Wild Things

February 6, 2023
Kay (Tell Me Everything) delivers a cute queer rom-com that feels like a warm hug. Uptight Londoner Eleanor “El” Evans feels stuck in her dead-end job and tiny flatshare. She’s also hopelessly in love with Ray, her gorgeous (and totally oblivious) best friend. After Ray teases El for being overly sensible, El determines to prove herself wild, fun, and brave, and thus become the cool, sexy girl of Ray’s dreams. But drugs, alcohol, and tattoos don’t do the trick, and El is beginning to despair—until their “token straight” friend Will announces he’s inherited enough money for a down payment on a house in the countryside. And so, together with gay social-media wizard Jamie, the little found family moves into quiet village retreat Lavender House. What could be wilder, El reasons, than leaving real life behind to buy a house with her best friends? Well, maybe trying to sleep next door to the girl she can’t stop thinking about without giving herself away. Despite El’s commitment to going wild, she remains a surprisingly passive character throughout. Still, with breezy, low-stakes conflict, heaps of charming queer characters, and a happy ending for all, this proves both compulsively readable and tremendously enjoyable. Agent: Emma Finn, C&W Agency.

March 1, 2023

A quartet of queer friends discover love and community in the English countryside in this contemporary romance from UK author Kay (The Split). Eleanor (El) has been in a rut for years, stuck in a boring job and hopelessly pining for her best friend, Ray. Even a New Year's challenge to try "wild things" every month seems to have little effect on El's state of mind. However, when El and her friends Ray, Jamie, and Will decide to take a chance and buy a ramshackle house in a rural village together, it proves to be just the catalyst El needs to make change in her life. As the four friends fix up Lavender House and make friends with the locals, Eleanor and Ray grow closer, and the stakes of El revealing her crush on Ray grow higher. Kay spins a compelling story about creating queer family and falling in love with your best friend, while keeping a light tone throughout. VERDICT Readers who want a true romantic comedy and enjoy the distinctly deadpan narrative voices of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle or Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary will enjoy Kay's U.S. debut.--Sierra Wilson

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2023
Londoner Kay's lighthearted rom-com, her first book published in the U.S., centers on four friends in their twenties who swap their hectic lives in London to turn a quaint English country cottage into their very own queer commune. Eleanor "El" Evans wants to convince her closest work friend and secret crush, Ramona, aka "Ray," who is effortlessly cool, that El can be the brave and outgoing girl of Ray's dreams. But revealing her unrequited love for Ray might be the wildest thing that El has ever done, including investing in that old cottage in need of an extreme makeover. El and Ray's chemistry evolves slowly, with the main emphasis on El's insecurities and personal growth while she searches for the courage to finally tell Ray how she feels without ruining their friendship or the good vibes in their shared living space. This sweet LGBT slow-burn romance is balanced by well-developed secondary characters, snappy dialogue, and fun farm animals named after characters from Twilight. For readers who enjoy British contemporary romance authors with a wry sense of humor, like Alexis Hall.

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April 15, 2023
Eleanor Evans' so-called Wild Year is in full swing, but her enthusiasm for doing something wild every month is waning. Perhaps creating a queer commune with a bunch of friends will add intrigue to an otherwise conventional life. Leaving London was never part of El's plan. Neither was falling in love with Ray, her co-worker and best friend, who looks very good in a blazer. But El is determined to make some sweeping changes in her life. So when her token straight friend, Will, lures El and Ray and their fourth pal, the flamboyant Jamie, into the country to see a house he wants to buy and renovate and proposes that they all do it together, El and the others are ready to go for it. And luckily (or perhaps torturously for El), Ray is good with tools. The group soon starts a popular home renovation Instagram account, becomes parents to a group of chickens named after Twilight characters, learns the challenges of a long commute, and joins their adopted village's WhatsApp group to be privy to the local drama. All the while, El continues to pursue her Wild Year, though the only motivation that seems to keep her going is her affection for the otherwise occupied Ray. Predictably, though, El can't keep her feelings to herself, and the novel's biggest conflict resolves rather quickly. El's wildness, or maybe her lack of wildness, has led her to take risks to gain a happy life, which is perhaps the most out-there wish any Millennial can have. Kay has a sharp eye for Millennial culture, and her humorous dialogue and fully fleshed-out characters make for a satisfying novel. A queer coming-of-adulthood tale with enough cheekiness to make growing up seem not so bad.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.