New Adult Corner: Top Picks for March

This month starts us off with March Madness, and we were given some amazing, zany characters. We explored some very different worlds from the high seas to crossing the country in a cool Cadillac. This month delivers romance in all different shapes and sizes.

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:

Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes—for a fee.
Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89—out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service—that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach—at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she’s not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong?

This was a great novel that really hits on what makes high school such a rough emotional time. I loved our MC, Darcy and her sister Ainsley, who navigate new territory. Darcy is bi and trying to navigate the waters of what that means. Darcy’s journey isn’t easy. I liked that we could see her make mistake after mistake, what’s high school if not a series of mistakes. However, Darcy genuinely learns from each and every experience. She has her own modern take on a love advice column that involves an abandoned locker and an anonymous email. I had great trepidation waiting for it to all unravel and it was every high school nightmare I imagined. This book delivers a lot of lessons without delving into too much of an after school schedule. I genuinely learned something new after this and feel like everyone should read if not just for the enjoyment of reading about first love.

Dotted Lines by Devney Perry

Clara Saint-James is completing a journey started by an old friend. She’ll return a Cadillac to California, a place she’s avoided for more than a decade. But it’s time for closure and to put old ghosts to rest. And it’s time to find out if the feelings she’s cherished for the boy from her past are just fanciful memories—or if there’s a chance they are real.

Timing was never on her side, especially when it came to Karson Avery. The two of them lived in a junkyard as runaway teens, and though she wanted more than his friendship, he always belonged to another—until that one night when he was hers.

When Clara finds Karson living in a small, coastal town, she’s not surprised the beautiful boy from her past grew into a stunning man. His smile is as captivating as ever. His eyes have the same roguish glint. But timing is still working against her.

Clara must decide how far she’s willing to go to battle for Karson’s heart. Or if it’s time to let him go and surrender to the dotted lines that have always kept them apart.

The cross country drop off of the beloved Cadillac is finally complete. It comes full circle for these kids who grew up in the junkyard. It is a one sitting kind of read, where loose ends are tied up and all of the characters from the previous books make a brief appearance. This one was very achy and angsty and even though it felt like a short read, it was pulling out all your emotions. You root for all the runaways as you recap all of their back stories. But especially, the two mc’s in this story, Karsen and Clara, as they have a second chance at making it work, their timing was always off! Devney Perry closes off the chapter with a read that is heartfelt and memorable.

Namesake by Adrienne Young

Trader. Fighter. Survivor.

With the Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and its crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when she becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems.

As Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and deception, she learns that the secrets her mother took to her grave are now putting the people Fable cares about in danger. If Fable is going to save them then she must risk everything, including the boy she loves and the home she has finally found.

This book ends my favorite series of the year (so far). A fantasy with pirates, treasure, mystery and romance! Young wraps you up in a world of intrigue on the seas. The story is lyrical, I couldn’t tear myself away from Fable’s story. While the romance takes on to high sails, what really sets it apart is the evolution of Fable and her father. Their relationship is complicated to say the least and as Fable is led down a path she must choose between saving the boy she loves or the first man she’s ever known.

Act Your Age, Eve Bown by Talia Hibbert

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…

Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.

Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore… and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

This is a cute rom com on overload. Eve Brown is a somewhat spoiled 26 year old who is forced to finally grow up after one too many mishaps. When she hits Jacob with her car ACCIDENTLY she agrees to help manage his B&B. This grumpy hero’s demeanor isn’t helped by a broken arm and now purple haired Eve is always in his way. This opposites attract story will have you grinning from ear to ear as the last of the Brown sister series.

Honorable Mention to Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft, a cold, gothic fantasy YA that features queer romance that also delivers a suspensful, athomspheric thrill ride.

What are you reading this month?

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