Blurb

College law student, Connor, is a bit pretentious, high-strung and what some might describe as being cold as ice. After catching his boyfriend cheating on him and then being dumped, Connor decides to take his best friend Byron up on his offer for a summer gaycation experience to Fire Island.

While at Fire Island, Connor reevaluates his identity and goes through a deep soul searching experience to truly understand himself. While on vacation, he befriends a stranger named Lawrence, who encourages Connor to open up more and become lively. Lawrence proposes that Connor completes a series of wild, fun tasks, which he dubs as the Fire Island Ice Queen Challenge to get Connor to come out of his shell more. Will this frivolous and boisterous vacation at Fire Island be enough to melt the heart of this Ice Queen?

Review

What a delightful story of self-discovery! The story follows Connor who is a tad stuck up and a bit of a prude, who catches his boyfriend Derrick cheating on him. Connor is then subsequently dumped by the cheating jerk. When Connor’s friends offer to take him to Fire Island to help him forget his woes and speed up the healing process, he agrees. There, he examines his identity and decides he’s not completely happy with how other people see him. So he embarks on a quest to open up more and enjoy life — and to prove to himself that he isn’t the person that others see him as.

I loved how Connor’s character grew throughout the story as he began to discover who he was — and what better place to do it than Fire island? In fact, I thought the book also really captured the magic of Fire Island, which I appreciated. There were plenty of zany antics and witty banter in the story which were a lot of fun, and I caught myself smiling and chuckling on more than one occasion.

I loved the idea of Connor finding himself with the help of someone who sees through Connor’s “icy” facade, and I enjoyed traveling with Connor as he began to open up and blossom.

All in all, this ended up being a sweet and sexy heart-tugger of a love story that I really enjoyed. The fast-paced plot makes for an engaging read, and from the very first chapter, I was fully immersed in the narrative. If you like witty banter and wild, rollicking shenanigans, this is the book for you.

A huge thank you to BookSirens for providing a review copy of this book.

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Blurb

A secret crush leads to not-so-secret romance in this delightful romantic comedy from Kris Ripper

There are three things you need to know about Preston “PK” Kingsley:

1) He’s a writer, toiling in obscurity as an editorial assistant at a New York City publishing house.

2) He is not a cliché. No, really.

3) He’s been secretly in love with his best friend, Art, since they once drunkenly kissed in college.

When Art moves in with PK following a bad breakup, PK hopes this will be the moment when Art finally sees him as more than a friend. But Art seems to laugh off the very idea of them in a relationship, so PK returns to his writing roots—in fiction, he can say all the things he can’t say out loud.

In his book, PK can be the perfect boyfriend.

Before long, it seems like the whole world has a crush on the fictionalized version of him, including Art, who has no idea that the hot new book everyone’s talking about is PK’s story. But when his brilliant plan to win Art over backfires, PK might lose not just his fantasy book boyfriend, but his best friend.

Review

This is my first Kris Ripper novel, and now I’m a new fan!

Book Boyfriend follows PK, who has been in love with Art, his best friend, for five years but has never told him about his feelings. So when Art moves in with PK following a nasty breakup, PK hopes that this might be the first step in them getting together. But PK can find the words to let Art know how he feels, so he writes a thinly veiled romance novel about his love for Art in what PK feels is a “Grand Gesture.” Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned, and his gesture has the opposite effect — leaving PK has to scramble and pick up the pieces. Apparently, those super grand romantic gestures you see in rom-coms rarely work that well in real life.

This was such a fun novel! And by fun, I mean laugh-out-loud funny in places. Book Boyfriend had amazing banter and incredible chemistry between the two main characters. The story is told entirely through PK’s POV, and it was fun following his often convoluted and chaotic inner monologue. His humorous inner monologue had me chuckling on more than a few occasions. That being said, I loved the writing style, and it worked perfectly for me.

What I also loved about the story was the peek into the world of writing and publishing. In fact, the entire novel is about books and is heaven for the book-lover: Art works in an indie bookstore, PK works for a publishing house, and then PK writes a romance novel. I also enjoyed PK’s insecurities about writing — his fear of both failure and success, feelings that many writers will relate to.

The romance is an extremely slow burn with a lot of pining going on. It ended up being so sweet, heartwarming, and oozing with romance. I really cared about PK and Art making it to a happy ending and felt that the journey that takes them there is utterly satisfying. Though the plot was a tad quirky and over-the-top at times, the realism of their romance and the well-written narrative held it steady.

Both characters are engaging and likable, rendering the story all that much more enjoyable. Oh, and just to let you know, there is no sex in this story, so if you’re looking for steam and spice, you won’t find it here. But what you will find is a charming and compelling romance that I loved from beginning to end. Recommended!

A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy of this book.

Blurb:

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.

Review

I absolutely fell in love with this new adult queer summer romance. This rom-com was so much fun and had me laughing out loud many times! I especially appreciated the fact that the story revolves around a Drive-In (remember those?) where I used to spend a lot of time as a teenager. I also appreciated the demisexual representation in the story, something we don’t often see in romance novels. I loved watching Wren explore his sexuality and figure himself out, all the while waiting for that elusive first kiss.

This book totally entranced me, and I loved the story the author tells here. I always like the trope of the “childhood crush reentering the picture,” and it was exceptionally well done in this story. It warmed my heart to see how patient, compassionate and supportive Derick was toward Wren and thought the chemistry between them was perfect.

All in all, I loved this wonderful, heart-tugger of a love story. Half love story and half identity quest, Timothy Janovsky’s “Never Been Kissed” is 100 percent beautiful. It’s a big, beautiful novel with depth and a huge heart, and the story swept me up from the first page to the last. Derick and Wren are the couple everyone will fall in love with: funny, flawed, endearing, determined, a little bit angsty, and totally real. A sweet, comforting read with just the right amount of angst, and I give this one all the stars.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy of this book. Expected publication is May 3, 2022.

Purchase Never Been Kissed from Amazon