Scan barcode
A review by beckykphillips
I Think They Love You by Julian Winters
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Maybe I'm a broken record at this point, but honestly 2025 is a dumpster fire so let's engross ourselves in a joyful, gay, sexy, fake dating romance that also has our main character learning to find himself and what he wants to be outside of his family's expectations.
I Think They Love You centers on Denz Carter, the son of Kenneth Carter the CEO of 24 Carter Gold the premiere event planning agency in Atlanta. Kenneth announces that he will be retiring in the spring and Denz, along with his sister Cami, both want to put their names into the hat to take on the CEO role. Denz who is self-conscious of his lack of serious romantic prospects and his whole extended family group chat drags him for his strings of hook ups, announces he also has a serious boyfriend. Denz of course...does not have a serious boyfriend and recruits his best friend and roommate Jamie to play the part. I don't want to give too much else away - but the reappearance of Denz's first big love, Braylan, in his life just brings in additional chaos to this plan.
The writing in I Think They Love You is just perfection, Denz is a whole person with his own insecurities, friends and family that make 24 Carter Gold real. I absolutely love the relationship between Denz and Cami - the duality of both the support of each other and sibling bickering/rivalry felt so true to life. But also, let me just say the sex scenes in this are so hot: Denz "I just came here for a sandwich" Carter getting a surprise blowjob that is of course not actually sex and doesn't break the fake dating rules. At the heart of this, the story is so tender and explores the themes of finding yourself amid family expectations - Denz has to work through what he wants out life and not just what he thinks his family wants from him.
I had the pleasure of listening to this as an audiobook and highly recommend the format. André Santana is perfection and has such lovely voices for each character, he truly brought I Think They Love You to life for me and I was easily swept up in the story.
All in all, highly recommend. Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy.
I Think They Love You centers on Denz Carter, the son of Kenneth Carter the CEO of 24 Carter Gold the premiere event planning agency in Atlanta. Kenneth announces that he will be retiring in the spring and Denz, along with his sister Cami, both want to put their names into the hat to take on the CEO role. Denz who is self-conscious of his lack of serious romantic prospects and his whole extended family group chat drags him for his strings of hook ups, announces he also has a serious boyfriend. Denz of course...does not have a serious boyfriend and recruits his best friend and roommate Jamie to play the part. I don't want to give too much else away - but the reappearance of Denz's first big love, Braylan, in his life just brings in additional chaos to this plan.
The writing in I Think They Love You is just perfection, Denz is a whole person with his own insecurities, friends and family that make 24 Carter Gold real. I absolutely love the relationship between Denz and Cami - the duality of both the support of each other and sibling bickering/rivalry felt so true to life. But also, let me just say the sex scenes in this are so hot: Denz "I just came here for a sandwich" Carter getting a surprise blowjob that is of course not actually sex and doesn't break the fake dating rules. At the heart of this, the story is so tender and explores the themes of finding yourself amid family expectations - Denz has to work through what he wants out life and not just what he thinks his family wants from him.
I had the pleasure of listening to this as an audiobook and highly recommend the format. André Santana is perfection and has such lovely voices for each character, he truly brought I Think They Love You to life for me and I was easily swept up in the story.
All in all, highly recommend. Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy.