The Romantic Agenda was such an engaging read about an asexual character who becomes trapped in a love triangle that I think toes the line between romance and women fiction. While romance is very central to this plot, the novel also contains lots of reflection into the main characters identity as an asexual woman, and how that has impacted her relationships thus far. The writing is witty and engaging, and romantic aspects were enthralling, and I couldn't put it down.

As best friends, Joy and Malcom have faced relationship issues due to their close friendship impeding Malcom's separate romantic endeavors. Joy has been in love with Malcom since she met him, and when faced with the opportunity to confront Malcom with those feelings while taking a stand against his new serious relationship, she packs up to join Malcom, his new girlfriend, and his girlfriend's friend on a vacation. When Malcom tells Joy to keep Fox, the girlfriends friend, company throughout the trip, Joy finds herself drawn to the grumpy, layered man.

The character and relationship building in this novel is amazing. The main character is given tons of depth, and her relationships to each character and her own asexuality are packed with insight and reckonings that I rarely see in romance novels, which is why I believe this book contains cross-over into women fiction.

My only complaint with this novel was that the narration sometimes swerved into repetitive info-dumping about Joy as a character, and sometimes her relationships, which made the book longer than it needed to be. It was sometimes frustrating for scenes that were otherwise very engaging to experience a pace which was slower than what was fitting of the moment. Still, this is a small complaint I had, and i wouldn't want anybody to decide not to read the book simply due to this criticism, as it isn't a huge deal and the book is still amaaaazing🥰 4.25 stars

The Romantic Agenda is the first time that I have read about an asexual character. The representation was wonderful and I think this book is a great addition for the ace community. Joy was a delight to read about, witty and confident. The only thing in this story that I would have changed was the overuse of the “miscommunication” trope. I wanted to tell them to just talk to each other. However, everything else was so well done, this was easy to move past. This is also a great book for strong friendships. Can’t go wrong with that!

This was the first romance book that I've read with an ace main character! I really loved the representation and look forward to reading more from the author.

I will say that it seemed less like a romance and more like a regular fiction novel with some romance in it - very My Best Friend's Wedding. This book also gave us characters that can be unlikeable at times, which can be frustrating when reading but accurate to life.

The Romantic Agenda is a love letter to asexual people. It not only gives representation for multiple places on the spectrum but throws out stereotypes that are harmful. As someone who has struggled with finding where I am on this spectrum I felt so seen and there were a few times that this book helped me put into words how I was feeling. The main character went through her own realization in her past and throughout the book is only just now exploring how a relationship works for her. She might be one of my favorite characters ever since she is so vibrant, I would love to be friends with her. For me, this was a 4.5/5.

If you like fake dating that never really feels that fake, a romantic getaway, or dancing in your kitchen, this is the one for you. 

I received a digital copy of this book free from Books Forward Friends and Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

This one was so fun! The cover drew me in right away and I really appreciated the ace rep. Thank you Berkley for the ARC!

I loved that The Romantic Agenda was full of ace representation and that it showcased the spectrum of being ace.

This was full of pining and unrequited love. I stayed up late to finish this because I wanted to see where it would go and how they would figure things out. Spoiler: it was messy but they did it. I loved Joy's confidence and how unashamed of her sexuality she was. Fox was a sweetheart and I loved how he helped Joy. Watching them communicate with each other and find out what they're comfortable with was heartwarming.

The friendship between Malcolm and Joy was so unhealthy and I love that it was addressed as being such. They both had to come to that realization. I loved seeing the friendship start to develop between Joy and Summer.

This was romantic and a slow burn but it was so worth it!

Thank you to Berkley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Queer joy is an act of resistance, and once again Claire Kann renders asexual joy (or should I say asexual Joy) on the page in such an affirming and empowering way in The Romantic Agenda. After a decade of pining over her best friend Malcolm, Joy is certain he has finally noticed her in the way she’s been longing for when he asks her to accompany him on a weekend getaway… with the new woman he’s fallen for… who is decidedly Not Joy. But she can’t say no to him; she’s never been able to. Thus begins a lakeside cabin retreat with Joy, Malcolm, Summer, and Summer’s friend Fox that is destined for catastrophe—but some things need to be broken before they can be fixed.

Throughout this novel Kann expertly navigates nuanced and relevant discussions pertaining to asexuality. The story highlights that soft, blurred line between platonic and romantic love and how complicated and messy straddling that line can become when struggling to differentiate one's various types of attraction. It captures the way that platonic love and friendship can manifest differently for asexuals compared to their allosexual counterparts and how this complicates the ways in which they exist against amatonormative, heteronormative expectations. It also really nailed the sort of fear or anxiety and immediate attachment that comes with first crush for some asexuals, especially when that crush is also asexual. It feels like finding another asexual person, especially one they're compatible with, will be an impossible task, so the current crush is and will always be their only option. All of these things really resonated with me as an asexual reader.

There are such refreshing portrayals of consent and consent negotiation in this book, as well. It engages in conversations about boundaries, trust, and pleasure with care and sincerity. It was affirming to see these kinds of discussions carried out by adults, as I am so used to reading it in young adult romance but am not so familiar with it in adult romance. I have gotten the sense that consent and boundary-setting to the degree they are done in this book cease to occur after a certain age, or are not really welcome once the characters pass a certain level of "maturity," but as these conversations are still incredibly important to me, it felt almost revolutionary to get to see them take place between two adults in the ways they did here.

While these thematic elements carried the novel, it started to disappoint when it came to its premise and characters. I found most of the characters to be rather unlikable at times, mostly because the initial premise, which was dragged out for a bit too long, set so many of the characters against each other in really petty, dated, and heteronormative ways. It was difficult to watch Joy harbor such ill will towards Summer for as long as she did because she saw her as competition, and I found it really frustrating that Joy was so wholeheartedly unapologetic in herself and her confidence until it came to Malcolm. It kept undoing and unraveling any sort of characterization Kann achieved with Joy. I felt like I couldn’t get a sense of who she really was because I couldn’t reconcile her confidence and unabashed flirting with her insecurity, jealousy, pettiness, and desperation over Malcolm. I think I just personally hate to see a strong woman sacrifice any fraction of her strength or confidence for a man, especially when it leads to unnecessary girl hate fueled by perceived competition and pettiness. Resolving the conflict of Joy’s feelings for Malcolm sooner would have made for a much more enjoyable novel and would have given Joy and Fox more time to navigate what ended up being a really beautiful romance between an asexual woman and an allosexual man.

The characters were flawed and their circumstances were messy, which for a lot of readers might feel really true to life. If you’re looking for more fiction that centers some of the vast experiences of the asexual community in bold and refreshing ways, I would definitely still recommend this book as worth the read. I would just prepare to be frustrated by the characters’ actions in ways that may or may not be adequately resolved by the end—I think that will come down to personal preference.

Reading The Romantic Agenda was an interesting experience for me. Seeing there would be ace spectrum representation made it an auto-request for me. We do not have nearly enough ace rep in romance yet, which I kind of understand because there is such an incredibly vast spectrum of asexuality that it's impossible to write characters to appeal to every ace. But I am always pleased to see another asexual character, and in this book we get two of them.

When I started reading, I was getting some red flag vibes because it seemed like it was going to pivot into My Best Friend's Wedding territory, and while that movie was fun, I really didn't want or need an ace version of it. So as soon as Joy, our ace goddess, mentioned that particular film, I felt my walls go up and my interest level plummet. I actually set the book aside for several days before returning to it and starting again. This time through I made it past that movie reference and soon after found myself completely engrossed in what turned into a beautiful story.

Joy and Malcolm have been the best of friends since they met in college at an asexuality info table at the school activities fair. They tell each other everything, they work together, each one is completely entwined with the life of the other. Malcolm is on a never-ending quest for The One, because he wants to settle down and start a family. He goes through girlfriend after girlfriend, each relationship ending because his partner could not handle his platonic love for Joy. After Malcolm's breakup with his most recent ex, Joy is convinced that this will finally be the time that he sees her as more than a friend, that she could be his One.

Turns out, Malcolm has been seeing his new girlfriend Summer for a couple of months without telling Joy a thing until he springs a surprise trip to a lake house on her. In attendance will be Malcolm and Summer, along with Joy and Fox, who is Summer's good friend(and ex). Malcolm hopes that Joy can keep Fox occupied so that he and Summer can spend more time together. Not happy with being the third and fourth wheels with the lovebirds, Joy decides to start fake dating Fox in order to annoy Malcolm, which is delightfully successful. Of course fake dating generally turns into real feelings, and you can see the general romantic arc from there.

But The Romance Agenda is so much more than a romance. It is an insightful look at what can only be called a toxic friendship between Joy and her best friend. Malcolm is, well, kind of a jerk. Actually he's very much a jerk to Joy. He's quite selfish and a bit manipulative and gets upset when things don't go exactly according to his plan. It's evident early on in the story that this relationship is not healthy for either party, and the offhand suggestion that is made that they go to couples counseling together is one that maybe they should have looked at more closely.

But even if I didn't exactly love all of the characters as people, I did appreciate the depth that the author brought to our leads. I really became invested in Joy's happiness and Fox is absolutely the grumpy good guy that she needs in her life. We leave the story at the beginning of their relationship, so it's very much a HFN ending rather than HEA, but I'm ok with that. I also was pleased to see the discussion of asexuality, and the differences between Joy and Malcolm as asexuals. Because there is not just one way to ace!

Definitely check out The Romance Agenda if you are looking for a story with aspec rep, fake dating, grumpy meets sunshine, dazzling fashions, birthday cake, spooky woods, and puns galore!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was the most interesting romance book I ever read in the sense that there is hardly any spicy banter in this book. While I am use to spice in books there was something so sweet and warm about this story that when I closed the book I felt a sense of happy relief.

This story is very much like a Midsummer's Night Dream. Joy Likes Malcolm. Malcolm likes Summer. Fox used to date Summer. So they all take a weekend vacation together and Fox decides to help Joy by making Malcolm jealous.

Sounds simple but it does get more complex. You see Malcolm and Joy are best friends but they share a bond that is hard for outsiders to understand because they are both asexual. If you don't know what that means, asexual is when someone experiences little to no sexual attraction. Now this doesn't mean that they don't feel nothing and those who are asexual have different levels of attraction. I want to point out that Joy's experience being asexual might differ from others. Regardless it was a point of view I had never read from and was a learning experience.

It's no secret that Fox and Joy are the ones who end up together but it was fascinating to watch it unfold. For one, Fox is a grump. An understanding, watchful grump. And Joy has a very logical, tactical mind which put my brain at ease.

It was wonderful to read a story where you see two people grow to deeply care for each other through a mental and emotional connection. It was moving. It was amazing to see Joy realize things about herself, others and her relationships even at the age of 30. Just because you're an adult and maybe successful like Joy doesn't mean you don't stop growing and learning.

Fox and Joy both know when to push the other, when to communicate and when to let the other feel. I'm so grateful that I got to read a story like this. One that opened my mind to other people's experiences but also reminded just how important an emotional connection is.

✨ Review ✨ The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann
In a "My Best Friend's Wedding" style of story, Joy has been in love with her bff Malcolm for years. But when Malcolm and his new girlfriend Summer invite Joy and Summer's bff Fox away to a cabin for a weekend, Joy's forced to confront her feelings for Malcolm. Malcolm and Joy bonded over their asexuality in college and have been close ever since, but both of them have to reconcile their bond and future interests over this weekend, especially a Joy and Fox feel a deep connection.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: contemporary romance, m/f romance with ace representation
Location: California
Pub Date: April 12, 2022

This book made me have a lot of feelings - Joy and Malcolm seem to have a very unhealthy relationship. They both bring each other love and support, but also both seem unable to move on with their lives because of their obsession with each other. In some ways, this made the story feel a little frustrating because I just wanted to shout at them!

However, as the story develops both Joy and Malcolm have to confront the meaning of their relationship and their attachment to each other, and I feel like it all paid off.

The part of the book I adored from the very beginning was the sweet relationship that developed between Fox and Joy. I also love relationships so grounded in consent and communication and this DELIVERS. I also thought this book helped me consider a broader range of asexual identity and what that could mean for different people.

Read this if you like:
⭕️ fashion even in the forest
⭕️ romances that explore asexuality
⭕️ hot dogs, s'mores, cake and apple pie, coffee, and food galore alongside

Thanks to @Berkleypub, @booksforwardpr and #netgalley for a copy of this book!

GRUMP GRUMP I adore Fox so much.
not going to lie , the book honestly annoyed me at the first like 20-30% , i hated Malcolm so much, he just wasn’t it as a character , joy kinda grew thru the whole story and im so proud of her , the building of relationships were pretty good too!

WOW. I loved this book. This was my first book by this author, and it won't be my last.

I really liked Joy. I thought she was punny...see what I did there? She spoke her truth...most of the time. She wasn't afraid to be herself. I think the author did such a great job at writing her. It's nice to see MC who has flaws and isn’t afraid for them to be known. She knows she has anxiety and she lets those feelings happen and she picks herself up. She is one strong girl! I really liked her character. There were times in the book my heart broke for her. I could feel her pain, and other times my heart was so full. I will admit my eyes got teary a time or two.

And then there’s Fox. have to admit..I fell in love with him. Everything about him was great. Even his grumpy, grinchy moods. He made the book for me. I figured from the beginning he would be someone I really liked. Don't get me wrong, the other characters were great...but Fox was just *sigh*. Can I get a book of just him?

I thought Summer was a good character. She wore her heart on her sleeve and was braver than I could ever be. Malcolm made me mad a lot of the time but I liked him as well.

Overall, I am so glad I read this. It wouldn’t be a book I normally would go for so I’m glad I had the opportunity to give it a chance. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Such a fresh an quirky rom-com!
The Romantic Agenda has all the elements that I love in romance. Starting with best friends trope, squeeze in a tropical getaway, it was a terrific read!
I appreciate that it has Asexual representation, this is something that hasn't really been written in romance stories. The writing is so fun and witty, I found myself laughing out loud in real life. And I related to the angst of loving your bestie from afar.
I think this is the perfect summer read, to be taken with you to the beach or poolside. I highly recommend.

The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann is funny, sweet, and a perfect spring/summer romance read. This book made me laugh because Joy is so funny. The one liners between her and her twin, Grace, her internal monologuing while hiking in the woods, and her sharp comments to broody, dreamboat Fox had me literally laughing out loud.

The Romantic Agenda also has asexual rep as two of the main characters are ace. There aren’t enough romance books with ace rep and I really enjoyed reading about an experience different than my own. As someone who isn’t ace though, highly recommend checking out reviews from ace people as well!

Representation is critical, especially in books and especially when romance and sex are often conflated to be the same thing. As Joy says in the book “there are so many different kinds of love out there” and I am so happy to have read a book that highlighted different experiences with love, sex, and romance.

This is my first time reading a book with a Black, Asexual protagonist and I quite enjoyed it. This alone, I think will make this a standout read for those who want to see themselves represented in the "ace" community. I did find it a bit frustrating that Joy and Malcolm had a lot of miscommunication between them but I find the payoff at the end worth it and found myself relating to Joy more than I thought I would. Joy was a quite loveable character and I found her reactions to certain moments in the book parallel to real-life interactions and I really appreciate that. Overall, it's a very beautiful story about finding love, even if you don't think it'll ever happen for you. I would recommend it.

The synopsis sold me on reading this book for review; unfortunately it wasn’t quite the book I expected. There were parts of it I truly loved, but there were more parts I didn’t like at all. This book was straight up women’s fiction because I don’t feel the relationship that developed was the focus of the book.

I flat out LOVED the heroine, Joy, in this book. She was a spitfire, but also funny and had a kind and loving soul. She is also asexual and in love with her best friend Malcom who has been by her side since college. I’m just putting it out there, Malcolm was a d*ck. I couldn’t stand him and I couldn’t understand what Summer, the woman he met and is thinking will be his next girlfriend/relationship, saw in him because seriously I kept hoping he’d leave. I hated, absolutely hated, the way he treated Joy for most of this story. Then there was Fox, more on him in a minute.

Malcolm decides that in order for Summer to understand his friendship with Joy, they need to go away for a weekend and spend time together. Mind you he doesn’t ask Joy if she wants to go, no he TELLS her they are going and Joy being Joy at first thinks Malcolm wants to change their relationship status and then he springs the fact that he’s planned the whole weekend for Summer and Summer’s bringing her friend Fox along because it’s his birthday weekend and he wants Joy to entertain him so he can spend time with Summer. Yes, ladies and gents, the man is completely oblivious to her feelings and then demands she spend time with the woman he wants as his romantic partner. UGH! Fox was a huge bright spot in this story; he put on a grumpy front but he had layers and depth and I adored him.

At times Joy’s character got a bit preachy and considering this was supposed to be a rom-com, it felt out of place. I did feel she did a fantastic job of explaining asexuality and helping both Summer and Fox understand that not all asexual people act or react the same way.
I loved the way Joy began to enjoy the time she spent with Fox and how much he tried to really get to know her and understand everything about her. I wanted more time with them and kept hoping that we’d get it, but unfortunately we did not.

While I have read several books with a male ace character, it was fantastic seeing a female ace character and one of color to boot. I really did adore Joy even though she was misguided in her adoration of Malcolm, but the way she lived life to the fullest, spoke her mind, and knew what she wanted out of life was perfection. Realizing the Fox was a better partner for her than Malcolm made me love her even more.

While The Romantic Agenda had some problems, I still enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading this author again.

I really enjoyed this book which is about Joy who is asexual and has a crush on Malcom but he has a crush on Summer so she begins to fake date Fox in order to get his attention during this week summer vacation. I think this is my first read with an asexual main character and I really enjoyed it. The author is an incredible writer with getting the story together and helping readers understand how Joy feels as an asexual character who is looking for love. The storyline was well done and I enjoyed this four way love triangle which I thought I wouldn't since I hate a normal love triangle. The pacing was well done with also a great storyline. I enjoyed the setting of this book taking place in a vacation home as it’s such a perfect place for a romance. Overall the writing style for the story was well done.

The main character in this book is Joy. At first I was annoyed with her as the way she would be jealous of Summer and Malcolm liking each other. But then I started to understand her story as I was in her shoes while reading this book. She has such an amazing development with her discovering herself in a way she didn’t expect. There are also three main side characters: Malcolm, Summer and Fox with some minor ones. I really enjoyed the side characters as Malcolm is also asexual and how Summer and Fox wanted to learn their identies by being respectful and understanding. I honestly didn’t enjoy Malcolm’s character because in some way I felt that he was kind of leading Joy on and couldn have stopped it. The romance is cute with fake dating and a four way love triangle.

The ending was well done and so cute. This is one of those types of books where I needed the epilogue just to see where the characters are a couple of months or years later. I really enjoyed this story and didn’t expect everything to play out the way it did. Kann is such an incredible writer that brings a new perspective to romance. I did have some minor problems with the book like the characters but overall this was such an amazing read. I recommend this book for readers who are looking for books with asexual main characters with a cute romance.

Hmmm...this was excellent! I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy & my heart is full. I haven't even collected all my thoughts, but here we go.

two Black, asexual MCs
fake dating
sunshine/grump
vacation romance
forced proximity
unrequited love
punny

Joy and Malcolm have a decade-long friendship in which Joy has secretly been in love with him for the majority. However, in true My Best Friend's Wedding fashion, Malcolm is into someone else, and Joy must decide if she will step aside and let them be, or finally confess her feelings, asking him to choose her instead.

Joy is chasing Malcolm, Malcolm is chasing Summer, but who is chasing Joy? Enter Fox.

I liked Joy and Fox because they both accepted and challenged each other. I didn’t see that with Malcom. She and Malcom became incredibly comfortable and dependent on one another, creating this bubble, as she said, that grew so small it became impenetrable over time. Now they’re both fully dependent on each other—for comfort, understanding, overall happiness. How do you come to realize something isn't working; that there's another way? We see Joy and Malcolm navigate this.

Joy was such so lovely. I’m fascinated by her confidence, self assurance & quick wit. She’s larger than life, dazzles everyone she meets and has created an almost curated version of herself. But at the same time, she feels unloveable. One can have all the confidence in the world and still feel this way.

I liked grumpy Fox to her sunshine. Whereas Joy blurts out what she’s thinking and feeling, Fox thinks before he speaks. Like Fox, as someone who keeps most of my thoughts to myself, I was so intrigued by how Joy moved in the world. A part of me wishes I could have gotten to know Fox more, but this is Joy's story.

I believe I understood where each of the characters were coming from, Joy, Malcom, Fox and Summer, but I didn't always like or even approve of the choices they made.

This is a story I wish I could continue. I was sad to see the characters go. This was a great read that made me laugh out loud, smile & aww. It was about missed opportunities, accepting what never was, growing and moving forward. I appreciated reading this story with ace rep, which I admit is very new to me! I'll have some more please.

[CW: anxiety, ace phobia, death of a friend, grief]

Thank you Fareeda at Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!
Expected Publication Date: April 12

have you ever read a book where a character’s past experiences, inner thoughts, and actions speak so much to your own? that’s how i feel about joy.

as an aspec reader, this book has been such a highly anticipated read of mine and i was downright giddy when i saw that i received this arc. and, can i say, this did not let me down. not one bit. this book speaks a lot on the asexual experience and how, importantly, there’s a vast spectrum. while neither joy nor malcolm’s experiences match perfectly with mine, it was incredible to see. their candid and blunt discussions about their asexuality and how they’ve had to fit into a heteronormative and (often) sex-driven world was invaluable. i especially loved how joy spoke about how her dress and “provocative” actions have nothing to do with sex and sexuality. claire kann did an outstanding job constructing these conversations. also, do i even need to mention how appreciative i am seeing two of the four main characters be black and aspec? no? good. because it’s representation that’s important and absolutely necessary for readers to have.

now, moving on to the characters and plot of this book. none of these characters are perfect people. in fact, they’re incredibly flawed. all of them and in major ways. but, you know what, it’s realistic. they all felt like people i know or might meet in my future. and i think that just shows how well of a job kann did writing these characters. malcolm irritated me to no ends (as i’m sure he was supposed to). summer grew on me in the way she began on joy. and fox. grumpy, precious fox. he was so willing to learn, understand, and work with joy’s boundaries. i mean, the consent! they were constantly ensuring that both of them were comfortable in whatever situation they were in. i know it’s a bare minimum, but as joy touched on in the book, it doesn’t always feel that way as an asexual person in the dating world. overall, i just loved seeing their relationship grow.

genuinely, this was honestly one of the best romances i’ve read in a while and easily a new favorite. the feelings and dynamics between these four characters felt raw and real. don’t go into this expecting a spicy romance. it’s not that. but, it’s beautiful and was so so refreshing to read. i cannot recommend this enough.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Girl is in love with best friend. Best friend wants to charm new woman and wants girl to be there. New woman brings man friend. Who will fall in love? You can guess.

I picked this up for the ace rep and I liked it! I think Joy was at times petulant and mechanical, and Malcolm is a walking red flag I'd have dropped ages ago, girl. He needs to work some stuff out! But the constant relationship navigation for Joy and Fox was wonderful and I liked how Summer and Joy talked things out.

3 stars.