Love Y.A.: Fantasy, Liars and Comas

If Valentine’s Day left you heartbroken, these reads will surely mend your heart.

We at Frolic believe that reading is the best therapy, especially when our TBR shelves are filled to the brim.

So, with that thought, here are some great reads to look forward to this week.

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston

In this sweeping fantasy, it has been a year since the mysterious godsgem cured Cadrium’s king and ushered in what promised to be a new golden age. The heroes who brought the gem home are renowned in story and song, but for two fellows on the quest, peace and prosperity do not come easily.

Apprentice Knight Kalanthe Ironheart wasn’t meant for heroism this early in life, and while she has no intention of giving up the notoriety she has earned, her reputation does not pay her bills. With time running out, Kalanthe may be forced to betray not her kingdom or her friends, but her own heart as she seeks a stable future for herself and those she loves.

Olsa Rhetsdaughter was never meant for heroism at all. Beggar, pick pocket, thief, she lived hand to mouth on the city streets until fortune, or fate, pulled her into Kalanthe’s orbit. And now she’s quite reluctant to leave it. Even more alarmingly, her fame has made her recognizable, which makes her profession difficult, and a choice between poverty and the noose isn’t much of a choice at all.

Both girls think their paths are laid out, but the godsgem isn’t quite done with them and that new golden age isn’t a sure thing yet.

In this story, Kalanthe and Olsa fight to maintain their newfound independence and to find their way back to each other. Stay tuned for lots of dramatic twists.

A Soldier and Liar by Caitlin Lochner

In this epic tale, Lai Cathwell is good at keeping secrets. As a Nyte, a supernaturally gifted teenager who is feared and shunned by the ungifted, this skill is essential to survival. Orchestrating her own imprisonment to escape military duty has only honed her ability to deceive others. But when rebels start attacking the city, Lai is dragged back into the fight with a new team of Nytes.

Thrown together with Jay, a self-conscious perfectionist consumed by the desire to be accepted; Al, a short-tempered fighter lying for the sake of revenge; and Erik, an amnesiac hell-bent on finding his memories and his place in the world, Lai realizes she’s facing an entirely different kind of challenge, one that might just be impossible. But if this team can’t learn to work together, the entire sector will be plunged into war.

Stay tuned for drama and relationships that are purely tested in this book.

The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason

In this dramatic tale, on one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley Langston’s life changes forever.

At party she discovers her younger sister, Audrey, hooking up with her boyfriend, Mike, and she abandons them both in a rage. When Mike drunkenly attempts to drive Audrey home, he crashes and Audrey ends up in a coma. Now Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her ex-boyfriend (who is relatively unscathed) has a drinking problem. So it’s a surprise that she finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbor and childhood friend who’s recently out of rehab and still wrestling with his own demons. At first Harley doesn’t want to get too close to him. But as Audrey awakens and slowly recovers, Raf starts to show Harley a path forward that she never would have believed possible, one guided by honesty, forgiveness, and redemption.

Stay tuned for tough lessons and tough love issues in this novel.

What romantic and fantasy-filled YA reads are you looking forward to and what are some of your favorite holiday books? Let us know on Twitter or IG (@onfrolic) for a chance to have them featured in #LoveYA!

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Aurora Dominguez

Aurora Dominguez is a high school English teacher, college professor and journalist in South Florida. Her work has appeared in The Miami Herald, Where Magazine and J-14 Magazine, all places where she worked as a writer and editor before going from the newsroom to the classroom. Her favorite days are "Caturdays," which she spends with a good book, her husband, Sebastian, and her cat, Luna. Her motto when it comes to reading: "No book left behind!"