Love in Revolution by BR Collins - An incredible love story between two girls falling for each other during a revolution in an unnamed Basque country. It's a wonderful central pairing and a completely gripping story, with one of the most stunning endings I've ever read.
Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin – Gorgeous historical fiction set in 1926 which sees a 16-year-old girl sent to a lake resort to stay with her father’s cousin and her daughter. Garnet wants to watch birds and visit an amusement park, but her uptight guardian isn’t keen. Then she takes a job in a hat shop, meets a beautiful flapper, and sees a different path in life from the one her parents had laid out for her.
Starring Kitty by Keris Stainton – Super-sweet MG about a girl who’s trying to deal with her mother’s illness and enters a film competition with her best friends, only to get distracted by a stunning girl with purpley-red hair. As always from Keris, a warm and charming read with brilliant characters.
Under The Lights by Dahlia Adler – It’s taken me an hour to write this post so far, and about 45 minutes of that has been constantly changing which Dahlia Adler book I want to include out of UTL and Out On Good Behavior (spoiler: BOTH!) I’m sticking to one per author so I’ll count this one, about Korean-American sitcom actress Vanessa falling for her new handler, because the central relationship is so breathtakingly great, and co-narrator Josh – supposed bad boy discovering an unexpected heart – is an outstanding character too.
Out On Good Behavior by Dahlia Adler – Screw it, let’s go top 12 and ditch the one per author rule I was kind of sticking to. This book, third in Dahlia’s fabulous Radleigh University NA series, sees pansexual playgirl Frankie Bellisario fall hard for Republican mayor’s daughter Samara Kazarian. Frankie’s worried she’s not the right girl for the not yet out Samara, and wants the relationship to be abstinent and secret for 30 days, but with chemistry this hot is that a rule they can stick to? Like UTL, works perfectly well as a stand-alone (although why would you not want to read EVERYTHING Dahlia’s written?!)
Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour – Beautiful romance between two girls, a light and sweet Hollywood-set story with a fabulous cast of characters. I loved the lead character’s job as a set designer for an indie film, and this is such a fantastic feel-good read. It’s a gorgeous story of family, films and romance and I absolutely adore it.
Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis – Third – and best yet! - in the Harwood Spellbook series, I am a huge fan of the world-building in this wonderful setting where politicians are traditionally women and magicians are nearly always men; more irrational and impulsive. As much as I love Cassandra Harwood and Wrexham in the earlier books in the series, this pairing – aspiring politician Caroline and Juliana, one of the first women to study magic – are a really adorable couple and it’s great to see them get their own book.
Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan - Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous contemporary with one of my very favourite romances ever and a fantastic ensemble cast. Leila - an Iranian-American girl falling for the new girl in school - is such a lovely character, I adore her classmates and I'm glad the romance doesn't stop her spending time with friends and making new ones, and the interactions with her family and the wider community are really interesting. A stunning read!
Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi – The perfect love story for all of us who realised Paris and Rory were the best match in Gilmore Girls, this brilliant YA contemporary rom-com-inspired novel about two girls who’ve been at each other’s throats for years finally acknowledging their attraction while working on a film is an amazing dual perspective story. Two of my favourite MCs for ages.
We Set The Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia – After leaving a school where women are trained to be either skilled political wives or beautiful mothers to the children of powerful men – who take one of each – Dani, one of the former kind, gets what seems like a dream partner in the shape of a man tipped to be future president. But a resistance group wants her to spy for them, her new husband seems to have a dark side, and his other wife is proving incredibly alluring. This is super-exciting and incredibly hot. Sequel We Unleash The Merciless Storm is one of my most-wanted of 2020.
Queens Of Geek by Jen Wilde – A gorgeous, super lovely story about three friends at a convention. This features an m/f best friends to lovers romance, and an f/f celebrity one, both of which are utterly charming. It also has lots of really great rep – especially of autism – while the setting is brilliantly portrayed. This is near the top of my ‘comfort reads’ pile as a really heart-warming read.
The Lady’s Guide To Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite – Adult historical romance in which a girl, mourning the death of her father and the marriage of her female long-term best friend and lover to a man, takes a job translating a scientific text for a recently-widowed countess. The pair fall hard for each other, and the romance here is sizzling, while it’s also a brilliantly feminist read which shines a light on overlooked women in STEM and the importance of the arts.
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