Last First Kiss (publication day January 27, 2026) by Julian Winters is a sweet M/M queer romance set in the I Think They Love You world of the Carters and their event planning business.
Jordan Carter is trying to prove himself in the family business and get a promotion, while is mother keeps setting up up with girl after girl–he’s a professional at first dates. But nothing seems right. He had a relationship in high school with Yazzie, who is still his good friend. But Denz (from I Think They Love You) is his cousin, and has just moved to Los Angeles. When they were kids, Denz and Jordan and Jamie, Denz’s other best friend, were inseparable.
Last summer, Jordan and Jamie hung out quite a bit, but then something happened. Jordan isn’t sure what’s going on. He doesn’t think he’s gay, but no one makes him feel like Jamie does. Unfortunately they haven’t spoken or texted in months.
When the Carter family business decides to go back into wedding planning, and Jordan is the event planner for the first wedding they’re doing, the pressure is on for Jordan to make it unforgettable. He’s shocked when Jamie shows up as the bride’s best friend. Amy was part of Jamie’s and Denz’s world, one that Jordan wasn’t part of as a public school kid.
Throw in a scheming rival event planner, the bride being railroaded by her future in-laws, a ultrawise younger cousin, and Jordan slowly figuring out he’s probably demisexual, and you have a satisfying romance with quite a bit of personal growth.
I loved revisiting the Carters, and getting to know Jordan and Jamie in a new way. Although none of the characters were explicitly fat, Winters had Jamie reference fatphobia along with racism and homophobia in a list of things people don’t want to publicly acknowledge, so I will take that reference as fat positive. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for an escapist contemporary rom-com!
Reading While Fat 