"Come for the road trip of a lifetime. Stay for the kissing!”— Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Diaries series Buckle up for a wild ride with this cheeky and charming rom-com where one girl’s quest across India to seal her first kiss turns into finding first love in the most unexpected places. Perfect for fans of Axie Oh and Jenny Han! Krishna Kumar may have gotten into her dream college, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped being a bi disaster. Even after spending her whole summer in India flirting with her gorgeous neighbor Amrit, she has nothing to show for it. And now, her fate is sealed: she’s destined to be the only freshman who’s never been kissed. But when her flight home is delayed right as a distinctly flirty text from Amrit lights up her phone, Krishna is determined to seize her last chance at a perfect first kiss with Amrit, even if it means asking her cousin-turned-nemesis, Priti, for help. Because Amrit is miles away at a family wedding—and Priti’s best friend, Rudra Desai, is the only one with a car. The unlikely trio set off on a road trip to crash a wedding and save Krishna’s summer. But as she starts to fall for the quiet yet irresistibly hot and charming Rudra, who everyone knows is unrequitedly in love with Priti, Krishna realizes her heart better catch up to her head before she skips right past her first kiss and falls directly into her first heartbreak. Anahita Karthik is a desi, queer, and multilingual writer of stories heavily inspired by Indian mythology, history, and culture. She has an MSt in creative writing from the University of Cambridge and a tech degree she’ll probably never use in her life. While she writes across genres, her stories usually include road trips, a slow burn romance, and nods to Indian cinema (both explicit and thematic). Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar is her debut novel, but her first feature was in My Big, Fat Desi Wedding anthology. She can be found posting excessively across platforms @ana_scribe or blogging about publishing on her website, anahitakarthik.com. Publisher: HarperCollins Publish Date: January 27, 2026 Pages: 336 Language: English Type: Hardcover EAN/UPC: 9780063341142 Dimensions: 8.3 X 5.5 X 0.0 inches | 16.0 pounds BISAC Categories: Teens & YARomance, Teens & YAPopular Fiction
