Moving to her grandfather’s small town for her senior year, Halle confronts the difference between her online persona and her real life when she discovers that her social-media best friend lives in the town and is in love with her alter ego. A first novel. 75,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

When Halle Levitt arrives to spend senior year in her grandfather's small town, she meets Nash, her online best friend who thinks her online persona, Kels, is as confident and popular as he is. - (Baker & Taylor)

“Heartwarming, endearing, and sure to leave you swooning, What I Like About You shines with authentic characters you will absolutely fall in love with. This story is as sweet as the cupcakes you’ll be craving by the end!” —Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author

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. - (Simon and Schuster)

'Heartwarming, endearing, and sure to leave you swooning, What I Like About You shines with authentic characters you will absolutely fall in love with. This story is as sweet as the cupcakes you'll be craving by the end!' 'Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author

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. - (Simon and Schuster)

Marisa Kanter is a young adult author, amateur baker, and reality television enthusiast. She is the author of What I Like About You and As If on Cue. Born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, her obsession with books led her to New York City, where she worked in the publishing industry to help books find their perfect readers. She currently lives in Los Angeles, writing love stories by day and searching for the perfect slice of pizza by night. Follow her at MarisaKanter.com. - (Simon and Schuster)

Marisa Kanter is a young adult author, amateur baker, and reality television enthusiast. She is the author of What I Like About You and As If On Cue. Born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, her obsession with books led her to New York City, where she worked in the publishing industry to help books find their perfect readers. She currently lives in Los Angeles, writing love stories by day and searching for the perfect slice of pizza by night. Follow her at MarisaKanter.com. - (Simon and Schuster)

Booklist Reviews

Halle is an online sensation. Using the pseudonym Kels, she has amassed a following with her Twitter charisma and popular One True Pastry blog, where she pairs cupcakes with book reviews. Nash is also a well-known presence online, thanks to his weekly web comic series—and rumor has it that Kels and Nash are an item. Ha! With her parents spending a year in Israel, Halle and her younger brother move in with their grandfather. Unexpectedly, Halle meets Nash IRL, and she is panicked to reveal that she (#reserved #shy) is actually Kels (#confident #outgoing). When Halle gets absorbed into Nash's circle of friends at school and temple, it becomes harder to confess who she is, especially once Halle and Nash become a couple. With humor and compassion, Kanter's debut is fun to read with its texts, DMs, posts, and angsty narrative. As online and IRL love and personalities clash, Halle must learn to be herself. Kudos to Kanter for featuring Jewish teens and telling a sweet story that also examines the blurring of online and real lives. Grades 7-10. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

PW Annex Reviews

After the death of her beloved grandmother, high school senior Halle Levitt and her 15-year-old brother, Ollie, move in with their widowed grandfather for the school year as their Oscar-nominated parents pursue their latest documentary. Arriving in Connecticut, Halle's worlds collide. Online, Halle is Kels, the confident faceless blogger behind One True Pastry; an army brat who loves baking cupcakes frosted to emulate the covers of the books she reviews; and best friend to webcomic creator Nash Stevens. In real life, anxious Halle hopes her blogging will bolster her application for NYU, which is also Nash's dream school. Offline, Nash Kim, alias Nash Stevens, is now Halle's classmate. Scared to disappoint, Halle doesn't tell Nash she's Kels—even when she realizes Nash is in love with Kels and Halle is falling for Nash, forming a love triangle that's actually "just a line." Debut author Kanter realistically paints Halle and Nash YA-centric universe via Twitter, Instagram, blog posts, and group chats, giving an insider's peek into the fandom. Though some of these elements are more effective than others, Kanter creates robust characters and a swoon-worthy romance. Ages 12–up. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (Apr.)

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 8 Up—High school senior Halle Levitt is anything but typical: her parents are successful documentarians, her grandmother a famous YA literature publisher, and her cupcake and book blog, One True Pastry, affords her a certain level of notoriety, too. Despite her connections, Halle has worked hard to build her brand on its own merits, without any favors from her famous family members. To do so she has had to create an internet alter ego, the brave and sassy Kels. But just as Kels and One True Pastry start getting the game-changing recognition Halle has worked so hard for, Kels's and Halle's worlds collide when Halle comes face-to-face with her internet crush and fellow blogger, Nash. Halle knows who Nash is, but Nash doesn't know that Halle is Kels, and as Halle and IRL Nash start falling in love, she becomes more and more mired in the ethics of online identities. Typical family and senior year issues—SATs and college admissions, for example—add another layer of stress to Halle's life. VERDICT Cupcake cute and Belle-brainy. Fans of Miranda Kenneally and Jenny Han will like Kanter's smart (and a little bit awkward) main character whose romance is based on more than the physical…but also the physical.—Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA