GReads Recommends... {3}

Need something new to read?  It's a new month, so I thought I'd list a few recommendations from my reading pile.

I love me some good YA romances! The kind that make you stop reading & sigh a heavy sigh of "wow that was awesome!"

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon. But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. 

Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug. {taken from goodreads.com}

All I have to say is... hot, steamy scene in the backseat of a car.  Like woah!  Jennifer Echols knows how to write delicious love scenes, yet keeping it real.  Those basketball shorts were another thing.  Seriously though, I LOVED this book.  It's probably my favorite of her's that I've read so far.  The relationships are so broken & misguided, yet so raw & emotional.  I think I need to re-read this one pretty soon.

 

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
by Morgan Matson

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road -- diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself. {taken from goodreads.com}

Probably my most favorite road-trip turn romance YA novel out there!  The story itself is phenomenal, but the tension building between Amy & Roger as the miles pass on the road is INSANE.  The build-up is almost as good as the finale (almost).  Definitely read this book if you have not already.  It's a huge favorite of mine.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart. {taken from goodreads.com}

This book is FULL of PASSION. Seriously you guys.  I was a little skeptical when I first read the synopsis for it (and I'm not a fan of that cover either), but the story between these pages exudes heat & tension like nobody's business.  Simone knows her stuff.  Though these books may be a bit borderline on whats appropriate for young adults, this OLDER adult sure did enjoy it!

Let me know if you've read any of these, or if you know of some more steamy YA romances worth recommending!  I'd love to know about them :-)