Tag: young adult romance

Book Review: Never Thought I’d End Up Here by Ann Liang

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Ann Liang
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: June 3rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, Never Thought I’d End Up Here is another hilarious and romantic romcom from Ann Liang, this time following a former model determined to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA – it’s all she’s ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She’s forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can’t hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China’s most beautiful cities. To them, it’s the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it’s simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who’s somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody’s looking, she can’t get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China’s provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love – with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she’d call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.

GOOD THEMES.

I love a good young adult book I feel I can actually hand to young adults. Ann Liang continues to deliver fantastic coming of age novels that hit you in the feels and supply a sweet romance too.

I loved the traveling aspect of this one. Touring cities with beautifully written imagery brought China to life. And I loved that this immersion for Leah helped her reconnect with her roots. It wasn’t perfect and filled with fumbles and I feel that’s a resonating aspect that we all go through with big experiences. Leah was letting go of a future she thought she had to participate in and found a way to be and love herself. The growth of Leah’s confidence was one of my favorite themes.

And the romance? Oh it was the sweetest childhood friends turned enemies turned slow burn lovers. Cyrus is down bad and I am here for every moment of that. The romance isn’t the front of this story but does provide such a good dual plot line that brings a lot of growth moments for the characters too. These are the kind of travel romances I adore reading.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: bullying (recounted), body image (theme throughout)

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ARC Book Review: Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

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Rating: ★★★★.5
Audience: Upper YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Simon Teen
Release Date: September 30th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Childhood sweethearts reunite in a hockey-loving town where romance is about to heat up the ice. Icebreaker meets  Better Than the Movies.

From play dates on the playground to sneaking into movie theaters, Dani and Alec were inseparable as kids. Until Dani moved away. Years later, Dani is back in Minnesota, and exited to reconnect with the nerdy and comforting Alec. But teenage Alec is NOTHING like the boy she remembers. He’s the hockey STAR in a town where hockey players are worshipped as gods – and he loves it. 

When one thing leads to another and Dani and Alec find themselves thrown together and playing the role of boyfriend and girlfriend, “complicated” becomes an understatement. In this Minnesota town, hockey may rule, but romance is about to take its place.

Thank you Simon Teen for the gifted ARC and eARC.

WHAT A GEM.

I have read all of Lynn Painter’s books and honestly, not one has missed. I love knowing that I can pick up her books and I know that I will love the story and characters and have a boost of joy in my day.

It’s been a minute since I’ve read a hockey romance and this scratched that itch. I loved the teammates and games and the tense moments of not knowing what was going to happen next. I ADORED Alec and his snark and passion. He was aggressive (in a complimentary way) and the kissing scenes were light your kindle on fire worthy.

And I really loved Dani too. As a fellow child of divorce I recognized many of the same sentiments and thoughts. Alec and Dani had incredible chemistry and I could not get enough of them on page. Amidst the drama filled moments they kept finding ways to be together.

OH, And Grandpa Mick??? LOVE THAT MAN. And Dani’s Mom. And Alec’s family. And Alec and Dani’s friends. Honestly, I loved all of these characters. I love that the antagonists were kept to a small circle and that I got to read about good friends and families figuring life out with love and kindness.

The more I write this review the more I am realizing how much I loved this book. You must go read it!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Upper YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very strong (too strong for YA)
  • Romance: heated kisses
  • Violence: mild+
  • Content warnings: divorced parents, physical altercations, underage drinking

Book Review: Wandering Wild by Lynette Noni

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Lynette Noni
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release Date: May 20th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She hates him. He needs her. Can they survive when all they have is each other?

Zander Rune was the darling of Hollywood until he fell from glory and was labelled a problematic bad boy. His public image needs fixing—fast—or he’ll lose the role of a lifetime, and all his dreams with it.

Charlie Hart is a regular teenage girl who despises everything Zander represents. But thanks to her scheming best friend and an ill-timed social media competition, Charlie finds herself pretending to be Zander’s biggest fan on a four-day reality TV adventure led by renowned survivalist Rykon Hawke.

When their trip goes horribly wrong, Charlie and Zander are left stranded in the wilderness. No Rykon, no film crew, no rescue. The only way they’ll survive is if they trust each other. But in order to do so, both will have to let go of the ghosts of their pasts, and just maybe find themselves—and one another—in the process.

SURPRISINGLY A HIT.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews from friends on this one, but I’m happy to report that waiting for the audiobook was the way to go and I am happy to report I thought that this was a gem. It has some heavier themes that I thought were handled well and I felt all the emotions during those closing scenes after the full truth was explained and friendships were reunited.

I don’t quite know how I feel about the reveal for the wilderness trip. It seemed a bit shady (which I guess reality shows kind of are??), but rubbed me wrong on a few levels.

Otherwise though, I don’t have any major complaints. It was dual POV (with two narrators!!) so I felt really engaged in the story. The romance isn’t at the forefront, but it is there and had a genuinely sweet quality to it. There were a lot of little nuanced moments that struck home for me and I had a good time with this one.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: wilderness excursions that result in life threatening situations, mentions of suicide, driving under the influence of drugs

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ARC/ALC Book Review: Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls #1) by Misty Wilson

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Misty Wilson
Publisher: Simon Teen
Release Date: September 2nd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this autumnal teen rom-com about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.

Ellis has a lot of expectations for her senior year, but moving from Manhattan to Bramble Falls, Connecticut is not one of them. Yet in the wake of her parents’ separation, that’s exactly where she and her mother are headed.

Bramble Falls might be charming, but it’s also full of distractions. Like local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis’s one-time best friend—and first kiss—who has not only majorly glowed up but wants nothing to do with Ellis.

Then there’s the Falling Leaves Festival, a month-long tourist attraction run by Ellis’s aunt—celebrating everything autumn. The festival seems nice and all, but Ellis doesn’t have time to be roped into her aunt’s enthusiastic planning. Dragged to each event, she can’t stop bumping into Cooper, the one person she’s hoping to avoid.

But the longer she stays in Bramble Falls, the harder it is to pretend she’s not falling for this town and the people in it. As her return to Manhattan gets pushed further and further out, Ellis is forced to confront exactly what she wants for her future—and what that means for her present.

Thank you to Simon Teen for the gifted eARC and Simon Audio for the audiobook.

JUST RIGHT.

I haven’t read a young adult contemporary romance in a hot minute because I often feel like I’ve just aged out of enjoying these stories but then I get sucked in by a super cute cover that screams FALL and I had to read it. And I genuinely enjoyed it!!

I liked that this was a true YA book. The language was low and it stayed at kisses only. And as I mentioned earlier, there were so many fall things and I loved them all. The small town atmosphere surrounded by apple picking, horse carriages, pumpkins and more, set such a beautiful scene. I could not get enough.

The romance was great. Relatable and full of growth and learning after mistakes. Ellis has been sitting in a blind spot for so long it took her a bit to come to terms about the box she’d been sitting in. I appreciated her willingness to apologize and try to do better next time attitude. It gave Ellis a sense of realism that I think is what’s needed for a younger audience too. Cooper was just super cute too which made their interactions very endearing.

I would absolutely read another book from Misty Wilson.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: none
  • Content warnings: parents who are separating (with infidelity as part of the reason)

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