Good News, There Are More 'The Kissing Booth' Books Than You Think
The Kissing Booth franchise has taken over 2020, and fans of love, high school drama, and Joey King are here for the invasion. If you already have the first and second Netflix films memorized and are eager for more, the novels are a great way to get additional info about Elle, Lee, and Noah. So, how many The Kissing Booth books are there, and are any more coming out? Here are the deets on your favorite teen drama saga:
As most fans know, the film series is based off the book series of the same name written by Beth Reekles. According to Penguin Random House, "[Reekles] first published 'The Kissing Booth' on Wattpad in 2010, at age 15, and it accumulated almost 20 million reads before it was published by in 2012 by Random House Children’s Books."
The first book and film gave fans forbidden romance as Elle started her relationship with her BFF's older brother, Noah. The second film — and book in the series, which was titled Going The Distance — showed the complexities of long-distance relationships and lifelong decisions. With the July 26 announcement that a third movie is already filmed and will be released in 2021, fans are scrambling to get their hands on the third book to learn what happens next. The catch is, there isn't a third book (at least not yet), but there are two spin-off stories.
While The Kissing Booth and The Kissing Booth 2: Going the Distance reflect films one and two respectively, the other two short stories give fans more fun from Lee and Elle and more steamy hookups from Elle and Noah. According to Reekles, if you want to read the books in chronological order, they go like this: The Kissing Booth, The Beach House, The Kissing Booth 2: Going the Distance, and then The Kissing Booth: Road Trip!
The Beach House is a companion novella that takes place the summer after The Kissing Booth and before The Kissing Booth 2. If you're eager for a short read that will give you all the nostalgic summer feels you might be missing this year, read the steamy story on Wattpad.
What's really exciting is that The Kissing Booth: Road Trip! takes place after The Kissing Booth 2. While the 100-page short story essentially just follows Elle and Lee as they take an epic drive across the country to visit Noah at Haarvard, there's a chance some of the details could end up in The Kissing Booth 3 movie, since it takes place after graduation.
The biggest question right now is whether Reekles will release a third book (or if she's already written it just hasn't published it yet). On July 27, the author posted an Instagram of herself holding a book and noting in the caption about selling the film rights; some fans are taking this as a sign that she's got a third book coming.
While the author hasn't revealed whether she's written a third novel or if she plans to, it's clear either way she's pumped about the next film installment. She shared the news of The Kissing Booth 3 on her Instagram and was included briefly during the YouTube live stream on July 26 when the movie was announced for 2021.
In the meantime, there's plenty to keep The Kissing Booth fans busy whether it's by book, by screen, or just by blasting the soundtrack for the rest of the summer.
The Kissing Booth 1 and 2 are on Netflix now.
