Pictogram of the Tropes in Winging It

Image showing the rating for the tropes in Winging It. Coming of Age Romance, Teenage shenanigans, and kissing are all about 90%, Monsters is about 75%, and Music is about 60%. At the bottom, there’s a “Vibes”, which has an image from the movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017).
Winging It by Jen Desmarais is available June 3rd, 2025!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93
49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
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Amazon Crushing It
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Apple Books Crushing It

Our tropes (2025 Books)

The tropes we use in Winging It and The Copper Tarnish:

No angst romance, hidden magical world, young adult, portal fantasy, detailed worldbuilding, dual POV, queer, STEM & music
Creature-feature, Sci-Fantasy, young adult, Canadian Gothic, detailed worldbuilding, 1st person POV, queer, snark & coffee
Winging It by Jen Desmarais is available June 3rd, 2025!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93
49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
Archambault Crushing It
Amazon Crushing It
Rakuten Kobo Crushing It
Apple Books Crushing It
The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais available June 3rd, 2025.

Similar books to Winging it

@jendesmaraisauthor

“Winging It” is a queer YA portal fantasy romance. A wedding and a summer camp that Tommy and Carter are never going to forget. The only way they, and their relationship, can survive is if they start Winging It! Cover artist: @pinkpiggy93 Publisher: @PressesRenaissancePress Universal book link: https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/UBL-WingingIt #WingingIt #original #pinkpiggy93 #artist #book #YA 2SLGBTQ+ #LowStakes #queer #romance #STEM #music #JenDesmarais #author #PressesRenaissancePress #Canadian #booktok

♬ Walking Around – Instrumental Version – Eldar Kedem
“Winging It” is a queer YA portal fantasy romance.
A wedding and a summer camp that Tommy and Carter are never going to forget.
The only way they, and their relationship, can survive is if they start Winging It!

Cover artist: @pinkpiggy93
Publisher: Renaissance Press

Universal book link: https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/UBL-WingingIt

#WingingIt #original #pinkpiggy93 #artist #book #YA #2SLGBTQ+ #LowStakes #queer #romance #STEM #music #JenDesmarais #author #PressesRenaissancePress #Canadian #booktok
Winging It by Jen Desmarais is available June 3rd, 2025!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93
49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
Archambault Crushing It
Amazon Crushing It
Rakuten Kobo Crushing It
Apple Books Crushing It

Tropes of “Winging It”

@jendesmaraisauthor

“Winging It” is a queer YA portal fantasy romance. A wedding and a summer camp that Tommy and Carter are never going to forget. The only way they, and their relationship, can survive is if they start Winging It! Cover artist: @pinkpiggy93 Universal book link: https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/UBL-WingingIt WingingIt original pinkpiggy93 artist book YA 2SLGBTQ+ LowStakes queer romance STEM music JenDesmarais author PressesRenaissancePress Canadian booktok

♬ Powerful songs like action movie music – Tansa
Every book utilizes tropes, even if it’s to subvert them, and Winging It is no exception. This book covers: Queer, Young Adult, STEM & music, portal fantasy, Hidden magical world, Dual POV, No angst romance, and Detailed worldbuilding.
Winging It by Jen Desmarais is available June 3rd, 2025!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93
49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
Archambault Crushing It
Amazon Crushing It
Rakuten Kobo Crushing It
Apple Books Crushing It

Winging It puzzle

There’s this site that allows for any picture to be transformed into a digital puzzle. For free. And you can play for free.

I used it for the cover of Crushing It. See that puzzle here.

And now, here is the puzzle for Winging It!

Winging It by Jen Desmarais is available June 3rd, 2025!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93
49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
Archambault Crushing It
Amazon Crushing It
Rakuten Kobo Crushing It
Apple Books Crushing It

Winging It Dreamcasting – Protagonists

You’ve already met 3/4 of the main characters in Crushing It (here and here). The problem is, those actors have grown up. I still think they’re the perfect dreamcasting, though, and it got me thinking: People don’t like it when the movie doesn’t match the book. So why not write the movie post-Lucky in Love trilogy? It would be set when they’re in university, in Westmeath, and I think it would be super fun.

Tommy Fairfield

Maxwell Jenkins 2021 (high school/book age)
Maxwell Jenkins 2025 (university/movie age)

Age in Winging It: 15

Date of Birth: May 11, 1988

Appearance: Short blond hair, green eyes, tall, white

Grade: tail end of grade 9

Favourite class: Math or Science or Music

Parents: Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario

Siblings: Older brother Phillip, married to Sarah and has one son, Arthur (almost 2 years old). Twin older sisters Eliza and MacKenzie. Older sister Kennedy, engaged to Jason Johnson (gets married in this book) and lives in Westmeath (seen here).

More information: human, plays guitar

Carter Batudev

Max Torina 2021 (high school/book age)
Max Torina 2024 (university/movie age)

Age in Winging It: 15

Date of Birth: March 5, 1988

Appearance: Curly brown hair, grey eyes, tall, bronze skin

Grade: tail end of grade 9

Favourite class: Science and Drama

Parents: Sam and William Batudev own a bakery in Westmeath, Ontario

More information: Aetherborn rock giant, marital artist black belt first degree

Elyse Garrido

Meesha Garbett 2023 (high school/book age)
Meesha Garbett 2025 (older high school age – she’s younger than Maxwell and Max because I picked her two years after I picked them!)

Age in Winging It15

Appearance: Wavy brown hair, blue eyes, short, tan skin

Grade: tail end of grade 9

Favourite class: Math and Dance

Siblings: Older sister Rachel (seen here)

More information: Aetherborn succubus, dancer

Greg Finch

Casey West Simpson 2020
(high school/book age)
Casey West Simpson 2025 (university/movie age)

Age in Winging It15

Appearance: Blond cropped hair, brown eyes, tall, white, muscular

Grade: tail end of grade 9

Favourite class: Science and Gym

Family: Dad

More information: Blue Blood gang member, boxing champion

Pictogram of the Tropes in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Image showing the rating for the tropes in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests. Battle Couple, Wedding Planning, and Superheroes is about 90%, Monsters is about 75%, and Spicy is about 40%. At the bottom, there’s a “Vibes”, which has an image from the movie Argylle (2024).

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

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Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!

Monster Mess – A One-Shot Party Adventure

Find the character sheets and rules at: One-Shot.JenEric-Designs.ca

Description

You are a teen who needs to do community service and have been placed on super-cleanup duty. Westmeath has had a rash of monster attacks and although they don’t leave any biological matter (thankfully) they do make a mess of the city. You are assigned to deal with a mess in the downtown core after a group of flying monkeys attack.

The adventure should take approximately 1-3 hours, depending on the Party.

Setting

Westmeath, Canada’s fourth largest city, is the tech hub of North America. It’s also one of the most crime-ridden cities, fueled by prominent gangs and corporate espionage. It is also a place where magic, aliens, and technology meet. 

It’s June 2003 and the party is assigned to clean up the Hedy Lamarr Memorial Park in downtown after a group of flying monkeys destroyed the advanced WiFi transmitter installed in the park.

Suggested Backgrounds

The players can be anything they want, but here are some fun choices for their background: 

Aetherborn: Beings created with magic and the human imagination. They are copies of sentient people from mythology or pop culture. 

Alien: From all over the galaxy, Aliens have innate powers; mostly combat, but a few royals can heal.

Human: Humans are the most adaptable and scariest creatures in the universe.

Suggested Reasons for Community Service

Petty Crime: You did it and you got caught but let’s be fair it’s not that bad.

Parental Privilege: You did something bad but because of your last name or family fortune you got off easy.

University Admission: You really want to get into that university program and the best way is to have way too many extra credit activities along with your high grades.

High School Credit: It was this or parenting and there was no way you were going to carry a bag of flour around like it was a baby.

Fought Back: They started it, you ended it but you were the one who got in trouble.

Mistaken Identity: It wasn’t you but no one believes it.

Story

Part 1: Cleaning the park

The officer who’s in charge of the group gives them their cleaning tools and then tells them to clean up the park. He then leaves to find “decent coffee”.

The park is set between three large buildings and is a perfect square. The walls of the building have been painted in murals dedicated to women scientists. In the center of the park is a four-metre tall statue of Hedy Lamarr. There is a swing set, several trees, a slide, and a destroyed plot that must have been a flower garden.

The park is filthy, covered in shards of glass, metal, and more garbage than the players have ever seen.

Let the players talk amongst themselves. With a Luck or Mind check of 3, they find pieces of the WiFi transmitter with DoorTech logos on it. With a Mind of 4 they recognize the tech as not being human design.

Have the players all do a Mind check and have the highest remember that the statue used to be a hologram and not a large brass statue.

Part 2: Gang encounter

As they are cleaning, a group of men in purple jackets come by and start heckling them. They are a local gang called the Blue Bloods. If one of the players has done something criminally impressive, they try to recruit them. There are the same amount of gang members as players.

The gang members are aggressive in their taunts and recruitment. Either way they are looking for a fight. The players can avoid a fight by bluffing that they’ll join, intimidating, or outsmarting them. Have the players role against the gang members’ Luck.

Part 3: Strange noises and a big red button

After the gang members leave, their chaperone comes back and berates them for how little they’ve done before leaving for more coffee.

A Luck, Body, or Mind of 2 will have them finding a large button hiding in the mural of Hedy Lamarr. There are weird squeaks and chirps coming from behind the mural. If they press it, it opens a large door that leads to a staircase going down.

Part 4: Monkeys in the secret room

If the players choose not to go into the secret area or even hit the button, have 3-5 Flying Monkeys come out of the door as they go back to cleaning.

If they decided to explore, they will find a secret surveillance lab. A Mind or Luck 2 will have them realize that Door Tech has found a way to use WiFi to map and surveil areas, which was why they’d installed the large WiFi transmitter.

There is a door at the other side of the lab that seems to be a weapons cache.

As they decide to leave the room, 3-5 flying monkeys fly in from outside and attack.

Part 5: Statue

Once the players have fought the monkeys, have the police officer return and offer them a donut. It will heal 2 health.

If they tell him what happened, he doesn’t believe them, if they don’t, he sits on a swing and starts to eat a donut.

Just as the players are finishing up the park cleaning, they find an inscription at the base of the statue that says, “All creative people want to do the unexpected.” It’s attributed to Hedy Lamarr and once they’ve read it, the statue comes to life and tries to kill them. The police officer faints.

The statue disappears after it’s defeated.

Conclusion

After they’ve defeated the statue, three military vehicles with the DoorTech logo show up and interrogate the players. A luck or mind 3 will be enough to bluff that they haven’t seen anything. The police officer wakes up and helps the players get away from the DoorTech security teams.

If the players go to the police about the underground they are dismissed as making stuff up. If they go back, the button is gone. Have the players be visited, together or separately, by either the Blue Bloods or DoorTech with offers of scholarships, recruitment, internships, or something else the player(s) would want.

If the players have cruised through the adventure, you can have them visited by the local superhero team of the Phantom and the Wraith. The heroes believe them and want to know more. They promise to get to the bottom of it.

Opponents 

Blue BloodsFlying MonkeyStatue
Health526
Defence556
Body304
Mind030
Luck334
AbilitiesBrass Knuckles 2
Stun Gun 2
Bite 2
Scratch 1
Giant fist 2
Explode Electronic 2

Read More about Westmeath in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

The week before Kennedy and Jason’s wedding is busy. There are cake tastings, dress fittings, a formal ball, and, as their superhero personas the Phantom and the Wraith, fighting monsters.

These behemoths are destructive, smell like snack food, and are only after one thing: Door Tech Industries technology.

Adding to the chaos are their friends and families; Jason’s grandmother has returned after having been missing for half a century, Kennedy’s mom is dead-set on keeping things traditional, and Jason’s best friend is kidnapped before the rehearsal.

Kennedy and Jason just want to get married, preferably before the next monster attack.

The second book of four in The Gates of Westmeath series.

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@jendesmaraisauthor

“Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests” is an Urban Fantasy Romance. What happens when superheroes plan a wedding? Monsters, that’s what. Kennedy and Jason are ready to get married. They just have to deal with evaporating monsters first. Available for pre-order now! https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/books-and-timeline/universal-book-links/#MIWG Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 #MonstersIncidentalWeddingGuests #JenDesmarais #ÉricDesmarais #authors #book #PressesRenaissancePress #pinkpiggy93 #artist #UrbanFantasy #RomanceBook #superheroes #BattleCouple #original #booktok

♬ Shadows Live for the Light (From the Book “Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests: The Gates of Westmeath, Book 2”) – Jen Desmarais
“Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests” is an Urban Fantasy Romance. What happens when superheroes plan a wedding? Monsters, that’s what.

Kennedy and Jason are ready to get married. They just have to deal with evaporating monsters first. Available for pre-order now!
https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/books-and-timeline/universal-book-links/#MIWG
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93

#MonstersIncidentalWeddingGuests #JenDesmarais #ÉricDesmarais #authors #book #PressesRenaissancePress #pinkpiggy93 #artist #UrbanFantasy #RomanceBook #superheroes #BattleCouple #original #booktok

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

49th Shelf Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Indigo Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Archambault Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Amazon Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Rakuten Kobo Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Apple Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests Puzzle

There’s this site that allows for any picture to be transformed into a digital puzzle. For free. And you can play for free.

I used it for the cover of Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers (see that puzzle here) and Crushing It (see that puzzle here)

And now, here is the puzzle for Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

49th Shelf Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Indigo Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Archambault Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Amazon Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Rakuten Kobo Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Apple Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!