Nate Plus One by Kevin Van Whye
Oct. 12th, 2025 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Two boys. Two bands. Two worlds colliding.
Nate Hargreaves - stage-shy singer-songwriter - is totally stoked for his cousin’s wedding in South Africa, an all-expenses-paid trip of a lifetime. Until he finds out his sleaze ball ex-boyfriend is also on the guest list.
Jai Patel - hot-as-hell high school rock god - has troubles too. His band’s lead singer has quit, just weeks before the gig that was meant to be their big break.
When Nate saves the day by agreeing to sing with Jai’s band, Jai volunteers to be Nate’s plus-one to the wedding, and the stage is set for a summer of music, self-discovery, and simmering romantic tension. What could possibly go wrong …?
17-year-old Nate Hargreaves lives with his mum (a nurse) in an apartment in San Diego. His South African dad was killed in a car accident when he was 5 and although he sees his cousin Meghan who goes to college in California he hasn’t seen much of his dad’s side of the family outside of WhatsApp chats. This is a big reason why he’s looking forward to going to Meghan’s wedding in South Africa over the summer with his mum - not only is Meghan’s side of the family loaded (meaning that it will be an epic affair) - but he will also be able to spend time with his grandmother, who owns a farm and who he hasn’t seen much of. The only downer is that Nate’s ex-boyfriend Tommy Herron is also going to be there with one of Meghan’s friends. Tommy was Nate’s first love and he’s never really gotten over how Tommy ghosted him after he went off to college.
Nate’s dream is to go to music school and in his spare time he writes songs and sings but has bad stage fright, which he knows that he has to overcome. Nate also has a massive crush on his friend, Jai Patel, the bi-sexual guitarist and songwriter for the band Infinite Sorrow but he has never had the courage to tell him how he feels for fear of spoiling their relationship. When Infinite Sorrow’s lead singer deserts them for their closest rival just weeks ahead of the Ready2Rock competition, Nate volunteers to step in, knowing that winning he competition would do amazing things for the band and for Jai. As he rehearses with Jai and the band, he slowly begins to overcome his fear of performing but even better, he finds that he and Jai are getting closer.
Then Nate’s mum tells him that the hospital has cancelled her leave. Nate is uncertain about going to South Africa without her but Jai steps in and volunteers to be his plus one. Together they head to Johannesburg where Meghan’s family wealth gives them experiences neither could imagine and they begin to grow closer. As the romantic sparks fly and Nate learns more about his father’s side of the family, he also discovers darker forces at play together with temptations that could blow up everything he thinks he wants …
There are no big surprises in Kevin Van Whye’s YA gay romance, which hits all the beats you’d expect in a friends-to-lovers tale. It’s sweet without being cloying and I believed in Nate and Jai’s attraction but there are missed opportunities here, from the homophobia of some members of Nate’s family and their wealth disparity to the battle of the bands competition and Nate’s relationship with Tommy, which lacks resolution.
Although romance is not normally my genre, I am always open to reading a sweet tale, especially if it has a LGBTQ+ element. Van Whyte was a new-to-me-author but I had heard positive things about his debut gay romance, DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER.
This book is based on the friends-to-lovers trope and Van Whyte, for the most part, does well with Nate’s first person narration. The one bum note is when Nate refers to himself or his behaviour as being that of a teenager, which took me out a little from the story but when he talked about how he feels about losing his father when he was so young and his relationship with his mum there is an emotional vulnerability there that felt very true. Equally, I believed in Nate’s attraction to Jai. The way Van Whyte establishes their friendship is well done and although I rolled my eyes a little at how oblivious Nate is to the very clear signals that Jai is giving him about liking him back, it does make sense in the context of Nate’s lack of self-confidence and his fear about putting himself out there with Jai for fear of ruining their friendship and losing him for good. It also makes sense as Nate reveals what happened between him and Tommy and how Tommy’s bad behaviour impacted him, which is something I think any reader - gay or straight - can relate to.
The plot hangs on 2 threads - the need for Nate to step in and overcome his stage fright to help Jai win a battle of the bands competition and the romance that develops between Jai and Nate in South Africa and how that comes to be tested. For me although the book hits the touchstones you’d expect in those storylines, it fails to fully deliver on either simply because both are underdeveloped. In the case of the band competition, this is because there isn’t enough in there about how Nate overcomes his stage fright - it all happens very quickly and off page and there’s no real attempt to build the relationship with the bandmates or establish their characters and relationships. This feeds into the romance story as Jai and Nate need to come up with a new song on short notice and so have to work together but I have to say that I am not someone who is into lyrics and I didn’t find the process particularly interesting.
Because the course of true love never runs smooth, there is a love triangle element in South Africa with Tommy coming back on the scene. I did find those parts disappointing, mainly because there’s no real conversation between Nate and Tommy about what happened and Nate doesn’t fully call him on his behaviour. Also disappointing was how Jai misconstrues what happens between Tommy and Nate, which just didn’t fit with their previous conversations and felt more like plot service than an earned development.
Another missed opportunity relates to the homophobia that Nate encounters with one of his dad’s family members. I have mixed feelings about the need to include homophobia within LGBTQ+ fiction because although it is a sad fact of life (especially in South Africa) it can feel like a bolt on. In this case, I was left a bit underwhelmed because again, there’s no real confrontation about it so it doesn’t go anywhere and so while there is the element of Nate working out how he feels and how he will behave with his family, I wanted to see something on the other side of that equation as well.
If this all sounds that I have a downer on the book then I want to make clear that this is not the case. This is a perfectly sweet romance that kept me turning the pages, it’s just that there wasn’t anything that really made it stand out for me so although I would check out Van Whyte’s other books, I can’t say that I’d be in a hurry to check them out.
The Verdict:
There are no big surprises in Kevin Van Whye’s YA gay romance, which hits all the beats you’d expect in a friends-to-lovers tale. It’s sweet without being cloying and I believed in Nate and Jai’s attraction but there are missed opportunities here, from the homophobia of some members of Nate’s family and their wealth disparity to the battle of the bands competition and Nate’s relationship with Tommy, which lacks resolution.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Nate Hargreaves - stage-shy singer-songwriter - is totally stoked for his cousin’s wedding in South Africa, an all-expenses-paid trip of a lifetime. Until he finds out his sleaze ball ex-boyfriend is also on the guest list.
Jai Patel - hot-as-hell high school rock god - has troubles too. His band’s lead singer has quit, just weeks before the gig that was meant to be their big break.
When Nate saves the day by agreeing to sing with Jai’s band, Jai volunteers to be Nate’s plus-one to the wedding, and the stage is set for a summer of music, self-discovery, and simmering romantic tension. What could possibly go wrong …?
17-year-old Nate Hargreaves lives with his mum (a nurse) in an apartment in San Diego. His South African dad was killed in a car accident when he was 5 and although he sees his cousin Meghan who goes to college in California he hasn’t seen much of his dad’s side of the family outside of WhatsApp chats. This is a big reason why he’s looking forward to going to Meghan’s wedding in South Africa over the summer with his mum - not only is Meghan’s side of the family loaded (meaning that it will be an epic affair) - but he will also be able to spend time with his grandmother, who owns a farm and who he hasn’t seen much of. The only downer is that Nate’s ex-boyfriend Tommy Herron is also going to be there with one of Meghan’s friends. Tommy was Nate’s first love and he’s never really gotten over how Tommy ghosted him after he went off to college.
Nate’s dream is to go to music school and in his spare time he writes songs and sings but has bad stage fright, which he knows that he has to overcome. Nate also has a massive crush on his friend, Jai Patel, the bi-sexual guitarist and songwriter for the band Infinite Sorrow but he has never had the courage to tell him how he feels for fear of spoiling their relationship. When Infinite Sorrow’s lead singer deserts them for their closest rival just weeks ahead of the Ready2Rock competition, Nate volunteers to step in, knowing that winning he competition would do amazing things for the band and for Jai. As he rehearses with Jai and the band, he slowly begins to overcome his fear of performing but even better, he finds that he and Jai are getting closer.
Then Nate’s mum tells him that the hospital has cancelled her leave. Nate is uncertain about going to South Africa without her but Jai steps in and volunteers to be his plus one. Together they head to Johannesburg where Meghan’s family wealth gives them experiences neither could imagine and they begin to grow closer. As the romantic sparks fly and Nate learns more about his father’s side of the family, he also discovers darker forces at play together with temptations that could blow up everything he thinks he wants …
There are no big surprises in Kevin Van Whye’s YA gay romance, which hits all the beats you’d expect in a friends-to-lovers tale. It’s sweet without being cloying and I believed in Nate and Jai’s attraction but there are missed opportunities here, from the homophobia of some members of Nate’s family and their wealth disparity to the battle of the bands competition and Nate’s relationship with Tommy, which lacks resolution.
Although romance is not normally my genre, I am always open to reading a sweet tale, especially if it has a LGBTQ+ element. Van Whyte was a new-to-me-author but I had heard positive things about his debut gay romance, DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER.
This book is based on the friends-to-lovers trope and Van Whyte, for the most part, does well with Nate’s first person narration. The one bum note is when Nate refers to himself or his behaviour as being that of a teenager, which took me out a little from the story but when he talked about how he feels about losing his father when he was so young and his relationship with his mum there is an emotional vulnerability there that felt very true. Equally, I believed in Nate’s attraction to Jai. The way Van Whyte establishes their friendship is well done and although I rolled my eyes a little at how oblivious Nate is to the very clear signals that Jai is giving him about liking him back, it does make sense in the context of Nate’s lack of self-confidence and his fear about putting himself out there with Jai for fear of ruining their friendship and losing him for good. It also makes sense as Nate reveals what happened between him and Tommy and how Tommy’s bad behaviour impacted him, which is something I think any reader - gay or straight - can relate to.
The plot hangs on 2 threads - the need for Nate to step in and overcome his stage fright to help Jai win a battle of the bands competition and the romance that develops between Jai and Nate in South Africa and how that comes to be tested. For me although the book hits the touchstones you’d expect in those storylines, it fails to fully deliver on either simply because both are underdeveloped. In the case of the band competition, this is because there isn’t enough in there about how Nate overcomes his stage fright - it all happens very quickly and off page and there’s no real attempt to build the relationship with the bandmates or establish their characters and relationships. This feeds into the romance story as Jai and Nate need to come up with a new song on short notice and so have to work together but I have to say that I am not someone who is into lyrics and I didn’t find the process particularly interesting.
Because the course of true love never runs smooth, there is a love triangle element in South Africa with Tommy coming back on the scene. I did find those parts disappointing, mainly because there’s no real conversation between Nate and Tommy about what happened and Nate doesn’t fully call him on his behaviour. Also disappointing was how Jai misconstrues what happens between Tommy and Nate, which just didn’t fit with their previous conversations and felt more like plot service than an earned development.
Another missed opportunity relates to the homophobia that Nate encounters with one of his dad’s family members. I have mixed feelings about the need to include homophobia within LGBTQ+ fiction because although it is a sad fact of life (especially in South Africa) it can feel like a bolt on. In this case, I was left a bit underwhelmed because again, there’s no real confrontation about it so it doesn’t go anywhere and so while there is the element of Nate working out how he feels and how he will behave with his family, I wanted to see something on the other side of that equation as well.
If this all sounds that I have a downer on the book then I want to make clear that this is not the case. This is a perfectly sweet romance that kept me turning the pages, it’s just that there wasn’t anything that really made it stand out for me so although I would check out Van Whyte’s other books, I can’t say that I’d be in a hurry to check them out.
The Verdict:
There are no big surprises in Kevin Van Whye’s YA gay romance, which hits all the beats you’d expect in a friends-to-lovers tale. It’s sweet without being cloying and I believed in Nate and Jai’s attraction but there are missed opportunities here, from the homophobia of some members of Nate’s family and their wealth disparity to the battle of the bands competition and Nate’s relationship with Tommy, which lacks resolution.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
