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Table of Contents
About The Book
Can a love triangle have only two people in it? Online, it can…but in the real world, its more complicated. In this debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson, Marisa Kanter hilariously and poignantly explores what happens when internet friends turn into IRL crushes.
Is it still a love triangle if there are only two people in it?
There are a million things that Halle Levitt likes about her online best friend, Nash.
He’s an incredibly talented graphic novelist. He loves books almost as much as she does. And she never has to deal with the awkwardness of seeing him in real life. They can talk about anything…
Except who she really is.
Because online, Halle isn’t Halle—she’s Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. Kels has everything Halle doesn’t: friends, a growing platform, tons of confidence, and Nash.
That is, until Halle arrives to spend senior year in Gramps’s small town and finds herself face-to-face with real, human, not-behind-a-screen Nash. Nash, who is somehow everywhere she goes—in her classes, at the bakery, even at synagogue.
Nash who has no idea she’s actually Kels.
If Halle tells him who she is, it will ruin the non-awkward magic of their digital friendship. Not telling him though, means it can never be anything more. Because while she starts to fall for Nash as Halle…he’s in love with Kels.
Is it still a love triangle if there are only two people in it?
There are a million things that Halle Levitt likes about her online best friend, Nash.
He’s an incredibly talented graphic novelist. He loves books almost as much as she does. And she never has to deal with the awkwardness of seeing him in real life. They can talk about anything…
Except who she really is.
Because online, Halle isn’t Halle—she’s Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. Kels has everything Halle doesn’t: friends, a growing platform, tons of confidence, and Nash.
That is, until Halle arrives to spend senior year in Gramps’s small town and finds herself face-to-face with real, human, not-behind-a-screen Nash. Nash, who is somehow everywhere she goes—in her classes, at the bakery, even at synagogue.
Nash who has no idea she’s actually Kels.
If Halle tells him who she is, it will ruin the non-awkward magic of their digital friendship. Not telling him though, means it can never be anything more. Because while she starts to fall for Nash as Halle…he’s in love with Kels.
Excerpt
Chapter One
One True Pastry—three years ago
Debuts You Should Be Reading / Cupcakes You Should Be Eating
FIREFLIES AND YOU by Alanna LaForest
Okay, here we are. #50. The post I’ve been teasing on Instagram all week.
I can’t believe I just typed #50. Fifty reviews. Fifty recipes. Do you have any idea how many cupcakes that is? I can’t even tell you, because my brother always starts eating them all before I have the chance to count. Thankfully. If you were worried about food waste, rest assured, these cupcakes never go to waste.
Today’s recipe is lemon cupcakes with lavender frosting, topped off with gold glitter. Inspired by my new favorite book you probably haven’t read. Which is absurd! So I thought, How can I get this book on YA Twitter’s radar? I can write a glowing review (see below!)—but I know way more people are engaged with my #CupcakeCoverReveals on Instagram.
So I turned thirty-six cupcakes into a book cover cake.
Fifty cupcakes recipes later, and I have finally taken #CupcakeCoverReveal literally. You’re welcome.
These cupcakes taste like spring and are the perfect pick-me-up to get through this endless winter. Which, evidently enough, is how I feel about FIREFLIES AND YOU. If you asked me how many times I’ve read this book, I’d say two.
I’d be lying. The answer is three. I’ve read this book three times and I am the definition of book hungover!
So, what’s the book about, Kels?
FIREFLIES AND YOU is the YA contemporary book of my dreams—one where the romance elements are squee-worthy as anything, but nothing compared to the core of the story—a friendship so complicated, so codependent, you never know whose side you’re supposed to be on.
Every year, Annalee waits for the fireflies. Summer is for swimming, working two part-time jobs to save up for college, kissing Jonah Beckett, and fireflies. It’s a phenomenon that marks her small town outside of Baton Rouge. No one can explain why the fireflies keep coming back. And when they do, so does Maisy Daniels, Annalee’s best friend, and everything is perfect.
Except this summer, Annalee and Maisy are broken and barely even speaking. Annalee’s POV is in chronological order and Maisy’s is reverse chronological, both intricately woven together leading up to the night they fell apart. It’s wild, but so worth the ride, figuring out what happened.
With that, I will say no more about plot because spoilers!
But in terms of feels, the thing I loved most about this book was the moments of levity. It sounds heavy, reading a book about a friendship breakup—hoping Annalee and Maisy will figure it out and find their way back to each other. Parts of it are. But it’s also a lot of laughter, a ton of atmosphere, and the best depiction of summers in the too-hot South I’ve ever read (speaking as someone who’s lived there!).
Anyways, how this book only has 24 ratings on Goodreads is a tragedy—I will be plugging and blasting and screaming about FIREFLIES AND YOU on social media until the end of time!
PLZ READ IT SO ALANNA CAN WRITE MORE AMAZING BOOKS.
With Love (& Cupcakes),
Kels
And, as always, tag me in your cupcake posts!! I LOVE seeing your beautiful bookish creations. [Showing Comments 1-20 of 1,782]
One True Pastry—three years ago
Debuts You Should Be Reading / Cupcakes You Should Be Eating
FIREFLIES AND YOU by Alanna LaForest
Okay, here we are. #50. The post I’ve been teasing on Instagram all week.
I can’t believe I just typed #50. Fifty reviews. Fifty recipes. Do you have any idea how many cupcakes that is? I can’t even tell you, because my brother always starts eating them all before I have the chance to count. Thankfully. If you were worried about food waste, rest assured, these cupcakes never go to waste.
Today’s recipe is lemon cupcakes with lavender frosting, topped off with gold glitter. Inspired by my new favorite book you probably haven’t read. Which is absurd! So I thought, How can I get this book on YA Twitter’s radar? I can write a glowing review (see below!)—but I know way more people are engaged with my #CupcakeCoverReveals on Instagram.
So I turned thirty-six cupcakes into a book cover cake.
Fifty cupcakes recipes later, and I have finally taken #CupcakeCoverReveal literally. You’re welcome.
These cupcakes taste like spring and are the perfect pick-me-up to get through this endless winter. Which, evidently enough, is how I feel about FIREFLIES AND YOU. If you asked me how many times I’ve read this book, I’d say two.
I’d be lying. The answer is three. I’ve read this book three times and I am the definition of book hungover!
So, what’s the book about, Kels?
FIREFLIES AND YOU is the YA contemporary book of my dreams—one where the romance elements are squee-worthy as anything, but nothing compared to the core of the story—a friendship so complicated, so codependent, you never know whose side you’re supposed to be on.
Every year, Annalee waits for the fireflies. Summer is for swimming, working two part-time jobs to save up for college, kissing Jonah Beckett, and fireflies. It’s a phenomenon that marks her small town outside of Baton Rouge. No one can explain why the fireflies keep coming back. And when they do, so does Maisy Daniels, Annalee’s best friend, and everything is perfect.
Except this summer, Annalee and Maisy are broken and barely even speaking. Annalee’s POV is in chronological order and Maisy’s is reverse chronological, both intricately woven together leading up to the night they fell apart. It’s wild, but so worth the ride, figuring out what happened.
With that, I will say no more about plot because spoilers!
But in terms of feels, the thing I loved most about this book was the moments of levity. It sounds heavy, reading a book about a friendship breakup—hoping Annalee and Maisy will figure it out and find their way back to each other. Parts of it are. But it’s also a lot of laughter, a ton of atmosphere, and the best depiction of summers in the too-hot South I’ve ever read (speaking as someone who’s lived there!).
Anyways, how this book only has 24 ratings on Goodreads is a tragedy—I will be plugging and blasting and screaming about FIREFLIES AND YOU on social media until the end of time!
PLZ READ IT SO ALANNA CAN WRITE MORE AMAZING BOOKS.
With Love (& Cupcakes),
Kels
And, as always, tag me in your cupcake posts!! I LOVE seeing your beautiful bookish creations. [Showing Comments 1-20 of 1,782]
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (April 7, 2020)
- Length: 416 pages
- ISBN13: 9781534475939
- Ages: 12 - 99
Browse Related Books
Awards and Honors
- Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Junior Title
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): What I Like About You Trade Paperback 9781534475939
- Author Photo (jpg): Marisa Kanter Photograph by Sam Cheung(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit