Tag: young adult romance

Book Review: Meet Me Under the Lights by Cassie Miller

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Sports Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Cassie Miller
Publisher: Viking Books
Release Date: March 3rd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

My Life with the Walter Boys meets The Notebook in this small town baseball romance perfect for fans of Kasie West and Carley Fortune.

High school junior Eliza Crowley is known as the Princess of Fairfield, a farm town in North Carolina that loves two things—tradition and baseball. Although Eliza loves “the game,” her life goal is to become a lighting designer on Broadway. Shaking off her reputation as the rich girl and focusing on her town’s community theater production are what she’s set her sights on this summer, and nothing will stand in her way. That is until Reed Fulton, the grandson of a struggling Fairfield farmer, and ace pitcher of the Fulton Hawks, returns to town. Reed dreams of putting the catastrophe of last season behind him and leading the Hawks to a championship victory against the Crowley Cardinals. When his childhood friend turned stranger, Eliza, strolls back into his life, she makes his heart accelerate quicker than his fastball, and he’s not sure he can stay away from the girl he’s supposed to despise. Small-town summers and baseball draw Reed and Eliza together, even though the Crowleys and the Fultons are determined to run each other out of town. When the families make a deal to settle their thirty-year-long dispute once and for all, Eliza and Reed are stuck in the middle during the most important summer of their lives.

PROGRESSIVELY BETTER.

I was a bit mixed when this started and worried it just wasn’t going to work for me but by the second half I really fell into the story and the character arcs for Eliza and Reed. I appreciated that this felt [mostly] true to the young adult genre. There is some under age drinking but the language was low and the romance was kisses only.

I’m not a theater girlie so those pieces didn’t hit as hard for me but the parallels to Romeo and Juliet were well done. I enjoyed this style of retelling. I liked the audiobook narrators too and wish there had been more chapters from Reed’s POV. It felt a little imbalanced.

I loved the baseball content and the back and forth between families. And I especially loved seeing Eliza’s Dad grow and acknowledge his faults too. It’s a reminder that parents aren’t perfect either and I loved seeing those bridges mended and genuine effort in reestablishing relationships.

I’m still just really obsessing over the colors on this cover too.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Baseball romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: arson, underage drinking

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Book Review: Jane Stays Dreaming by Britnee Meiser

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Britnee Meiser
Publisher: Aladdin
Release Date: September 30th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Reality and fiction collide when a shy aspiring writer uses her larger-than-life anonymous blog to sabotage a budding relationship between the new girl in school and her childhood friend in this irresistible rom-com that takes notes from Jane Austen’s Emma for the social media age.

Shy, introverted Jane lives out a fantasy life in her online blog, where she writes elaborate posts about a teen girl with a glamorous life and a gorgeous boyfriend—two things Jane definitely doesn’t have. She only has her writing and her BFFs Camila and Leo, who she shares everything with—except the fact that she’s leading a double life online. Jane’s real life and her online life do not mix.

Then a new girl named Brynn, who Jane has had a rough start with, begins cozying up to Leo. Jane knows Brynn’s totally wrong for him, so when she finds out Brynn follows her blog, Jane does something She starts using her blog to get her way in real life. But when the lines between fact and fiction start to blur, what does that mean for Jane’s anonymity, and the real-life relationships at stake?

Thank you Simon Kids for the gifted copy.

A GOOD TEEN READ.

This wasn’t on my radar until it came in a book box and I read it to see if it was okay for my kids to read [eventually]. And I did really appreciate the genuine young adult vibes of this one. While young YA isn’t generally my jam anymore I can acknowledge that this is a book I could hand to that age group and not worry about language or spice in places it doesn’t belong.

There’s a soft friends to lovers romance intermixed with Jane’s character arc. I didn’t love that she had a hidden online life but I liked how thematically that worked out in the end for her. Where realizations and boundaries came into play in regards to online lifestyles. I also liked the parental conflict with Jane and her brother. It’s relatable and I thought well placed for the story too.

The kids in this book are around 15, and like I mentioned, the content is good for that age group too.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary + Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: Lonely Hearts Day by Kasie West

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Romance Novella
Length: 113 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Paper Kiss Press
Release Date: January 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It isn’t that Scarlett Landry doesn’t believe in love, her parents’ relationship is perfect, after all. It’s just that she doesn’t think she should be forced to celebrate it. Forced to listen to terrible poetry and watch Valentine’s Day roses being distributed to everyone around her at school. If there is a relationship status that deserves its own holiday, it’s single-hood.

So, she enlists the help of her best friend, Jack Bowman, to throw a party for all the lonely hearts of their high school. She’s known Jack for years. He’s fun and nerdy and smart and will make the perfect co-host. There are two problems. One: the king and queen of school already throw a party on Valentine’s Day. Have for the last few years. And they are not fans of being dethroned. Two: when you become known for throwing a party to celebrate singles, you probably shouldn’t fall in love.

This fun, flirty YA contemporary romance novella, takes place over four Valentine’s Days. It follows the ups and downs of friendship, family, and falling in love.

Thank you Tantor Audio for the gifted audiobook.

IT’S CUTE.

I had no idea this story existed until I saw it on an influence audiobook list and of course I had to read it??? It’s Kasie West???

And she delivered another cute romance that’s bite sized and perfect for reading on Valentine’s Day. I thought the audiobook was excellent (under three hours) too. This story spans multiple Valentine’s Day(s?) and the ups and downs that come from growing up. While I would have loved some deeper and more expansive moments I think this encapsulated a full plot well in the short amount of pages.

If you didn’t know about this little gem either, definitely pick it up!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance Novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content warnings: divorce (FMC’s parents)

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ALC Book Review: Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Sci-Fi Romance
Length: 288 pages
Author: Amie Kaufman
Publisher: Knopf Books
Release Date: February 10th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

8 HOURS TO STOP AN EXPLOSION… 8 HOURS TO FALL IN LOVE.

From the NYT bestselling co-author of Illuminae and Aurora Rising comes a high-stakes, high-chemistry sci-fi romp about a stowaway girl and the richest boy in the galaxy, racing the clock to outwit a gang of mercenaries.

It’s 2067, and the Graves family has transformed Mars from lifeless rock into a chaotic patchwork of settlements—and everybody wants a piece.

Enter Hunter Graves: handsome, ambitious, and with spectacularly bad timing. He shows up at the United Nations base just as an emergency evacuation sends everyone scurrying for safety. Except he’s left behind. Uh oh.

Also stranded: Cleo, a sharp-tongued stowaway with no intention of dying today, and even less patience for overconfident trust fund boys. But the enemy of your enemy might just help you survive, so here we are.

Turns out the evacuation was just a cover for the mercenaries who came next, and they plan to blow up the base—and every trace of their crime—in eight hours.

Now, Hunter and Cleo have one shot to stop the explosion, escape alive, and deal with the inconvenient fact that they’re falling for each other.

The clock is ticking.

Thank you PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook and Get Underline for the gifted copy.

STELLAR STANDALONE.

I admit to thinking this was a series starter before seeing another friend’s review and I’m glad I knew going in this is a STANDALONE because my frame of mind was much better.

I think Amie Kaufman writes some of the best overall dialogue in the young adult genre. I love the quippy comebacks and sentiments, the right amount of snark and gentleness. This combined with the incredible audiobook made this story come alive. I loved the multiple narrators and sound effects that made the downfall of this Martian settlement all the more intense.

The romance wasn’t 100% believable for me within such a short time line, but I did like it well enough. Hunter and Cleo are a reluctant allies from different walks of life and I liked seeing them come together and find a stronger understanding between them.

This really covered a lot of ground for 250 pages and I had such a good time reading/listening to it. Highly recommend!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Dystopian Sci-Fi Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate

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