The First Taste

Advance Reader Copy

Genres

Love Story, American Fiction, Coming of Age, Literary Fiction, LDS Fiction, Contemporary, and Novels

Trigger Warnings

Sex

Type of Ending

Series

Not part of a series

Author Prefers A Review On

Amazon

Reader Spots Remaining

100

Number of days to read

Publication Date

May 29, 2026

Page Length

458 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

The First Taste

Advance Reader Copy

Blurb

It's 1999. Life seems simple. Everything's about to change.

It’s 1999. Drew Amsel is eighteen and waiting—for his mission, for his life to begin, for something he can't quite name. Then Iris appears, his best friend's younger sister, and the waiting becomes something else entirely.

The First Taste is a novel about the year before departure: a love that arrives at the wrong moment, a best friend whose hidden life will cost him everything, a faith that names desire a sin and sacrifice love's highest form. Set against the extraordinary landscape of the Utah foothills—the canyons, the rivers, the mountains—and crossing continents to the cathedrals and cafés of London and Paris, it is a story about desire and sacrifice, connection and longing, the fruit that was forbidden and the knowledge it carried.

Details

Genres

Love Story, American Fiction, Coming of Age, Literary Fiction, LDS Fiction, Contemporary, and Novels

Trigger Warnings

Sex

Type of Ending

Series

Not part of a series

Author Prefers A Review On

Amazon

Reader Spots Remaining

100

Number of days to read

Publication Date

May 29, 2026

Page Length

458 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

Author

JOSEPH VOGEL is a bestselling author, professor, and entrepreneur.

His books include Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (Vintage), James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press) and This Thing Called Life: Prince, Race, Sex, Religion, and Music (Bloomsbury).

His work has appeared in the The Atlantic, The Guardian, Slate, The Huffington Post, Forbes, and the Boston Review.

Vogel has appeared in dozens of documentaries, including two by legendary filmmaker Spike Lee.

He is the founder and owner of the outdoor apparel brand, Timpanogos Hiking Co.

Publisher

Cardinal Books