Love, Off the Record

College freshman Éowyn Evans needs to secure the only vacant reporter position at the campus newspaper to make her journalism school application stand out. Unfortunately, so does fellow intern and “suck-up of the highest order” Nathanial “Three” Wellborn III, escalating their usual verbal sparring into vicious competition. After Three scoops her story on new campus dating app Buckonnect, Wyn embraces the “harmless, fun distraction” of anonymous online interaction, opening up to user hayes6834, with whom she forms a close connection. But when Wyn and Three team up on an investigative story about a campus drug ring that could make their college journalism careers, proximity and danger spark mutual attraction, making Wyn feel disloyal to hayes6834, even as she worries that her online crush might ghost her when he finds out that she’s “plus-size.” Hitting pitch-perfect if predictable rom-com notes, Markum (You Wouldn’t Dare) caters to die-hard genre readers in this banter-rich love story that probes online honesty and internalized anti-fatness. Parental pressures and friendship drama add classic teen vibes while a sensitively balanced portrayal of Wyn’s body image elevates this journalistic-rivalry-turned-romance narrative. Main characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Folio Literary. (June)