Loveless meets You’ve Got Mail in a charming YA romance centering two aspec (asexual and aromantic) teens at the heart of their own kind of love story.

Analeigh Tate has a plan: convince her parents that a musical theater degree is a serious career path and not a childish fantasy. Unfortunately, this means begging her perfect older sister Natasha for help, which, as expected, comes with strings: Analeigh has to prove she can get and keep a boyfriend for the next four months. She’s never cared about dating, partly because she fears no one will be interested in an asexual girl, but how hard could it be? She’s already guaranteed valedictorian since her academic nemesis Drew Eberstark left school the year before, so a boyfriend should be easy.

Drew is not keen on returning to school after his very public breakdown last year. But his grand comeback becomes ten times worse when he learns that his anonymous online best friend—who he just asked to meet in person—is none other than Analeigh Tate, a girl who hates his guts. Desperate not to lose his only friend, with whom he’s shared his uncertainty about identifying as asexual and aromantic, he comes up with a solution: offer to be her (fake) boyfriend. He already knows about Analeigh’s deal with her sister, so all he’s got to do is prove he’s worth her friendship—while keeping his true identity under wraps. So that’s not stressful or anything.

While Analeigh struggles with the fact that her once-mortal enemy is kind of amazing, the weight of family expectations, and the difficult feelings about her asexuality, Drew struggles with his growing web of lies and the grief he won’t talk about. When the truth finally comes to light, Analeigh and Drew will have to decide if their friendship is worth fighting for, and if there’s a happily ever after to their (not so typical) love story.

Publication

US: Macmillan (Wednesday Books)