Never Been Kissed
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4.1 • 53 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Dear (never-been-quite-over-you) Crush,
It's been a few years since we were together,
but I can't stop thinking about the time we almost...
Wren Roland has never been kissed, but he wants that movie-perfect ending more than anything. Feeling nostalgic on the eve of his birthday, he sends emails to all the boys he (ahem) loved before he came out. Morning brings the inevitable Oh God What Did I Do?, but he brushes that panic aside. Why stress about it? None of his could-have-beens are actually going to read the emails, much less respond. Right?
Enter Derick Haverford, Wren's #1 pre-coming-out-crush and his drive-in theater's new social media intern. Everyone claims he's coasting on cinematic good looks and his father's connections, but Wren has always known there's much more to Derick than meets the eye. Too bad he doesn't feel the same way about the infamous almost-kiss that once rocked Wren's world.
Whatever. Wren's no longer a closeted teenager; he can survive this. But as their hazy summer becomes consumed with a special project that may just save the struggling drive-in for good, Wren and Derick are drawn ever-closer…and maybe, finally, Wren's dream of a perfect-kiss-before-the-credits is within reach.
A feel-good summer LGBTQIA+ New Adult RomCom, perfect for fans of Red White & Royal Blue, Boyfriend Material, and What If It's Us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Janovsky debuts with a sweet gay romance that will hit the spot for fans of classic rom-com films. Days before college graduation, 22-year-old movie fanatic Wren Roland drunkenly emails the four boys with whom he almost shared his first kiss to lament the factors that kept them apart. He wakes mortified, but distracts himself from lingering embarrassment by throwing himself into his summer job at a struggling drive-in theater. Then Derick Haverford, Wren's painfully estranged childhood best friend and one of the email's recipients, shows up as the theater's social media intern. Slowly, the pair inch toward reconciliation and Wren's oft dreamed of cinematic first kiss. Meanwhile, Wren works to revitalize the drive-in by tracking down Alice Kelly, a reclusive local director, whose lone feature film, a zombie romance made 40 years before, never had wide release. She agrees to a belated showing at the drive-in if Wren will fix up her dilapidated farmhouse. With Derick's help, Wren plunges into that project and for a while, everything falls into place—until a discovery about the theater's future jeopardizes Wren's happy ending. Charming characters and genuine wit buoy the delightful story, while a thoughtful exploration of Wren's sexuality adds depth. Janovsky is a writer to watch.
Customer Reviews
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