Incredibly fluffy and soft book. Loved the demisexual rep in this book. For me it's what made it worth while. Loved the slow burn and that the story is not revolving around the romance.

This rom-com was just what I wanted it to be and more! Reading about Wren and Derrick was fun and funny. Being able to “go on this adventure of self-discovery” with Wren was enjoyable thanks to Janovsky’s writing.

I instantly got “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” vibes from this, except a gay version and there are no letters to past loves, but emails to four guys Wren almost kissed. Never Been Kissed is a light-hearted, fun read where we meet Wren, a twenty-two year old who’s been waiting for a special moment to give away his first kiss. Enters Derick - former best friend who he crushed on hard, but also the friend who ghosted Wren when they went off to college.


Admittedly, I was a Derick fan from the start. Why? I’m not quite sure. He ghosted his best friend and didn't reciprocate any mutual feelings to Wren but I saw great things and I was not wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. In addition to the cutesy romance, Wren struggles with an identity crisis throughout the novel and being labelled gay. Wren isn’t sure if this suits him and his sexuality best - but he’s relatively fresh out the closet and he just isn’t sure. I love how this was executed and represented.


A little side note: I received an eARC of Never Been Kissed however I struggled to get into the book so I listened to the audiobook instead. Mark Sanderlin did a wonderful job with narration - I've never listened to his work before and I enjoyed the uniqueness of his voice.

This didn't end up being the right fit for me, so I'm unable to review. However, I enjoyed the drive-in setting and Alice Kelly's story.

I was so excited to read this book but I think it isn't for me. I can't for the love of god get more into this book. I liked the storyline, I liked the cover, I liked the writing style. But I just couldn't read it. It put me in a reading slump.

Absolutely adorable. I loved every minute of reading and now I want to go cuddle at a drive-in movie.

What a fun, sweet and lighthearted book! I really want to keep Timothy Janovsky on my radar for the author's upcoming books in the future. I loved the messaging as well as the relationship. Loved the fun and relatable characters.

“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime 56-carat blue diamond, and I’m not about to let him slip from my hand and sink to the bottom of the ocean.
This time, I’ll hold on tight.”

In this fun, light-hearted rom-com we meet Wren. A big movie lover and romanticiser of life. He’s been saving his first kiss for something special, but when he turns 22 he decides to finally get his first kiss this summer. In a drunken mood, he starts thinking about all the almost-first kisses he had… and wakes up having sent four emails to the guys he almost kissed! One of them to his former best friend and first big love Derick, who has ghosted him since they started college. To Wren’s surprise, he answers and that’s when he learns that Derick also happens to be in town working at the same local drive-in movie theatre… and that's when all the things in Wren's life spiral out of control.

I loved this book from start to finish! I instantly connected with Wren and that made me want to keep reading. Then Derick entered the screen (pun was definitely intended ;)) and from that point I was completely sold! They were both so much fun, complex and so adorable. Their banter was the best thing ever and while reading I couldn’t stop smiling.

The side characters were amazing, the plot was fun to follow, really liked the side plot with Alice and I loved the drive-in movie theatre as the setting!

During the events of the book, Wren is struggling with himself and his identity in such an honest and raw way. This exploration of his identity was so well-executed. It really shows that labels are only that and that only the individual can decide who they are. Wren’s journey is such a good representation and I think it can help so many people with figuring themselves out and there is nothing more beautiful than that!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cute m/m NA rom-com that reads more like YA where our protagonists find their true selves and believe in their ability to make a difference while saving a local drive-in. Unfortunately the book doesn't give either the budding second chance relationship, or the second chance needed for the drive-in enough focus so that both plot lines falter. I didn't feel any connection between our MCs other than the occasional "he's so hot" and sweet but ho-hum romantic gestures. I was more interested in the saving the drive-in plot line and wished it was more of a focus in the story.

This is such a cute and lovely romcom! And to think I almost DNF'd it!!!! I think that it took me a second to get into because I wasn't a huge fan of the main character Wren's friends at first. However, I quickly warmed up to them, and everything became 10x better when the love interest appeared. Derick and Wren are adorable and I loved reading about the progression of their relationship. I also loved Alice, the badass female film director who's film may finally get a second chance.

If you like romcoms, films, and reading about the exploration of identity, then I definitely recommend you pick this one up!

This one could not be any more adorable! Loved the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before with a queer twist and the balance between sweet and heavier issues and topics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablance for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this one to be honest with you. I wanted to read it because of the demisexual rep, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the story. And then I got into it and it was so much more than I expected! For starters, I adored Wren. He is awkward and nervous, but so passionate and kind. I adored watching him be passionate about movies and Wiley’s.

I really liked the discussion about growing up and being your own person. It was really nice to see Wren and his friends exploring what to do next with their lives and where to go next after finishing university. I also liked that there was a lot of discussion about choosing your own path even if other people don’t understand what that path might be. I also really liked how there was a lot of discussion about being open and honest and working on communication.

I really liked the discussion about demisexual and the way Wren and his friends discussed sexuality and supported each other. I think it was really nice to see Wren’s friends supporting him through his self-discovery. I really enjoyed how it was not treated as something that needed to be deeply understood, past explaining the definition and then accepting that, that is just how Wren is.

This book made me cry in the end, which I was not expecting. Just watching Wren and his friends overcome things to support his passion and his goals was so heartwarming. I adored this book and definitely need to reread it.

The book is sweet and there's a very diverse cast of characters. It reads like YA, and maybe it's my fault for expecting something different, but I was a bit disappointed.
I DNF half way through, as infortunately, the book wasn't working for me. I think it can work for a lot of people, maybe it wasn't the right time for me to read it.

The cover was unappealing and the book was better but it never significantly caught my attention. Nothing big wrong with it, just not for me. I never connected with the romance.

This new adult romance completely took me by surprise!
It had all the cuteness and coziness needed in a romance. From the likeable characters to the demisexual representation, this has become a new comfort read for me and i definitely recommend it to everyone.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me of an arc in exchange for a honest review.

"to all the boys i've loved before" in a gay version! sign me up!!!! perfect summer second chance romance for a great summer weekend.

we get all the best things we need in a sweet, ya romance book. bits of laugh, bits of cry and bits of happiness.
great queer representations - gay, demisexual, lesbian, bisexual and drag queens! i actually can't believe that i stumbled across demisexual representation and it made my heart go boom because that's the label i identify with.

the story itself is really good, the introduction of wren and derick is simple and yet perfect, you can relate to wren quite a lot which makes this book more enjoyable with each chapter.
i've been meaning to read more small town romances and even though it it's the main focus here we get that too! another main point in the book is to help the drive-in that wren loves since it's been struggling financially, that's where things can get tricky but i don't want to spoil too much!
another great character that brings out the great vibes is alice kelly - the amazing movie director who's been away from the film community for a long time and wren is very determined to showcase her last film she made few decades later. their friendship is a really nice touch in the story for sure!

but coming back to derick and wren, their love story is a second chance love story, which isn't something that i go for a lot but it was really good! it didn't feel wrong or forced, it was an innocent, a bit confusing coming of age story with great loving moments.

overall, i will want to see maybe a continuance to the story once again or maybe another book set in the same place as this one since i really loved it! i'm already waiting for another book from Timothy Janovsky!

rating: 4.5* - excellent! loved this one but maybe had one or two small flaws.

Wren Roland has never been kissed, he is waiting for the perfect movie moment but he is still waiting. He sends emails all the boys he “loved” before and ends up with a response from his Derick Haverford his first pre coming out crush who just ghosted him when they started college. It is the summer after graduating college and Wren is back at his summer job as Manager at the Drive in which he loves and hopes to own one day and in walks Derick who is the new social media manager that his boss neglected to tell him he hired. The drive in isn’t making as much as it used to with everything being streamed and Derick is there to try to drum up business and make sure it doesn’t go out of business. While doing this of course they start to get closer together and Wren realizes something about his own sexuality and why he hasn’t been able to actually kiss anyone and that he needs more than physical attraction to be able to do that. I really loved this book and I loved that movie aspect of it since I worked at a movie theater for a couple years so this made me nostalgic for that. This was a really great and fast read and I can’t wait to read his next book.

Thanks Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

I loved the LGBTQIA + rep in this book (especially the demisexual rep as I'm an asexual myself and is rare to find in romance stories!) and the characters were likeable and well fleshed out.

The story itself was what let this book down for me sadly. It dragged on and by the 3/4 mark I felt bored of reading and really wasn't enjoying myself.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

WOW, I really didn't expect this from the book. It was a very pleasant surprise.
The characters were memorable, the dialogues were done in a good way.
This story will stay with me forever.

this was one of the most fun books I've read and I'm so happy i was granted this ARC because it got me out of my reading slump. Its fun, its fresh and its SOOOO swoony. i needed a good romcom and this filled the void with such good tropes: ESTRANGED BFFS TO LOVERS, do i need to say more?? other tropes also included: only one bed. the exploration of demisexuality in this, the nuance with lived experience was so fun. most importantly it was about queer joy, queer love both romantic and platonic and i loved every second of it.