Ahhh a title shared with a truly delightful Drew Barrymore classic but not executed quite as well (but that is some tough competition)

It didn’t take long for me to determine that Wren is a picky betch. Like too picky. Annoyingly picky. Just get it over with. I love a good kiss as much as the next person, but the first one is kind of awkward and uncomfortable. Wren built this magical kiss in his head way too much and only annoyed me with his expectations.

I loved the supporting characters in Wren’s finding himself adventure, they were the true heroes bringing all kinds of colour and delight to the book!

Overall, a cute story and enjoyable!

3.5 Stars rounded up

Never Been Kissed was the easy, fun, cute rom-com that I was hoping it would be. I loved the setting of an old drive-in theater and trying to preserve it's history for generations to come as well as the funny Instagram banter that made me genuinely laugh out loud.

At first I was not so sure about a plotline of trying to over plan and romanticize a first kiss. However, as the story went on there was more depth to that decision, which was really intriguing and helped me learn something as well. I found the characters were likeable overall, but a bit juvenile and at times it felt more like a YA novel than an adult rom com.

I really enjoyed the narration, I think he really brought the book to life and made it entirely entertaining. The audiobook version itself cut off at points and would jump to another sentence or part in the chapter, and it was a bit confusing when getting into the flow of listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Full review to come to my IG @manis.and.manuscripts before release day May 3!

3.5 Stars

This is a sweet queer romantic comedy. In some ways it does read more as YA than New Adult. Newly graduated from college, and only 22 years-old, many of the characters come across as very young—especially main character Wren. His coming-of-age tale is hitting a little later in life than it does for some. Recently out of the closet, but never-been-kissed, an intoxicated Wren wraps his 22nd birthday by sending off emails to the almost-kiss partners of his past. Think emails previously written à la the letters in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. One goes to his former best friend, who ghosted him freshman year of college, and who, unbeknownst to Wren, will be working at the drive-in movie theater that Wren will be managing that summer. Over the course of the summer, we see them tentatively grow their friendship again and then watch as it turns into something more.

Wren is in the process of figuring out himself–who he is, what he wants, what he is comfortable with–and struggles with finding his confidence. I like the openness and vulnerability conveyed in the story, and Mark Sanderlin’s narration does a fantastic job of capturing those aspects of Wren. His narration endears Wren to the reader.

For me personally, the pacing of the narration was just a tad slow, and I increased the speed to 1.25x. Also, my audio file glitched on several chapters.

Likes:
- How Wren fights to save the drive-in
- Derick’s willingness to let Wren set the pace in their relationship
- The cute interstitial Instagram posts
- Brandon, Mateo’s boyfriend, and his insightfulness
- Open and frank discussions of demisexualism
- How Wren and Derick ingratiate themselves into Alice’s life and while, initially it is partially selfishly motivated, they do form a bond with her
- Derick’s supportive sister-in-law

Content warnings: homophobia, loss, grief, death of a loved one (past), classism, familial obligation, family tension

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

"To All the Boys I've Loved Before" meets "Boyfriend Material" meets your favorite cheesy 90's romcoms

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Here's what I liked about this book: drive-in movie theater nostalgia; queer identity questions and demisexual rep(!); queer characters everywhere; a delightfully unexpected appearance of the "only one bed" trope; a sweet coming of age feel; lots of overt and subtle movie references littered throughout (is the book title a reference to the 1999 Drew Barrymore movie??)

This was a cute story and, on the surface, there was a lot to like. I certainly had high hopes going in. Unfortunately, I didn't love this book, and I contemplated DNF-ing it several times (though I ended up finishing it). I didn't feel emotionally invested in a single character. Not one. All of them, including the MC Wren and love interest Derick, felt... flat. Underdeveloped. There was potential for really dynamic, interesting characters, but I'm sorry to say that they fell short for me. Wren and Derick actually reminded me pretty strongly of Felix and Ezra, respectively, from "Felix Ever After" - except a cardboard cutout version of them. For example, whereas I felt invested in and touched by Felix's journey to understand his gender identity, the discussion of Wren's questions about his sexuality felt shortchanged to me. The entire FIRST HALF of the book, I thought Wren's "never been kissed" thing was a cutesy, cheesy trope a la '90s romcom. But then we find out that Wren is legitimately unsure of his sexuality - even after he's come out as gay - and that he feels confused, uncertain, left behind, and kind of isolated because of it? I think the writing did this aspect of Wren's character a huge disservice. Wren's queer identity didn't feel explored (assuming that was the goal) throughout the book. It felt like it *should* have been a core part of the story and like it was supposed to be... but instead it felt sort of glossed over. This seemed like a missed opportunity to add depth to this otherwise very cute, sweet read.

The characters are recent college grads, on the cusp of "real" adulthood, but they read quite a bit younger to me. I mean, Matteo absolutely came off more like a spoiled, petulant teenager than a 22-year-old. Similarly, Wren's "nothing you say can make it better!" response when he finds out about the drive-in's impending fate screams YA character to me. Other than the fact that the characters are technically "New Adult" age, nothing about this book says that it is a New Adult book. Every single thing about it gives off YA vibes to me. (Not that that's a bad thing; I love YA books!) I think this story and these characters would have been much better served if it were set either in the summer before senior year of high school or the summer after high school graduation. I also think the drive-in theater setting and the "save the theater" plot would have fit better with high school-aged characters.

Don't get the wrong idea here - I certainly didn't hate this book. It's cute, sweet, light, bubbly. It's perfect fluff for when you need that kind of book, and we all need it sometimes. I enjoyed the second half MUCH better than I did the first. And we need more LGBTQ+ Own Voices books, and LGTBQ+ authors deserve to have their own stories published and read and loved. I'm just sad to say that I didn't love this particular one.

Regarding the audiobook itself, the narrator fit very well with Wren's introverted, sweet, unsure personality. I strongly disliked the narrator's portrayal of Alice Kelly, however. The voicing of her character made her seem like a cliche (like, crotchety spinster/crazy woman in the woods), and I'm not here for that, especially since part of the conversation around her movie revolved around the unfair treatment of women directors at the time it was made.

😍😍😍😍 This was too stinking cute!!

When I first starting listening to Never Been Kissed, I wrote it off as a dramatic queer take on the movie, Never Been Kissed, with bits of To All The Boys I Ever Loved sprinkled in. And believe me when I say I have never been happier to be proven wrong. While this read does share some similarities, it is an incredibly adorable summer read about discovering yourself on your own terms at your own pace. I FN LOVED the LGBTIA+ representation. Yall know we stan a book that shines light on underrepresented groups. If you are looking for a feel-good summer romcom, this will not disappoint.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this arc! This is definitely my favorite arc so far!

This one is for fans of To all the boys I loved before and The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!

"One kiss can cause a lot of trouble" So Wren Roland has never had his first. He has had a few maybe and has always wondered about the what ifs. One night before graduation, after having a little too much to drink Wren sends four emails to the boys he almost kissed. Hoping they won't reply Wren tries to go on with graduating. That's when he gets a reply from Derek Haverford, his bestie from High School who for some reason ghosted him during their freshman year of college.

Wren believes in happily ever afters, in the big kiss at the end of the movie, because that is why Wren does, he eat sleeps and breaths movies. He even has been working at the amazing little drive in, Wiley's in his home town since he could hold a job. This year he has worked his way up to manager and nothing is going to stop him from doing his best, in steps Derek.. He has been hired to help Wiley's start their social media channels and draw in more attention to the dying drive in. Having to be around Derek after sending the email isn't what Wren wanted for his last summer before "Adult Life" but maybe working things out with Derek won't be the worst thing after all.

This is and adorable second chance romance about figuring out what you want to do with life, standing up for what you believe in and figuring out who you are. Even when you have it figured out, it is always changing. That is one of the things I loved most about this book. Is that it talks about sexuality on a spectrum and that it is always moving and changing. How as queer people we are always having to come out from the second we figure one thing out about ourselves to when we figure something else out. This was a beautiful homage top cinema and an absolutely feel good book.

Cw/tw
Death
Misogny
homophobia
car accident
grief
classism
alcohol
ace phobia

I wish I could have gotten through this book easily. I loved the story in the beginning, however, there are some problems with how the audiobook is cut that just made it too difficult to get through. The audio was continuously jumping from different parts in the chapter, and by chapter 5, I was ready to give up. I'd love to read this book when it comes out, but there needs to be some serious work when it comes to the audiobook.

It pains me to give this 2 stars as I really wanted to enjoy Never Been Kissed. However, I felt that marketing this book as "for fans of Red White & Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material" set the bar way too high, which led it to ultimately fall flat. When you think of rwrb and boyfriend material, you think of solid fleshed out side characters who can stand on their own, of prose that makes you laugh and your heart squeeze, and scenes that stick with you for months after you put the book down - I didn't really get that here. The premise of the book has so much potential, but maybe I'm just a grinch who just failed to connect with it. However, I really enjoyed the aspec rep and themes of figuring out who you are even in your twenties and beyond.

The audiobook narration was really enjoyable though! Brought the book to life!

I felt like reading this book might have been one of the first times I saw myself in a rom-com. I read romance novels and watch movies all the time but as someone who is ace, I didn't always fully grasp why people in the books and movies acted the way they did. I think that this book is a fantastic representation of growing up queer and wanting to feel "normal" and wanting there to be some kind of script when it comes to relationships but everything never working out. But then it does work and it's not on a script and it makes it even better somehow. There is such absolute love that you see Wren has in all of the other parts of his life; his love for his family, job, friends, and film in general even before the rom-com kicks into gear literally had me smiling like a fool.

I also cannot overstate my love for Alice and her story with Tammy even if it is in the past. I love doing research on parts of queer history that were buried or not talked about and this definitely scratched that itch. It's also great to see her grow to care about Wren and Derrick and find her place in the world and love for movies again. It created this really great message of how friendships and found families form.

OMS, I positively adored this book! The characters are sweetly written, and their relationship growth is so cute. Combine that with summer heat and movies, and great friends, and what more could you want? I was a bit worried at the beginning that it would be "just" a gay, exact match to To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but it's a solid, sweet romcom in its own right. I've already preordered my own copy, and can't wait for book #2!

My thanks to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this delightful title.

Wren Roland is the newly named manager at the local drive-in cinema and he's also never been kissed. Enter Derick Haverford. He's Wren's new social media intern for the cinema and also happens to be his #1 pre-coming-out-crush. Eek! This was such a cute story of young love, self discovery, and finding friendship in unlikely places. So much more to this story than just a romance plot, so I highly suggest you check it out.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really adored this story! I feel like we need more New Adult stories like this, because stories about early twenties disasters tend to fall between the cracks of YA and Adult literature, and these stories are so important! I really loved Wren and how he was coming to terms with who he was, past coming out as gay. I liked how he was discovering the nuances of who he was, how demi felt so right to him and how he finally understood why he always pulled away before each kiss.

I loved the To All the Boys I've Loved Before-esque sending letters (emails) to past loves thing and how that went. That was kind of an adorable setup for a queer story and made me so dang happy. I really adored Avery and Mateo and what great friends they were and how supportive they were of Wren. I adored Mateo and Brandon and how they became an actual thing and how Brandon was the one to give Wren the words to describe how he felt.

I really liked Derick and how he was also still coming to terms with himself, how the two of them were working through things together, how they had both been such chaotic messes when they had known each other before, and how they got this second chance to get to know each other and make things work. I really loved these two and how sweet they both were, and how they finally talked about the reasons why they had fallen apart the first time.

I really loved the whole thing with Alice and her movie and how Wren was able to bring it back to life and how it resonated with him. I loved everything about this lovely, hilarious book and how great the characters were, and how Wren was figuring out what his future looked like. This was grand and I definitely recommend it!

Fun, sweet, rom-com, heartfelt, drive-in, movies, new adult, coming of age, nostalgia, LGBTQIA.

I adored this book, it was sweet and fun, a great summer read. Wren fresh out of college is looking to find out what his path is next, both personally and professionally. He reconnects with an estranged childhood friend, Derick, on the job site at the local Drive-In where Wren, has worked and loved his entire life. There are quite a few things that unfold in this story, Wren and Derick's past and why they fell out, Wren's wants and need to have his first kiss and love, Derick’s family struggles, Wren’s acclimation to adult life, a recluse director wrongfully shunned in the ’70s, the Drive-In’s future and Wren’s future. Though a lot is going on Janovsky was able to weave everything together while unfolding all the key pieces in such a masterful way that the story doesn’t get bogged down or feel too chaotic. There were tears and laughter and adorable romantic moments.

Such a fantastic book. Fun and heartfelt with a bit of mystery. Wren and Derick are absolutely adorable! Also, shoutout to Mark Sanderlin, you did a fantastic job with the different character voices.

Special thank you to #NetGalley, #TimothyJanovsky and #DreamscapeMedia for sharing this digital copy, this is my honest thoughts on #NeverBeenKissed also, a thank you to narrator #MarkSanderlin.

Recent film grad Wren is spending the summer managing a struggling drive-in theater. Unknown to him, the owner has also hired Wren's ex-friend and former high school crush, Derrick. The two renew their friendship while working to make the drive-in financially solvent. When secrets come to light, will they wreck Wren and Derrick's burgeoning romance?

This sweet romance is cute and sometimes charming. It reads more like young adult than new adult. Wren is awkward and self-involved, and doesn't show a lot of insight into the people around him. As a result, he makes a lot of mistakes despite his good intentions, and has to make amends. Derrick is incredibly patient with him. Because Wren is demi, he expresses a lot of emotion, but not much sensuality. There's a disconnect between what he thinks he wants and what he actually wants.

I appreciated the demi representation, but not the ageism (specifically, Wren's characterization of Alice as pitiable despite evidence of her strength, and the suggestion that people in their fifties and sixties are decrepit). Other than that, it's an enjoyable read. The narration by Mark Sanderlin is fantastic.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

4.5 rounded up! I listened to the majority of this book on audiobook, but also read some of it and I loved it! The narrator was great and the story was about so much more than I expected!! I can't wait for book 2 in the series, You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince!

Read this if you love:
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQIA+ representation
🌈 Demi representation
🎥 Drive-in movie theaters
👬 Fabulous best friends!
🎤 A great narrator!

Huge thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca & Dreamscapes Media for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 Stars

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for an ALC of this book and to SourceBooks for an arc.

Wren has always wanted a perfect first kiss, but something has always gotten in the way. When he drunkenly sends out old email drafts written to his almost-kisses, he gets a reply from Derick, his ex-best friend, who he finds out will be working with him at the drive in all summer.

I really loved this! It was cute and wholesome and enjoyable but also had some really well-written representation. I particularly love the way Wren's demisexuality is written. So often, people describe being ace as not having the desire for sexual relationships and it always really bothers me. Like Wren, you can have the desire to have a relationship without necessarily feeling that attraction. I think this is written very well with Wren's fixation on the perfect first kiss but also the way he keeps getting in his own way because he actually doesn't feel ready. I love when he discovers his label. I always tear up when an ace character is introduced to the concept of asexuality for the first time.

The plot of this one is really fun and I love the drive-in theater setting. I also enjoyed the plot with Alice and making sure her movie finally gets viewed. Overall very wholesome and enjoyable!

Content Warnings
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Death
Minor: Grief, Car accident, and Classism

OMG what a charming book!!! Did you read *To All the Boys I've Loved Before* and think, "I wish this were a little queerer and a little older, and also with a plot about an older woman director and the ways that misogyny and queerphobia impacted her life?" Well, you are in luck, because have i ever got the book for you!

This book was just so sweet, fun and joyful with just the right amount of stress to keep you reading, full of likable and messy early 20s queers trying to figure out how friends and family and future goals and relationships and identity and independence all work together (which as a former early 20s queer tracks for me). Felt very coming of age in a way that didn't make me cover my eyes in secondary embarrassment.

Also it was narrated by Mark Sanderlin, who did NOT whisper every time someone had feelings, which is my general issue with men who narrate books.

This was a NetGalley ARC but i mean everything i say!

This is a sweet queer new adult romance. Wren is at a crossroads in his life - newly graduated from college and not quite sure where his film studies degree is going to take him, other than a final summer at the Drive In he's worked at since he was 15. He's starting to embrace himself as a person - but still hasn't moved quite as far as he thought he would down the path of relationships and physical intimacy. After too much to drink on his 22nd birthday he sends the e-mails he wrote but never intended to send to the boys he almost kissed. One of those e-mails goes to his high school best friend Derrick. The best friend who ghosted him during their first year of college. It turns out that Derick had been struggling with his sexuality and how that fit in to his wealthy, conservative family image. Derrick breaks the news to Wren that he's going to be doing an internship at the drive in over the summer to build up his skills as social media manager. Derrick and Wren start to reclaim their friendship and it quickly turns in to more. But those changes have to happen among all the other changes happening in their lives. While they navigate uncertain futures.

I had some significant issues with the first half of the book. It felt very very young to me - more high school than recent college graduates. I also felt the immaturity of Wren and Derrick in a major way. They are both 22 - and that is definitely a really hard stage of life - but it didn't come across well for either of them. By the end of the book - I understood who important that was to show their growth as people - but it still made if hard for me to push through. I also didn't love the overly augmented prose - those 50 cent words are overused to a major degree.

Overall - I enjoyed it and the overall angst level was fairly low for a new adult book. I listened to the audio version of the book and it was well narrated and entertaining.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.....

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced copy.

I thought I was going to read another boy meets boy typical story. When it first started it was very Drew Barrymore "Never Been Kissed" mixed with "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." However this book was more than that, It was more than I expected!

I loved film references and loved the drive-in aspect. I would have loved to work at a drive-in with my friends. Speaking of friends, Wren's roommates are the absolute best! They allow Wren to be innocent without letting him get out of touch with reality. I loved the epilogue and I can't wait for the next book in the series.

CW: fatal car accident

This was cute. I have to say I think I prefer sapphic romances to gay romances but I think that's solely based on the fact that I'm a lesbian woman. 😂 I think this needed more smut too. I think that was one thing that was lacking for me, for sure. The audiobook cut out at times, but it's an ARC so I just hope that issue is fixed when the finished audiobook comes out. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.