Angela Gutierrez is 27 years old and has never dated or kissed anyone. Part of the reason for that was her long journey to discovering her identity as an asexual lesbian, but now she’s embraced it, and she’s ready to experience some firsts. But she doesn’t just want to swipe through dating apps. Instead, she takes to TikTok as a platform to talk about being a “late bloomer.” When a video goes unexpectedly viral, she decides to leverage this popularity by planning a scavenger hunt, where the winner will get her first kiss. Helping her arrange this arrange this is Krystal, the hot bartender Angela has had a crush on for years. Krystal is insistent that love and romance aren’t for her, but that doesn’t stop the chemistry between them as they spend more time together.
It’s very cute to read a romance novel about a newly out baby gay. Angela is relieved to be able to finally be open about her identity, but she’s also not done figuring herself out. She experiments with gender presentation and style, giving herself permission to wear more masculine clothing. She also is trying to understand her sexuality better: asexuality is a huge, complex spectrum, and she’s not sure about her place in it. (I recommend reading Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen if you’d like to learn more.) As she gets closer to Krystal, she starts to wonder if graysexual is the better label for her—and Krystal is happy to help her experiment to see what she enjoys. There are several very steamy scenes, so if you’re looking for an asexual romance with no sex at all, this isn’t the best choice. But if you’re interested in someone figuring out their place in the asexuality spectrum and grappling with what that means for their identity, I think you’ll really enjoy Kiss Me, Maybe.
Another part of Angela figuring out her identity is building queer community. She is excited to connect with other asexual people through TikTok, especially since she’s put up with bullying from her cousins her whole life over not dating. As part of her scavenger hunt plans, Angela also connects with a queer ace artist—only to be met with hostility around her plan. Natalia also went viral for her art, but it ended badly, and she’s still dealing with the fallout of so many people turning against her. Angela may have built community on TikTok, but Natalia reminds her how precarious that is, and how public opinion can so quickly change.
The scavenger hunt is a fun hook for the premise, but it doesn’t play a huge role in the story. This is Angela and Krystal’s romance, and the scavenger hunt is mostly just the catalyst to spending more time together and getting to know each other better. They have fantastic chemistry, but as Krystal opens up about her romantic history, we get a realistic barrier to them getting together, even as they both admit their attraction to each other. Krystal doesn’t believe she is capable of being a good partner, and she isn’t over her messy breakup with her lifelong best friend. I appreciate when romances have a believable reason for the couple doesn’t immediately get together.
This is a steamy romance that’s just as much about finding yourself and finding your people. I’ll admit I picked it up mostly because of the cover, but I have no regrets.
