Top 5 New Adult Recommendations​

I haven’t really done anything that isn’t book reviews, memes, awards, or tags lately so I wanted to do something a little different. I was thinking about my favorite new adult books and decided to do this recommendation post to highlight a few of them. This is only going to be contemporary stand-alones as I’ve not read a lot of NA in other genres. If anyone has any Fantasy NA recommendations for me I am all ears, I need to find some good ones. 😊

These are in no particular order and all of the covers are clickable links that lead to Goodreads.

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What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?

Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.

THOUGHTS:

I adore this book. I’ve reread it more times than I can even count. It’s a book full of loss, grief, love, friendship, family, and second chances. I’ve never read anything else quite like it. It does venture into some heavy topics; child abuse, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, PTSD, and possibly a few other things that I can’t recall. So, warning ahead of time for those of you that do not like reading books with those topics. It also gets pretty graphic as some NA books tend to do. Overall, though, it’s an incredible story full of a purely emotional journey.

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Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

THOUGHTS:

This book is one of the first NA books I ever read. It’s also, like Left Drowning, a book I could reread a million times and never get tired of. I adore Cam and Avery and their whole story! This book is more on the romance spectrum of NA, but that doesn’t make it any less of an incredible book. JLA ventures into some serious topics with this; rape, abuse, attempted suicide, and the effect such things can have on a person. It’s a story about how to learn to keep living and how to figure out how to live in the face of such things. It’s powerful and the author did an amazing job with it. 

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Sydney is living in an idyllic bubble—she’s a dedicated student with a steady job on the side. She lives with her best friend, has a great boyfriend, and the music coming from the balcony opposite hers is fast becoming the soundtrack to her life. But when Sydney finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, the bubble bursts. The mysterious and attractive man behind the music, Ridge, gives Sydney hope that she can move on and they begin to write songs together. But moving on is harder than she expects, Sydney can only hope….

Maybe someday…

 

 

 

THOUGHTS:

Everyone knows I adore Colleen Hoover. This was the first NA I ever read and the first book I ever read by her. The first thing that pulled me was the fact that one of our main characters is deaf. I love the representation of living with a disability in books. I snatch up those books and devour them because I like when a book puts me into someone else shoes, and it’s especially incredible when it’s a character so different from me. Plus like I said, I just like that representation in books because it’s great for someone who is living with a disability. Maybe Someday is also on the romance spectrum but it does bring up topics like cheating and child abuse. It’s not all cut and dry romance. It talks about serious things and a serious illness. It also has these lighter moments though where you’re just fangirling over the amazingness that is Sydney and Ridge. They’re my top OTP, okay.

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Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare…

Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well—until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.

Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.

But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her… down to the very soul.

THOUGHTS:

First thing, this book is set in Scotland! This is only the second book I’ve ever read that is set in Scotland and I need more of those in my life. Second, this book is AMAZING! I adore Samantha Young’s writing. But seriously, this book broke my heart in the best way. It’s another one of those emotional journey type books that I seem to heavily lean towards. This book is so full of loss and grief but it’s also full of hope and second chances. Both of our main characters have been through some bad things, but in each other they find something special. The friendship and family aspect of this book is just wow. I can’t even properly convey how much I love this book. 

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When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex’s frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night – but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he’s hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

THOUGHTS:

This was actually the second NA book I ever read. It’s also one of those books I will never forget, like all the books on this list are. I love the character’s journies in this book. I feel like it really is two stories in one even though it isn’t a dual POV. You have Lucas who has suffered horrific grief and loss and then you have Jacqueline who followed her boyfriend to college, has to deal with that having been a mistake, and is assaulted. As I have pointed out before, this book also deals with a heavy topic. The reason why I keep pointing this out is because of the fact that I feel all books should provide a trigger warning for people who can’t or won’t read books that bring up certain things. Overall, this book is about family, loss, learning how to live with terrible events, and discovering who you really are. It’s about finding the courage to love and live. It’s beautiful. 

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There you have it! My Top 5 New Adult Recommendations for anyone who hasn’t delved into NA but wants to or even just for anyone who is looking for NA recommendations.

Have you read any of the books on this list? 

Do you want to?

Does anyone have any NA recommendations for me?

-Melissa

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