Book picks similar to
Tall, Dark, and Nerdy by Maggie Dallen
ya
contemporary
romance
best-friends
The Kissing Challenge
Cookie O'Gorman - 2020
A rising musician with a special smile he reserves just for her, Captain even lets Anne practice her makeup skills on him—though his bandmates give him flack for it.When Anne gets an anonymous comment challenging her to kiss her best friend, it threatens to reveal her secret. But how can she resist doing the one thing she's wanted forever? It's just one kiss. She and Captain's relationship can stay the same…right?The real challenge: Kiss your best friend, and don't let him know you're in love.This YA romance novella is fun, fast-paced, and flirty, the perfect story for anyone who loves best-friends-to-lovers. Inspired by TikTok & Jane Austen, THE KISSING CHALLENGE is sure to make you swoon!
Relatively Famous
Jessica Park - 2010
Now meet Mark Ocean: A self-serving actor with a floundering career who sees that a daughter is just what he needs to reinvent himself as a family man and get back on track. When the two decide to spend the summer together, they must not only wrangle their own love lives, but try to figure out who they really are to themselves and to each other.Now armed with credit cards, club memberships, and a new wardrobe, Dani learns that what Mark has in wealth, he sorely lacks in parenting skills. Trying to show Mark that parenting is about more than loading her up with Prada bags and taking her to movie premieres is challenging enough, but she's also got her hands full with her new friends. Oh, and the boys... Dani meets Jason, a gorgeous young personal trainer who is easy on the eyes and wildly flirtatious. But is this smug hottie the one for her? Or will she ignore her friends eye-rolling and go for the goofy but sweet surfer?While juggling her own complicated love life, Dani tries to set her father up with someone less likely to appear on a VH1 reality show, and someone more... well, normal. And age-appropriate. And dressed in anything but a thong bikini. But whether Mark is able to heal old wounds and move forward with anything more than a meaningless fling remains to be seen.Can Dani fit in with this new, fast-moving California crowd without losing herself? With the world at her fingertips and hot boys now after her, staying grounded gets tough. And can Mark drop his egocentric approach to life and learn to appreciate how truly wonderful his daughter is? As driven as he is to get that A-list acting role, he's willing to do whatever it takes to get there, even if it means using his daughter. Or is he...? Mark and Dani's relationship hits a few highs, but the question becomes whether the lows are too much.
The Boys of Summer
C.J. Duggan - 2012
She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.How did she let her friends talk her into working?After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.It will be a summer she will always remember.
A Novel Idea
Aimee Friedman - 2005
Once upon a time there was a Brooklyn hipster named Norah. Unlucky in love, and short on extracurriculars for her college apps, Norah decided to start a book group. She knew the perfect locale -- a local indie bookstore with a crush-worthy cutie manning the soy latte counter. When the first meeting arrives, Norah gets a page-turning surprise. The attendees may be bookish, but there are also a few hotties! Most noteworthy: sweet, literary James. He's like a modern Jane Austen hero.... Only, how to snag him? Ever the romantic heroine, Norah devises a secret plan. And if it works, Norah may just find her "Happily Ever After" love story. The End.
Moonglass
Jessi Kirby - 2011
And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love--a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing--not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death--stays buried forever.
Forever Mine
Elizabeth Reyes - 2010
She’s forced to move, leaving behind everything she’s ever known, including her best friend Sydney. Lost and bitter in a new school, her one goal is to save money and move back home. Then she meets Angel Moreno. Enigmatic but gorgeous, Angel is almost too good to be true. Except for one thing, his archaic belief that guys and girls can never be “just friends”. The problem? Sarah’s best friend Sydney is not a girl. With their unexpected romance intensifying to places neither ever experienced, how long can Sarah keep Angel in the dark about the guy waiting for her back home?
Tweet Cute
Emma Lord - 2020
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.A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.
The Trouble with Flying
Rochelle Morgan - 2014
Aiden won’t shut up. When they find themselves next to each other on a plane, unexpected sparks begin to fly …- - -Sarah doesn’t talk to strangers. It’s awkward, stressful, and there’s the uncontrollable blushing to worry about. When she boards a plane to fly home after an overseas holiday, she plans to stick her nose in a book and ignore everyone around her.Aiden’s terrified of flying, and it’s his first time on a plane. If he can distract himself by talking non-stop for the entire flight, he will. Too bad for Sarah he’s sitting right next to her.Against all Sarah’s expectations, she ends up enjoying Aiden’s company. They laugh, argue, concoct stories about other passengers, and accidentally hold hands during the turbulence. When the time comes to say goodbye, Sarah can’t help the crazy thought that she shouldn’t let Aiden go. Then he kisses her.And then he’s gone.With her world turning upside down in more ways than one, Sarah has to make a decision: stick with the safe, predictable life that’s been mapped out for her, or find the courage to go after what she truly wants.- - -Nominated as an InD’tale RONE Award Finalist in 2015, The Trouble with Flying is a sweet, clean contemporary romance that can be read as a standalone novel.
Playing Her Secret Crush
Casey Griffin - 2018
This senior year, Katie is determined to come first.But then Alex asks her to help him find a date?!Alex has been living life in the fast lane, but he's ready to slow down—with a girlfriend. The last person on earth he’d consider? The girl his brother developed serious feelings for before he died: Katie. The only way Alex is going to get over Katie is by falling for someone new. And who better to help him find his new crush than the girl he can’t stop thinking about?What can possibly go wrong?
Chasing Forever Down
Nikki Chartier - 2013
Instead, she finds a mysterious stranger who plays by his own rules and chases his own dreams, and he's definitely cute enough to disappear with for the night. Convinced that he can help her escape the perfectly corporate future that's been planned for her, Haley agrees to meet him the next day. However, Mr. Mysterious is a no show.Determined to track him down, Haley enlists her best friend Linzi to help, but according to the local newspapers, the guy she met has been dead for years. Knowing he's very much alive, Haley and Linzi follow clues on a scavenger-hunt-style road trip that ultimately lands them in the surf town of Crescent Cove, California, where her mystery guy is no mystery at all. He's living as Colby Taylor, the west coast's biggest professional surfer.But talking to the surf star again is nearly impossible when he's guarded by a hierarchy of beach bums who are determined to send Haley back to the east coast. Haley is up for the challenge of submerging herself in their world, from wild summer nights and beach parties to ocean air and secret kisses in the dark, but when the lines blur between the ocean and the shore, she isn't so sure she's here for Colby anymore. Sure, being thrown off a jet ski sucks, but falling in love with one of these California boys might just be worse.(This is book #1 of the Drenaline Surf series but can be read as a stand-alone novel.)
Not That Kind of Girl
Siobhan Vivian - 2010
She wants her friends to be loyal. She wants her classmates to elect her student council president. She wants to find the right guy, not the usual jerk her school has to offer. She wants a good reputation, because she believes that will lead to good things. But life is messy, and it's very hard to be in control of it. Not when there are freshman girls running around in a pack, trying to get senior guys to sleep with them. Not when your friends have secrets they're no longer comfortable sharing. Not when the boy you once dismissed ends up being the boy you want to sleep with yourself - but only in secret, with nobody ever finding out. Slut or saint? Winner or loser? Natalie is getting tired of these forced choices - and is now going to find a way to live life in the sometimes messy, sometimes wonderful in-between.
The Best Girl
Emma Harrison - 2007
. .to your brother's wedding where he will marry rich, famous Marni Shay, at the River Lodge, the most elite resort in Colorado, the state you chose to go to college in so you could escape your family, except they'll all be there. Enjoy ten fun-filled days of avoiding your mother, who still thinks you're not girly enough; planning your brother's bachelor party, because you are his best man, er, girl; and, oh yeah, trying not to drool all over Hot Connor, who happens to be in your English seminar and work at the River Lodge. Put your best foot forward, and . . .Don't miss the most joyous celebration of the year!Yeah, right.
Fall Out Girl
L. Duarte - 2015
(Luna)Imagine a popular boy: Him. (Caleb)Sound like the characters of a cliché story, right? Here, hold my hand. Come away with me. I’ll tell you my story, and you’ll decide. But I have a warning: Proceed at your own risk. Since it’s a snippet of my life, I’m one of the main characters. And to put it lightly, I’m not the most likable person in the world, cue the earned label. Also, unlike fairy tales, my story is real with a dash of sorrow and loss. How do I start? Once upon a time…? Shoot me now, please. The beginning? No, too boring.Well, let’s start with the catalytic moment that set in motion a chain of events that changed my life, yet again.As for a happily ever after? Sorry, no spoilers here. You’re going to have to figure that one out on your own. After you read my tale, it becomes yours, and as such, you’re entitled to your interpretation.So, off we go! Fasten your seat belts. This ride may get bumpy.
The Girl Least Likely
Katy Loutzenhiser - 2021
Maisel (with a dash of Dumplin’) in this funny, romantic, and heartfelt coming of age story about a teen stand-up comic learning how to be her truest self, from the author of If You’re Out There.Gretchen has always been more of a “least likely” than a “most likely” kind of girl. So how does she somehow find herself living out every trope from her favorite rom-coms…?The Best Friend Crush: Why is it suddenly so hard to act normal around her childhood BFF, Samuel? Must be time for a—Makeover(!): Black leather pants and some red lipstick are apparently enough to lend Gretchen the bravado to do an impromptu set at a comedy club, and catch the eye of—The Roguish Bad Boy: Jeremy, the alluring young comic who thinks her name is Sabrina. It might just be—The Perfect Cover: A funny-girl alter-ego that frees Gretchen to explore who she really is—and what she really wants. But as rom-coms have taught her, leading a double life can only last so long.
Behind the Scenes
Dahlia Adler - 2014
In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father's mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van's on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she's capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can't play by Hollywood's rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love.