Darkhearts

A Novel

By: James L. Sutter

Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo

This program features original music written and performed by the author.

Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman and Red, White, & Royal Blue, Darkhearts is a hilarious, heartfelt, enemies-to-lovers romance about love, celebrity, and what happens when the two collide.

When David quit his band, he missed his shot at fame, trapped in an ordinary high school life while his ex-best friend, Chance, became the hottest teen pop star in America.

Then tragedy throws David and Chance back into contact. As old wounds break open, the boys find themselves trading frenemy status for a confusing, secret romance—one that could be David’s ticket back into the band and the spotlight.

As the mixture of business and pleasure becomes a powder keg, David will have to choose: Is this his second chance at glory? Or his second chance at Chance?

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

©2022 James L. Sutter (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

Book Riot, "Spring 2023 YA Books You’ll Want to TBR ASAP"

LGBTQReads, "Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Romance of 2023"

SheReads, "Best YA Romances of Summer 2023"

The Nerd Daily, "Must-Have Queer Book Releases 2023"

"Tenderly written and exceptionally sweet... A funny romp with a lot of heart."—Kirkus Reviews

"Sutter's breezy, warm-hearted prose feels almost like a trick: blink and you'll catch yourself surprised by the more emotional moments in the book. A fantastic, slow-burn romance both sweet and poignant, hilarious and brilliant."—Cassandra Khaw, USA Today bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

"Laugh-out-loud and tearful at the same time, Sutter's Darkhearts combines real characters, smart prose, and an emotional journey into one fantastically relatable read."—Charlie N. Holmberg, bestselling author of The Paper Magician series and You're My I.T.

Surpassed my expecations

I absolutely loved this book. I did not want it to end. I cannot stop thinking about the characters. They feel so real and relatable. Beautifully done!!!

This gave me a lot of feelings

I really liked this book. The narration was top notch but I expected that from Ramon de Ocampo. The main protagonist is a deeply flawed character. You watch him flounder and figure out what it means to be who he is now. The relationship between the characters was also good. I can see why this book has received mixed reviews. I have to say I enjoyed it from beginning to almost end. It was engaging, funny and really. The end of the book although it didn’t go the way I thought it might or hoped it would. Felt real too. Honest and true to the characters and a real life situation not just something created for function. Don’t fear though there is a HEA at the end

Sweet and sweetly steamy

I finished this book in just a few days, and stayed up way too late more than once to do so. The teenage characters felt really true to life for me, and I very much identified with the main character's journey. I liked that the ancillary characters were dimensional and interesting too, and as someone born and raised in Seattle, the city itself felt like another lovely character I was getting to know and found very charming.
This was a sweet and funny story with a handful of steamy scenes that felt true to teenage excitement and discovery of sex and sexual identity.
I really enjoyed the author's steady voice, and look forward to reading more from him.
The audio performance was really good. I found the reader's voice a little hard to buy as teen-aged at times, but he did a great job with humor and emotion and pacing, and overall was pleasant to listen to.

Complex characters with a strong plot!

An excellent story that has perfect narration. Chance and David are both characters with their own strengths and weaknesses that are brought back together after 2 long years by the unfortunate death of a friend/bandmate. The close proximity has them both working on their ruined friendship but so much more begins to develop between them that will leave David (our MC) on a path to look inward and learn about himself in ways he never saw coming. The personal growth for all characters involved and the easy flow of the compelling plot had me devouring this book!

Great story and performance

The narration is flawless and the characters are very real. I found David and Chance’s journey very charming and loved how David had his flaws but grew as a character.

His first young adult novel is a great debut

The author's branching out into young adult fiction is surprisingly rather good. Hilarious dialogue, well-developed characters, and excellent narration by Ramon all earn high praise from me, Ramon's skill at different voices and accents working extremely well here. Falling in love is onething, falling for a celebrity is no picnic.

The tender romance YA audiences deserve

Something in this for adult readers too, this poignant and unflinching look at the trials of teen romance has the potential to be formative not only for young adults, but adult adults as well. In a world still struggling to understand the basics of love, this relatable tale offers everyone an opportunity for introspection and growth, no matter where we are in our real world relationships and understanding. Being funny and entertaining sure doesn't hurt either. Relatable characters and accessible emotionally with just the right amount of steam, this is a satisfying read. Bravo, Sutter!

Splendid

Read it and enjoy. The love story you need to heal and learn a heart wants what a heart wants 😍Funny, touching, captivating, and brings visibility that LOVE IS LOVE 😍😍😍

Steamy yet meaningful

It was refreshing that they actually got to enjoy being together, and the romance wasn’t created in the last 20 mins of the book.

Miscast narrator

They hired some old man to narrate this otherwise rollicking teenage enemies to lovers romp. When the romance ended up in the bedroom it sounded like some politician bragging about his trips to Jeffrey Epstein’s island. It was disgusting to hear some old dude describe two teens getting frisky. I wanted to strangle him. Or maybe call the FBI to have him arrested. He completely destroyed an otherwise excellent story. Don’t waste your credit. The miscast narrator will make you fight the urge to throw up.