Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.
I had a hard time choosing which book category/topic to pick from. I mulled over it for several days before finally realizing, why don’t I choose YA contemporary romance? I always used to pass these up in favor of paranormal, dystopian or science fiction reads until I realized there are some real gems in this category and it’s fast becoming one of my go-to feel good genres! I’ve decided to share ten that have really thrilled me. While some of them are a bit light and cutesy on the romance, some are bit deeper but they are all fantastic and dipping your toes into YA romance 🙂
1. On the Fence by Kasie West
*I absolutely adored On the Fence. The romance was realistic and sweet, and both parties were just overall fantastic characters. Love.
2. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
*I’ve said this before but Cayman is one of my all time favorite characters. She’s snarky, funny, and really holds herself back but Xander breaks through her tough exterior and the story is FANTASTIC!
3. The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
*Well I haven’t stopped raving about this since I read it in May. It’s absolutely phenomenal and by far one of my favorite YA romances I’ve ever read. It’s so lighthearted and cute, but it really does have a great romance.
4. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
*If you don’t fall in love with the romance between the two main characters, you will surely fall in love with the Garretts. Freaking adore this book.
5. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
*I really recommend all the books in this companion series, but the first one is really what made me fall head over heels for the characters. A lot of issues are tough to read about but Katie McGarry does a wonderful job dealing with the characters stories and weaving a beautiful romance in their as well.
6. How to Love by Katie Cotugno
*This is definitely a different type of romance than the ones above, and it’s probably a tough topic to some but it’s realistic and raw and wonderfully well written.
7. Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins
*A beautiful romance. Military boy. Food… Can I say anything more?
8. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
*This is just a great, great romance and a fun read. I listened to the audiobook and fell head over heels for the characters.
9. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
*This isn’t a saturated romance, but it’s cute and sweet and gives you all the good feels at Christmas <3
10. What I Didn’t Say by Keary Taylor
*A beautiful romance between two high school students after one of them is a horrible accident leaving him mute. It’s fantastic. Seriously… it’s not talked about enough!
Those are my picks this week! Have you read any of these? What did you pick to recommend this week? Link up!!
YES to the Kasie West books, Pushing The Limits, My Life Next Door and Stir Me Up! The others I haven’t read yet.
Oh you have read Stir Me up! That thrills me the most because I feel it’s not raved about enough and ITS SO GOOD 🙂
oh my gosh, I really need to get on reading some of these books. Like Katie McGarry and Huntley Fitzpatrick… Oh and Anna and the French Kiss. Oh and How to Love and Stir Me Up. And pretty much every single book on your list. I just got into contemporary this year so have a lot of catching up to do. I’m working on it though! Great list, dear!
YES you do!!! Ok, I would definitely, definitely recommend starting Stir Me Up first. Seriously… it’s just AHHH. I can’t describe it. it was the first book in awhile that I had to actually take mini breaks to go to the “washroom” while I was at work so I could read a few pages. Every break, on lunch, I just devoured it. I’m usually a train sleeper because it just lulls me to sleep and that book kept me up… THATS how amazing it is. Loveee, lol. Don’t worry, I have loads of catching up to do as well with contemporary. I just normally start to get obsessed with a certain genre after I fall in love and bulk read a ton lol.
LOVE Kasie West and Katie McGarry! I think those authors would be excellent to recommend to someone who has never read a YA romance 🙂 And Anna! That one would be great too!
Anna is definitely a go to I would say. It was actually one of my first recommendations for contemporary that I received 🙂 I held off for awhile but when I finally did, I knew exactly why everyone loves it so much 🙂
I’ve only read #8 and #9. Guess I’d better get going because girls are always asking me for this type of recommendation.
ANNA 🙂 Such a good choice to have read though !!! We can never read as fast as the books come!
I had the same struggles as you Lauren! I scoffed at contemporary (especially romances) until I started listening to my blogging friends and read some more. Now it’s one of my go-to genres for when I need a pick-me-up!
I 1000% agree with MLND and PtL – OH THE SWOONS. I need Jase Garrett in my life <3 And please tell me you’ve read Lola as well as Anna?? That one is even better, if that’s even possible.
Totally agree Kayla, if it wasn’t for blogging friends I would STILL not be reading them I don’t think… how sad. But it’s the same for fantasy honestly… if I wasn’t basically SHOVED into reading Shadow and Bone I would never have touched fantasy. Now I’m addicted and my TBR has about 20 recent additions of just fantasy haha. It’s so funny how ONE book can change your thoughts 🙂
I HAVENT read Lola, that’s so sad isn’t it? I really need to, it’s true but I want the new cover so I can collect them all because they are gorgeous so I need to find a copy of it somewhere. it’s clearly one of the most popular books ever because I can never find it in stores!!!
I’ve not read any of these, but they all look amazingly cute! Great list! 🙂
On the fence was so cute, I really want to read The distance between us 🙂 The art of Lainey and The life next door are both on my radar. For some reason I’m really not interested in Pushing the limits, but I do want to read How to love. The cover is pretty. I think I’m one of the few people who didn’t enjoy Anna and the French kiss 🙁