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Summary
Summary
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.
A feel-good summer LGBTQIA+ New Adult RomCom, perfect for fans of Red White & Royal Blue, Boyfriend Material, and What If It's Us.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Janovsky debuts with a sweet gay romance that will hit the spot for fans of classic rom-com films. Days before college graduation, 22-year-old movie fanatic Wren Roland drunkenly emails the four boys with whom he almost shared his first kiss to lament the factors that kept them apart. He wakes mortified, but distracts himself from lingering embarrassment by throwing himself into his summer job at a struggling drive-in theater. Then Derick Haverford, Wren's painfully estranged childhood best friend and one of the email's recipients, shows up as the theater's social media intern. Slowly, the pair inch toward reconciliation and Wren's oft dreamed of cinematic first kiss. Meanwhile, Wren works to revitalize the drive-in by tracking down Alice Kelly, a reclusive local director, whose lone feature film, a zombie romance made 40 years before, never had wide release. She agrees to a belated showing at the drive-in if Wren will fix up her dilapidated farmhouse. With Derick's help, Wren plunges into that project and for a while, everything falls into place--until a discovery about the theater's future jeopardizes Wren's happy ending. Charming characters and genuine wit buoy the delightful story, while a thoughtful exploration of Wren's sexuality adds depth. Janovsky is a writer to watch. Agent: Kevin O'Connor, O'Connor Literary. (May)
Kirkus Review
To All the Boys I've Loved Before meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this breezy LGBTQ+ romance. For movie buff Wren Roland, the perfect kiss-before-the-credits scene has a foolproof formula: the right place, the right moment, and the right person. Unlike his sociable best friends, Avery and Mateo, the 22-year-old recent college graduate has never been kissed. Aside from plenty of on-screen kissing lessons from Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the closest Wren's lips have come to another boy's amounts to a series of four "Pre-Coming-Out-Almost-Kisses," the memories of which he preserves safely in an email folder labeled "Tentacle Porn." Instead of wallowing in what could have been, Wren looks forward to his eighth summer in a row working at Wiley's Drive-In, a historical gem in his hometown of Willow Valley, Pennsylvania. As the new manager, Wren plans to help his boss, Earl, keep the establishment afloat by tracking down reclusive local movie director Alice Kelly for a special showing of her one and only film, which hasn't been seen in years. Then a drunken email fiasco disrupts Wren's well-planned summer when he accidentally sends out the four letters he wrote to his almost-kisses, including Derick Haverford, his high school best friend, who ghosted him. As luck would have it, Derick is returning to Willow Valley as Wiley's social media marketing intern. Thrown together in an attempt to save the drive-in and Alice Kelly's directorial reputation, Wren comes to learn that maybe the real thing is even better than the movies. While Janovsky's debut is slightly predictable and many of the characters are prone to over-the-top dramatics, there's a light, airy feeling to the book that's not unlike watching your favorite comfort film. Wren's personal qualms prove relatable and sincere, as when he struggles to define himself as anything other than queer until realizing he's demisexual, and readers will enjoy accompanying him on his early-20s journey. A debut that's as sweet as the Junior Mints at your favorite movie theater. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
For Wren Roland, a kiss is more than just a kiss. That is why, ever since high school, he has been obsessing about the perfect kiss with the perfect boy. However, after graduating from college and starting off the summer as a manager at Wiley's drive-in theater, Wren still remains in a state of kisslessness. All that could change, however, when he discovers that Wiley's new social-media intern is Derick Haverford. Just days earlier, Wren, after a night of one too many birthday libations, sent an ill-considered email to Derick detailing his long-ago, prior-to-coming-out, unrequited love for him. Now, in the aftermath of this digital oopsie, will this be the summer when Wren finally gets his movie-worthy smooch, or will Derick forever be the one who got away? In his sweet and swoon-worthy first novel, Janovsky perfectly captures all the hope and heartache of first love while writing romantic banter worthy of Nora Ephron at her best. Janovsky also delivers a plucky plot that celebrates the power of movies in our lives and the old-fashioned magic of the drive-in theater.
Library Journal Review
DEBUT Janovsky's debut is a fun, lighthearted romantic comedy. Wren Roland is about to turn 22 and has never been kissed. The night before his birthday, he drunkenly writes emails to all the boys he had crushes on before he came out. Morning comes with panic when Wren realizes what he's done, but he reasons that there's no way all the boys will read his emails…right? Wrong! There's handsome and wealthy Derick Haverford, who was Wren's biggest crush in high school--and nearly his first kiss. Derick happens to be spending the summer interning alongside Wren at the town's failing drive-in theater. Wren believes he can survive the summer without falling for Derick, but the two grow close trying to save the drive-in. Will Wren lose his head over Derick once again and have his movie-perfect first kiss? VERDICT Readers will appreciate Wren and Derick's banter and will clamor for them to finally kiss. Fans of Red, White & Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material will also enjoy this title.--Anna Kallemeyn