As you (probably don’t) know, one goal I had when starting this blog was to feature recommendation lists for people seeking new books to read within different topics. Top Ten Tuesday kind of took over for this area for me, which is perfect, but sometimes I like to create my own. The Contemporary Romance Challenge hosts a monthly topic to partake in. Sometimes I’ll be posting these in my Bookmark Lit Bulletin posts and sometimes they’ll get their own post, depending on my blog calendar. More info about February’s post topic:
For this month’s topic we wanted to highlight books and/or authors people could start out reading if interested in dipping their toes in contemporary romance. If you’re a newbie to the genre you could talk about which ones you’re starting out with.
I’m sticking with young adult contemporary romance, because that’s kinda my thing. I’ve read multiple books by all of these authors and they’re all absolutely auto-buys for me. The links to the reviews or Goodreads pages for the books are featured below the graphics! The speech bubbles should be all the reason you need to give them a try if you’re thinking about it 😉
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins | The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Just One Day by Gayle Forman | The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen | The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally | Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
YES YES YES. I looove these recs. I’ve still yet to read Emery Lord or Kasie West but the rest of these authors are absolute QUEENS. This is a marvelous list. Anyone hesitant about contemporary books needs to read these authors!
What excellent choices! I’ve read multiple stories from most of these authors (except Kasie West, as I’ve only read one of hers), and I’ve really liked or LOVED them all. I think they’d be great introductions to the contemporary romance genre in YA, and I love that there’s still a variety among this group.
I love so many of the authors on this list: Gayle Foreman, Morgan Matson, Miranda Kenneally. I have never read a Sarah Dressen book, but I own Saint Anything. Hoping I will get to that one soon. Great post!
The ones you listed and I read I have loved. The ones I still need to get to are Miranda Kenneally and Emery Lord. I have plans to get to both this year though. Love these kinds of posts!
Ahh I’ve only read about 2 books on this list, but I’ve had another 2 on my TBR for ages! I’ll be sure to check out the other 4 – thanks for a great reference list, Lauren!
I agree with so many of these choices, Lauren! 🙂
I still have to read a few more Sarah Dessen books. I’ve only read her first two, and I’m not completely sure how I feel about her just yet.