[Note From Frolic: We have a thing for novellas. A BIG thing. In the next installment of an ongoing series, we bring you a piece from author Samantha Young, whose novella ‘Hold On‘ with our friends at 1001 Dark Nights‘ Kristen Proby Crossover Collection is out now!]
If I ever find myself trapped on a deserted island I can only hope that I wash up on the beach with a treasure chest filled with my favorite books. Choosing only five is almost physically painful. But if that treasure chest turns out to be a carry-on bag instead… here’s the five books I’d hope were in there:
The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories by Angela Carter
My favorite high school teacher gifted me this book when I graduated and I instantly fell in love with Angela Carter’s otherworldly prose and dark imagination. She renewed my love for fantasy with her fairytale retellings and greatly inspired me to pursue my own writing.
Corrupt by Penelope Douglas
Trying to choose just one contemporary romance for my list was extremely hard because I have so many that I adore. This book is currently on my mind because I’ve recently finished the third in the series. It’s dark romance at its absolute best and I genuinely believe I could read and re-read Erika and Michael’s story over and over again and never tire of it.
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
This is the first book in my favorite adult urban fantasy series. I picked this book up back in 2011 and I re-read it almost every year. The incredible character development, world-building, mystery, sassy, badass heroine, and enigmatic anti-hero-hero make it perfection in my eyes. This is a definite desert island must have!
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
A stunning fantasy novel with vivid, imaginative, compelling characters and refreshingly original storytelling. This is the fantasy novel that makes me want to write more fantasy novels!
The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
A few years ago I picked up my first Lisa Kleypas novel and have since devoured almost everything she’s written. Choosing just one is difficult but Evie and St.Vincent’s story is truly unforgettable. I’ve read a lot of fantastic historical romance novels but this one gets me in the feels more than any other. I could re-read this one over and over again.
About the Author:
Samantha Young is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows. Fight or Flight, a new standalone to be published by Berkley Romance, is out October 9th 2018. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us was published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook & hardback in June 2017. Her next YA contemporary novel THE FRAGILE ORDINARY is due for release in June 2018.
Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author. When she’s not writing books, she’s buying shoes she doesn’t really need and searching for nooks and crannies to shelve her ever-expanding book collection. Find her here: https://authorsamanthayoung.com
Hold On by Smantha Young out now!
Autumn O’Dea has always tried to see the best in people while her big brother, Killian, has always tried to protect her from the worst. While their lonely upbringing made Killian a cynic, it isn’t in Autumn’s nature to be anything but warm and open. However, after a series of relationship disasters and the unsettling realization that she’s drifting aimlessly through life, Autumn wonders if she’s left herself too vulnerable to the world. Deciding some distance from the security blanket of her brother and an unmotivated life in Glasgow is exactly what she needs to find herself, Autumn takes up her friend’s offer to stay at a ski resort in the snowy hills of Montana. Some guy-free alone time on Whitetail Mountain sounds just the thing to get to know herself better.
However, she wasn’t counting on colliding into sexy Grayson King on the slopes. Autumn has never met anyone like Gray. Confident, smart, with a wicked sense of humor, he makes the men she dated seem like boys. Her attraction to him immediately puts her on the defense because being open-hearted in the past has only gotten it broken. Yet it becomes increasingly difficult to resist a man who is not only determined to seduce her, but adamant about helping her find her purpose in life and embrace the person she is. Autumn knows she shouldn’t fall for Gray. It can only end badly. After all their lives are divided by an ocean and their inevitable separation is just another heart break away…
