Archives de catégorie : Contemporary Romance

THE CALCULATION OF YOU AND ME de Serena Kaylor

A calculus nerd enlists her surly classmate’s help to win back her ex-boyfriend, but when sparks start to fly, she realizes there’s no algorithm for falling in love.

THE CALCULATION OF YOU AND ME
by Serena Kaylor
Wednesday Books, June 2024
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Marlowe Thompson understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn’t overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone, and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird, math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school’s couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was surprised when Josh dumped her because he’d prefer a girlfriend who was more romantic. One with emotional depth.

But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn’t about to start now. When she’s paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash’s notebook of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to ghostwrite some love letters, she’ll calculate the perfect data analytics formula to make Ash’s band go viral.

As the semester heats up with yearning love notes and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there’s really a set solution to love. Could a girl who has never met a problem she couldn’t solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?

“A delightful, richly characterized slow-burn romance about figuring out what you want.” –Kirkus, starred review

“A celebration of embracing differences, trusting the process, and demanding better for oneself, Kaylor’s sophomore novel shines as a delightfully fun romance filled with an abundance of humor and hope…A one-sit read rom-com with lots of heart and plenty of sarcasm, perfect for Jenny Han or Emma Lord aficionados.” –School Library Journal

Serena Kaylor is a neurodiverse, romcom super-fan, who is always moments away from cornering you and outlining all her favorite ships. Her books are stuffed with awkward moments, angsty kisses, and jokes that at least she finds funny. She is the author of Long Story Short.

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME d’Elizabeth Eulberg

The international bestselling author of Better Off Friends returns to form with a love story that’s Once meets The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME
by Elizabeth Eulberg
Scholastic, March 2025
(via KT Literary)

A heartbroken and betrayed Evie flees to London which brings her face to face with the person who has hurt her the most, her father. She doesn’t want to open herself up again, until she meets a British busker who just may be worth taking a chance on…if she doesn’t let her past get in the way of her future.

Elizabeth Eulberg is “a must-read for anyone who’s ever fallen in love – or sworn it off completely.” —Stephenie Meyer, author of The Twilight Saga on The Lonely Hearts Club

Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before moving to New York City to work in the publishing industry. She is the author of novels for teens and young readers, including internationally best-selling YA novels The Lonely Hearts Club and Better Off Friends, and the acclaimed Great Shelby Holmes middle-grade series. Elizabeth lives in London, where she spends her free time going on long walks around her favorite city in the world and eating all of the scones. ALL OF THEM.

THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY de Ray Stoeve

A sweet and swoony YA rom-com about two friends making a pact to find summer romance like they’ve seen in the movies—and finding love where they least expect it along the way!

THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY
by Ray Stoeve
Abrams, May 2024
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Hayley always has a crush. The problem is, her crushes never like her back. After her latest unrequited love—a girl from her basketball team—gets a boyfriend, she decides she’s done falling for girls who are unavailable. Her best friend, Talia, wants romance too, but rarely gets crushes on anyone, and she’s tired of watching Hayley get her heart stomped on over and over. So the two girls make a pact: they’ll help each other find summer love by putting themselves in situations that always lead to romance in movies.

To help carry out their summer love strategy, they make a list of all the places they could find their real-life rom-com: the beach, the Pride parade, the pool, a MUNA concert, and a party. But as they go to each place and try to find the one, it seems like they just can’t catch a break—they don’t know how to talk to cute strangers, someone mistakes Hayley as straight, and Hayley does a truly unfortunate DIY haircut (that she cannot be held responsible for––it was a crisis!). But when Talia and Hayley finally manage to score dates, will they be able to get out of their own way and really dive into the romances they deserve? Or is summer love not as far off as Hayley thought?

“This excellent addition to the slew of YA friends-to-lovers romance  novels offers a nuanced portrayal of an autistic sapphic trans girl in Talia and a lesbian with ADHD and anxiety in Hayley…[The novel] genuinely shines when it zeroes in on Hayley and Talia’s friendship and blossoming romance. Readers will feel like they’re in a teen summer romance themselves.” –Booklist

« Hayley and Talia’s story has all the butterfly-worthy moments of first love…Readers will appreciate that neurodivergence is normalized and represented positively in the novel: In addition to Talia, two other members of their friend group are autistic. A charming friends-to-lovers summer romance.” –Kirkus

« THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY is a bear hug in book form; it’s a love story within a love story. Intimacy takes so many beautifully complicated forms here. These are friends who care enough to carve out space for each other’s differences, even as they feel their way through shifting relationship dynamics. Stoeve explores what it means to find new ways to love a person you know by heart—and they tackle it with such specificity and care. This one’s going to make so many people feel seen. » –Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Ray Stoeve is the author of the young adult novel Between Perfect and Real, which received a starred review and was a 2021 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and Arden Grey. They also contributed to the young adult anthology Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance. They received a 2016–2017 Made at Hugo House Fellowship and created the YA/MG Trans and Nonbinary Voices Masterlist, a database that tracks all books in those age categories written by trans authors about trans characters. When they’re not writing, they can be found gardening, making art in other mediums, or hiking their beloved Pacific Northwest.

IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU d’Alex Light

Wattpad superstar Alex Light’s third novel is the perfect rom-com for fans of Jenny Han and Emma Lord, starring a self-proclaimed relationship expert on a mission to help her nemesis get his girlfriend back… if she doesn’t fall for him first.

IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU
by Alex Light
HarperTeen, October 2024

Jackie Myers is a fraud. Or she might be a genius—the jury’s still out.

The thing is, she secretly runs pleasebreakmyheart, a gone-viral account aimed at breaking hearts and ending relationships…. And she just used it to break up her insufferable eternal nemesis’s picture-perfect relationship.

Wilson is the buttoned-up, type A assistant manager of her nightmares—but it turns out he’s also, apparently, a really great boyfriend.

So with her conscience (and paycheck) on the line, Jackie decides there’s only one thing to do: She’s going to help Wilson win his ex-girlfriend back. Which should be easy, considering Jackie hates him…right?

Alex Light grew up reading too many books and listening to too many Taylor Swift songs. Now she writes books that make people laugh (and sometimes cry). Alex began writing as a teen. She shared dozens of love stories online, which have now been read over 150 million times. Shockingly, she graduated with a BA in English literature.

HANGRY HEARTS de Jennifer Chen

Love, family, and food collide in this sparkling Romeo and Juliet-inspired romance.

HANGRY HEARTS
by Jennifer Chen
Wednesday Books, March 2025

Julie Wu and Randall Hur used to be best friends. Now they only see each other on Saturdays at the Pasadena Farmers Market where their once close families are long-standing rivals. When Julie and Randall are paired with ultra-rich London Kim for a community-service school project, they are forced to work together for the first time in years. It quickly becomes obvious that London has a major crush on Julie. But Julie can’t stop thinking about Randall. And Randall can’t stop thinking about how London is thinking about Julie. Soon, prompted by a little jealousy and years of missing each other, school project meetings turn into pseudo dates at their favorite Taiwanese breakfast shop and then secret kisses at the beach—far from the watchful eyes of their families. Just as they’re finally feeling brave enough to tell their grandmas, the two matriarchs rehash their old fight and Julie and Randall get caught in the middle when Julie’s brother finds out they are dating. Their families are heartbroken. But it’s the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious time to resolve disagreements and start anew, and Randall isn’t going down without fighting for what—and who—they love. Could the Lunar New Year provide not only a second chance for Randall and Julie, but for their families as well? Jennifer Chen’s Hangry Hearts is a funny, big-hearted romance about friendship, family, and first love—and being brave enough to have it all.

Jennifer Chen is a freelance journalist who has written for Today, New York Times, Oprah Daily, Real Simple, and Bust. Jennifer has a MFA and BFA in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is a proud volunteer for WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization. She lives in Los Angeles with her TV writer husband, twins, two pugs, and a cat named Gremlin.