It was a fine new adult book. Good demi representation. A little slow for my taste but perfect for those that don’t like spice in the romance.

4.5/5 Stars

This is one of those books where I read the synopsis and immediately knew I would be reading it. A queer romance that revolves around saving a drive-in? Yes, please! I grew up going to the drive-in and some of my best memories from high school revolve around my friend group piling into a couple of pickup trucks and going to see the newest releases. Never Been Kissed is the debut novel of Timothy Janovsky and it incorporated so many of the tropes I love! I would describe it as a coming-of-age, second chance romance and it was utterly delightful!

This book was the queer version of To All The Boys I've Loved Before that so many of us wanted. Wren Roland is still waiting to have his first kiss and he wants it to be movie perfect. Unfortunately, real life is not like the movies. After a disastrous birthday party, Wren drunkenly decides to send the emails he has written to the four guys he's almost kissed. The next morning brings regret and embarrassment of the OMG! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!? variety and it was so perfectly done!

Timothy Janovsky packed a lot into its 288 pages. Not only was there the romance and save the drive-in plots, this book was an exploration of the uncertainty that defines the transition from college student stage of life to the working adult stage. Wren and his friends have dreams but also have no idea how to achieve said dreams now that they have their respective degrees. Working at the drive-in is supposed to be their last hoorah before moving on to a 9-5 job. What Wren wasn't expecting was having to work with his former best friend who ghosted him freshmen year and one of the email recipients.

I loved the romance so much! Wren and Derrick have a lot of baggage and watching them work through it and start to fall for each other was *chef's kiss*. It was a little more dramatic than I am used to reading but it fit the story. I've seen mixed reviews on the Alice plot of the story and personally I loved the whole thing! Watching Wren and Alice both come out of their shells and learn to love other people was so heartwarming!

This story was also a beautiful and relatable exploration of what it means to be queer. And had the resounding message that it is okay to take your time. There is no deadline that you have to have your identity figured out by or that you have to hit any romance milestones by. Wren has figured out part of his identity but feels like gay is only the beginning of who he is. Labels are so important and when he finds that last missing piece of his identity so many things and past experiences fall into place. Wren's experience learning about the ace spectrum paralleled my own experience so much. I have started to see myself more and more in the queer books that have been released recently but this one made me feel so fully seen that I cried a few tears. Thanks for that Mr. Janovsky!

I loved this book so much and can't recommend it enough! I have already bought a physical copy to add to my personal library. I loved the cover! And I cannot wait for the second book in this series coming out this fall! I need it in my hands yesterday!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC on this novel even if I sat on it a bit too long in my TBR stack. I thought this was absolutely adorable and I could really feel how much the protagonist AND the author love movies and the drive-in. The B plot with Alice Kelly and her treatment in 70's Hollywood was also well executed. The background characters were three dimensional and had their own lives going on while the main plot proceeds. I thought this was super sweet and also highlighting some of the Q in LQBTQ+ that does not have the main spotlight. Pick this up if you love sweet romance with no smut or movies or just want to turn your brain off for a bit and enjoy.

Imagine reading something with the premise of To All The Boys I've Loved Before, but make it super gay. That is Never Been Kissed by Timothy Janovsky.

As if that's not enough juice for an adult romance novel, this novel also has a second-chance romance and friends to lovers vibes within it.

This book is a wonderful treat. It's a book I needed before the stress of the finals kicked in, but even without that bias, I assure you it's a fair well-written romance.

I gave it 4 of 5 stars, and would recommend to fans of Heartstopper as well.

OHMYGOSH!!

For this being his debut novel, Timothy Janovsky did an amazing job!! This book was so cute and full of heart and fight!! I’m just so giddy from that ending!! 😍

Wren and Derick’s journey together and separate was wonderful to watch. Derick standing up to his Dad and Wren educating himself and finding that he’s gay and demisexual and learning that he can be both!! So much growth with these two!!

And Alice, what a firecracker!! I loved her so much!! I want to know her in real life!!!! #spiritanimal

If you enjoy a good MM romance or miss going to drive-in movie theaters, please, PLEASE read this one!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the wonderful opportunity to read and review this amazing book!!

I am very much a mood reader and the vibes weren’t there for me on this read at this time. All of my friends love it, so I’m sure that I will too once I’m in the right headspace!

Never Been Kissed is fast-paced, cinematic and everything you need for a feel-good read! I am so glad we got to follow Wren on this journey. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

So cute!

I'm always on the lookout for mm romances, and this one was just the cutest! A slow burn, great characters, a fun story, what more could you ask for?? If you're looking for a cute book, this is perfect for you! I just want to cozy up in a blanket with this book and a cup of tea and purely enjoy it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the earc in return for an earc

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*

3.5 stars

This was a very enjoyable book to read.
I liked the story and the characters.
Is a really cool novel, easy and quick to read.
Is a book you can read in a day if you have the time.
I recommend it if you want a cute novel to read in a day.

Voilà un roman qu'il me tardait de dévorer avec ce résumé vraiment alléchant !

Je ne reviendrai pas sur l'histoire, le résumé présentant très bien les choses. Pour être honnête j'ai eu un peu de mal avec ce roman. J'ai eu du mal à accroché au début, puis j'ai eu le petit déclic, qui fait que je me sentais investie dans les personnages, avec Wren, son cruch de retour...

Mais malgré tout, cela n'a pas suffit à m'embarquer, car le rythme s’essouffle... J'ai eu un peu de mal aussi avec la relation entre Wren et son coloc Mateo.

J'ai eu vraiment l'impression d'être restée en retrait tout le long et c'est dommage car le pitch de départ était top.

NEVER BEEN KISSED by Timothy Janovsky is a queer new adult contemporary romance that follows Wren who sends out emails to 4 boys he almost kissed – including Derick, his biggest crush before coming out who also ghosted him even though they were really good friends. Now Derick takes a job at a drive-in theater where Wren works too, and… the story goes from there. It’s such a charming, light-hearted, and fun little book. It’s a quick fast-paced read with a sweet adorable romance and some great friendships. I also loved the setting of the drive-in theater and all the little movie parts of it.

Wren and Derick are both gay and they came out a while ago when the story starts, so it’s not a “coming out story” at all. However, Wren feels like there’s more to his sexuality than he knew, so his questioning is a part of the story, which I thought was amazing because we don’t see that often. He starts figuring out he might be demi-sexual, so we also have that representation in here.
If you want a queer romance where the queerness is super casual and there’s only a small mention of some homophobia, definitely pick this one up! It’s just so joyful and fun and really focused on the romance while having some other great elements as well.

Sweet story of a shy movie buff who sends out emails on an evening after one too many. This results in his high school crush coming back in to his life. A story about finding yourself and where you fit in the LGBTQ spectrum, whether you've been kissed, or not.

This book was cute, funny and incredibly well written. I especially loved the demisexual rep and discussions surrounding it. It reminded me of To All The Boys and everything we loved about that series and all it's cuteness.

My only issue is that some of the characters were annoying, which annoyed me because I generally enjoy an annoying and messy character. Otherwise it was cute!

A really sweet, slow burn novel that's not all about the romance.

Told from Wren's point of view, Timothy Janovsky's Never Been Kissed is more about the story than the romancin', and I totally enjoyed that. We've got great secondary stuff going on: Alice's fascinating life and film, the drive-in's dilemma, Wren and Derick's families, and Wren's journey of self awareness.

Every time I read a story with a well written demisexual character I feel grateful to the author for the positive exposure. It's hard to incorporate that aspect of human sexuality into a love story, and not make it all about how being demi affects a romance. Wren doesn't have to do too much explaining, or soul searching, he can just state: Hey, turns out I'm demisexual, and that's why I feel the way I do. Okay, Wren. That's great. There's more to life than jumping straight into bed, thank you very much.

Never Been Kissed is a fun, interesting, and well written novel about a 22 year old guy, who has a whole bunch of stuff to figure out, his sexuality being just one small part of it all.

I really hoped I was going to love this. demisexual representation? hell yes. unfortunately, the rep is the only thing I enjoyed about this book. I really disliked the main character, wren. I visibly cringed every time he spoke or had a thought. I felt like every struggle in the book was resolved within seconds. I just really did not vibe with this book and i'm really sad about that :(

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Kind mixes Never Been Kissed and To All the Boys I’ve Loved. It also reminds me of a few other books I’ve read this year where the theater/bookstore is going out of business and the MC takes on the role to save it.

It was cute. Though it was a little predictable & I found the voices of the characters to be written younger than portrayed.

Cute, fun read. Wren has never been kissed, waiting for the "firework" moment and the right guy.

On his 22nd birthday, he mistakingly sends emails out to his former crushes about how he almost kissed them. Then runs into one of them: Derrick. The man without answers who's now working at the drive in Wren manages. .

This is supposed to be the summer where he saves the drive in and makes a name for himself in the movie world. But, will he keep his status of never being kissed? Or will he get that picture perfect kissable moment?

Overall, I enjoyed reading/listening to Never Been Kissed, Timothy Janovsky's debut. The passion he has for writing clearly shines in this less than 300 page contemporary read. While I wish there was some more romance packed in, I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Boyfriend Material.

Never Been Kissed is basically To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, but instead of a Lara Jean, we have Wren, a queer college graduate with an affinity for all things related to film. And you know what? This story was so cute that I didn't even care that it resembled another book so closely. Wren, his love interest, Derrick, and other important characters were really well developed and so loveable that by the end of the story I was sad to have to say goodbye to them! If you are looking for a lighthearted, feel-good summer rom-com, this is the book for you.

Wren and Derrick gave my heart a good thump!

It was a light, fun read which is perfect for the summer. It was beautiful to see Wren trying to figure himself out — his career and first kiss. The laugh out loud and heart-tugging moments would have you rooting for Wren to get his heart desires.

Derrick, on the other hand, has my respect. He's a gentleman who stood his ground and respected Wren's sexuality, which was good to see.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley, for the free arc copy.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book, my thoughts are my own.

Let me start off with an apology for the late review, I had finals in school and got sick so there hadn't been much of an opportunity until now to sit down and write my thoughts.

Overall this book was disappointing, as a demisexual bisexual human myself, I was glad to see some demisexual rep, but ended up being let down by the book itself. While I was not expecting an extremely steamy book, I expected one or two scenes as NA usually has some type of sexual/very intimate emotional intimacy which makes it differ from YA with older characters as it usually contains more emotionally mature characters.
The MC's read very young, younger than I expected and little to no chemistry or character development for side characters was there, it was hard to root for the MC's when I did not feel they were "meant to be together" more than any other character in the story. It doesn't have much happening in terms of scenes between them that really made me feel connected to them and their romance. By the halfway point I just wanted to put it down, I had no urge to pick it back up and as the book progressed side characters had less and less personality (or so it felt).
There is nothing special about this romance, there is nothing that makes it stand out, apart from the demisexual rep, which is not something that should be the deciding factor in loving a romance or not since it is just a part of who they are as a person and doesn't make a romance more or less impactful/romantic as a whole.
I hate to say it, but I have to, as a demisexual person myself, I hate that people love it seemingly not based on the romance as a whole (seeing this is a romance book) but because, it feels like it at least, the demi rep in the book....
I felt like this was a lie of a NA, just a YA badly marketed.

2/5 stars
Bookarina.