Stage Left, Heart Right

by Kate Forster

Clean romance for tweens and teens. Two Hearts – a brand parents can trust. Fall in love with Two Hearts—romantic fiction for young hearts. When it comes to surviving Year 9, Ava Riccardo has three 1. Stay invisible. 2. Stay quiet. 3. Never bring attention to herself. But when her best friend, Izzy, convinces her to audition for the school play, a modern Romeo and Juliet, everything changes. Somehow, Ava lands the lead role, opposite Cameron Reed, Izzy’s longtime crush and the funniest, cutest guy in their year. Now, Ava must navigate rehearsals, school work, Izzy’s anger with her for getting the lead role, and her own growing crush on Cameron. But as the spotlight grows brighter, so does the tension between friendship and first love. Ava never wanted to be the centre of attention. So, why does it feel so right standing beside Cameron on stage?
Clean romance series for tweens and young teens.

Genres: Romance, Friendship

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2025

About the author

Novelist.

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine - a cute younger YA romance with none of the spiciness. The characters and their dramas were definitely interesting, but some of the dialogue was just too over-the-top for me.

[Gracie Frost · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it really quickly but found some chapters boring.
Although it was still really good, I’d recommend it for 10-12yr olds

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay but why did this cute little book have me giggling AND tearing up?? 🥹 It jumps straight into the story which I loved and even though this is technically a younger teen read, it honestly didn’t feel overly childish at all. If anything, to me it reads more YAish!

I fully went into this expecting something light and fluffy which it is, but there’s also some depth to it and themes of self-discovery and family and friendships. Also some moments were oddly relatable and brought back memories of high school 😅

I definitely recommend this for younger readers and if you’re a parent with teenage girls who love to read this is the perfect clean romance! 💜

Stage Left, Heart Right by Kate Forster is out now! ✨

[thuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

stage left, heart right 🎞️🩷 (ava and cameron version)
-this is me trying - taylor swift
-everywhere, everything - noah kahan, gracie abrams
-sparks fly - taylor swift
-the man who can’t be moved - the script
-the man i need - olivia dean
-new years day - taylor swift
-mirrorball - taylor swift
-no. 1 party anthem - arctic monkeys
-the only exception - paramore
-the grudge - olivia rodrigo
-midnight rain - taylor swift

[Lila Giulliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a fun and cute read, especially if you love theatre and performing 🎭💖 I really liked the whole backstage vibe and how everything felt dramatic in the best way.

The characters were interesting and I enjoyed seeing how their relationships developed, especially with all the emotions and tension that come with performing. It definitely had those moments where I was smiling at the interactions.

I gave it 4 stars because I liked the story and the theatre setting a lot, but some parts felt a bit predictable. Still, it’s such a good read if you enjoy romance mixed with drama and performing arts

[heartandlionreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good is good I did had the mum and her best friend I love how the 2 main characters are together when they do the play and be best friend but he did get mad at her for a stupid reason sorry not sorry for that but I did love how they finally got to gather took them a while let me tell ya but at least at least they did it right anyways this book is good so if you want to buy it do it oh and by the way the dad in the story is amazing to his daughter and he did like Elvis a bit too much in my opinion just saying anyways go and get this book

[Evelyn Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a book. I loved it so much!!! The characters were written so well and relatable, and I loved how cute Cam and Avery were together 🤭🤭 I absolutely devoured this book, I read it in 2 days. The emotions the characters felt were so relatable and I could correlate myself to different aspects of different characters. I highly recommend this book. First 5 ⭐️ read of 2026

<3 🎀

[Jen Nishi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, clean rom com full of self discovery and character development. I really enjoyed this one! It was cute but had some depth to it too. I loved the exploration of friendship and parent/ child dynamics. It felt very real.

[Steph]

A cute, clean middle-grade romance. Very sweet and fun.