Three Contemporary YA Romances in 48 Hours | Reading Vlog

I forced myself to try and read my least favorite genre. Mistakes were made.

||Books Mentioned||
The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund
American Royals by Katharine McGee
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

||Socials||

Lola Luftnagle and Oliver Oaken were a better, more age-appropriate couple and I would have rather read a book about them. Can you imagine taking the drama of them keeping their relationship a secret from Miley from screen to page? It’d be a bestseller. Bet.

[aliciayamasaki]

I highly recommend "Get a Life, Chloe Brown" if you wanna read some good romance ! It's been getting a ton of hype recently but I think it's well deserved hype

[idkimoutofideas]

Honestly the only contemporary romance books I've read that I've actually liked have been LBGT+ ones, because then you don't end up with plotlines like those in Lola. The only one that's coming to mind right now is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, though I'm not sure how much it counts as a contemporary romance novel versus a coming of age story or something else.

[kat]

I suggest reading Radio Silence by Alice Oseman! It's not contemporary romance but it is contemporary and I feel like it's one of those special books that can hit home for a lot of people.

[readswithhayley]

“I’m a hoarder, it’s fine.” Wow, what a mood. I’m also trying to force myself to read more contemporary because I never do (spoiler: it’s not going great)

Ps: it’s Hayley and I you

[elenathegreat]

i miss bookstores so much 😭i also use them to find new books

[alexbrown]

I love Katie Cotugno for realistic contemporary romances! Also You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn is fun because it's not the typical high school drama.

[smaragdapapadopoulou]

I finished, just yesterday, "Some Girls Do" by Jennifer Dugan, which was a cute teen dramance 😅 Well, the fact that the main couple is LGBTQIA+ made way more interesting, and it touches the "Your family kicks you out of the house for not being straight" or "You feel you are not allowed to be happy, bc something is wrong with you" and "Do I break up with someone I love just to prove how much I hate that the world is practically telling us to hide for "our own good"?" stuff Along the whole "Harlekeen" (sorry for that, I don't know how to spell it, obviously) kind of story, so I guess it's not that bad for its kind 😁

[brittaneybarfield]

Great vlog. American royals seems interesting . I might have to check that one out .

[TeamElric]

You pointed at all the reasons I was never drawn to Contemporary Romance. Also probably the only person I have not seen rave about Lola and the Boy Next Door (...I think thats the name...) I wish other Booktubers I followed from before mentioned the creepy "Lolita" aspect, because you are right, this should not be something a younger audience should read, and Im glad I was able to avoid it. Your perspective and rating system is something I enjoy, and this video was also entertaining! Thank you!

[sweetperry]

Also, there’s people that don’t like the politics parts in Red White and Royal Blue???? That was one of my favorite parts!!! For me it made the setting of the book feel so real and much more interesting (I loved the video btw ❤️)

[chainey]

Tbh American Royals kinda sounded like Princess Diaries

[thelibrarianofalexandria]

I loved Meg Cabot in my teens as well. I plan to reread Lola soon, havent read it since I was 17\18. Curios how I would like it now.
I remember liking criket best.
contemporary romance suggestions: unconventional by maggie hartcourt(there are many ya romances now in the same vein ae set around fandom.) audrey wait by robin benway is another book worth your time. my life next door by huntley fitzpatrick, and kasie west early contemporaries too. jennifer e smith books. holly bourne spisnter trilogy is both romances yet they all have pther aspects to them, feminism, family issues, mental health. the exact oposite of okay by laura syteven has romance though maybe you can`t call it a romance because that plotline is not huge. Still highly recomended.

[OliviasCatastrophe]

I loved your opening recap of everything that led to this vlog happening! I do like contemporary romance but have switched to reading adult romance more often than not lately. I haven't read the Katherine Mcgee book you've read here, but I have read a different one and I kind of loved it? Because it was that trashy reality tv series kind of feels you mentioned with American Royals, and it was entertaining for exactly that reason. I read lola and the boy next door when I was a teenager and liked it well enough - the least in the trilogy though. But I think if I read it now, as an adult with opinions - I would really hate it. The whole relationship she has with her current boyfriend for the first half of the book sounds well disturbing!

[sweetperry]

I read Lola back when I was like 13 or something and even tho I liked very much overall, I can proudly say that the relationship with that adult ass man made me VERY uncomfortable from the start even tho I was young. But judging by the parts you read I have to say if I read it again now at 20 I would 100% hate it too lol

[haylee]

“So every time the name of an American revolutionary is brought up I start rapping Hamilton in my head so THAT’S very distracting.” I have never heard a more relatable sentence in my life. 😂

[rachelreadsandrambles]

the real question: are you watching Hamilton today?

[amandaho]

Lola and the Boy Next Door is a big yikes. I don't know how the author could write hundreds of pages and not see how dangerous that is for young girls to read. But for a YA contemporary, I did love the To All the Boys trilogy (the last one is my personal fav).

P.s. your black plaid dress at the start is gorgeous

[lexyreads]

This was so much fun to watch! I just posted a new reading vlog too :)