First love never really fades—especially when it walks back into your life as the man-of-honour at the high-profile wedding you’re planning. When Jordan Carter is forced to work alongside Jamie Peters, the boy who gave him his first kiss and his first broken heart, awkward reunions and sarcastic banter soon turns into something far more complicated. As old feelings resurface amid cake tastings, venue tours, and late-night moments, Jordan is forced to ask himself whether knowing who you love can be enough, even when you’re still figuring out who you are—and whether sometimes, to find the right path for your future starts with revisiting your past.
I’ve said it in my review of Julian Winters’ adult debut and I’ll say it again: it really feels like he was made for this genre. It felt so good to be back in this world and to get to reunite with characters I have come to love—but from a different perspective.
Last First Kiss serves as a wonderful continuation of the foundation I Think They Love You laid with the Carter “dynasty” and their successful business empire 24 Carter Gold. While you can read it as a standalone, I highly recommend checking out I Think They Love You first. Knowing all the characters beforehand and now seeing them through a different lens—take for example Denz, who is the main character in I Think They Love You, but in Last First Kiss takes on the role of Jordan’s best friend whom he fiercely misses while is off living his best life after getting his own happily ever after— added another layer of depth to the story. But even if you dive into this not knowing anything about the Carters, you’re sure to fall head over heels in love with the characters.
Jordan is an absolute delight to follow. Jordan is many things—a perfectionist, a dreamer, an overthinker but above all, he is a self-deprecating sarcasm machine. His inner monologue kept making me laugh out loud. The way he manages to face every challenge head on no matter how insurmountable it seems but then lowkey considers running for the hills so he doesn’t have to see Jamie had me cackling. I could have spent another 500 pages in his head. Jordan has so much on his plate and puts so many expectations on himself that I constantly just wanted to give him a hug and tell him he’s doing great. So much of what drives Jordan is who he is to others and how he never wants to fail in fear of being abandoned and that hits especially hard once you understand how deeply Jamie is woven into all of it.
Jamie meanwhile, is, to use Jordan’s words, “the human embodiment of a border collie” and you know what? That translated so well to the page. Jamie is fiercely loyal (to a fault sometimes, unfortunately), an absolute goofball and also a ray of sunshine that brightens everyone’s days. He’s also so in tune with the people around him and what they need to a point where he puts their well-being above his own. There’s layers to him and why he behaves the way he does that takes a while to come to light—and that brings its own struggles with it that complicates his and Jordan’s relationship.
Now, let’s be real: sometimes a narrative that keeps a moment in the past hidden from you for a huge chunk of the story can drive you up the walls with how much you have to piece together without having all of the puzzle pieces. Here, that isn’t the case. Winters strikes the perfect balance between keeping the reader intrigued enough to want to find out what really happened between Jordan and Jamie and handing you snippets of their last encounter to make you understand just how much of an impact it had on Jordan—and why he’s loath to show it.
Every moment between Jordan and Jamie was filled with so much delicious tension despite how they traded sarcastic comments. You have these two characters who feel so much for each other and are evidently in love yet don’t quite know how to put themselves out there for very different reasons.
And somehow, despite the things the reader doesn’t know about Jordan or Jamie, it just works perfectly to make you root for their happily ever after.
There are so many instances in Jamie and Jordan’s story that had me smiling as they fell into old habits and familiar banter. I’m a sucker for best friends to lovers because they just add this layer of being known to the romance.
And once their relationship heats up, oh boy, I was done for. The comfort checks? I’m going to be busy combusting emotionally because that was so so appreciated that Jamie and Jordan were so careful around each other while simultaneously wanting to be as close to each other as they could.
Jordan’s journey with labels, particularly landing on demisexuality, is handled with so much care and authenticity. While I’m very aware that no two experiences are the same, I was so enamoured by the way Jordan’s journey unfolded and how much I related to his struggles of not quite being sure how to label himself when he only likes this one person and… doesn’t really know what to do with those feelings or how to act on them because he doesn’t understand them himself. It felt so reminiscent of my own experience, the constant second-guessing, the trying to fit the mould, the way you keep wondering what’s wrong with you because surely no one else feels like this, right? I can tell that this representation is going to matter to so many readers and I’m glad they’ll have this book to pick up and go “oh, so I’m not alone in this”.
I could keep singing this book’s praises, especially for each of the secondary characters that somehow felt like real people and propelled the story forward, but just let me give you one example: Javier.
Oh how I loathed Javier when he first reappeared as the guy who wants Jordan’s job – and the promotion Jordan has been vying for. I hated him with a passion, wanted him to get out of Jordan’s hair and ride off into the sunset with…whoever. But Winters, of course, surprised me here.
Watching Jordan and Javi shift from rivals to reluctant partners to genuine friends was so satisfying and served as a great reminder that sometimes the people who challenge us most are the ones who help us grow.
Really, my only gripe with the novel is the third-act break-up (which I have come to accept as a given in traditionally published romances and yet will still loathe until the end of my days because how dare you rip my babies apart when I just got them) but even that Winters finds a way to make feel natural and overall necessary to solidify Jordan and Jamie’s happily ever after.
All in all, this novel was an absolute delight, and I for one am already itching to get my hands on Winters’ next story—whether it’s in the Carter universe or not, he’s sure to hit another homerun.
If you’re in the market for a fantastic best-friends-to-lovers romance with heartfelt demisexual rep, an amazing cast of characters that liven up the pages and top-tier sarcastic banter that will have you giggling and kicking your feet, then Last First Kiss is the perfect second-chance romance to keep you warm this winter!
Last First Kiss is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 27th 2026.
Will you be picking up Last First Kiss? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis
Sparks fly in this second chance m/m rom com when an unlucky-in-love event planner realizes the man-of-honor at the high profile wedding he’s planning is the same man who broke his heart.
They say you never forget your first kiss. But Jordan Carter wishes he could forget the one he shared with Jamie Peters as teens. And the one they almost shared again last year before Jamie made it clear he wasn’t the “right” man for Jordan to be with while he’s figuring himself out.
Now, Jordan’s fully focused on his career at 24 Carter Gold, his family’s event planning company, and ready to move on – until his boss assigns him to plan a new client’s high-profile wedding. The bride’s man-of-honor? None other than Jamie.
As things ramp up the closer they get to the wedding, so does Jordan’s relationship with Jamie, with sarcastic asides turning into steamy hook-ups. But can Jordan afford to pursue Jamie if he’s still unsure of who he is? Or is knowing who he loves enough? Venue shopping, cake-tastings, and dress fittings with the man he can’t forget just might change the man Jordan Carter is meant to become.
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters is a second chance romance about finding yourself–and the love of your life.
