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2021 may not have been an ideal year for most, but overall, it was a pretty good year for reading. Some of the best books came out last year, including some I’ll be recommending here. Hopefully, 2022 will have some more great releases and recommendations!
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Catalina Martin’s sister’s getting married and Catalina still hasn’t found somebody to go to the wedding with. The last thing she wants is for her family to still pity her after her former boyfriend destroyed her and she fled the country. Now, forced to find someone in less than 4 weeks to be her date, none other than Aaron Blackford, her infuriatingly good looking and archnemesis colleague, makes her an offer to go with her to the wedding in Spain. However, Catalina doesn’t like Aaron, and she’s pretty sure the feeling is mutual. At this point, Catalina’s only option is Aaron, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. She reluctantly agrees for Aaron to be her fake boyfriend, for him to travel across the world to meet her family, and for her to face her past. Catalina thinks she has it all figured out, but little does she know that maybe the way Aaron acted towards her was really how he showed his undying admiration and love towards her… after all, anything can happen in Spain. Or is it all just fake? Is he pretending to be in love with her too?
Age Recommendation: Mature Readers GENRE: Adult Contemporary Romance
Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Read Dahlia Adler’s new coming-of-age novel about a young girl who discovers something about herself that leads to something she would’ve never expected.
Lara’s wanted one person her entire highschool life: Chase Harding; popular, smart, and hot. He’s the guy of her dreams, and now it’s senior year and he’s finally talking to her. There’s only one problem: she can’t stop thinking about what happened to her over the summer: Jasmine. Sunkissed skin. Kisses that led to other things. Memories that can’t seem to go away and Lara doesn’t know why. And to make matters more confusing, when she’s talking with Chase at her locker, Jasmine breezes through the school and sees them. Lara thinks Jasmine is embarrassed by what happened to them in the summer, but maybe it was Lara that was the one who was embarrassed. If she confesses, it makes it all real. Larissa has the guy she always wanted, but how come she can’t stop thinking about the girl? Perhaps Lara never really wanted Chase in the first place, but perhaps she wanted something else that was there all along.
Age Recommendation: 13+ GENRE: YA LGBTQ Contemporary Romance
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazlewood
“The Love Hypothesis” follows a young Ph.D. Science student named Olive Smith who wants to make a difference in the world of pancreatic cancer. Olive’s best friend Anh starts dating her ex and she wants nothing more than for Anh to be happy. That’s why she ends up kissing Adam Carlsen to convince Anh that she is “well on her way to a happily ever after.” When she sees Anh walking in the hall late at night on a work day, she “panics and kisses the first man that she sees.” That man happens to be Adam; 8 years older than her and a well-known professor. This is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support. Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.” (GoodReads) Sidenote: This book is literally one of the best ones I’ve ever read.
Age Recommendation: Mature Readers GENRE: Adult Contemporary Romance
Heartbreakers and Fakers by Cameron Lund
“Penny Harris just ruined her life.” Penelope Harris has everything; she’s popular, she’s pretty, she has pretty best friends, and she has “the guy.” Unfortunately for her, Penelope’s perfect life gets ruined over one drunken mistake that leads to unexpected consequences. While hyping it up at a party, Penny gets a little too drunk and kisses her best friend’s boyfriend and her number one enemy, Kai Tonaka. Normally, this stupid mistake wouldn’t be so bad if it hadn’t been her best friend’s boyfriend… and if she didn’t have a boyfriend herself. Even worse, Olivia, Kai’s girlfriend, walks in on them making out at the party! In the morning, Penny can’t remember a thing that happened the night before, but unlucky for her, everyone else can’t forget. Not only has Penny now lost her friends, she also lost her picture perfect, amazing boyfriend. Penelope goes to Kai’s house to confront him the same day, but he just finds her confusion entertaining. Finding no one who will take pity on her, Penelope feels alone--until an opportunity arises for her. Even though her friends don’t want to see her, Penelope goes to a beach party where everyone is going to be. She finds Kai and they come to an arrangement: Pretend to be dating so everyone will believe that they wanted each other to begin with, which is why they cheated. Everyone forgives a good love story, right? Or at least that’s what Penny keeps telling herself. Desperate to win back her friends and her boyfriend, Penelope decides to go along with this arrangement until everyone wants her back. “But as summer heats up, so does Penny and Kai’s ‘relationship,’ and Penny starts to question whether she’s truly faking it with Kai…” (GoodReads) If he was so bad, would she truly be enjoying his company and suddenly getting butterflies in her stomach whenever she’s around him? Maybe the life she’s fighting so hard to get back isn’t the life this popular girl wants to live.
Age Recommendation: 13+ GENRE: YA Contemporary Romance
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