Stuff for the Teen Age, Biblio File
15 Teen Romances to Steam Up Your Summer
When romance readers like me read love stories, we want to feel feelings, and we want to be completely and utterly transported and sucked in. We want "all the feels."
The following list of young-adult titles has it all: the sweet and the steamy, rated on a scale of 1 to 10. The higher the steam rating, the more likely the novel is to make you swoon.
It may already be hot and humid outside, but it's about to get even hotter inside! What kind of romance do you want to read this summer? Let us know in the comments.
Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
In the small Pacific Northwest town of Sparrow, jealous townsfolk murdered three sisters for witchcraft more than 100 years ago. Every June since then, they've gotten their revenge by luring three young men to their watery deaths.
This year, there’s a determined girl and a new boy in town trying to break the curse once and for all. This is the swooniest of the swoony! It's dreamy and steamy with plenty of emotional impact. I hope your air conditioning is working because you are going to need it! Steam rating: 10
Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon
In this retelling of the Charles Dickens classic, Olivia is disguised as a boy while living on the streets of Victorian London. But once her relatives find her, she starts living her life as a rich young woman.
Now a Robin Hood for other street kids, Olivia runs into her old friend, the Artful Dodger, who’s now a gentleman, when they're both stealing items from the same wealthy family. Hello, Artful Dodger! He’s handsome, gallant, and an egalitarian.There’s a slow, sensual buildup here, and the author sure knows her way around a kissing scene. Steam rating: 9
Royals by Rachel Hawkins
Regular girl Daisy’s life changes in a big way when her sister becomes engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland and she’s plopped into her new world to learn the royal ways. This includes hanging out with the Prince’s roguish younger brother, Sebastian, and his hot, grumpy friend, Miles.
This is pure fizzy fun. I love it when two people who dislike each other start to fall for one another. The snarky bantering and flirting will have you swooning! Steam rating: 8; with imagined Scottish accents: 9.5
The Harper Effect by Taryn Bashford
In this book set in the world of professional tennis, 16-year-old Harper is a rising singles star until her coach drops her for being "mentally weak." Picked up by another coach, Harper starts to train alongside Colt, a brooding, young phenom with more than enough emotional baggage for both of them.
With their talent and chemistry, they could take each other to the top of the rankings, if they would only let each other in. Between the drama on and off the court, I was riveted. And I haven’t even mentioned the drama Harper and Colt have at home. OMG, does this author know how to make you feel all the feels! And there’s plenty of tennis, too. Steam rating: 10
Social Intercourse by Greg Howard
In a South Carolina town, openly gay Beckett and straight, star quarterback Jax are thrown together when their single parents start dating and decide to help throw an inclusive gay prom. Roped into helping, they learn they have more in common than they originally thought... and that Jax may not be as straight as previously assumed.
A hidden gem, this book is hilarious, and refreshingly open and honest about sexuality and relationships. Easy to love and hard to put down, this book put a giant smile on my face from beginning to end. Steam rating: 9.5
Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch
In this companion to Love and Gelato, best friend Addie (reeling from an unnamed scandal back home) gets her own adventure when her older brother Ian decides to change their travel plans from Italy to a road trip through Ireland with his Irish friend, Rowan, as guide and chauffeur.
If you were having your worst week ever, you would want a quippy, dimpled, sideways-smiling Irishman as your companion, trying his hardest to make you laugh. We should all have a Rowan in our lives and that’s the craic! Steam rating: 6.5
I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski
In the summer before their sophomore year of college, besties Sydney and Leela are on a trip of a lifetime through Europe. In London, they run into Leela’s cheating ex and his hot friend, on their own European adventure. They all decide to hit the hot spots together—or they would, if they could just stop fighting with each other.
This book is the closest I’ve found to resembling my own backpacking trip through Europe… but it’s also nothing like it and I am so jealous! Sydney has all the luck. Steam rating: 9
Bound to You by Alyssa Brandon
Young female werewolf Megan meets her soulmate one night on the beach—the hot, broody, super alpha werewolf James. While attracted to Megan, James is not super psyched for their immediate marriage. Soon, they’re off to the Canadian wilderness where they’ll have to figure out the rest of their lives together, because werewolves mate for life.
This is like if Twilight and its famous fan-fiction cousin had a werewolf baby. There’s a lot of angst and a lot of tension, and the romance definitely works. Steam rating: 9.5
Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips
Nate and Cameron meet late one night at a dingy L.A. music club while watching their favorite band perform. They seem to have everything in common—then Nate finds out that Cam is the son of the man who destroyed his father’s music career and drove him to suicide. Nate leaves without looking back.
However, no one is ever truly missing with social media on their trail! Told in the voices of both Nate and Cam, this book will have you wondering if the author is basing the characters on real people. I have my boy-band-gone-solo suspicions. This is an emotional, musical rollercoaster ride. Steam rating: 7.5
9 Days and 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno
This sequel takes place a year after the events of 99 Days, with Molly still trying to figure out who she is after all the romantic chaos she’s caused. Off to Europe for a summer vacation with her new boyfriend, Ian, she runs into Gabe, her ex, with his new girlfriend. Soon, they are all off to Ireland together, which probably isn’t their best idea.
Emotions run high, lives go topsy-turvy and there is so.much.drama. But oh, I love me some Gabe. Steam rating: 7
The Way You Make Me Feel by Maureen Goo
Merry prankster Clara Shin never takes anything seriously. When a prank goes wrong, she and her rival, Rose, are forced to work at her dad’s L.A.-based food truck all summer. Between working for her father alongside Rose and hanging out with the seriously cute and earnest Hamlet Wong, Clara starts thinking there may be more to life than just joking around.
Funny and sweet with a hard sarcastic edge, Clara is a master at hiding her true self, but it's impossible not to love her. I wanted to live in this book forever; and where's my sweet and sexy Hamlet with a crush on me? Steam rating: 7.5
Now a Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy
Iris Thorne is the prickly, sarcastic granddaughter of world-famous fantasy author M.E. Thorne. Invited to Ireland, on the movie set of a film based on her grandmother’s books, Iris is forced to confront her past, face her fears, and open her heart. She’ll meet famous actors, fall in love with the Irish landscape, and flirt with the infuriatingly charming Irishman, Eamon.
There’s so much to love about Iris’s journey and the easygoing, romantic Eamon, it left me giddy and fizzy with a head full of Irish dreams. Another suave, sweet Irishman for the win! Steam rating: 6
The Book of Ivy and The Revolution of Ivy by Amy Engel
In post-nuclear war America, teens are forced to marry the offspring of their enemies to keep the peace. Ivy, the daughter of an opposition leader, is married to the President’s son, Bishop. After the marriage, Ivy’s family loyalty and moral convictions are put to the test.
The author makes you wait and wait through longing glances, thwarted desire, and angsty kisses, but this is a love story to root for. If you’re forced to marry someone, you could do no better than Bishop. Smart, sensitive, egalitarian, six-pack-abbed Bishop is your #postnuclearapocalypsebae. Steam rating: 8.5
The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding
Fashion-obsessed Abby gets the internship of her dreams but has to share it with the unattainably cool Jordi Perez. It’s crush city, and even though it seems like Jordi feels the same way about her, Abby has a crisis of confidence that could ruin it all.
This has it all: girl drama, friend drama, falling in love for the first time, and the search for the best hamburger in Los Angeles with the best bro friend any lesbian could ask for. It will give you a warm fizzy buzz to carry you all summer long. Steam rating: 6.5
Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
College sophomore Alice knows she is 100% asexual. Having dated both boys and girls, she loves romantic love, but physical attraction and wanting to be with someone physically continues to escape her… that is, until she meets, Takumi, her new co-worker at the library. He's hot, funny, and wants to be a kindergarten teacher, and his mere physical presense puts her brain into overdrive. She's never been so tongue-tied in her life.
You know that squee feeling you get when you find out your crush is crushing back on you? The whole book is like that, only waaayyy more complicated. You'll swoon over this meditation of falling for someone who could be a soulmate and how sex (or no sex) enters that equation. Steam rating: 6
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Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!
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