Cover reveal! Her Good Side is a swoony, heart-melting YA romance from beloved author Rebekah Weatherspoon about two awkward teens who decide to practice dating in order to be good at the real thing. Coming May 30, 2023!

Sixteen-year-old Bethany Greene, though confident and self-assured, is what they call a late-bloomer. She’s never had a boyfriend, date, or first kiss. She’s determined to change that but after her crush turns her down cold for Homecoming—declaring her too inexperienced—and all her back-up ideas fall through, she cautiously agrees to go with her best friend’s boyfriend Jacob. A platonic date is better than no date, right? Until Saylor breaks up with said boyfriend.

Dumped twice in just two months, Jacob Yeun wonders if he’s the problem. After years hiding behind his camera and a shocking summer glow up, he wasn’t quite ready for all the attention or to be someone’s boyfriend. There are no guides for his particular circumstances, or for taking your ex’s best friend to the dance.

Why not make the best of an awkward situation? Bethany and Jacob decide to fake date for practice, building their confidence in matters of the heart.  

And it works—guys are finally noticing Bethany. But things get complicated as their kissing sessions—for research of course!—start to feel real. This arrangement was supposed to help them in dating other people, but what if their perfect match is right in front of them?

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Chapter One

Bethany.

(takes a very risky, yet brave chance)

The way I see it, everyone has a type and if you like thick, Black girls of slightly above average height with very clear, medium brown skin, dimples and boobs just big enough to consider a reduction in the future, then I’m the girl for you. My type? Oliver Gutierrez, hands down. Problem is, I haven’t figured out his type yet. He’s had a few girlfriends and there’s been no pattern amongst them that I’ve been able to surmise. But today I am determined to find out if I fit into that randomness. Today, I’m gonna ask Oliver Gutierrez to homecoming.

“You want me to come with?” Tatum asks as we step out of Ms. Robinson’s fourth period English class. We both have lunch next with our other besties Glory and Saylor, and Tatum’s girlfriend Emily. I have to stop by my locker to grab my lunch. Oliver’s locker is next to mine. He has fifth period lunch too. This is my moment to catch him and pop the big question. I’ll push all of my anxiety to the side. That weird fast-talking mumbly thing I do when I get nervous will absolutely not happen. I’ll flash Oliver a sweet, confident smile and ask him if he wants to join me on one of the biggest nights of the year.

It sucks I have to do the asking in a crowded hallway and not on a quiet, starlit night on Venice beach like I’d envisioned a million times, but it’ll have to do.

“No. I have to do this on my own,” I say as we stop at Tatum’s locker. I wait as they swap out their books and grab their lunch. Then Tatum turns to face me.  They put their hands on my shoulders and I notice the blue and silver glitter artfully streaked all over their face. There’s a football game tonight. Tatum has some very intense cheerleading to do.

“Bethany Greene, you are an irresistible goddess.”

“She’s right!” some random freshman agrees as she pushes by us.

“Thanks?” I say to the random freshman’s back before I return my focus to Tatum’s glitter.

“You walk right up to that boy, and you let him know that taking you to homecoming will be the best decision of his life. You can do this.”

“I can do this.”

“You’re beautiful and I love you. Go get ‘em champ,” Tatum says. Nothing uplifts you like a cheerleader telling you you’re beautiful. I can do this. I’m gonna do this. Right now. I let out a deep breath and march down the hall. I turn the corner into the west wing and spot Oliver, head and shoulders over our classmates. He’s wearing his royal blue home jersey, with the number 87 ironed on to the shoulders. He looks good.

 I’m what my moms call a late bloomer. I’ve always been more interested in all things that had nothing to do with boys, but sometime over the summer that changed. Actually, I’m lying. I know that exact moment things changed. I had my friends over to swim in my pool. Glory’s boyfriend and the other juniors on the football team came by after they’d finished one of their preseason workouts. It was all fun and games until a splash fight devolved into something else. I was laughing, trying not to think about how long it was going to take me to blow dry my knotless braids, when suddenly Oliver picked me up and effortlessly lifted me over his shoulder.

The air left my lungs, water flying all around us. Over the sound of my high-pitched screech, I could hear Glory telling Landon to put her down. I think their plan was some sort of backwards chicken fight. I grabbed Oliver’s thick waist with my hands holding on for dear life until he put me down. I couldn’t find my breath, between the water running down my face and the odd laughter bubbling out of my lungs. He playfully pushed me out of the way, wrestling Landon into the deep end. The moment between us was over and so was my late bloomer status. Boys had officially entered the chat. 

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