I recently joined Fangirlish as a Books contributor, and my first review is live!

Check out my full review of NEVER BEEN KISSED by Timothy Janovsky (May 3, 2022) at the link in my bio or in the comments.

I’m always on the hunt for a good New Adult novel, and with comparisons to Red, White & Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material, I was eager to dive into Never Been Kissed. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver.

SYNOPSIS

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 number 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 MARVELLOUS LIGHT (The Last Binding #1)

by Freya Marske

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known. Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

This book had all my favorite things - magic, mystery, and m/m romance, all in Edwardian England. The world building was intricate, the characters vivid, and the romance steamy. Marske's dry humor and piercing turns of phrase were delightful, and the mysterious magical history at the heart of the novel intriguing. I can't wait to learn more about this fascinating world, and see more of Robin and Edwin (though it looks like book two will focus more on Robin's sister Maud, which I am here for!), in A RESTLESS TRUTH (11/1/22). (PS - The reason for the snowflakes will become clear pretty quickly once you start reading ❄️😉)

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