Love is in the air, and I love the idea of love! Chalk it up to too many stories and movies, but love seems to be the center for everything I do, read and write. When you walk into my room you will find a vast variety of novels crowding my shelves and scattered on my floor.
All contemporary novels seem to have some sort of romantic involvement. I have read a lot, but I have a select few I absolutely love. Here are my top five young adult, contemporary romance novels:
“November 9” by Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover knows how to write! The characters and their plot lines are so realistic and suck you in until you put the book down. I have spent countless hours at night finishing all of her novels the day I pick them up! It is no secret how much I adore her writing and how much I adore “November 9.”
“November 9” is essentially a story within a story told from the view point of Fallon, as Ben writes their wondrous day adventures each year. They meet on November ninth, the day Fallon is scheduled to move across the country, and come up with a plan to meet again in a year. The catch- there is to be no contact between each other until each November 9th.
We see growth between each character, but we also see their attraction never falters and they keep coming back to each other.
All time classic read and highly recommended!
“London Belongs To Me” by Jacquelyn Middleton
A random book I stumbled upon turned into one of my favorite books. Personally bringing back the nostalgia of London for me, it is hard not to fall for a city like London and a boy like Mark the way Alex Sinclair does.
A total geek, Alex has a dream of becoming a playwright in a city she loves from afar but never visits until now. Since moving, she has managed to find a few friends along the way, finds her voice and meets Mark. A Irish actor that steals her heart.
While love of all kinds is central to the story, belonging is the main focus in the first installment to a two-book series. If you want more love and want to see where life takes each character, pick up London, Can You Wait? You will not regret all the feelings, and frustrations of each characters actions.
“Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell
Fangirls usually have a negative condensation to the word. Rainbow Rowell gives us a more in-depth, less-judgmental look into being a fangirl and has us realize that we all have a little bit of a fangirl in us.
The novel follows Cath, a twin sister, as she tries to balance her online life with her life at school. A freshman in college, life is a bit hard. Especially when her sister wants to be her own person. Cath finds her niche when her roommate befriends her, and the always charming Levi seems to find something about Cath enticing.
While “Fangirl” is more along the lines of young adult, it is a quick and quirky read that will have you smiling the rest of the night.
“Roomies” by Christina Lauren
A contemporary novel I do not regret pining over for weeks. So good, I spent the last week gushing over it with my fellow Her Campus writers. The storyline has a bit of a twist I absolutely adore, relatable characters and messages that hit super close to home.
“Roomies” starts out as Holland going out of her way to see this busker perform at a subway station, falling for him from afar. Crushes are no fun and sometimes it’s easier to come up with an elaborate relationship bottled-up in your head than actually go up and talk to them. But what exactly happens when the crush Holland has been eyeing from afar the last six months turns into her husband? A whole lot of awkwardness and a fun story.
A laugh-out-loud novel with fantastic character development.
“Once and For All” by Sarah Dessen
I could not exactly help myself and had to put in a Sarah Dessen novel. My little high school heart would have killed me if I did not mention one of the queens of young adult romance! I know, it is young adult but it is genuinely so good.
“Once and For All” is a story full of love, weddings and cynics. Louna knows the formula to a perfect wedding, but does not exactly believe in the love aspect. Until she meets the ever annoying Ambrose that has her see a different light to love.
“Once and For All” is funny and pulls at all the heart strings!
There are plenty more stories floating around out there about love and friendship, but these are the ones I personally recommend. Whether you are going out, staying in or eating a pint of ice cream, pick up a novel and get lost in the love!
Photos By Allison Arterburn