Gwen & Art Are Not in Love

A Novel

By: Lex Croucher

Narrated by: Alex Singh, Sarah Ovens

"A total, rollicking delight. Gwen & Art gave me the same cheeky, swoony, giddy, irresistible high of the first time I saw A Knight’s Tale. Lex Croucher is one of my favorite romcom authors, and they should be yours, too." - Casey McQuiston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.

It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.

They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen's childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.

Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, they make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen's royal brother. Lex Croucher's Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make listeners fall in love.

"In this frivolous medieval romp of a queer rom-com, Lex Croucher toys with Arthurian legend to delightful effect." - Entertainment Weekly

“Fun and genuinely funny, with lovely friendships and first-rate dialogue. Gwen and Art may not be in love, but I fell for both of them.” - Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Simon Snow trilogy

“Gwen & Art Are Not in Love was exactly what I needed right now—a delightful, heart-warming, hilarious historical romp, overflowing with queer panic and terrible jokes. I loved it.” - Alice Oseman, New York Times bestselling author of the Heartstopper series

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

©2023 Lex Croucher (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

Epic Reads, "LGBTQ+ Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2023"

Goodreads, "2023's Most Anticipated Young Adult Books" and "45 Great New YA Historical Fiction Novels to Read in 2023"

The Nerd Daily, "11 Mythology Inspired Book Releases To Look Forward To In 2023"

"In this frivolous medieval romp of a queer rom-com, Lex Croucher toys with Arthurian legend to delightful effect."—Entertainment Weekly

"A wonderful expansion of the YA romance genre...Frankly a delight."—Kirkus

"Swoonworthy, hilarious and full of witty repartee, this gorgeous historical romance will sweep readers off their feet."―The Bookseller Teen & YA Editor's Choice

If only...

What a wonderful read and beautiful glimpse at if only England had had a Prince and Princess like Gabriel and Gwen with a band of loyal friends among them. Several times I doubled over in laughter all while pondering how different the course of history and the world might have been in a select fee in power had been brave!

I really enjoyed this!

I was very excited the whole way through, the ending was totally unexpected but I enjoyed it all the same ☺️ it’s well written and performed.

Witty & full of humor

The equivalent of Bridgerton if it was gay/sapphic. My favorite character has to be Arthur. I loved the humor and banter and PG 13 scenes. The character growth was very apparent and although I felt the end was a bitch rushed I would definitely pick this historic rom com up again!

So Fun!

I enjoyed this so much. I’ve watched Lex’s videos for years and I was very impressed with her storytelling

Terrible narrator

I don’t often review things but the narrator for Arthur in this took me completely out of the book. He was putting on such an affectatious voice that I couldn’t take him seriously and the speech directions in the book were completely disregarded by him. For example things that were said “warily” are said in a cheerful tone. I loved the story but wow….

Feel Good and Easy Read

I want to start out by saying that I really did enjoy this book. It was fun. The queer representation was excellent. I really liked Gwen’s sections. The narrator got Art bothered me sometimes. For the actual story, There were some plot elements that I think could have been more fully developed.

Cute, fun, delightful!

This was a charming story. The reimagined history angle is fun, the characters are engaging, the story structure was well paced.

loved the concept!

it was an amazing read!! i will say the end moved a little fast as a lot of these ya romances tend to but it was still so sweet and fun.

I want to read everything by this author now!!!

This book is unlike any other teen queer romance I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot of them as a teen librarian), it’s full of heart, well developed characters and a fictional take on the post-Arthurian world that is fresh and new.

Love the narration!

I absolutely adored the narrators of this book! They gave their characters so much personality. I especially liked the male narrator. He’s so goofy and really brought Arthur to life. He’s kinda awkward and aloof which seemed spot on for the character.