Brittany Recommends: New Adult

I'm pretty sure if you look at my past two years of reading, you will notice an influx of new adult books taking over my reading. New adult is a relatively new genre. For those that don't know it is
generally set through the MC's college years. Or more specifically covers the age range of about 18 to 25. I know there's still a lot of hater or readers unsure about this new genre. They think the books are all about the sex. Now that may be the case with some of them. But for the most part this genre covers more mature topics, sex included, than YA does. The characters are older, a lot of them they are in college, so they are exhibiting the type of behaviour college age people do. There are sub-genres within new adult; contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, etc... Contemporary is where you will find a lot of the books. It's actually quite hard to find a lot of books outside contemporary. But the other genres are growing as new adult becomes more popular. The one thing all the books will have in common is romance. New adult is a romance centric genre. The main focus will be the romance and the character growth. Based on the age of the characters in the books it is the time when they are generally learning who they really are as a person and that includes what they're looking for in a partner and in love.

There is quite a few reasons why I've connected and thus been drawn into these books more and more over the past few years even though I am older than the characters. Mostly because they are easy to connect to because I feel like I'm still figuring my life out. As well as I'm loving the romance, the swoon, the sexy times, those three have pulled me in so so much. Plus the books tend to be very readable. Most of the ones I've read have been in one sitting. It's easy to find a light, fun read, or a heavier darker one. I really feel like new adult has a lot to offer romance readers out there. And with the amount of YA authors dipping their writing chops into the genre these days I'd say a lot of readers are feeling the same way as me. It's a genre that is growing and expanding rapidly.

I'm not a new adult expert, but the past two years I've read a lot(A LOT) more new adult books than any other genre. In fact of the 175 books I've read so far this year about 60(ish)% of the books have been new adult. It's where my tastes have fallen. It's why I want to recommend some of my favourite books. Of course I read and love the more popular new adult authors(I'll leave them for another post), they deserve the love their books get for a reason. But in this post I want to recommend some more indie titles; ones I absolutely love and feel like they deserve a much bigger readership. These are the books I recommend(push) on all my romance lover friends. So without further ado.

Leisa Rayven's Bad Romeo was a cover buy for me. Was browsing and the beautiful(and lack of kissing couple) cover made me buy it. Thank God the story was just as wonderful. Cassie and  Ethan's romance is super complex. Super hot. But complex. Bad Romeo has fantastic character growth. Very character driven story. Characters that are flawed. There's dual story line with the past and present, which is done so well. The sequel Broken Juliet was a perfect wrap-up, This duology is the one I am making people read.

Sister's Becca and Krista Ritchie really hit the nail on the head when they named their books. The Addicted series is truly addicting. Earlier this year I read Addicted to You and found something really unique. Not only is the subject matter is something I've never come across, the characters were everything. Complex and dynamic. I had every kind of feeling you could have well reading a book. Luckily upon finishing I had a few days off in order to binge the following seven books. So that's what I did; read all(currently released) eight books in less than four days. 

Having just read Carry the Ocean a few weeks ago, I'm still not over it. I've never read something so diverse and ultimately uplifting. Heidi Cullinan is not only telling a gay romantic story, she is giving a very positive and honest story on autism and mental illness. It was a very heart warming and insightful read and I can't wait to back and tab the hell out of it.

The Sea of Tranquility is one of the first NA books I read and after all this time still remains one of my favourite. The story has a much darker undertone which goes along with both of the MC's pasts. The romance is more on the slow burning side. The writing is beautiful. The story is beautiful. I honestly can't believe I've yet to reread it.

The Gaming the System series, starting with At Any Price was a Kindle freebie find. Which after reading it realized how lucky I was to come across it because I freakin' love Mia and Adam together. Or apart. Or fooling around. I just wanted to reach into the book and smash their faces together. I love me a good nerdy couple. And the sexual tension was just melting off the page. The change in tone from book one to three is heavy. But makes for a really solid story.

Helena Hunting is my girl. I love that I can support a local author honestly. I've read all her books and can say I've loved them, a lot. The Clipped Wings duology may have the basics to sound like 90% of the romance books out there but at its core is totally unique. The MC's both have pasts they're trying to make it out of, and I have to say, when done right, that can be one of my favourite tropes. Plus I'm really really into the inked up "bad boy". For a major change in tone, Hunting also gives us Pucked. A totally sexy romcom featuring professional hockey players. So much LOLíng.

When searching for military romances I came across Come Back to Me. Talk about emotional and suspenseful. I was fully invested in Jessa's life by the end of page one. The falling for the brothers best friend is another trope I'm addicted to. Mila Gray gave me that and so much more. But more importantly she gave me This is One Moment, the sequel. The setting of the army hospital is at points tough to read. But something that pulled me in. But the romance. Ah the angst and swoon and everything. Just on point. 

If you're looking for something fun and more light hearted, Zoraida Cordova did that really well with her On the Verge books. Luck on the Line was a Netgalley click(we know how those turn out more often than not) that turned out very well. The MC is super sassy and take charge. The love interest is smokin' hot chef; which who knew I'd find a chef so swoony. The story is fast paced and flowed really easily. The sequel; Love on the Ledge is just as fun. Changes the setting to The Hamptons where we get to be in the middle of a big Latino family event. Throw in a blue collar, always shirtless, unintentional romantic love interest who gets the MC's head spinning and I was instantly sold.

Who doesn't want a hot cowboy? Everyone does. Obviously. Lost & Found was a book I'd had sitting on my Kindle for forever. Until earlier this year when Samantha read it and than told me to get on it. So I did. And what the eff was I doing sitting on this wondrous book for so long unread? The angst is real. The hot cowboy is always in tight clothes. The sexual tension drips off the page. I mean it's all the good stuff. And it's spread out into five books. Three from one couple and two with another. All fantastic. I love both couples equally. The story is not heavy on the sex. The romance is there. Like so there. But I think this series is a great starting point for someone looking to get into NA. You'd start the genre on a very high note.

Well I hope that gives you guys some new reads to pick up. I, of course, highly recommend all mentioned. For more of my thoughts check out my reviews or hit me up. I am 100% down with chatting about or recommending more new adult books. 

Happy reading!

Brittany