Meet Cute Diary

Written by Emery Lee

Narrated by Logan Rozos

Felix Ever After meets Becky Albertalli in this swoon-worthy, heartfelt rom-com about how a transgender teen’s first love challenges his ideas about perfect relationships.

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

In this charming novel by Emery Lee, Noah will have to choose between following his own rules for love or discovering that the most romantic endings are the ones that go off script.

This audio edition is read by Logan Rozos of David Makes Man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063038868

Emery Lee

Emery Lee is a kidlit author, artist, and You-Tuber hailing from a mixed-racial background. After graduating with a degree in creative writing, e’s gone on to author novels, short stories, and web comics. When away from reading and writing, you’ll most likely find em engaged in art or snuggling cute dogs. Find em online at www.emeryleebooks.com.

Reviews for Meet Cute Diary

[marjo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

it gets an extra star for the trans rep, but other than that this book was pretty terrible. i don't think ive ever read a romance novel where i was actively hoping for the main couple to break up because it was such a shit relationship. devin deserved better

[Liz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is amazing. Great plot, even greater characters, really satisfying build up and when I finished the book it gave me extra seratonin.

[aya weil · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

LOVE IT! It’s like you’re reading a romantic comedy!!! LOVE

[regencyfan93 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked Becca, Devon, and Brian. Because this was from Noah's POV, I missed how self-centered he was. Drew made me nervous, in always getting his own way and being willing to do upend Noah's blog.

[Kaylee Claire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a really good read! I really loved the voice of the narrator; I think he did a great job making the character come alive, and I'm looking forward to listening to Felix Ever After next. I thought the premise of this book was really cute, and it was executed well. I liked the inclusion of not only the trans MC but also a nonbinary asexual character questioning their identity and trying on different labels for erself.
I've seen a lot of other reviews saying the main character is an asshole, and I do agree with them. I do think the main character was a tiny bit of an egotistical asshole, but also: he's a teenager! I think you should get a free pass to be a bit of a self-centered asshole when you're a teenager, as long as you apologise for it when you need to, and he always did.

[vidhi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars! This was cute and adorable but also had too many things happening at once. I feel the story tried to do more than what it could handle. Nevertheless, it’s always so amazing to read trans characters in books, and this was a decent enough story !

[Edward Gracey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An amazing trans story. This book made me feel happy and seen.
*SPOILERS*
One thing I wish had been touched on more, the relationship between Drew and Noah wasn't just bad, it was emotionally abusive and manipulative. If it reminds you of your own relationship/ friendship please get yourself out, you deserve better

[Chris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely loved it!!! As a non binary teen who related SO much with both Devon and Noah, this gave me so much hope and gender euphoria!!

[roberto2012 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.8 stars
This was in some part cute and entertaining, but not the best.
I expected more. The representation of LGBTQ+ was good and the cover... One of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

[Elizabeth Mellen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to love this, but it just didn’t ever click for me. Noah grated on me, and while I was rooting for him and Devin, it took a large chunk of the book to come to that realization, and I didn’t super enjoy the fake-dating with Drew like I expected to, because he was so…self-centered? rude? I get why he was the foil to Devin’s kindness and understanding, but I just don’t get why it took Noah *so much* of that BS to stop wanting to be around him! Enjoyed the supportive family and friends, and Noah getting some growth. Those things plus the diverse, own-voices rep push this to a solid 3 for me. I definitely feel like the minority there, so I hope everyone else who’s interested will give it a try and see for themselves!

[bumblybee-190414 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As someone who was a big fan fiction reader and Tumblr user as a teenager, the entire premise of this book is one that I absolutely would have been all over at Noah's age, as much as I might have denied it at the time. Lee perfectly captures the yearning for love (or at least for a partner) that chronically-online teens experience as a reaction to an environment that doesn't seem to love them all that much. Everything about Lee's world feels real, teenage exaggeration and all, and while the story itself is mostly lighthearted, not everything is too smooth-going for the characters to make it feel unnatural. I think the main thing that held me back from giving this five stars is Noah himself. He starts off the book with an understandably sour attitude, and it's clear from the beginning that he's incredibly self-absorbed, more so than you'd expect from a teenager. While this fades as the story goes on, I found him to be an unlikable protagonist - that isn't to say it's a bad thing; it just changed the tone of the story for me, and made his contrast with Devin all that more stark. I would have liked to maybe see more glimpses of Noah's best qualities earlier on in the book, because as it is, we don't really get that until maybe the last third of the story. This is a very cute read that I'd recommend for anyone who likes solid, diverse YA romance. It's great to know that trans kids have stories like this to see other trans kids finding love and acceptance, even if it's not some grand love story.