There’s Always Next Year

There’s Always Next Year (publication day December 2, 2025) by George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson (You Should See Me in a Crown, Rise to the Sun) is a cute, dual point of view queer double romance featuring cousins Dominique and Andy, who grew up together in a small town in Indiana. Dominique became a model/ influencer and left for New York two years ago; he didn’t go to college as planned and is faking it until he makes it, more often faking it. Andy is in her last year of high school and wants to be a journalist, following up on stories as best as she can when she’s not helping her Mom and GiMa in the hardware store they own.

Dominique and Andy used to be an inseparable trio with Tyler, who actually did go to college on a track scholarship as he and Dom had planned. No one is happy with Dom because he hasn’t been home for two years, nor has he kept up his end of the friendship. Now that he’s home for a very short time as the face of a new boutique hotel, he doesn’t understand why everything and everyone seems to have changed.

Andy wakes up in a strange place after too much to drink, without her phone and not knowing where her car is. Luckily, she runs into the drag queen who used to be her babysitter, but she is so not ready to talk to her mother or to Dom until she finds out where her car is. And then she realizes she made a fool of herself in front of her longtime crush. And she needs to get confirmation of the blockbuster story that she has been following. A town newcomer, daughter to a couple of gentrifiers, wearing coveralls and driving a fancy car, is willing to help her find her own car. Is she as bad as her parents? Why is she being so nice to Andy? Is it to get close to her cousin Dom, the famous influencer, or for any other reason?

Can Dom and Tyler finally talk about what happened when Dom left two years ago? And why won’t anyone tell Dom what’s happening with the hardware store, and why there’s a Closing Soon sign on the door?

There’s a lot going on in this novel, and it all happens in the course of one crazy New Year’s Eve, but it moved quickly. I loved the fact that two of the main characters were cousins, the gender-swapped nature of their names, and that it was completely weight-neutral. While none of the characters were described as fat, it would be easy for a fat teen to imagine themselves as one of the characters. I would recommend it for teens who want a cute queer holiday romance or anyone else.