I’m back with another Bloomsbury book sampler from YALC back in July! I’ll be honest, I’d actually forgotten about this book until I saw a cover reveal on social media the other day. As soon as I saw the title, I was like, damn, I have a preview of this one and now I’ve read it? Yeah, I’ll definitely be preordering this one.
Gwen and Art Are Not In Love is a queer kind-of historical fantasy rom-com following two teenagers, Gwen and Art who have been betrothed since birth. The only problem is that they don’t like each other. On top of that, both Gwen and Art are trying to hide the fact they’re gay. When they both catch each other act, they reluctantly agree to be allies and pretend to fall in love to hide their true feelings. But as they grow closer to the people they like, the fakery becomes more difficult.
This book is coming out from Bloomsbury on the 2nd of February 2023.
I’m not sure when this is actually set, It’s clearly supposed to be medieval but King Arthur was in the distant past. So I guess that it’s kind of set now, but if King Arthur had been real and things hadn’t changed? I don’t know for certain, but I’m still very curious. All the reviews just say it’s historical so I guess it’s probably just an easy-to-read historical.
Still, a queer YA rom-com with fun medieval action and vibes? Hell yes! I’m so excited about this one. I’m really looking for more historical and fantasy books that are written like contemporaries and romances and this is definitely one of those. The sampler comps it to Red, White and Royal Blue and I can totally see that. But also something like Sophie Gonzales or Becky Albertelli.
Out of the two protagonists, I’m definitely preferring Gwen so far. She is a little bit ‘not-like other girls’, but she seems kind of fun. Art on the other hand is clearly a bit of a mess. I think I’ll like him a bit more as the book goes on and he sorts himself out. But at the moment he does seem a little dickish, even if some of that is for good reason.
I tried one of Lex Croucher’s adult books before, set in a totally different time period, but I didn’t really get along with it. I didn’t like any of the characters and it felt a little toxic. I think it was supposed to though, so that’s fine. It just obviously wasn’t for me.
Gwen and Art Are Not In Love though? This book really sounds so completely up my alley. I was giggling so much just reading this sampler.
This is a book that I think so many of us are going to love. If people don’t go crazy for this – though I think it’s already going to be considering the cover love I’ve seen – then there’s clearly something wrong with them. Joking, obviously, but this book really does look so good.
Lace and Dagger Books 