Hello-Hello! I am here with another post. Recently I joined another books related group on Goodreads called Monthly Recommendations (<--link). You might know the creators, Trina (Between Chapters) and Kayla Rayne. Do not be a troll and check these awesome beings' channels. - (No offense, trolls but you are pretty grumpy imaginary creatures.)
The month of May is dedicated to Contemporary Books.
According to May's discussion board, "Contemporary fiction is generally considered to be a real world setting with no fantasy or paranormal elements that takes place after World War II. It includes a variety of cross/sub-genres, such as: Romance, Coming of Age, Mystery, Horror, Humor, Literary fiction."
Since I prefer my books with a splash of imaginary... stuff, contemporary books are very few in my read pile... Thus, the books of my choosing are more romance oriented and cross the line into the New Adult category. I am not counting the ones from my TBR (to be read) list since I cannot offer an opinion cause I did not read them... DUH!
The books are in no particular order.
Let's get this recommendation started!
This is one of my recent reads. It is an easy and quick read. A lot of themes are explored throughout this book. "Don't be quick to judge" and "things are not always what they appear" are just a few of them. Brigid Kemmerer does a great job reflecting real world problems in her book. I also like the mystery-romance aspect. Boy and girl know of each other's existence but they are not acquainted at all. They judge one another based on rumors and gossip. Then, they end up later corresponding anonymously to talk about their life and problems. From my point of view, this story is a bit too focused on the main characters; although, that hasn't stop me from enjoying a good book like this (Review HERE).
Alright, this is a kind of a classic cliché and I so love it. This a contemporary love story which it happens to take place in Paris, France. L'amour! I couldn't help it. I had to say the phrase. Tired of having all - mostly all - your books taking place in the U.S.A or U.K.? Then this book is your answer to that. But don't get overly excited, there still is an American/English aspect in this book. The setting is beautiful. The story had the right amounts of romance, reality, cuteness, sweetness, and culture, and characters... I read this book twice and that says something since I rarely read books a second time. Anyway... Try the book if you are in a mood for cute and fluffy. (*Not really a standalone.)
A book published by Swoon Reads*** (<-- link). Teenage girl with good reputation (high grades and focused on her grades but with a "cold" demeanor) meets the hot surfer womanizer boy. It is set in high school. The two try to figure out who they are despite... high school society? It is a nice contemporary with an important message addressed people. There is a lot of steam potential... but is not explored at all; though, the romance is cute. And despite the title, personally, I did not see the "walk of shame". Nothing was shameful.
Now, we are leaving the YA territory and move towards New Adult / Adult zone. This is another romance that takes place in another place other then USA or U.K. It's happening in Rome, baby! Cute. Full of steam. Love. Romance. Culture. A Prince in disguise. It is a retelling of the film Roman Holyday with Audrey Hepburn in the main role. You can check my review, HERE, if you need more convincing. (*Not really a standalone.)
Well, well, well. The maturity scale in this one gets a little higher (and I am not talking about the sexy time). This is a complex and complicated story. It is about life, love, and redemption. There is a strong connection with Dante's Inferno or shout I say Dante's personal life viewed from his work, The Divine Comedy. It takes place in Toronto, Canada. Yes, it started as fan-fiction but there is so much more to the story. This is a story well written able to touch your soul and feels - oops, feelings.
(Not a standalone.)
Another new adult book. If you are a Colleen Hoover fan, you already know of this book. Again, the maturity level is pretty high - and here I am talking about sex. This is my favorite Colleen's book so far. (I've only read two and the other one is Confess which you can find my review on it HERE.) Life. Love. Redemption. Tragedy. And the most important, how we cope with tragedy and find a way to relive and bloom again.
I hope you enjoyed this post and found some new books to add to your on growing TBR pile. And, if you want more contemporary recommendations, check out the group's May discussion board HERE.
See ya in the next post!
P.S. Confess was turned into a short TV show. For more details on that click the link HERE.
*The book can be read by itself - ish - but it ties in with other books. A series of standalones...?
***Swoon Reads it is a website where you can publish your manuscript and based on feedback from the readers you have a chances to get published.
***Swoon Reads it is a website where you can publish your manuscript and based on feedback from the readers you have a chances to get published.
I love contemporaries! (I also really need to read a Colleen Hoover book! Which one should I start with?) Love the post!
ReplyDeleteI started with Ugly Love which is my favorite. Then I read Confess because a TV show premiered this year. From what I hear on YouTube, Ugly Love is one of her best books. Also, there is a YouTuber who made a video on how to read/star to read Colleen Hoover's books. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/bj1ANehbKf8
DeleteIt does not include It Ends with Us and Too Late because the video was published early last year. I hope this helps.
Letters to the Lost is on my summer TBR, and I've heard a lot of good things about it! Looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good book indeed despite being a rather simplistic and ordinary. That is what makes it beautiful. Oh, in one place the author forces or should I say, stretches the story a little bit. I hope you are going to enjoy it.
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