Comp titles of Heartstopper and A Knight’s Tale? Yes, please. Even though it’s hundreds of years after King Arthur, I liked the Camelot setting.

Gwen and Arthur were betrothed at birth – which is unfortunate since they’ve butted heads from the time they could talk and can’t bear to be in each other’s company. As children, their pranks against each other resulted in a broken wrist (which Arthur claims is why he can’t hold a sword properly), clothing set on fire, toads in beds – you get the picture. After Gwen discovers Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur learns of her crush on lady knight Bridget, they unite as allies and cover for each other.

I adored this ensemble cast so much. Arthur and best friend/body guard Sidney’s antics and quips had me laughing out loud. They couldn’t be more loyal to each other. I’m always a fan of snark, and the conversations between Arthur and Gwen are full of it. Gwen wasn’t my favorite at first, but she grew on me as I got to know her. As the kingdom’s only female knight, Bridget is awesome. She’s devoted to her friends but someone you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Gabriel, reluctant future king, animal lover, and library dweller is a character I’d enjoy getting to know better. I’d have loved chapters from his POV. The story also includes a bloody battle near the end, betrayals, and bad guys who aren’t difficult to identify.

I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy light-hearted tales full of humor, strong friendships, and found family. I’ll definitely look for future releases from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Fantastic, witty and a fun queer spin on Arthurian lore. The characters are three-dimensional and the dialogue is witty. Seeing Gwen and Gabriel's queer awakenings (and their developing relationships with Bridget and Arthur) was an absolute joy.

5 enthusiastic stars, I loved it so much, I bought it when it came out!

Thank you Wednesday books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

This story follows a descendant of King Arthur, also named Arthur who is a a future Lord and general gadabout. He has been betrothed to Gwendoline,the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they absolutely loathe each other. They are forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run-up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy, and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen's childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair. They soon realize that they might make better allies than enemies, Gwen and Art make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight, and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen's royal brother. This story is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans.

I enjoyed this one! I thought the characters were so unique yet relatable, even if they are royalty. It was such a fun spin that Gwen and Arthur were able to team up and help each other out. I really liked how unique this story felt. The plot also developed well even though it was definitely a character driven story.

Content: Kiss, spicy scenes, swearing

Read if you enjoy:
A Heart stopper meets A Knight's Tale Story
Enemies to friends
Romance
LGBTQ+ Rep

Queer? Fantasy? Arthurian retelling? Sign me up!!! An amazingly readable queer retelling of arthurian legend that I finished in one sitting. I highly highly recommend this to everyone and frequently find myself hyping it up to people who want a sweet rom-com that's also queer and full of fun.

Overall, cute and sweet! Written with a bold voice, and while the work is not particularly historically accurate, it doesn't set itself up to be, and I found I didn't particularly mind. Delightfully queer and romantic, I couldn't put it down.

I so wanted to love this book, LGBT book set in the middle ages, but it was very character driven with dialogue, and it kept repeating itself. Then in the last part of the book the plot suddenly speed up to the point you had to reread parts. It could have used more editing

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.

GWEN AND ART ARE NOT IN LOVE is an easy, enjoyable read perfect for fans of Casey Mcquiston. While the blurb makes clear that this is not actually an Arthurian retelling, readers going by the title and the cover illustration may still be a bit surprised to realize this. However, if engaged with on its own terms, this is a fun, kindhearted romcom heavy on the friendship and character development side of things.

This was a very fun read! It had a great mix of hijinks and high stakes, balancing out humor with the more serious scenes. I quickly became invested in all of the main characters and was rooting for them from the beginning.

I do wish both of the main romantic relationships had been established more, and that we had seen more of the couples getting to know each other. However, I did love the friendship that we saw develop between Gwen and Art, as well as Gwen and Gabriel's sibling dynamic. The ending also lacked for me, I wish it had been fleshed out a bit more.

All in all it was an enjoyable book and I've already recommended it to friends!

Do you ever feel like a book is written specifically for you? Because that’s how I feel about this book. It had all the tropes and genres I love so much and it got executed perfectly.

Both Gwen and Art were amazing characters. I loved their friendship/rivalry so much. The side characters were great too, there really wasn’t a character I didn’t love. The found family in this was perfect, it’s one of my favorite tropes and the book did a great job with it.

The romance was amazing too. Both couples thankfully got equal page time it seems. The two main romances were very different from each other but both very cute and both had amazing chemistry. There wasn’t a couple I liked less or more.

If I had to have one complaint it would be that the plot in the second half got a little too crazy for me. It lost my interest a little bit. It just went into a direction I wasn’t expecting at all.

Overall I highly recommend this book to anyone and I will definitely be getting a physical copy for myself!

I ate this book up!

Soooo good! So entertaining and fun to read.

I enjoyed it so much and I’m definitely reading more from this author!

I absolutely adored Gwen and Art Are Not in Love. It took me a little bit to get to know the characters but once I did I fell in love with them all. And I didn’t only love the romantic relationships but the friendships as well. I think my favorite duo in the book was Arthur and Sidney. Their friendship was the best with the laughter and banter between them.

This was a fun story about finding and being true to yourself. It doesn’t matter what time period you’re in, you love who you love.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was one of my most highly anticipated reads and it did not disappoint. I love retellings of legends, and this handled it so well with a queer twist. Definitely staff-picking every copy we get in store!

Lex Croucher’s Gwen & Art Are Not In Love was one of my most-anticipated reads of 2023… and I absolutely loved it! It was so romantic as it was hilarious. I’m always down for a good rom-com *cough cough Ali Hazelwood*, and an LGBTQ+ focused one was right up my alley. A brilliant story!

This book was not what I was expecting but let me tell you it was so much better. Loved every minute of this chaotic read. The growth of the characters was brilliant and the pacing of the story was medium so I was neither bored nor stressed about the developments.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun book! It was entertaining and humorous. All of the characters even the side characters are all well-written. Sometimes Gwen and Arthur were frustrating to me but at the same time, I was fully invested in their journey!

There was a lot of queer rep within this story which I LOVED. This book has been compared to Heartstopper and even though they both have a lot of queer rep, I do want to note that this book does have quite a bit of violence that Heartstopper didn't especially towards the last 30% of the book!

Another point I want to make: this isn't a retelling. It's definitely inspired by Arthurian legends and set in the same world but set several generations after the legends we are familiar with.

Overall, I highly recommend this book!

we all need a queer historical retelling in our lives! Do yourself a favor and pick up this one! It was a slow burn but worth while. I loved the vibes, as I'm a huge retellings girlie. This was funny, uplifting, and full of witty humor and dialogue. So great!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The perfect romcom for the summer, an adorable and heartfelt read.

Oddly paced, but I enjoyed the premise. More dialogue heavy than I prefer, but still cute. A good middle grade/YA queer miscommunication romance.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Admittedly, it did take me some time to get into it, and I wasn't feeling the characters in the beginnning. However, as the book went on, I got more involved in the story and more invested in the characters. It felt like a slow burn, but I appreciated the relationship building.

The relationships really make the book shine. Without gettig into spoilers, we look at family relationships, friendships, and three budding romances. I appreciated the dynamics in the different scenarios.

The book was an interesting take on descendants from Arthurian times. This YA book was definitely a fun read, and a fun take on the medieval times. I appreciated the LGBTQIA+ & POC representation.

I'd definitely recommend this book!