Checking You Out

by Jennifer Chen

XO, Kitty meets Dash & Lily in this rom com about two teens falling in love via letters left in their favorite library books - even if in real life they think they have nothing in common.

Lizzie Wei is a huge book nerd, and proud of it. And when she realizes there is a mysterious reader who has been checking out all of her favorite books from the library, she can’t help but get a crush on someone she’s never even met. Her friends make it their mission to find Lizzie’s long lost book soulmate and convinces her to leave notes for her crush. But what if the person Lizzie is looking for, isn’t at all what she expects?

Dylan Lin loves reading, secretly anyway. Ever since a bullying incident at his last school, he’s hidden his love of fantasy novels, instead leaning into his jock persona. Now he's the tennis team captain, runs every day, and actively avoids reading. So, when he decides to start volunteering at a kitten nursery, and his super cute co-volunteer Lizzie asks if he likes reading, he says no. He never expects the look of complete and utter disappointment on Lizzie’s face.

Lizzie is certain her secret crush isn’t Dylan. It can’t be! But when he accidentally makes an obscure reference to her favorite book during their volunteer shift, she’s not so sure anymore. Can Lizzie forgive Dylan for lying? And can Dylan be brave enough to be himself?

320 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 23, 2026

About the author

Jennifer Chen is a freelance journalist who has written for print and online, including pieces in the New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, and Bust. She earned an MFA and BFA in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is a proud alumnae of Hedgebrook, a women’s writing residency. She lives in Los Angeles with her TV writer husband, twins, two pugs, and a smoky black cat named Gremlin.