Book picks similar to
In Plain Sight by Amy Sparling
young-adult
romance
ya
contemporary
Pause
CJustMe - 2018
However, Jay, pessimistic by nature, is convinced that friends are overrated, and that Aqueela is nothing short of a whackjob with an idealistic perspective on the world. It would seem that he wants nothing to do with her. Nonetheless, blood isn't always thicker than water. Friends can become your family. And so as one after the other begin to share in Aqueela's vision, Jay has no choice but to bend his own views in order to see the world through her eyes. Join Aqueela, and said family, on many adventures that are bound to leave you laughing, gasping for breath, as they discover the true meaning of friendship together in one single pause on life.
My Summer Mistake
Anne-Marie Meyer - 2020
Dad’s gone. Mom spends more time passed out on the couch than doing anything else. Thankfully, I have school and soccer to keep me distracted. Until Logan Cartwright walks back into my life. He’s acting like his family didn’t ruin mine and confusing me more than ever. I’m supposed to hate him, but he’s nice and everywhere I don’t want him to be.LoganI’m back home in Sweet Mountain, ready to start my life sans my parents. They’re desperately trying to save the business they took from the Davenports and have abandoned me at my grandmother’s house while they come up with a plan. Which is fine with me. When I run into Bella, I’m trying to fight the desire to fix what our parents broke. She’s distant and vulnerable. My protective instincts take control. If only I could get her to trust me, she’d see how much I want to help, not hurt.Dive into My Summer Mistake, the first installment of the BRAND NEW multi-author series, Sweet Mountain High.
Candid
Michelle Pennington - 2012
With a few good friends, a camera, and a dream, she has everything she needs to be happy. But when Jordan Rubio, the most popular girl at Haskins High, makes her mad, she decides to use the power of photography to right a few social wrongs. As if that doesn’t cause enough drama in her life, she realizes she’s falling for the new guy, Lee Franklin. Strong and protective, he’s just what she needs to survive the craziness she’s stirred up at school. If only she didn’t have to keep her feelings for Lee a secret from her mom…
The Impossibility of Us
Katy Upperman - 2018
But after her brother’s death in Afghanistan, she and her mother move from San Francisco to a sleepy coastal village.When Elise meets Mati, they quickly discover how much they have in common. Mati is new to town too, visiting the U.S. with his family. Over the course of the summer, their relationship begins to blossom, and what starts out as a friendship becomes so much more.But as Elise and Mati grow closer, her family becomes more and more uncomfortable with their relationship, and their concerns all center on one fact—Mati is Afghan.Beautifully written, utterly compelling, and ultimately hopeful, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF US asks—how brave can you be when your relationship is questioned by everyone you love?
Jesse and the Ice Princess
Michelle MacQueen - 2020
At least, that’s what they call her. Robot, Ice Princess… it all means the same thing: she won't lose sight of her figure skating goal no matter what it costs. Even if her dad’s team needs her. Even if the captain of said team learns her biggest secret. That the ice princess has game.And Jesse has to know more. He wants her to teach him, to teach the team how to fix their zero-win record. As those icy walls of hers start to thaw, Jesse realizes he needs her out there on the ice with him, skating next to him where she belongs. But she’s been a figure skater her entire life. How does hockey fit into her life of competitions? Maybe the game isn't the win he needs. After all, hockey is just that--a game. And Charlotte Morrison? She is life. The only problem? She skates on the outside of his world, and he isn't sure how to make her see they belong on the same ice.Beware of Zamboni shenanigans, adorable siblings taking care of each other, lots of hockey playing madness, and a sassy girl who goes after what she wants.
Where I End and You Begin
Andra Brynn - 2013
It may tangle, it may knot, it may stretch or fray, but it will never break. It is a future as indelible as the past.I hope that isn't true. I pity anyone destined to meet me.----For Bianca Ray, the past is always catching up, one way or another. Now in her third semester at college, it's doing it again. Too much drinking has led to plummeting grades and rising absences, putting her scholarships in peril. When she makes it clear that she needs help—all over the floor of her history class—she’s given one last chance to shape up: seek therapy and bring her grades up by the end of the semester, or she’s out.Enter Catholic seminarian Daniel McGuire. The last thing Bianca wants is an aspiring priest to counsel her on how to live her life, but the handsome graduate student is different from the holy rollers she fled from at home. Gentle and unobtrusive, he helps her pick up the pieces and find a new way to live: not running from the past, but facing it head on. But opening up her heart to release the pain means that something else can come in. As Bianca and Daniel grow closer, their relationship moves onto dangerous ground and the fragile courage Bianca has built up threatens to fail her. Can she exorcise the ghosts of her past, or will they catch hold and drag her down where not even Daniel can reach her?
Not His Girl
closet_anarchist - 2015
One: He would show up on her doorstep two weeks later as the son of an old family friend.Two: That he would be staying in her house, right next door to her. If living together isn’t enough, Duke starts to go to Harper’s school for the year, and immediately earns the status of the senior heartthrob. Suddenly, Harper, the girl who keeps mostly to herself and spends a lot of time in her room watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathons, is the envy of every girl in her high school. Harper couldn’t care less, and despite that fact that she has insisted that she has in no interest in Duke, she is still subject to the wrath of jealous, catty bitches and the admiration of wide-eyed freshmen. It really doesn’t help that Duke is constantly flirting with her in his own irritating yet charming way.Harper refuses to be yet another conquest, but is that what Duke wants?Or does he want more?
Running to You
Julie L. Spencer - 2019
But Brandon didn’t count on Sammy running off with his heart. First love can be bittersweet in this touching teen romance. Sammy had her sights set on track state finals and never paid much attention to the college guys who came to help her mom run their bed-and-breakfast. But that was before Brandon. He was young and strong and not that much older than Sammy. Brandon took the job to help pay for college. It sounded easy: live in the apartment above the garage, be the handyman and groundskeeper, and run off to the dorms in the fall. He didn’t count on finding a family. He didn’t count on Sammy running away with his heart. When tragedy strikes, Brandon has to make a choice. Be the big brother Sammy so desperately needs, or admit his feelings run much deeper.
Autumn
Sierra Dean - 2013
literally. As if being a high school senior in a small Texas town wasn't hard enough, Cooper has bigger things to worry about than who he'll take to prom and whether or not the Poisonfoot Padres will win homecoming. He has less than a year before his eighteenth birthday, when a curse placed on his family will doom him to live in coyote form forever. The last thing he needs to complicate his already messed-up life is a girl, but fate has other plans in mind for him when it brings Eloise "Lou" Whittaker to Poisonfoot. She's grouchy, sarcastic and has no love for her new Texas home, but she might be exactly the right person to help Cooper break the curse. The clock is ticking, and Cooper will have to decide if he's willing to let Lou in on his dirty little secret before it's too late.
Broken
J.B. McGee - 2012
She is surrounded by friends who seem to have everything she doesn't: money, social standing, and happily married parents. While dealing with the loss of her mother, she experiences her first heartbreak. She commits herself to her studies and runs away from any emotions that aren't safe. Bradley Banks, a confident CEO and commercial architect, who has long time commitment issues forces Gabby to feel again, but will he be her next heartbreak?
The Night We Said Yes
Lauren Gibaldi - 2015
Get over her ex-boyfriend and graduate high school—simple as that. But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player—was never part of that plan. And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying "yes" to every crazy, fun thing they could think of.But then Matt leaves town, breaking Ella's heart. And when he shows up a year later—wanting to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn't sure whether Matt's worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future.
Confessions of a Heartbreaker
Jennifer Sucevic - 2015
With his good looks and easy charm, girls have always fallen right into his lap. Which FYI- is precisely where he likes them. Sure, it can be something of a curse, but it's one he thoroughly enjoys taking advantage of. And he can always rely on his best friend, Max, to have his back. A little added side bonus to that friendship- Parker is continually reminded by Max's rollercoaster of a relationship (the guy was, after all, stabbed with a spork) just as to why he has absolutely zero interest in being tied down. Parker's idea of a long term commitment consists of a few pleasant hours spent fooling around in a dark room. And then there's football. Yep, he pretty much lives and breathes it.Unfortunately for Parker, life is just about to nosedive before exploding into a fiery ball of flames because senior literature isn't going so well for him. And his teacher, Ms. Fisk (whom he not-so-lovingly refers to as an old bat) has called his parents to set him up with a tutor. With an ultimatum between raising his grade or sitting out for the season, Parker has no other choice but to begrudgingly meet with a tutor three times a week. Now throw in a girl who thinks he's nothing more than a walking STD and Parker suddenly finds himself doing all the chasing. If that wasn't enough to make him feel as if the world hasn't totally fallen off it's axis, this girl has relegated him to some strange realm called the friend zone. And he's pretty sure she doesn't mean friends-with-benefits either...Is it possible that Parker Montgomery has finally found the one girl worth changing for? Will he somehow be able to prove to her that even a man-whore like himself can be reformed? This is a Mature Young Adult Novel
Shadows of the Realm
Dionne Lister - 2012
Their world is facing invasion from the Third Realm. While they move unknowingly toward each other, they are watched, hunted, and sabotaged. When the Dragon God interferes, it seems their world, Talia, will succumb to the threat. Can they learn enough of the tricks of the Realms before it’s too late, or will everything they love be destroyed?The young Realmists’ journey pushes them away from all they’ve known, to walk in the shadows toward Vellonia, city of the dragons, where an even darker shadow awaits.This book's been given the Grub Street Reads seal of approval.
Two Truths and a Lie
Ashley Stoyanoff - 2015
I left everything behind—family, friends, school. It seemed like a good idea at the time. My only option, really, until I realized running from a police officer isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.It’s been exactly three-hundred and sixty-five days since I left home, but I’m finally ready to take the step I should have taken a year ago. I’m done hiding. I’m done running. I’m going to take my life back.It was supposed to be easy. A meeting with Jason Pierce, a private investigator, was set up for me. All I had to do was go to him, let him do his thing, and then I could go home, or so I thought.That is, until I met Jason and things got … complicated.
Not with the Band
Kelli Warner - 2017
Jerks. Another new school. Those are three things Kassidy Perry vows to avoid her senior year of high school. Unfortunately, it looks like the Universe didn't get the memo. When her mom marries the football coach from a rival high school, Kassidy's forced to move (again), enroll in a new school (again) and adapt to life with three stepbrothers, including the school's star quarterback who's barely said two words to her. And what's up with her incredibly hot-yet-cocky neighbor who's developed a weird habit of climbing the trellis to her bedroom's balcony? Nothing about her senior year is turning out the way Kassidy planned-and that's before a revealed family secret drops the biggest bombshell yet. Jordan Lawson could care less about football, even though he's starting his senior year on the radar of college recruiters. He just wants to play music with his band, win a national contest with a record label and pursue his dream of being a musician. When those plans are threatened, his saving grace lies in the hands of his new stepsister. But how can he ask Kassidy for a monumental favor, when he's partly to blame for derailing her life? And what if getting what he wants puts her dreams in jeopardy? In her debut YA novel, Kelli Warner weaves a humorous and relatable story about finding your way in a world you can't control-and what happens when the people you least expect turn out to be the ones you need the most.