What do you think?
Rate this book
Duet: a Drama Department novel
One terrible misunderstanding. One last chance to find their way back.Cassie Noble used to sing everywhere—choir, open mics, anywhere she could chase that rush of music and applause. But after a devastating fallout with her best friends, Jesse and Lindsey, Cassie stops singing. Stops speaking, mostly. Stops being herself.
Then Lindsey is seriously hurt in a car accident, and Cassie can’t hide any longer.
Determined to help, Cassie throws herself into organizing a fundraiser talent show. The catch? She can’t do it alone. To make it work, she has to team up with Jesse Redding—the skater boy with a guitar in his hands, a chip on his shoulder, and a place in her heart she’s never really given up.
As rehearsals pull them back together, old grief gives way to old chemistry. Between secret rehearsals, crowded hallways, late-night music, and the electric closeness of almost being honest, Cassie starts to wonder if losing her voice was never really about fear.
Maybe it was always about Jesse.
But fixing the show is one thing. Fixing a broken friendship—and risking first love—might be the scariest performance of all.
DUET is a clean YA romance set in the 1990s, perfect for readers who
best friends to moreestranged friends finding their way backmusic and performance vibesslow-burn romanceemotional healingfirst love and second chances1990s nostalgia
Then Lindsey is seriously hurt in a car accident, and Cassie can’t hide any longer.
Determined to help, Cassie throws herself into organizing a fundraiser talent show. The catch? She can’t do it alone. To make it work, she has to team up with Jesse Redding—the skater boy with a guitar in his hands, a chip on his shoulder, and a place in her heart she’s never really given up.
As rehearsals pull them back together, old grief gives way to old chemistry. Between secret rehearsals, crowded hallways, late-night music, and the electric closeness of almost being honest, Cassie starts to wonder if losing her voice was never really about fear.
Maybe it was always about Jesse.
But fixing the show is one thing. Fixing a broken friendship—and risking first love—might be the scariest performance of all.
DUET is a clean YA romance set in the 1990s, perfect for readers who
best friends to moreestranged friends finding their way backmusic and performance vibesslow-burn romanceemotional healingfirst love and second chances1990s nostalgia
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 18, 2025
About the author
Tom Leveen
50 books239 followersTom Leveen is the author of nine novels originally with imprints of Random House, Simon & Schuster, Abrams, and more. He has written with Todd McFarlane on SPAWN, the comic book series, and fiction for the TTRPG BattleTech for Topps, Inc.
Recently an early literacy specialist with Phoenix Public Library, Tom has twelve years of previous library work experience. He also has 22 years of theatre experience as an actor and director, and has been the Artistic Director for two different award-winning theatre companies.
Tom wrote his first story in second grade and has been writing and telling stories ever since. His first horror novel, SICK, won the Westchester Fiction Award and the Grand Canyon Reader Award. His novel ZERO was a Best Book of 2013 (American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association).
A frequent guest speaker and teacher, Tom has taught, paneled, and/or keynoted for SCBWI, RWA, Desert Nights Rising Stars, Phoenix ComiCon, AzLA, NCTE, TEDx, People of Color Network, Western New Mexico University, Arizona State University, Arizona Reading Association, Kennesaw State University, multiple schools and conferences throughout Germany, AETA, the Los Angeles Teen Book Fest, and many others.
In addition, apropos of absolutely nothing, Tom:
Finished a marathon (in six and half hours) and a triathalon sprint in 2 hours, earned a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do, co-hosted a public access comedy show, directed 30 plays and acted in 30 more, ran a theatre company out of his backyard, met almost all of his literary heroes except for Stephen King, played in a punk band live in front of actual people (once), prefers the Hero System but nevertheless runs a warlock minotaur and storm cleric elf when time permits, trained at the Utah Shakespeare Festival Actor Training program for five sessions, was Best Masque & Gavel Member in high school, lettered in Speech, has a rock in one finger from a pretty bad bail on his (now stolen) Tony Hawk, was the safari train driver for the Phoenix Zoo for a short time, worked in the stock room for Forever 21 for an even shorter time, completed a Spartan Sprint with three friends, and spent twenty years earning his Bachelor of Science degree. He is currently in an MFA program at a major international university.
So if there's something you want to do, go do it.
Recently an early literacy specialist with Phoenix Public Library, Tom has twelve years of previous library work experience. He also has 22 years of theatre experience as an actor and director, and has been the Artistic Director for two different award-winning theatre companies.
Tom wrote his first story in second grade and has been writing and telling stories ever since. His first horror novel, SICK, won the Westchester Fiction Award and the Grand Canyon Reader Award. His novel ZERO was a Best Book of 2013 (American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association).
A frequent guest speaker and teacher, Tom has taught, paneled, and/or keynoted for SCBWI, RWA, Desert Nights Rising Stars, Phoenix ComiCon, AzLA, NCTE, TEDx, People of Color Network, Western New Mexico University, Arizona State University, Arizona Reading Association, Kennesaw State University, multiple schools and conferences throughout Germany, AETA, the Los Angeles Teen Book Fest, and many others.
In addition, apropos of absolutely nothing, Tom:
Finished a marathon (in six and half hours) and a triathalon sprint in 2 hours, earned a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do, co-hosted a public access comedy show, directed 30 plays and acted in 30 more, ran a theatre company out of his backyard, met almost all of his literary heroes except for Stephen King, played in a punk band live in front of actual people (once), prefers the Hero System but nevertheless runs a warlock minotaur and storm cleric elf when time permits, trained at the Utah Shakespeare Festival Actor Training program for five sessions, was Best Masque & Gavel Member in high school, lettered in Speech, has a rock in one finger from a pretty bad bail on his (now stolen) Tony Hawk, was the safari train driver for the Phoenix Zoo for a short time, worked in the stock room for Forever 21 for an even shorter time, completed a Spartan Sprint with three friends, and spent twenty years earning his Bachelor of Science degree. He is currently in an MFA program at a major international university.
So if there's something you want to do, go do it.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 16, 2026
Solid story
The second installment of this series held its own. While the characters didn’t grab me as much as the first book I did tear up towards the end. The finale is definitely worth the read. The climax bumped it up from a 3 star to a 4 star for me. I almost feel like including the lyrics to some of the songs mentioned either as chapter breaks or how the lyrics impacted the character’s motivations would have been even more impactful. More of this was done towards the end of the book and I think it was stronger prose for of it. Considering the story as a whole and the friendship between the three friends I feel like the title of “Duet” is a bit of a misnomer and could also be stronger. I feel like the title should have been Time after Time, or something with a nod to Cyndi Lauper considering it was such a strong theme throughout the story. Song after song? Haha. Over all though, it was a beautifully crafted and achingly well written and I do look forward to more books in this series.
The second installment of this series held its own. While the characters didn’t grab me as much as the first book I did tear up towards the end. The finale is definitely worth the read. The climax bumped it up from a 3 star to a 4 star for me. I almost feel like including the lyrics to some of the songs mentioned either as chapter breaks or how the lyrics impacted the character’s motivations would have been even more impactful. More of this was done towards the end of the book and I think it was stronger prose for of it. Considering the story as a whole and the friendship between the three friends I feel like the title of “Duet” is a bit of a misnomer and could also be stronger. I feel like the title should have been Time after Time, or something with a nod to Cyndi Lauper considering it was such a strong theme throughout the story. Song after song? Haha. Over all though, it was a beautifully crafted and achingly well written and I do look forward to more books in this series.
November 2, 2025
i love team angst
Once again, tom leveen creates a vision we can all believe in, 1990s high school. His writing is spot on. Dialogue is perfect. I feel like I’m there
Once again, tom leveen creates a vision we can all believe in, 1990s high school. His writing is spot on. Dialogue is perfect. I feel like I’m there
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews