Betrothed since childhood, the time has finally come for Gwen and Arthur to set a date for marriage. The big surprise, they both would rather be in a same sex relationship. These enemies are complete opposites in this medieval story. Arthur is daring and not afraid of going after men he's attracted. While Gwen is serious and unsure.

For majority of this book nothing really happens except some stolen kisses. Why did this book need to be 400 pages?

Arthur is truly the heroine of this YA romance as he helps others navigate secret desires including Gwen. I enjoyed his romance more than Gwen's, and wanted more of it.

Thank you Wednesday Books for the complimentary copy.

**Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5**

One of my favorite Young Adult reads of 2023!

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is a genuinely funny, Arthurian-inspired tale of finding the strength to be yourself, while finding friends and love in unexpected places. Gwen—the princess of England—has been woefully engaged to Arthur—a (very) distant relative of King Arthur—since childhood. After years spent apart due to a strong distaste for one another, Arthur has been brought back to court so that they can officially move their courtship forward. While the pair initially do everything they can to avoid one another, when they both find out a secret about the other (Gwen discovers Arthur kissing a boy, while Arthur find’s Gwen’s diary confessions of her love for a lady knight), they embark on a mutually beneficial pact to fake the success of their relationship in public so that they can both pursue their own interests in private. As they find themselves in complicated romantic relationships, and an unexpected friendship with one another, they need to find the bravery to fight for what they love against threats from both inside and out.

This is one of those books that I just had a great time reading. I loved the cast of characters and found myself pulling for them all to find happiness, and I especially loved our “enemies-to-friends” relationship between Gwen and Arthur! The plot of the book was also really well-paced, and took some unexpected turns that made the story feel compelling. I additionally appreciated the variety of queer experiences represented in this book, and how a variety of complex dynamics about queer identity and coming out were explored in a thoughtful way throughout the book.

This is a great YA story that I look forward to recommending to my upper-middle and high school students—especially those interested in romance and adventure—but I think it has a broader crossover appeal due that will endear many adults as well. This was my first Lex Croucher book, and I look forward to reading more of their work!

**Acknowledgments & Disclaimers**
✨ Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book.
✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

I found this book to be really engaging and I loved the premise. I'm a sucker for anything Arthurian so this story was right up my alley. It was great to see tbe legend turned on its head. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

I received both a digital and audio copy of this book.

I’ve always been fascinated by Camelot and King Arthur retellings. So when you say Camelot but make it gay, I’m 100% in. This story didn’t disappoint. The portrayal of internalized homophobia was very well done. The deception by some of the court officials was very shocking to me. I also loved the portrayal of gender roles, the weakness of women, and women only being welcome for producing heirs; watching our main cast of friends crush a lot of these expectations was wonderful. Finally, the audio narration was wonderful. I loved that we had a narration for each POV

Gay Arthurian legends? Yes please
Big thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read this absolute delight before it came out in return for a review
This book follow Gwen who is betrothed to a man she can’t stand, Arthur. As the story progresses they learn each other secrets and meet a whole bunch of other characters, Gabe, Gwen’s Brother; Bridget, the attractive lady knight; Agnes, Gwen’s Lady Maid; and Sidney, Arthur’s Body Man.
This book has everything you want from an Arthurian themed book; good politics, swords, and maybe just a touch of magic.
The characters were so vivid and real. There is just the right amount of angst.
The climax was excellently executed and the resolve was sweet
I don’t have a bad thing to say about this book

I found this queer tale of love and friendship set in medieval Camelot to be hilariously irreverent, absolutely delightful, and rather insightful. Hundreds of years after King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere’s time, the current king of England is trying to keep the peace between the cultists and Catholics by reigning from Camelot. It’s summer; the annual tournament is underway (picture A Knight’s Tale or the jousts at a Renaissance festival); and this is the year the king’s daughter, Gwendoline, is set to marry her longtime betrothed, Arthur. But, well, Arthur and Gwen do not so much like each other, you see. Gwen and Art are not in love.

As the two are forced to spend time together, they realize that in some ways they have more in common than expected, and they come to care for each other as friends. Gwen has fallen in love with the lone female knight in the competition, Bridget Leclair, and Arthur? He has eyes for Gwen’s brother, the king-to-be, Gabriel.

So, while this is a love story, it has a major focus on friendships and the importance of acceptance. Arthur, despite his cheekiness, antics, and merrymaking, turns out to be quite perceptive when it comes to Gwen and what she is going through. I ended up finding Arthur and his man, Sidney, to be endearing. There are some fun animals friends full of personality. And this is a time of political unrest, so expect to see some scheming and clashing of swords along the way as well.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Really good book!!! I liked most of it, I would read it again someday. Really good book!!!!! Honestly I liked the characters too much I would say

I want to start off by saying thank you Net Galley for the ARC of this novel, I've been highly anticipating this novel by Lex Croucher. I have always been fond of the Camelot-lore and so this book hit the right spot for me as a reader. I thought the characters were an interesting interpretation of Arthur and Guinevere. Them being queer and not quite fitting into the heteronormative story that we created was nice to see and I found myself rooting for the main characters' success with love. I thought the story was well paced and the romance, although not super explicit, was sweet. I also loved that this wasn't a more traditional retelling. I feel like not a lot of modern authors have tried to do King Arthur retellings and so this was a nice break from the normal historical romances that I've seen and read so far.

Now onto my critics, I think that the writing for this novel was younger than I'm used to. This is a YA novel, so it makes sense that the writing appeals to more of a youthful crowd, it just wasn't for me. I thought there could have been more details at time and that Croucher could have taken the novel a step further by exploring more in-depth writing. With YA novels, as someone who reads primarily adult novels, I find them to read awkwardly at times and so that was another problem here as well. I'm hoping to see improvements from the ARC to the final addition though and I will do another read of this book when it gets released.

Again, thank you Net Galley for the early copy of this novel. Definitely recommend it!

this book really went above and beyond. i loved it so much. i don't know where to begin. it had lovely medieval vibes.

A whopping 4.5 stars! This was a delightful romp of a book with the power to make you seventeen again. Butterflies were aflutter! It was like experiencing the giddiness of a schoolgirl crush. Gwen and Bridget's romantic development had me on the edge of my seat. The stares, the build-up, the little smirks, the tension, it was all so excruciatingly real between them. Gwen's youthful naivety clashing with Bridget's unwavering sense of self was such a fascinating, and occasionally frustrating, dynamic. There is something to be said about the way that Lex Croucher embodied these characters using the chaos and spirit of adolescence. The characters felt tangible, they were teenagers with the weight of the world on their shoulders causing them to act on recklessness, fearlessness, and anger.

Arthur and Gabriel were a spectacular pair and I wished they got the opportunity to be that more often. Gabriel's burdens throughout the book were clear and connected well with his character's actions. And yet, I wished that we got to watch him let loose and have fun as much as the others. I truly hope we get to see more of the Arthur/Gabriel and Gwen/Bridget dynamic in the future!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I struggled to connect with these characters and the story. The plot finally captured my interest 80% into the book. I still plan to read two other books I have purchased by this author which were recommended by a local indie bookseller.

4.5*s

I really enjoyed this book, which isn't particularly surprising as I've enjoyed everything I've read by Lex Croucher so far. Their style is so charming- clever and a little goofy. Gwen's crush was super cute and sweet. The relationship between Gwen and Art was also a high point for me. We love a betrothed-against-their-will to co-conspirators to {spoiler} arc.

The readers of the audiobook added immensely to my enjoyment. Alex Singh and Sarah Ovens conveyed the humor so well and tbh I just really liked listening to their voices.

This is a good pick if you like: queer found family, clever teen romance, lady knights, and gentle boys who tend to baby birds. Pretty light on the Arthurian legend bit, but that wasn't why I was interested in the book.

Very grateful to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the early copy.

"To be truly brave, first you must be afraid - and to be afraid, you must have something you cannot bear to lose"

My goodness I loved this book! I'll take a queer retelling basically any day of the week but this was delightful - Gwen and Art are betrothed from a young age and spend their summers together...but they don't like each other very much. In fact, one of their summers is so disastrous that they are separated for a few years. Until Arthur's father decides to send him back to Camelot because it's time for Gwen and Art to finally get married. Through their time spent together, they become friends though have 0 romantic inclinations towards each other. Gwen has had a crush on female knight, Bridget, for years. And Art finds himself drawn to Gwen's brother, Gabriel.

I will say there is definitely a bit of a tone change in the last 30% of this book - very much turned to a coup/battle situation which contrasts with the rest of the book but I think in a way that really worked! We needed those higher stakes at the end so we could believe in the HEA. The beginning of this book is very soft as we get to know the characters and their motivations.

I actually think where this book shines most is in it's platonic relationships - particularly the relationships between Art and Sidney and Gwen and Agnes. Both relationships are incredibly supportive and have just as much weight for me here as the romantic relationships (which I also loved!).

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I didn't know that I needed a queer Arthurian retelling in my life until I read this book. However, now I need more.

If you are fan of cute love stories that will have you kicking your feet and witty banter than will make you laugh until you cry this book is for you. Also of you are someone that loves renn faires and is sad when the season is over, I would highly recommend picking up this book. I also did a fair amount of screaming and jumping at the kiss scenes. It felt like each one was hard earned.

I also loved that this book doesn't start with all of the characters knowing they are queer. There is quite a lot of self discovery in this book that felt very relatable. This was such a fun book that hit all of the right emotional beats for me. Our main characters went through a lot of development over the course of the story and I enjoyed seeing them all grow and come together. This book was like a hug for my heart and if you need one too then you need to read this book.

This book is so much fun. I loved the Camelot with a twist vibes and A+ banter. Gwen and Arthur are so relatable and I loved their respective love stories...with other people.

5 stars !! a beautiful, hilarious arthurian reimagining about finding, and fighting for, queer love :’)

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love
4/5 rating

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. A huge thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley!!

This book was so cute! I absolutely loved the friendship between Gwen and Art, (The banter!!!) Their relationship was so much fun to read! I do wish we got more from the love interests, I think they could have used more depth and it did leave me wanting.

Overall this book was quick, sweet, and full of wit. I really hope we get to see more from this world in the future!

The King is planning for his heirs, Gwendoline and Gabriel, to be married off to heirs in other kingdoms to strengthen the claims. Gwen and Gabriel are challenged by this mandate, because they do not like their partner choices, or even the gender of those choices. Gwen is not interested in raucous, ill-tempered, frivolous Arthur, she is interested in the only female knight wowing the kingdom at the joust. Arthur is equally uninterested in her and the two decide to fake court to please their parents but find a way to satisfy their own desires.

I would classify this as a queer 10 Things I Hate about You meets The Guinevere Deception (although that was also queer...). It does not take place in ancestral Camelot with Arthur Pendragon, it does take place in a past Camelot where Arthur was a historical figure who is revered and his and his contemporaries descendants are at odds over the kingdom. We get the fun gender bending love story as well as a good political story about the kingdom with a great battle at the end. Read this one for the banter more than the spice.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions above are my own.

Gwen & Art are Not in Love is the cute, clumsy, YA rom-com of anyone's dreams. Especially, if you love Renaissance faires, Ella Enchanted, and/or popular songs played on a lute in #bardcore style.
I thought Gwen and Art were so cute and funny, and loved following along as they stumbled through their responsibilities and became friends. The lesson here is that people are often so much more than they seem!

My only critique is that about 3/4 of the way through the book the pacing changed and threw me off the story a bit. After [SPOILER ALERT] you know who gets hurt and loses so much time I felt like the story went a bit flat. I'm sure it is realistic and accurate that this character would be recovering for so long, but because we were in the dark as to what was happening with all of the other characters for so long when we reach the final climax of the story it feels very rushed.

I still really enjoyed the book and would recommend it, but I give it 3 stars for "good book". It is a good book!

Witty and silly and charming, and the premise is exactly what it says on the tin. I adored this, and it only got better toward the end as the characters came into their own. Do I wish it had read a tad less young? A bit, but only selfishly. A fantastic, queer, and easy to recommend YA.