Calling all Young Adult romance fans! Today we are going to be talking about some amazing books that you should look out for and pick up this year. I know that this year has been a year of romance for me so far, and I am so excited to share these new romances with you all today.
Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett
One of my favorite YA Romance writers of all time is Jenn Bennett. I read her other contemporary romance Alex, Approximately first and fell head-over-heels in love with her storytelling. I have picked up and devoured each book that she has released since then. I recently read Chasing Lucky last month, and this book is my favorite of hers. This story connected with my heart and soul, and I could not put it down. It has such an interesting cast of complex characters and relationships and is, to me, more than just a romance. It tackles self-doubt, complicated family relationships, and so much more. That isn’t saying that the romance in this book is second to the rest of the story… in fact, the romance was my favorite part. This book follows old best friends, turned strangers, turned lovers and is so sexy, real, and three-dimensional. I loved every minute of reading Josie and Lucky’s story.
Synopsis:
Sometimes to find the good, you have to embrace the bad.
Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there.
What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame.
Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is…
Crave by Tracy Wolff
Okay. So, technically this isn’t a romance… but it is a paranormal romance. I honestly don’t care because I just knew that I had to include this book on this list. If you are a fan of Twilight, Vampire Academy, The Vampire Diaries, or are just craving some classic YA Paranormal Romance, this book is for you! This follows our main character Grace as she moves from sunny California to the middle-of-nowhere Alaska after her parents die to live with her uncle at the boarding school he runs. After she arrives, she finds that the school might not be a normal boarding school. This book was a blast to the past. It took every single trope from classic paranormal romances and included them in this fun, intriguing story. I also totally LOVED the romance.
Synopsis:
My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.
Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all.
Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.
Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin Van Whye
I knew I’d love this book from the moment I saw the cover and the synopsis, and I was not wrong. Date Me, Bryson Keller is one of my favorite books that I’ve read so far in 2020. It has incredible characters, a fun and fast-paced plot, and has such a deep and big heart at the center of the story. Kevin Van Whye is such a great author. I found his writing style so real and honest. He created a story that I thought might feel a bit unbelievable, but it didn’t. I was pulled in from the first page and felt like I was living every moment with the characters. I honestly cannot talk about this book enough, and I truly recommend that you all pick it up!
Synopsis:
Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new–the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he’s never really dated before.
Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.
Kai Sheridan didn’t expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there’s more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he’s awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this “relationship” will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right?
Kevin van Whye delivers an uplifting and poignant coming-out love story that will have readers rooting for these two teens to share their hearts with the world–and with each other.
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
This book really took me by surprise. I read the synopsis and I thought it was going to be cute, but I did not expect to like it as much as I did. Scratch that, I didn’t just like it, I loved it. This book was such an interesting, new, and funny take on a contemporary romance. I love the message that it told, really speaking out about the complex relationship that we have with social media today. This romance does follow my favorite trope—enemies to lovers. It was so much fun to read, and I felt that the characters were so well-thoughtout and crafted. This book took so many twists and turns, and I was never bored. If you want a fast-paced read with a great romance, then this book is for you!
Synopsis:
Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.
Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.
All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.
As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
One of my go-to YA Romance authors is Sandhya Menon. Her books are always so beautifully written and always make me feel so many emotions. That is why I was so excited about her new release, Of Curses and Kisses. This story is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and was a great mix of contemporary and fantasy. This was such a fun, interesting, and unique read. I found all the characters super complex and intricate, and it was so much fun delving into their minds.
Synopsis:
Will the princess save the beast?
For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?
His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…
As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.
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