This was such a gloriously ridiculous and completely adorable book! Wren has never been kissed, but he wants that movie-perfect ending more than anything. So much that he puts himself in one awkward situation after another… with a lot of help from his adorkable and supporting friends. There’s so much crushing, pining and swooning, and an overload of sweetness, but also some amazing character development and queer and demisexual representation.

Even though Wren Roland is a 22-year-old college graduate, he’s never been kissed. Mostly because he wants his first kiss to really matter. He’s had quite a few almost-kisses though, with boys he’s written saved emails to trying to figure out why the kisses never happened. The most significant of his almost-kisses was with his long-time crush Derick Haverford, who ghosted Wren afterwards and left him with a broken heart. 

After another failed kiss at his birthday party and a few drinks too many, Wren sends the emails out to all the boys he’s almost kissed, stirring up a lot of things and feelings… and awkward situations. It doesn’t really make things easier when Derick shows up on the first day of Wren’s summer job at a drive-in theater as the new social media intern…

I loved this hilarious and cute story, and all the wonderful banter and humor. There were also some really great character developments, a wonderful queer chosen family, and a demisexual awakening that was so well and realistically executed. This would definitely have been a five-star read for me if it hadn’t been for the obvious similarities with To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, only that Lara Jean’s letters were replaced by emails and it was a queer main character. I also had a bit of a problem connecting with the characters as twenty something year-olds. They all felt way too immature for that (more like 16 than 22 at times, and I think the story and the way they acted would have made so much more sense if they’d been graduating High School rather than college).

But all in all, this book was an absolute joy to read! There was no steam at all, which felt refreshing, but a lot of love and friendship, neverending summer nights, drive-in movie nostalgia, a second chance romance and a wonderful journey of self-discovery. Never Been Kissed is a book that will make you smile and warm your heart! 

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advance review copy! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Timothy Janovsky

This first book in The Young Americans really got me hooked at first! It started off as an intense and thrilling romance and with a great Hollywood setting. But after a while it became just as melodramatic as the soap opera TV show where the main characters were actors. It had a lot of potential but didn’t meet them all the way sadly.

Just Like Heaven takes place on the set of the Hollywood show Americana, where Noah Sinclair is the big star. After a breakup from his co-star Gemma, both on set and in real-life, the directors felt that a twist was needed in the show. Enter Josh Hill, former football player, as the new love interest and a threat to Noah’s well protected secret…

I really loved the charming, sweet and kind Josh, but had a lot of problem with Noah and his controlling ways. Even though his backstory provides some explanations, it never really justified his toxic behavior at times.

I also had some issues with the overall plot – or rather plots – there was so much going on that the book became way too long and the twists and turns just made you lose connection with the characters. The plot contained just about every literary trope possible and there was some really weird things happening storywise concerning Noah’s abusive father.

But the other cast members were great supporting characters and I completely adored Josh’s family! So even though this book didn’t quite meet my expectations I still have high hopes for the second book in this series!

Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for the free review copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
3 stars

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T.L. Bradford

This was my first experience of a Thai Boys’ Love TV show, and it was so much fun to learn about the bl drama culture! It also added to the uniqueness and freshness of this adorable story about a forbidden romance between a gay actor and his supposedly straight co-star with some of my favorite tropes and characters to root for.

The main characters in this novella are the shy Rama, who’s dream is to become an actor and no longer be pressured into starting working for his dad, and the famous actor Pravat, who’s had a setback in his career after being outed by his previous co-star and accused of having behaved inappropriate. Luckily though, not everyone in the business believes the lies and he’s just been offered a lead role in a new bl drama. When he meets Rama at the audition, the chemistry between them is palpable in a way that makes Pravat wonder if Rama is really as straight as he claims to be.

This was such a sweet and adorable story about friendship and support growing into something more, about dealing with mental health issues and about finding your path. Both Pravat and Rama were such lovable characters and my heart rooted for them both. I especially loved the unselfish and empathic way Pravat always supported Rama. I also loved the reverse fake-dating trope. Even though bl dramas are about M/M romances and the actors were supposed to put on a show even outside the film set for their fans, the industry preferred the actors to be straight and had strict non-relationship policy. When the feelings between Pravat and Rama started to get too real, they therefore had to fake their fake dating… that was such a great twist!

There was also some unexpected depth with Rama struggling with mental health issues such as angst, exhaustion and depression, as well as a childhood trauma due to abuse. I just wish that this childhood trauma could have been hinted at earlier, now it was included into the story in an almost abrupt way. I’m also a bit ambivalent to the random and somewhat sudden use of extra POVs for just a chapter or two. While it added some great aspects, and helped us understand what Rama was going through, it also interfered in the pace and the closeness that I felt with Rama and Pravat.

But all in all this was an adorable, heartwarming and wonderful M/M romance in a refreshing and unique setting, and I can’t wait to continue reading about Rama’s and Pravat’s story in the sequel!

Thank you to Prolific Works for the free review copy! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Rebecca James

This was an easy and light read that provided some entertaining for the moment about a semi-closeted baseball player and the construction guy building his mother’s house, but the romance was way too much instalove and too shallow to make any lasting impression.

This M/M sports romance was a very fast-paced and easy read, and both main characters were very lovable, even though I’d wished for them to be a little more fleshed out, and for Derby to maybe be a little less swooning at times. Since he’s a professional baseball player used to taking showers with his athletic teammates it felt a bit over the top that he got all shaky just by the look of Godwin in tight jeans.

The author did an attempt to add some more depth to the story by mentioning some bad things happening to the characters, like child abuse and loss of parents, but unfortunately it just skimmed the surface of those aspects and moved on quickly to the hook up parts.

But sometimes all we need is something light and easy to keep us entertained for the moment and for that this book was good enough. So, 2.5 stars rounding up to 3 for the decent entertainment, even if it didn’t make any lasting impression.

Thank you to Prolific Works for the free review copy! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.
​
Rating:
2.5 stars rounding up to 3

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Lynn Michaels

This was such a sweet and adorkable YA story about dealing with depression and a feeling of not belonging as well as learning to accept who you are and finding your place in the world.

Darius is a biracial Persian/American teenager (or a “Fractional Persian” as he calls himself) with a mother who was born and raised in Iran and an American dad. In school he’s a bullied outcast and, even though he and his dad share the love for Star Trek, Darius feels like he’s constantly a big disappointment to his athletic and successful dad (“Teutonic Übermensch” as Darius describes him) who can’t understand why Darius doesn’t just stand up for himself in school. When the family takes a trip to Iran to visit his terminally ill grandfather, the feeling of being lost and outside and like he doesn’t truly belong anywhere gets even stronger. On top of that, Darius suffers from clinical depression. But when Darius meets Sohrab, the teenage neighbor of his grandparents, he finally gets a true friend and everything changes.

I really enjoyed the exploration of Persian/Iranian culture and the authentic and careful description of Darius’ depression. I also adored the tender friendship between Darius and Sohrab, but I had perhaps expected it to be a little bit more romantic since this book is labelled as a LGBTQ story. But it was more like it was softly hinted that Darius might be queer than it being fully addressed, or the friendship with Sohrab ever going further than being a truly trusting relationship where they could be themselves.

At first, I also really loved the special writing style, since it was truly giving Darius a unique and quirky voice (for example he never referred to the water boiler as that, but giving it names like “Smaug, the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities” or “Smaug, the Irrepressibly Finicky”), but after a while it got a little too repetitive and took focus from some of the important feelings and events happening.

But all in all, this was a gripping coming-of-age story dealing with depression and teenage awkwardness in a sweet and quiet way. Adib Khorram truly has a talented and unique voice and I can’t wait to read more of his work.

Rating:
4 stars

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Adib Khorram

This was such an adorable and entertaining own voices-story with a genderqueer protagonist, Carey, who wants to be a diva like their idol Mariah Carey. It was full of wonderful, well-rounded characters, amazing friendship and parental support, activism and cute first love, and everyone’s right to be seen and feel safe. Just be aware of the homophobia and bullying that might be triggering to read about.

I absolutely loved the first part of this book! Carey was such a wonderful, unique and loveable character and I loved their friends and family, and not to mention the amazing teacher Mr. Kelly. He must be the best fictional teacher ever, I’d really hope for persons like him to exist in the real world too! I also really shipped the cute romance with Cris, even though it might be bordering to insta love.

The author did a wonderful job describing Carey’s gender fluidity, and the concept to start each chapter with the pronouns Carey identified with at the time was brilliant. When more and more of Carey’s backstory and the reason they no longer wanted to perform in public, my heart ached so much for them. I also really loved the auditioning for the musical part and it got my hopes up for Carey to really start healing. But unfortunately, a school bully and a homophobic teacher thwart Carey’s participation in the musical, at the same time as Carey discovers that Cris has been lying about some very important things. 

After this, the story started to drag a bit. I did appreciate the way Carey stood up for themselves and how their friends all stood behind them, but the rallying and protesting part went on for a bit too much and felt a little too unbelievable to keep me fully engaged. There was also a lot of drama and miscommunication in the romance part that felt unnecessary and made me ship the romance with Cris a little less in the end.

But all in all, this was a wonderful and empowering story about finding the courage to be your most authentic self, with amazing representation and the important message to never let anyone take your voice away. Highly entertaining and told in a refreshing new voice!

I definitely want to read more books by Steven Salvatore!

Rating:
4 stars

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Steven Salvatore

This is the fourth book in Briar Prescott’s wonderful Better With You series, and just like the previous books, it was such a cute and heartwarming story! It had so many things I love, like forbidden love, brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, found families and snarky banter. I read it in one sitting, with a huge smile on my face!

The Better With You series follows a group of friends, starting with Gray meeting Kai in the first book, then Gray’s brother Connor meeting James, followed by James’s friend Anders meeting Wells, and now in this fourth book focus is on Anders’s younger brother Isac as well as Anders’s best friend Max. Each book can be read as a standalone, but I really love seeing my favorite persons from the other books and to get the chance to be pulled back into their sweet romances again, as well as to see all of the friends together with their wonderful group dynamics and humor.

Isac has been in love with his older brother Anders’s friend Max as long as he can remember. Max on the other hand, sees Isac almost like his own brother and cares for him deeply, but without any romantic intent. Until nineteen-year-old Isac kisses Max and tells him how he feels. Surprised and taken aback, Max rejects him and to avoid the humiliation, Isac more or less flees to college to the other side of the country. Now, six years later, he’s back. All grown-up, and that kiss is suddenly haunting Max in a way that makes it hard to act normal around Isac…

I love Briar Prescott’s writing style, the forbidden romance trope and the wonderful chemistry between Max and Isac. I also loved how their relationship was developed with just the perfect pacing and the right amount of angst and heartbreak. And the banter! Just as in the previous books, the dialogues and comments were so witty, snarky and funny that I almost laughed out loud at times.

I rooted so much for both Isac and Max from the start. Their love was so obvious and strong, and I so wanted them to get the happiness they deserved that at times I almost wanted to scream at them both to just be brave and take a chance on each other, and not let the respect for Anders, the age difference nor the geographical distance stop them.

Some parts of the book were perhaps a little too explicit for my personal taste, and compared to the other books in this series, this one was a little lighter without the same kind of gripping depths. And there’s always a fine balance with the ‘friend’s younger sibling’-trope and ‘almost-brothers’-aspect, especially when there’s quite a substantial age gap, but Briar Prescott made an absolutely wonderful job keeping this balance. I’m very happy that Isac was nineteen when he first revealed his feelings to Max, so that there were never any uncomfortable underage issues.

All in all, this was such an enjoyable, charming and heartwarming story with a wonderful and important message about finding out what you really need and want in your life and being brave enough to chase it. It was one of those binge-worthy, happily-ever-after stories that we all need once in a while to brighten up the day! Highly recommended!

Thank you to the author Briar Prescott for the opportunity to read an ARC of this cute little gem! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Briar Prescott

The Da Vinci Code goes queer in this hilarious and thought-provoking story about an ancient artifact that has the power to change the world, a secret organization with connections into the Vatican and a young pastor who is about to question everything he thought he knew. Mostly about himself and his hateful convictions.

Going into this book I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was such a wonderful and entertaining experience! I loved the representation, the slapstick humor and the unique, burlesque and action-filled story. It’s very well written and fast-paced, and deals with a lot of hurtful and serious matters in a humorous yet thought-provoking way.

I’d like to make a trigger warning though about the hurtful homophobic words and behavior of the main character, the young pastor Rick Harris, in the beginning. Rick wasn’t the easiest main character to root for, even though it was clear that his toxic mindset and hateful behavior were sprung from self-loathing drilled into him by his father. But the flashbacks to his pasts made me understand him all the more, and his character really grew on me as the book went along. I also really appreciate the great character growth and how he eventually came to accept himself and start to live his life to the full.

The other colorful and compassionate characters at the camp were all the more easy to love immediately, and I really appreciated how Evan J. Corbin made them feel so real and fleshed out and not stereotypes. Found families is one of my favorite bookish tropes, and Evan J. Corbin certainly delivered on this one!

All in all, this was a highly entertaining, satirical and quirky read that dealt with self-acceptance and self-discovery, homophobia, prejudice and toxic religious beliefs and in a completely unique and refreshing way. Just be aware of the trigger warnings before going into it!

Thank you to Pride Book Tours for the free review copy and book tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Evan J. Corbin

I totally loved this witty, charming, empowering, rivals-to-lovers, banter-making-sparks-fly YA romance about a robot-building High School team! It really took me by surprise how fun and engaging this story was and how much I rooted for the characters! I read it in one sitting, completely hooked.

The story is told in dual POVs from Bel, the smart but quirky girl who has no clue what she wants to do with her life, and Teo, the overachieving captain of both the robotics club and the soccer team who has it all figured out and planned in every detail.

When Bel accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining the robotics club, and has to learn how to navigate in the competitive STEM world without giving up too much of herself in the process. And it doesn’t exactly help that Teo turns out to be so much more than the arrogant, stereotype rich jock she thought he was…

My heart immediately rooted for Teo with his absent yet extremely demanding dad, and all the pressure he himself and everyone around, put on him to be the best in everything. His character growth was amazing to follow and I just wanted for him to be happy. As for Bel, I loved how unique and complex she was as a character and how she was allowed to be both smart and nerdy, creative and quirky, but at the same time indecisive and with low self-esteem. She was such a fleshed out character and it was so relatable how she reacted to the challenges she faced as a girl in the harsh STEM environment and how girls are subject to hidden prejudice even by team mates and teachers who only mean well. I have to admit though, that at times I couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed by her lack of direction and for not even trying to find out what she wanted from life, but it never stopped me from taking her to my heart. I really loved the hilarious banter between Bel and Teo, and how their teasing and arguing made sparks fly, yet allowing for their feelings to evolve at a slow pace.

There were also so many other amazing characters and complicated family dynamics that added so much to this story! And huge kudos to the author Alexene Farol Follmuth for managing the ending to be so satisfactory yet avoiding all pitfalls of cheesiness and predictability!

All in all, this adorable slow burn romance was such a pleasant surprise! Addictive, with funny dialogues and amazing chemistry, and with characters that completely stole my heart! And with an empowering message that hopefully will get more girls into engineering. Highly recommended!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this gem in advance! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4.5 adorable stars rounding up to 5

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My Mechanical Romance will be released on May 31, 2022, by Holiday House.
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Alexene Farol Follmuth

This is the third book in Briar Prescott’s wonderful Better With You series, and just like the previous books, it was a sweet and heartwarming story! I rooted so for the two main characters who were both struggling with shattered dreams and finding a way to deal with the bad things that had happened to them.

When Anders was nineteen and ready to go to college, his mother abandoned the family and he had to give up his own dreams to take care of his younger siblings. Now, he’s turning 30 and has never really done anything for himself. Like dating. Or taking part in a triathlon race (which due to a white lie, his siblings believe to be his biggest dream).

Wells was a successful NHL player at the beginning of his career when he lost his leg, and his future, in a car accident. Now, he’s bitter, lost and broken, and can’t find anything that seems to make life worth living. Not until his old PT asks him to help a friend of his to get ready for a triathlon race.

Starting off on a bad note, with Wells acting as a real dick to get Andes to fire him, the two of them soon find friendship, joy, fun, trust and hope for the future together. But maybe there’s even more than that sparkling between them?

It was such a sweet slow-burn romance (not really an enemies-to-lovers one though, more like “grumpy-to-friends-to-lovers”), and the bantering was hilarious as always in Briar Prescott’s books. I really love her humor and witty writing style!

Compared to Briar Prescott’s other books, this one was perhaps a little less gripping than what I’ve come to expect. Even though both Anders and Wells had been through so much, most of their struggles were just told as a background story and as readers we didn’t fully get to experience their heartbreaking losses. But I nevertheless rooted so much for them and wanted them to get their happy ever after that they so deserved! It was also so wonderful to get to see my favorite persons from the other books and get a chance to be pulled back into their sweet romances again.

So even though it perhaps didn’t quite reach the amazingness of the first two books in the series, The Underdog was nevertheless a sweet, fast-paced, low-angst and highly enjoyable read, that warmed my heart and put a smile on my face!

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Briar Prescott