at the right time but I had to stop reading until I calmed down. Did I mention the book is funny?
-It was just SO sweet and heartwarming. Truly.
-Yay therapy! Any book that features the use of an actual resource to help with your emotional problems gets bonus points from me!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.
Then when your done and know I was right, you should go read “Kiss Her Once For Me” as well because I want to plug the first novel I read by this author that won me over.
My Rating: “A+”
Converted Rating: 5-Stars
Highlights:
-Excellent writing. Its funny, its heartwarming, its sad, its everything. The story is well plotted out, the dialogue is great…. Just overall the writing is wonderful. Not that I was surprised with this author.
-The adorable and fun little rag-tag group of queers. Excellent collection of side characters that added a lot to the novel.
-Body Neutrality for the win! This isn’t something that I see very often, let alone in a novel.
-Ace representation is always appreciated, as well as the rest of the diversity on display in this novel.
-EMOTIONAL SUPPORT RUFFLES! I will not explain, read the book. This sentence/section had me laughing more than anything else I have read in… years. It might have just been the right thing at the right time but I had to stop reading until I calmed down. Did I mention the book is funny?
-It was just SO sweet and heartwarming. Truly.
-Yay therapy! Any book that features the use of an actual resource to help with your emotional problems gets bonus points from me!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.
June 13, 2025
“How boring would life be if we didn’t have anything left to discover about ourselves?”
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈/5
E-ARC generously provided by Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
I had the absolute best time reading this book - I loved Mal and Sadie, actually I loved everyone - all the characters were so wonderfully written.
The tension?? The pining?? The descriptive paragraphs? I enjoyed every second of this.
What happens when you drunkenly come out to an attractive stranger during plane turbulence and then find out that same stranger is on your European walking tour for two weeks AND you're sharing a room the whole time?
Well you get this wonderful queer romance adventure is what you get!
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈/5
E-ARC generously provided by Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
I had the absolute best time reading this book - I loved Mal and Sadie, actually I loved everyone - all the characters were so wonderfully written.
The tension?? The pining?? The descriptive paragraphs? I enjoyed every second of this.
What happens when you drunkenly come out to an attractive stranger during plane turbulence and then find out that same stranger is on your European walking tour for two weeks AND you're sharing a room the whole time?
Well you get this wonderful queer romance adventure is what you get!
October 4, 2025
3.5 stars
If you love a traveling, self-discovery romance, you're going to love this one. This is probably my least favorite book by this author, though I've loved everything I've read by her, so it wasn't necessarily bad. This one, though, was just a nice kind of journey with one of our heroines discovering her sexual identity and exploring if she liked women and going through those quintessential queer experiences people usually get to have when they're younger. She's going on a hiking journey with other queer people and I loved this group of characters. She's falling for her roommate, who she had met and confided in on the way to the trip without knowing they would be together so much. There wasn't much more to the book, which is why it's not a higher rating for me, but I still enjoyed the journey of self discovery and all of the fun this crew of characters had on their trip!
If you love a traveling, self-discovery romance, you're going to love this one. This is probably my least favorite book by this author, though I've loved everything I've read by her, so it wasn't necessarily bad. This one, though, was just a nice kind of journey with one of our heroines discovering her sexual identity and exploring if she liked women and going through those quintessential queer experiences people usually get to have when they're younger. She's going on a hiking journey with other queer people and I loved this group of characters. She's falling for her roommate, who she had met and confided in on the way to the trip without knowing they would be together so much. There wasn't much more to the book, which is why it's not a higher rating for me, but I still enjoyed the journey of self discovery and all of the fun this crew of characters had on their trip!
September 20, 2025
5⭐️
This book was absolutely everything to me. I love Alison Cochrun’s writing, and this was on a whole other level. Our main character goes on an unexpected trip to Portugal, and embarks on a journey of self discovery and falling in love. I loved her partnership so much and the messages in this book are beautiful! I wish it were double the length because I would’ve read so much more about this couple!
This book was absolutely everything to me. I love Alison Cochrun’s writing, and this was on a whole other level. Our main character goes on an unexpected trip to Portugal, and embarks on a journey of self discovery and falling in love. I loved her partnership so much and the messages in this book are beautiful! I wish it were double the length because I would’ve read so much more about this couple!
Want to Read
January 31, 2025OK, "sapphic romance while walking the most famous medieval Catholic pilgrimage trail" is so SPECIFICALLY my Niche that I didn't even think of it until I saw it.
January 31, 2025
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: internalized fatphobia
3.3
Ah. Well. This was a... weird book for me.
I'm a really big fan of Cochrun's work, and I was ready to absolutely love this book- but that's not what happened here.
What I do love is the concept. The idea of the Camino is one that captured my interest, and I knew nothing about any of this prior to picking it up, so you can see that she really did sell me on it.
I also typically enjoy groups of people who are only bonding because they've been flung together. These are people who don't have much in common, and seeing how they meld and learn to care about each other is a really lovely thing.
Okay, but....
Unlike usual, I had such an issue with these characters, and the issue was this- they are constantly being used as mouthpieces. They're flat both so they can be used this way and because they're made so inconsistent by using them this way. I didn't read this book to be lectured, I didn't read it to learn a lesson, and I definitely didn't pick it up to get those things delivered to me instead of getting a real character. Sadie is timid as anything until she decides to grow a backbone just to lecture people. These people are all varied and different, and yet have all received sensitivity training at some unknown time before this story began. It makes it not only unrealistic, but also bland.
My more nitpicky complaints (that also made me rage, let's be clear), were in Inez and in Sadie's sexuality.
On the Inez front- she is so bad at leading a group. Why do you keep acting like you're allowed to opt out of things that make you uncomfortable and then keep putting people on the spot? This whole thing would have been easier to invest in if it actually felt like a supportive, safe environment, but it didn't! Because Inez was constantly forcing people into talking about things and doing things whether or not they were ready!
And as for the sexuality, I feel like it's insanely obvious that Sadie is demisexual, but the idea of her being on the asexual spectrum is totally thrown out when she experiences attraction to Mal. Like... you can be on the asexual spectrum and experience attraction, especially when it's, as it is here, a very rare, surprising attraction that doesn't fit into your regular life. Like, she's demi. Why was she allowed to discover all these other things about herself but we're going to touch on asexuality just to say she isn't ace????
All in all, I just did not care about Sadie, and I found it hard to be invested in any of the moving parts of this story. I can't rate it too low, because there are good moments that feel like an Alison Cochrun story, but this is was easily the flattest characters and stories I've seen from her.
TW: internalized fatphobia
3.3
Ah. Well. This was a... weird book for me.
I'm a really big fan of Cochrun's work, and I was ready to absolutely love this book- but that's not what happened here.
What I do love is the concept. The idea of the Camino is one that captured my interest, and I knew nothing about any of this prior to picking it up, so you can see that she really did sell me on it.
I also typically enjoy groups of people who are only bonding because they've been flung together. These are people who don't have much in common, and seeing how they meld and learn to care about each other is a really lovely thing.
Okay, but....
Unlike usual, I had such an issue with these characters, and the issue was this- they are constantly being used as mouthpieces. They're flat both so they can be used this way and because they're made so inconsistent by using them this way. I didn't read this book to be lectured, I didn't read it to learn a lesson, and I definitely didn't pick it up to get those things delivered to me instead of getting a real character. Sadie is timid as anything until she decides to grow a backbone just to lecture people. These people are all varied and different, and yet have all received sensitivity training at some unknown time before this story began. It makes it not only unrealistic, but also bland.
My more nitpicky complaints (that also made me rage, let's be clear), were in Inez and in Sadie's sexuality.
On the Inez front- she is so bad at leading a group. Why do you keep acting like you're allowed to opt out of things that make you uncomfortable and then keep putting people on the spot? This whole thing would have been easier to invest in if it actually felt like a supportive, safe environment, but it didn't! Because Inez was constantly forcing people into talking about things and doing things whether or not they were ready!
And as for the sexuality, I feel like it's insanely obvious that Sadie is demisexual, but the idea of her being on the asexual spectrum is totally thrown out when she experiences attraction to Mal. Like... you can be on the asexual spectrum and experience attraction, especially when it's, as it is here, a very rare, surprising attraction that doesn't fit into your regular life. Like, she's demi. Why was she allowed to discover all these other things about herself but we're going to touch on asexuality just to say she isn't ace????
All in all, I just did not care about Sadie, and I found it hard to be invested in any of the moving parts of this story. I can't rate it too low, because there are good moments that feel like an Alison Cochrun story, but this is was easily the flattest characters and stories I've seen from her.
January 23, 2026
Alison Cochrun is my close, personal, and dearest friend. Everything she puts out is an absolute banger and Every Step She Takes is no exception.
We follow Sadie, a 35 year old (hell yeah) who is feeling suffocated by her monotonous life and the string of disastrous dates she’s had with men. So when her sister gets injured and offers Sadie her place on a tour of Portugal’s Camino de Santiago, she jumps at the chance to leave her problems behind. However, this hope is immediately derailed when harsh turbulence during her flight leads to a blurted confession that she might be a lesbian to her seat mate. And as it turns out, that hot seat mate is actually on her Camino tour for the next 14 days and 200 miles. As Sadie sets out on her journey, Mal decides to help her experience the queer adolescence she never got to have.
There is something so refreshing about seeing women in their late 30s having a coming of age moment. The entire thesis of this book is that it’s never too late. Everything in life happens when it should. And it’s such a comforting thing to witness. To know that there will always be time to change, to rewrite and reinvent our lives. To develop a deeper understanding and relationship with ourselves. Seeing how Sadie and her tour-mates transformed over the course of their pilgrimage actually gave me FOMO. I want to walk the Camino now.
I was so invested in Sadie and Mal’s romance. Unfortunately, I will always be a sucker for the “practice” trope. Seeing two characters try to wrestle their attraction and tension into a clinical educational lesson, and completely failing, tickles me every time. It just makes all their intimate scenes so much more heightened and sweltering. I loved how Mal made Sadie so much lighter and carefree. And I loved how Sadie showed Mal unconditional support and love. I think they fit perfectly together and are exactly what each other needed.
I love travel romances, lesbian awakenings, and coming of age stories so there was no chance I wasn’t going to adore this!
We follow Sadie, a 35 year old (hell yeah) who is feeling suffocated by her monotonous life and the string of disastrous dates she’s had with men. So when her sister gets injured and offers Sadie her place on a tour of Portugal’s Camino de Santiago, she jumps at the chance to leave her problems behind. However, this hope is immediately derailed when harsh turbulence during her flight leads to a blurted confession that she might be a lesbian to her seat mate. And as it turns out, that hot seat mate is actually on her Camino tour for the next 14 days and 200 miles. As Sadie sets out on her journey, Mal decides to help her experience the queer adolescence she never got to have.
There is something so refreshing about seeing women in their late 30s having a coming of age moment. The entire thesis of this book is that it’s never too late. Everything in life happens when it should. And it’s such a comforting thing to witness. To know that there will always be time to change, to rewrite and reinvent our lives. To develop a deeper understanding and relationship with ourselves. Seeing how Sadie and her tour-mates transformed over the course of their pilgrimage actually gave me FOMO. I want to walk the Camino now.
I was so invested in Sadie and Mal’s romance. Unfortunately, I will always be a sucker for the “practice” trope. Seeing two characters try to wrestle their attraction and tension into a clinical educational lesson, and completely failing, tickles me every time. It just makes all their intimate scenes so much more heightened and sweltering. I loved how Mal made Sadie so much lighter and carefree. And I loved how Sadie showed Mal unconditional support and love. I think they fit perfectly together and are exactly what each other needed.
I love travel romances, lesbian awakenings, and coming of age stories so there was no chance I wasn’t going to adore this!
October 31, 2025
I really liked this sapphic romance! This author’s books are always just so good to me and I love a “traveling and find yourself” kind of story so this one really worked for me.
Sadie meets Mal on her flight to Europe. Sadie is helping her sister out by going on an already planned trip for her travel blogging site. Before the trip, Sadie has been going on a ton of dates trying to find a guy who works for her or makes her feel something. On the flight when they hit turbulence, Sadie panics and starts contemplating her life and choices and blurts out that she’s pretty sure she’s into girls. She spews all of this out to her seat mate Mal and is super embarrassed once she realizes they aren’t going down and about to die on the flight. When she gets to her travel destination in Portugal she realizes Mal is on the same group trip with her…and it’s actually a trip for queer travelers.
I really liked the characters in this one and always enjoy a traveling related romance. We get lots of adventures in Portugal and Spain and it was fun getting to know all the side characters on the trip too. Mal and Sadie connect on the trip, having to share a room, Mal helps Sadie with the long treks they go on (proper footwear, packing her backpack more efficiently etc), and keeping Sadie’s secret and helping her explore her sexual identity. The story started to drag a bit in the end for me once the trip was over, but it all made sense for both characters growth separately as well! Another solid one from this author for me!
Sadie meets Mal on her flight to Europe. Sadie is helping her sister out by going on an already planned trip for her travel blogging site. Before the trip, Sadie has been going on a ton of dates trying to find a guy who works for her or makes her feel something. On the flight when they hit turbulence, Sadie panics and starts contemplating her life and choices and blurts out that she’s pretty sure she’s into girls. She spews all of this out to her seat mate Mal and is super embarrassed once she realizes they aren’t going down and about to die on the flight. When she gets to her travel destination in Portugal she realizes Mal is on the same group trip with her…and it’s actually a trip for queer travelers.
I really liked the characters in this one and always enjoy a traveling related romance. We get lots of adventures in Portugal and Spain and it was fun getting to know all the side characters on the trip too. Mal and Sadie connect on the trip, having to share a room, Mal helps Sadie with the long treks they go on (proper footwear, packing her backpack more efficiently etc), and keeping Sadie’s secret and helping her explore her sexual identity. The story started to drag a bit in the end for me once the trip was over, but it all made sense for both characters growth separately as well! Another solid one from this author for me!
Want to Read
January 25, 2026PORTUGAL MENTIONED!!! but it's CAMINHO, not CAMINO. ty
September 9, 2025
Actual rating: 4,5
I love books where they’re on vacation, a road trip or as this one is: a hiking journey.
When Sadie’s travel blogger sister injures her foot she offers to do her planned portugal Camino tour for her. Never having set foot out of their small hometown herself, Sadie is completely overwhelmed with everything. When her plane goes into turbulence she confesses a secret to her random seatmate she‘s never admitted to even herself before: she thinks she’s a lesbian.
Only to later see said stranger again. On her tour. On her very queer group tour.
I absolutely loved this book! It wasn’t only funny to read about Sadie’s inner monologue, but it was wonderful to read about all of these different sapphics and their own experience being queer.
We got wonderful aroace rep, trans rep and fat rep.
I loved how we got to see another woman who figured out her sexuality very late in life and the talk about how queer people’s timelines often differ from straight people‘s because of heteronormativity.
A journey that’s more of a journey to yourself than the actual walking.
Even if Sadie and Mal need to work on their communication skills I really rooted for them and loved the romance. This might just be my new favourite Cochrun book. 💕
Highly recommend it for fans of Something wild and wonderful!
PS: I really wish Sadie was more visibly midsize on the cover!
Rep: lesbian, bi, nonbinary, trans, aroace, gay, questioning demi, fat MC
I love books where they’re on vacation, a road trip or as this one is: a hiking journey.
When Sadie’s travel blogger sister injures her foot she offers to do her planned portugal Camino tour for her. Never having set foot out of their small hometown herself, Sadie is completely overwhelmed with everything. When her plane goes into turbulence she confesses a secret to her random seatmate she‘s never admitted to even herself before: she thinks she’s a lesbian.
Only to later see said stranger again. On her tour. On her very queer group tour.
I absolutely loved this book! It wasn’t only funny to read about Sadie’s inner monologue, but it was wonderful to read about all of these different sapphics and their own experience being queer.
We got wonderful aroace rep, trans rep and fat rep.
I loved how we got to see another woman who figured out her sexuality very late in life and the talk about how queer people’s timelines often differ from straight people‘s because of heteronormativity.
A journey that’s more of a journey to yourself than the actual walking.
Even if Sadie and Mal need to work on their communication skills I really rooted for them and loved the romance. This might just be my new favourite Cochrun book. 💕
Highly recommend it for fans of Something wild and wonderful!
PS: I really wish Sadie was more visibly midsize on the cover!
Rep: lesbian, bi, nonbinary, trans, aroace, gay, questioning demi, fat MC
May 12, 2026
This was so so good! I loved every second!
Sadie’s anxiety spiralling about her flight and referencing Lost & Yellow Jackets had me cracking up 😂😂 Honestly, the whole book was witty and funny throughout.
It was a great story of self discovery and coming out and learning that it’s never too late to do any of it!
Written in first person with 2x POV’s. Narrated by Cindy Kay & Jeremy Carlisle Parker. Self Discovery, Coming Out, Travel, Forced Proximity, Everybody’s Queer. 3x Spicy Scenes.
Sadie’s anxiety spiralling about her flight and referencing Lost & Yellow Jackets had me cracking up 😂😂 Honestly, the whole book was witty and funny throughout.
It was a great story of self discovery and coming out and learning that it’s never too late to do any of it!
Written in first person with 2x POV’s. Narrated by Cindy Kay & Jeremy Carlisle Parker. Self Discovery, Coming Out, Travel, Forced Proximity, Everybody’s Queer. 3x Spicy Scenes.
December 4, 2025
But Sadie—seeing the world through Sadie’s eyes—almost feels like it could be exquisite forever.
4.5 stars, verging on 4.75. This was one of those books that I loved so much, I don't know how to talk about it. Alison Cochrun just knows how to write a romance that GETS ME IN THE HEART. It's emotional and fulfilling without ever being overly dramatic or overblown. It has important things to say while still being light and fun. It does what so many books fail at: cultivates a real sense of found family in a limited amount of time. It created characters that I love and a romance that I'm going to be OBSESSING over for a long time to come. I teared up so many times during this book, and I feel like I could start crying again right now. It's not even that sad!!! But it just got me.
Sadie is a woman in her mid-30s who's never been comfortable dating men, and is only just starting to question why. Mal is a transient heiress dealing with a complicated loss. They end up in the same walking tour group in Portugal, and Mal offers to guide Sadie through her new lesbian awakening and queer adolescence. What follows is just... gosh. It was perfect. I LOVED the classic meet cute. I read the 'panicking and confessing your secrets to a stranger on the plane' trope before, but it was never this good. The attraction was instant, but the author took a while to develop it, showing them both fighting against it before succumbing. The coming out later in life trope will always be special to me, and this was such a good version of it. There were misunderstandings, but they were the fun kind. I loved all the room-sharing, confessions while walking, all the learning and growing and catching up that Sadie had to do. There was this great mix of melancholy and joy, when she contemplated how much time she had lost, but how wonderful it was to discover it all with Mal. The flirting and yearning and tension were INCREDIBLE, and this had one of the best, sexiest first kisses I've ever read. And like I said, it had some great side characters, and I loved the part the Camino group played in Sadie's growth. I especially loved Inez, Ro, and token dude Stefano (he made me giggle so much).
There was a moment when I thought this was going to have the exact kind of third act conflict that I hate, but nope, we managed to avoid that. Mal's journey was just as complicated and sometimes painful as Sadie's, and I really loved seeing the reciprocity in their relationship, and how Sadie was able to help her too. I also loved that for all her worldliness and experience, Mal wasn't perfect. I loved Sadie yelling at her about her unintentional and well-meaning fatphobia. IDK, there was just something refreshing about it. I don't need perfect characters in books; just ones who are willing to learn and grow.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Quinn Riley and Cindy Kay, and loved it! They're two of my favourite narrators, so having them work on a book together was lovely. I feel like I haven't even covered half of the things I loved about this book, but if I were to go on any more, it would just get embarrassing. Definitely a favourite of the year, and a contender for a reread in the near future. Keep feeding us like this, please, Alison Cochrun!
“I don’t care that we barely know each other, and I don’t care that this is what I always do, because I’ve never done it with you.”
June 22, 2025
I couldn't go wrong with Alison Cochrun's newest as my third read for Pride Month!
Sadie's adventurous travel blogger baby sister gets injured and Sadie impetuously offers to go on her trip--walking Portugal’s Camino de Santiago--for her. This is unlike anything Sadie, an anxious and quiet person, has ever done. She's spent her life devoted to her sister and her Nana's antique store, which she's run since her Nana's death. Sadie has gone on many dates (set up by her sister) but has never clicked with a single man.
So imagine her surprise when, during some very bad airplane turbulence, she dramatically comes out as lesbian to her seat-mate, Mal.
It perhaps rivals Sadie's surprise when she realizes that Mal--attractive, queer Mal--is also on Sadie's tour to Camino. We soon learn that Mal is dealing with her own issues, grappling with her father's death: the same dad who disowned her when she was 18. Mel's a serial monogamist who seeks comfort in women--until they get too close. She promises her friend, Inez, who is leading the tour, that she will not get involved with Sadie.
But Sadie is just so hard to resist. These two are drawn to each other from the beginning, as Mal works to help our sweet little baby gay who is coming out in her 30s. As always, Cochrun gives us a tender story featuring realistic characters with trauma, flaws, normal body types, and relatable problems. Randomly assigned as roommates, they get to know each other in just a few weeks. Mal offers to help Sadie learn to be gay, but of course, the two can't help but grow deeper feelings for one another.
Cochrun never makes these feelings feel trite or contrived, though. She treats Sadie's later in life coming out with the deep respect it deserves and takes the same honest and direct approach to sex and sexuality. Sadie and Mal's sexual encounters are frank and funny but also honest and straightforward.
This is such a lovely story, equal parts funny, sensual, and vulnerable. It lags a teeny bit in the middle as it harps a bit too much on Mal's inability to commit, but overall it's such an emotional and well-written look at a woman coming into their identity late in life and another person struggling with grief and growing up later in life. It masterfully highlights the power of the queer family and the quirky cast of characters walking the Camino is wonderful. Also the lesbian inside jokes are laugh out funny. (Please note that Mal is described as a mix of Kristen's Stewart's face, first season's Shane's hair, and Tig Notatro's body.) I am still laughing. I love Alison Cochrun's writing! 4.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Atria Books in return for an unbiased review.
Sadie's adventurous travel blogger baby sister gets injured and Sadie impetuously offers to go on her trip--walking Portugal’s Camino de Santiago--for her. This is unlike anything Sadie, an anxious and quiet person, has ever done. She's spent her life devoted to her sister and her Nana's antique store, which she's run since her Nana's death. Sadie has gone on many dates (set up by her sister) but has never clicked with a single man.
So imagine her surprise when, during some very bad airplane turbulence, she dramatically comes out as lesbian to her seat-mate, Mal.
It perhaps rivals Sadie's surprise when she realizes that Mal--attractive, queer Mal--is also on Sadie's tour to Camino. We soon learn that Mal is dealing with her own issues, grappling with her father's death: the same dad who disowned her when she was 18. Mel's a serial monogamist who seeks comfort in women--until they get too close. She promises her friend, Inez, who is leading the tour, that she will not get involved with Sadie.
But Sadie is just so hard to resist. These two are drawn to each other from the beginning, as Mal works to help our sweet little baby gay who is coming out in her 30s. As always, Cochrun gives us a tender story featuring realistic characters with trauma, flaws, normal body types, and relatable problems. Randomly assigned as roommates, they get to know each other in just a few weeks. Mal offers to help Sadie learn to be gay, but of course, the two can't help but grow deeper feelings for one another.
Cochrun never makes these feelings feel trite or contrived, though. She treats Sadie's later in life coming out with the deep respect it deserves and takes the same honest and direct approach to sex and sexuality. Sadie and Mal's sexual encounters are frank and funny but also honest and straightforward.
This is such a lovely story, equal parts funny, sensual, and vulnerable. It lags a teeny bit in the middle as it harps a bit too much on Mal's inability to commit, but overall it's such an emotional and well-written look at a woman coming into their identity late in life and another person struggling with grief and growing up later in life. It masterfully highlights the power of the queer family and the quirky cast of characters walking the Camino is wonderful. Also the lesbian inside jokes are laugh out funny. (Please note that Mal is described as a mix of Kristen's Stewart's face, first season's Shane's hair, and Tig Notatro's body.) I am still laughing. I love Alison Cochrun's writing! 4.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Atria Books in return for an unbiased review.
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