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Firsts #1

Firsts Are Always Messy

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Jenny Kearns has been in love with her best friend, Matt Thompson, for years. But when a bet blurs the lines between friendship and love, Matt makes it clear he doesn’t have feelings for Jenny, and she’s devastated.

Enter Kyle Thompson: Matt’s older, more infuriating brother. He’s home from college on Spring Break and offers to give Jenny, who keeps failing her driver’s test, driving lessons. The more time Jenny spends with Kyle, the more she finds herself drawn to the mysterious boy next door.

When Jenny and Kyle cross a line they can't uncross, they decide to keep their blossoming tryst a secret from Matt, who is dealing with growing pains of his own. Matt’s ex-girlfriend is pregnant with his child, forcing his college plans to take a back seat to fatherhood.

First love is messy. Then again, isn’t everything?


Content warning: This story deals with mature adult themes and is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.

The Firsts Series can best be enjoyed in this order:
Firsts Are Always Messy
Sloppy Seconds
Third Time's A Charm
Ava's Choice
Managing Mia
Love Taylor
Inspiring Izzy
Landing Liam
Enchanting Emmy

379 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2021

167 people are currently reading
683 people want to read

About the author

Jessi Hansen

19 books70 followers
Jessi Hansen was raised in sunny San Diego, but her heart found its true home in Oklahoma, where she followed love all the way to the quiet hum of small-town life.

Now, she spends her days surrounded by the beautiful chaos of motherhood—chasing after little feet, tending to backyard chickens, and keeping an eye on the ever-changing sky. In the rare quiet moments, she finds comfort in words: the ones she reads to her children, the ones exchanged over shared coffee with her husband, and the ones she weaves into stories of her own.

Jessi writes heartfelt tales about spirited heroines and the men who see them clearly—stories rooted in love, resilience, and the kind of endings that make you believe in second chances. Her books are a tribute to family, friendship, and finding beauty in the ordinary.

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5 stars
227 (43%)
4 stars
169 (32%)
3 stars
92 (17%)
2 stars
26 (4%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for nikki.
767 reviews684 followers
October 9, 2021
EEEEEEP MY FAV BOOK EVER Y'ALL!!!!🤩
Also how cool is it that it's finally published?!?!??🙈
I absolutely adored reading this entire series and I can't wait for all the other books to be published soon🥰

P.S. Jenny,Kyle,Matt and Fallon own my heart plssss🥺😭
Profile Image for Michele (_LivesBtweenPgs_).
728 reviews20 followers
December 19, 2022
"You have no idea what you're doing the first time around. First love. First time. First heartbreak. First heart you break. You have to learn how to love people. It doesn’t come naturally to everyone. But that's not the most difficult part. You also have to learn how to lose people, too."

Man was this one a ride...an emotional one at that too.
Major high school vibes.
Major drama.

If you can relate to these characters it will hit all that much more. The emotions that this author was able to push through the words on the page was amazing. The journey in which we go on with Jenny is one that is TOUGH but also eye opening so much that if you were in those same shoes as her then you know exactly what she is going through.

"We can love people with our whole hearts, and they can still choose to walk away from us. That's the price we pay for loving people. Giving them the power to hurt us."

Jenny & Kyle are to me ENDGAME but what they go through together as well as apart is something that I feel like every high school/college relationship goes through. These two definitely have a road ahead of them. I always say it and I will say it again, I LOATHE cliffhangers! Especially emotional ones where you just want to know what happens.

Many a tear were shed while reading this book and I do not regret it at all.
If you want to take the emotional trip back to high school then this book is definitely on my top recommend list for that!
Profile Image for LavenderSpice29.
77 reviews
November 24, 2021
What a book!
I would never pick up a love triangle because they aren't my preferred trope but this was an exception that turned out to be pretty great.
This book was a rollercoaster! Jennie, Matt & Kyle ugh all 3 were perfectly imperfect!
Tbh I was rooting for Kyle and Jennie from the very first chapter.🤭
I loved how raw and real everyone's reactions were. I could relate to quite a few moments in the book. This book made me feel a lot of things, happy, sad, frustrated, confused and finally realization, that this is real life, these things can or maybe already have happened to you or others around you. Now I have to run to book 2 ASAP, because WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE LAST FEW CHAPTER'S 😭😭😭 my heart is in a thousand pieces on the floor! WHO IS GONNA PAY FOR MY THEAPY 😭
Dramatics aside, this was a great read, highly recommended! I love Jessi work! But unfortunately don't I love her right now for doing what she did to us in the epilogue. Let's see where the second book takes us!😩❤
Love, B.
Profile Image for n_ow_n.
54 reviews
August 31, 2023
Around chapter 25ish, this was a solid 4 stars for me. It would've been 5 if not for the (a bit) repetitive and somewhat detailed style of writing - it wasn't bad, just not my thing. I liked all the characters! Even the ones that were supposed to be mean. They all had their little quirks, nobody was too much of a stereotype. There wasn't over the top ridiculous drama. The story felt believable...normal!

Jenny was great and even though in the beginning I was sorry this was written only from her POV, I was happy later on. It fit perfectly. The author did a great job describing her pain and doubts and love without sounding too dramatic or shallow.

However, I decided to stop reading around chapter 40! My bad I didn't realize from the get go it was 60 chapters long!!! It just started to feel like once the characters got over one hurdle, there was a new one right ahead. Like they never get a break. It just felt too much.... 😔
Profile Image for Holly Doyal.
1,095 reviews5 followers
June 28, 2025
Okay - this is just about the most ridiculous book I've ever read so I'm not understanding the high reviews. I honestly can't believe I finished the book - I did just because I wanted to see if it stayed the same throughout the book. It did.


SPOILERS BELOW:

Let me let you in on some of the ridiculousness: the FMC (who is 18) is deeply in love with her next door neighbor who starts to show his feelings towards her as well. They are seniors in high school. The only problem is he asked someone else to prom just a few days before, but never told the FMC. He goes out with the OW once and gets the OW pregnant. So that sort of ends the love affair between the FMC and her next door neighbor. But that's okay, she falls deeply in love with the next door neighbor's older brother almost immediately (who apparently is a horn dog). The FMC needs reassurance CONSTANTLY - she is always thinking the brother is sleeping with other people so she agrees to a date with the original next door neighbor and kisses him. Turns out the brother wasn't sleeping around so now she feels dumb and needs reassuring. Both families (adults) openly make fun of the original neighbor because he didn't use a condom and got the OW pregnant - they call him nicknames related to forgetting a condom in front of everyone including the OW. I find that very bizarre.

The parents all get mad because the FMC is now with the brother (and they all know they are sleeping together). The brother's mom calls her a wh*re - very nice. That same mom then is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.

The FMC ends up being very friendly with the OW - she even plans a gender reveal party for them. Seriously? Like she was just in love with him and now she is happily throwing him a shower?

If you are 12 years old and really enjoy young adolescence drama, then this may be your book. If not, you will be thanking your lucky stars that you are past that phase of your life. I just don't enjoy reading about high schoolers or even college students because they are so emotionally immature that the books seem really juvenile. Even though they are emotionally immature, they all have sex nonstop. It was just uncomfortable to read. There is nothing interesting about 18 year olds having sex. I didn't know it was about teenagers when I started or I wouldn't have read the book.
Profile Image for Millionsontheroad.
31 reviews
January 27, 2022
Okay look, the whole reason why Im reading wattpad books it's because i found myself thinking if wattpad actually had good romance books. I was bored, and even though I have a huge list of books I want to read, I decided to look for wattpad stories that may be good.
This one was actually not bad. Im writing this review a a few weeks after I read this book, so I don't really have a fresh opinion, but I do remember that I was very interested in the plot, it was different, also, I adore love triangles.
The thing I do remember it's that it was a tiny bit repetitive (a lot), and slow. But the book it's not slow burn in itself, so yeah, sometimes it was very boring.
Another thing is the smut, it had so much smut, too much for my personal taste.
I think this book belongs to a series, which is fun if you really enjoyed the book, in my case I won't be reading the rest of the books.
3,5/5 stars
Profile Image for Lindsay Pape.
140 reviews6 followers
July 31, 2025
I loved this story! Jenny and Matt are best friends. Jenny has been in love with Matt and when they kissed the first time Matt says it was a mistake. Jenny is falling apart because of that and ends of getting close with Matt’s brother Kyle. During their time together Jenny finds out Kyle has always had feelings for her and she ends of falling for Kyle. Things don’t always go how you hope and things with Matt, Jenny, and Kyle don’t go as you hope. So many life changes. Not a HEA but good thing there is a book two!
2 reviews
February 3, 2022
Emotional Rollercoaster ❤

Wow that took me through a rollercoaster of emotions. Loved reading her journey through firsts, first love, first heartbreak, and more firsts... It was a beautiful story and I definitely can't wait to read the rest of the series, I need to see what happens next!
Profile Image for Paige Bass.
76 reviews
April 21, 2023
not the ending I was hoping for

I feel like this book carried on forever with a lot of side characters and events that didn’t really need to be there to contribute to the story line. I did not think that he was going to come back but glad he did but now I have to read the next book to see if I’m still rooting for him…
4 reviews
September 21, 2022
I read this story when it was out on Wattpad and completely fall in love. I haven’t read it since, because I could find it anymore. Now I bought it because it’s a really amazing story🤍 one of my fav books
I really enjoyed reading it
Profile Image for Alexa.
316 reviews
August 5, 2023
I first read this book on Wattpad three years ago as a 16 year old.Now reading again as a almost 20 year old is something so special. A confused girl with two brother fight over her. Jenny, Kyle and Matt were all special to me and still are. Please read this book, please !!!
Profile Image for Brittany.
30 reviews1 follower
May 7, 2025
This book I stayed up all night just to finish. It gave me second hand embarrassment (bc I was reliving my teen years through the FMC) and it made me want to close the book and stare at a wall because I was flabbergasted. It’s a quick sweet read with an ending I didn’t really expect. On to book 2!
Profile Image for lily.
69 reviews1 follower
May 9, 2022
i think it kinda dragged on for way too long but the last chapter had me crying
30 reviews
August 10, 2022
A lot of fluff A lot of fluff! Could have been half the book probably and have the same story
75 reviews1 follower
January 7, 2023
This girl constantly needed reassurance on whether she was making the right decision. Also the guy gave some red flags that were just brushed over.
Profile Image for Staci Furiak.
2 reviews4 followers
April 14, 2024
I really wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the high school romance side of this but I was so invested and bawling by the end. Jumped right to kindle to get the next ones!
Profile Image for Amanda.
435 reviews
November 3, 2024
My heart!!! 😭 Absolutely devoured this book! So good. Flowed beautifully and can't wait to continue the story.
13 reviews
January 27, 2025
how has this not got more reviews

So good. I read it in a day. Ready for the next one. My heart is broken. I’m hoping it gets put back together. Thank you for this book 😊
Profile Image for CassInTheStacks.
1,032 reviews
July 21, 2025
First read from the author.

Really great story but ends on a cliffhanger. I really enjoyed it, and I am excited to read the next book!
Profile Image for Michaela.
56 reviews8 followers
August 25, 2024
Only read this book if you're looking to have your heart ripped to shreds.

This, in my opinion, is like an adult version of The Summer I Turned Pretty. I loved those books as a teen and I love these books as an adult.

This book is definitely is MESSSYYYYY
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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