Publisher: Franklin/Kerr Press Teen (March 10th, 2026)
Genre: YA Fantasy, Queer
The Feeling of Falling in Love meets While You Were Sleeping in this delightful rom-com about a nonbinary teen kitchen witch finding both family and romance in the least likely of circumstances.
Standing at the foot of my comatose crush's hospital bed is not how I envisioned becoming Hayden's partner. First I needed to find out if he's even into the theys, then hopefully some flirting, a cute date up in the valley or at Taco Bell, a kiss. The normal cutesy stuff, but this? No! Hayden wasn't supposed to get hurt, especially not a trauma-induced extended nap from slipping on a wet floor at my job. On top of that, one of the nurses told his family we're dating. Sure, it might have been because that's what I told her when I was trying to get to his room to see him...but it's not true.
The wild part is his family believes it! They really think I'm the Hayden Marcus's short little curly-haired enbyfriend. His partner! With one little lie, now they think he isn't straight, and I'm terrified he actually is.
So now I'm having Thanksgiving with a family I barely know because, as far as they're concerned, I'm "dating" their son. I can't tell if this is a sign my love spell worked, or if I royally messed up and I'm being punished. I mean this family is amazing. It's everything I wish I had, and honestly more. But it's all based on a lie.
Oh, and as if all of that wasn't bad enough, my comatose crush has an even cuter brother who I think I might be falling for...
One of the ads for this book on Instagram says "so you're telling me my straight crush has an even hotter gay brother?" and that's really the vibe of this adorable romantasy. Kenzie is a witch, though magic is never really a centerpiece, more of a side note. They have a massive crush on Kayden, but when he comes into their workplace he slips and winds up in the hospital in a coma. Naturally, Kenzie wants to check on him, but to do that they have to pretend to be his partner. Soon, this starts to spiral, and Kayden's family gets involved. Most notably, his brother, Zach, who Kenzie starts falling for.
This romantasy is really mostly romance and very little fantasy: magic plays somewhat of a role but it never really feels central to the story, if that makes sense. It's definitely more of a side note. Kenzie is a really fun main character, and the romance here is fantastic. The turmoil when Kenzie realizes they're starting to fall in love with Zach, and the tension between that and their crush on Kayden, is really interesting to read, especially as everyone there thinks that Kenzie is with Kayden.
Thanks so much to Franklin/Kerr Press Teen and NetGalley for the E-ARC!
5 STARS!
Until Next Time,
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