Archives de catégorie : Contemporary Romance

SPEAK FOR YOURSELF de Lana Wood Johnson

Girl meets boy. Girl likes boy. Girl gets friend to help win boy. Friend ends up with crush on boy….

SPEAK FOR YOURSELF
by Lana Wood Johnson
‎ Scholastic, June 2021
(via JABberwocky)

Skylar’s got ambitious #goals. And if she wants them to come true, she has to get to work now. (At least she thinks so…) Step one in her epic plan is showing everyone that her latest app is brilliant. To do that, she’s going to use it to win State at the Scholastic Exposition, the nerdiest academic competition around. First, she’ll need a team, and Skylar’s not always so good with people. But she’ll do whatever it takes to put one together … even if it means playing Cupid for her teammates Joey and Zane, at Joey’s request. When things get off to an awkward start for them, Skylar finds herself stepping in to help Joey. Anything to keep her on the team. Only, Skylar seems to be making everything more complicated. Especially when she realizes she might be falling for Zane, which was not a #goal. Can Skylar figure out her feelings, prove her app’s potential to the world, and win State without losing her friends – or is her path to greatness over before it begins?

Lana Wood Johnson is the author of Technically, You Started It. She was born and raised in Iowa in the time before the internet but has spent the rest of her life making up for that. After years working in wireless communication for companies of all sizes, she now works doing the same for a local youth shelter. Lana lives in Minnesota with her husband and their English bulldog.

JULIETA AND THE ROMEOS de Maria E. Andreu

A fresh, high concept romcom from Maria Andreu with You’ve Got Mail vibes, about a girl determined to figure out which of the boys in her real world orbit is the anonymous commenter on the online poetry she is posting for her writing seminar.

JULIETA AND THE ROMEOS
by Maria E. Andreu
Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, May 2023

You’ve Got Mail meets a YA Beach Read in this story about an Argentinian American girl whose life takes an unexpected turn when a boy with a mysterious identity starts adding on to the online romance she’s writing. It’s an intriguing hook that will keep readers engrossed.
Romeo and Juliet retellings are a perennial favorite in the YA market, from Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott to Tweet Cute by Emma Lord, and many more. Maria puts a fun, fresh twist on the famous tale by giving us three potential Romeo’s to sort through making it all her own.
Maria’s novel
Love in English was named an Indie Next Pick, is a BFYA nominee, and received excellent reviews, including a starred review from SLJ , for its authenticity and nuanced portrayal of the joys and challenges of finding your footing in a new culture and language.

Maria E. Andreu is an Argentinian American author whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and the Newark Star-Ledger. Her debut young adult novel, The Secret Side of Empty, was a Junior Library Guild Selection and a National Indie Excellence Book Award winner.

THE BACK UP MAN de Phoebe Luckhurst

A hilariously romantic tale of mishaps and matrimony, love and long shots, foibles and friendship, that may make you text that old school boyfriend of yours . . .

THE BACK UP MAN
by Phoebe Luckhurst
‎ Michael Joseph, January 2023
(via Northbank Talent Management)

They made a pact to marry at thirty. The problem? Euan’s nowhere to be found. Can Anya track down her back up man . . . ?
Twenty-nine, single, jobless and in a house share with her cousin who can barely look at her, things could be going better for Anya Mackie. When she stumbles across the pact she made with high school crush, Euan Carrick – to marry at thirty if they’re still single – a silly teenage idea suddenly seems like a lifeline. However, Euan hasn’t been seen for a decade. Reluctantly enlisting the help of Euan’s emotionally unavailable best mate Jamie Kildare, who has his own mysterious reasons for tracking Euan down, Anya sets off across the country to find her Back Up Man. Will Euan even remember her, or their pact? And why is Anya betting her future on her past?

Phoebe Luckhurst was born in London and brought up in Glasgow. She is a Senior Commissioning Editor at The Sunday Times Magazine, and has written features and interviews for the Guardian, Sunday Times Style, Elle, ES Magazine, Grazia, the Telegraph and Vogue. Phoebe has had the theme tune to The OC stuck in her head since 2003 and once almost spent her student loan on a micro-pig. She no longer shops online when drunk. The Lock In was her debut novel.

BEST MEN de Sid Karger

A romcom that puts a gay spin on classic favorites like Bridesmaids or My Best Friend’s Wedding.

BEST MEN
by Sid Karger
Berkley, Spring 2023
(via Writers House)

Max Moody is in his 30s and thinks he has everything figured out, not the least of which is the best-of-best-friends a gay guy could ask for: Paige. She grew up with Max. She can light up any party. She finishes his sentences. She is always a reliable splunch (NOT brunch) partner. But then everything in Max’s life is turned upside down when Paige announces some big news: she’s engaged! And it turns out there’s not just one new man in Paige’s life… There are two. The groom, who’s a perfectly nice guy. And his charming, younger, and…really (really) hot gay brother, Chasten. As Paige’s wedding draws closer, Max and Chasten realize they’re like oil and water, yet they still have to figure out how to co-exist in Paige’s life while not making her wedding all about them. But can the tiny spark between them elevate their best man roles in a wedding to the best man in each other’s lives?

Sid Karger has been a contributing writer for SNL and Billy on the Street, and has also written and directed for Comedy Central, MTV, IFC, FX, NBC, CBS, SyFy, Sundance, BET, AMC and truTV. BEST MEN is his debut novel.

LOLA, AT LAST de JC Peterson

JC Peterson breathes new life into Pride and Prejudice’s most infamous sibling, Lydia Bennet, proving that you can always start over no matter who you are.

LOLA, AT LAST
by JC Peterson
‎ HarperTeen, March 2023
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Lola Barnes’ summer is not off to the best start. Fresh off a scandal that tanked her social status, Lola has somehow managed to also alienate her twin sister, lose the friends she thought she had, and put a… fiery end to the first party of the summer. (The boat was barely on fire, for the record—and all the partygoers were just fine.) Lola is given an ultimatum: jail time, or spending the summer with the nonprofit Hike Like a Girl. Everyone seems to expect Lola to fail. But even as Lola encounters bugs, blisters, and bears (oh my!), she finds something greater that she’s been missing all along: unexpected friends, a sweet romance, strength she didn’t know she had—and herself, Lola, at last.

Also available: BEING MARY BENNET (HarperTeen, March 2022)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzy Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. With a hilariously sharp voice, a sweet and fulfilling romance that features a meet-cute in an animal shelter, and a big family that revels in causing big problems, this charming comedy of errors about a girl who resolves to become the main character of her own story (at any and all costs), is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Becky Albertalli…and Jane Austen, of course.

Literary references, friendship, family drama, adorable dogs—this book has it all! Fans of Jane Austen will eat up this playful contemporary homage to Pride and Prejudice.” – School Library Journal

JC Peterson is a YA writer based in Denver, CO. She grew up surrounded by the lakes in Michigan and earned her degree in journalism from Michigan State University. She’s steadily worked her way west, living for a stint in Oklahoma City (fewer lakes but more buffalo) before settling in Denver (fewer buffalo but more mountains). JC writes witty young adult novels about found family and fans of cardigans. Her debut, Being Mary Bennet publishes by HarperTeen in March 2022. When not writing, she loves to hike, shop + eat local, and travel with her husband and two children