Book picks similar to
Vanishing Summer by Lora Richardson
young-adult
contemporary
ya
romance
The Sky Is Everywhere
Jandy Nelson - 2010
Each offers Lennie something she desperately needs... though she knows if the two of them collide her whole world will explode.Join Lennie on this heartbreaking and hilarious journey of profound sorrow and mad love, as she makes colossal mistakes and colossal discoveries, as she traipses through band rooms and forest bedrooms and ultimately right into your heart.As much a celebration of love as a poignant portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often uproarious, and absolutely unforgettable.
Firsts
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn - 2016
Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.
Beautiful Ruin
Amy Olle - 2015
Soon, she's face-to-face with a man from her past. The one man she never stopped longing for.Renowned archaeologist, Noah Nolan, swore he’d never return to the small, remote island in Lake Michigan. After agreeing to complete a short-term excavation project, he realizes the site belongs to the woman who inexplicably rejected him years before. A woman he’s never forgotten – or forgiven.When Noah’s affinity for uncovering all things lost, forgotten, and buried stirs Mina’s repressed memories of a terrifying secret, she must find the courage to unearth the past, or risk losing the treasure of her heart forever.
Meant to Be
Lauren Morrill - 2012
Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's the queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her...well, pocket. Julia also believes in fate, and that Mark, her childhood crush, is her MTB - her meant-to-be.But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts...from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to live a little along the way. And this begins a wild-goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.
Bad Romance
Heather Demetrios - 2017
Out of her house, where her stepfather wields fear like a weapon and her mother makes her scrub imaginary dirt off the floors. Out of her California town, too small to contain her big city dreams. Out of her life, and into the role of Parisian artist, New York director—anything but scared and alone.Enter Gavin: charming, talented, adored. Controlling. Dangerous. When Grace and Gavin fall in love, Grace is sure it's too good to be true. She has no idea their relationship will become a prison she's unable to escape. Deeply affecting and unflinchingly honest, this is a story about spiraling into darkness—and emerging into the light again.
The Life She Deserves
Maggie Christensen - 2019
A new relationship. What could possibly go wrong?Growing up in the small Australian country town of Granite Springs, Jo and Col have been lifelong friends.Following Jo’s divorce and the death of Col’s wife, the pair find comfort in their common grief. But as they tentatively explore their new relationship, they have little idea of the challenges that lie ahead.What they haven’t bargained for is Jo’s interfering ex, along with their three children, all of whom have their own agendas.Can Jo ride out the storm? Will she be granted the life she deserves?
Second Time Around: Small Town Second Chance Romance
Alandra Knight - 2019
He’s lived them. Four years earlier, he and his brother lost their wives. Since then, they’ve been left to raise their children all alone.His world is everything mine can never be.It doesn’t matter that our chemistry is off the charts. It doesn’t matter that Jaxson’s arms are the only ones I feel safe in.He and I are like oil and water – and while opposites clearly attract, I can’t believe there’d ever be a place for a girl like me in Jaxson’s world of foam dart battles and bedtime stories.Or, at least, that’s what I thought until we both dared open our hearts – and began wondering if, just maybe, we deserved a shot at love the second time around.Second Time Around is the first in Alandra Knight's Finding Our Forever series - emotionally intense tales of true love, featuring beautifully crafted characters overcoming the darkest odds to earn their happily-ever-after.
Confessions of an Angry Girl
Louise Rozett - 2012
I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)(Sorry. That was rude.)
Love Letters & Home
Danni Roan - 2017
Inheriting her ancestral homestead seems like a dream come true but she is unprepared for the changes it will bring not only her life and her heart? Chase Haven swore he'd never return to Wyoming, but when his oldest friend asks for his help, offering him a chance to rebuild his families fortune along the way, he can't say no. The Broken J Ranch has seen better days but a twist of fate may give it a new lease on life. Can a heritage of love, truth and faith bring wondering hearts home to find what they didn’t know they had lost?
Regretting You
Colleen Hoover - 2019
By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.
Dark Magic University
Jenna Edon - 2020
As it turns out, I'm not quite human. My guidance counselor recognizes something in me--power--and enrolls me at Marcovian University where I can master my gift.I finally feel as though I belong even though I'm only a half blood by their estimation. Since I'm not pure, the chancellor insists on appointing protectors for my safety which is a joke. My so-called protector, Drax, clearly wants nothing to do with me and, believe me, the feeling is mutual. Trey all but balks at the notion of watching over me. And then there's Wyatt, lethal and sexy as hell, but he seems to have his mind on one thing. If I'm to survive potential threats, I need someone to focus on more than my body no matter how good it feels.I know I should be grateful, but I start to think I may be better off on my own. I've always looked out for myself. Why stop now?But when a student turns up dead and I'm the prime suspect, I have no choice but to rely on my protectors. I've already got a target on my back as a half breed, but if word gets out that I may have killed one of their own, it will put my life in peril.Dark Magic University book one is a medium burn, new adult, paranormal romance about a feisty FMC and the three hot guys sworn to protect her.
Texas Hold Em'
Ali Parker - 2021
Either way, this Texas boy ain’t scared. I’m looking for love in all the wrong places.
Wrecked
Elle Casey - 2012
When forced to work together, they discover they have more in common than they ever imagined ...
Finding Audrey
Sophie Kinsella - 2015
she can't even take off her dark glasses inside the house.Then her brother's friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again - well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she'd thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.
Wraith
Edie Claire - 2011
Until she saw him... Sixteen-year-old Kali has always seen two sets of people: those living now, and those who lived before. But on her spring break in Hawaii, she is suddenly surrounded by more shadows than ever. Including one who, unlike the others, can see her too. Zane remembers nothing besides surfing the monster waves of Oahu's North Shore. He doesn't even know how, or when, he died. He only knows that Kali's "gift" could be his last chance to find the light--before the mysteries of his past plunge them both into darkness...