YA Romance

Want to lose yourself in a romantic story about love between a human and a vampire/werewolf/angel/zombie (seriously, zombie), or are you just looking for a realistic tale of meet cutes and true love? Try one of these with a side of hot chocolate for the perfect romantic night in.


Compiled by:
Macklin and Lizzy
All-American Muslim Girl

Nadine Jolie Courtney
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Courtne)

16-year-old Allie, aged 7 when she knew her family was different and feared, struggles to claim her Muslim and Arabic heritage while finding her place as an American teenager.


Amelia Westlake Was Never Here

Erin Gough
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Gough)

A fiercely funny, queer romantic comedy about two girls who can't stand each other, but join forces in a grand feminist plan to expose harassment and inequality at their elite private school.


Call It What You Want

Brigid Kemmerer
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Kemmere)

Once-popular Rob and overachiever Maegan, both dealing with serious family issues, quickly form a bond that is threatened when Rob confides plans to repair damage his father caused.


Charming as a Verb

Ben Philippe
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Philipp)

Henri can charm just about anyone. There is only one person who seems immune to Henri's charms: his "intense" classmate and neighbor Corinne. Soon what started as a mutual hustle turns into something more surprising than either of them ever bargained for.


Counting Down With You

Tashie Bhuiyan
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bhuiyan)

Karina's parents have a lot of rules, and for her it is worth it to follow those rules instead of her dreams. With her parents in Bangladesh for a month, she expects to relax those rules a bit, but when the guy she's tutoring says she's his girlfriend to cover up the fact that he's getting help with his schoolwork, that breaks a major rule in a major way.


A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

Laura Taylor Namey
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Namey)

Lila Reyes, furious when her parents send her to the English countryside to recover from grief and heartbreak, unexpectedly falls in love with a teashop clerk--and England, itself.


Date Me, Bryson Keller

Kevin van Whye
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Vanwhye)

Each week, Bryson must date someone new--the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. until a boy asks him out, and everything changes. Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes, but he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface.


The Falling in Love Montage

Ciara Smyth
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Smyth)

Saoirse meets Ruby and Ruby proposes that they don't need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up. They make a binding agreement to end their romance come fall, it's the perfect plan.


Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

Crystal Maldonado
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Maldona)

Charlie yearned for her first kiss while her perfect best friend, Amelia, fell in love, so when she finally starts dating and learns the boy asked Amelia out first, she is devastated.


From Little Tokyo, With Love

Sarah Kuhn
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Kuhn)

Rika's life changes the instant she locks eyes with Grace Kimura, America's reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival.


Hearts Unbroken

Cynthia Leitich Smith
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Smith)

When Louise's boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she dumps him. She'd rather spend time working on the school newspaper. When the editors pair her up with Joey, the paper's staff find themselves with a major story to cover. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey.


The Henna Wars

Adiba Jaigirdar
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Jaigird)

Nishat doesn't want to lose her family, but she also doesn't want to hide who she is. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.


I Wanna Be Where You Are

Kristina Forest
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Forest)

When Chloe's mom forbids her to apply for a spot at the dance conservatory of her dreams, she devises a secret plan to drive two hundred miles to the nearest audition in New York. Her neighbor Eli and his smelly dog insist upon hitching a ride. Now Chloe's chasing her ballet dreams, with two unwanted (but kinda cute) passengers in her car.


Instructions for Dancing

Nicola Yoon
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Yoon)

Evie doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began... and how it will end. Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it's that no one escapes love unscathed.


It All Comes Back to You

Farah Naz Rishi
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Rishi)

After Kiran Noorani's mom died, Kiran vowed to keep her dad and sister, Amira, close. But when Amira announces that she's dating someone, Kiran's world is turned upside down.


It's My Life

Stacie Ramey
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Ramey)

While facing disturbing revelations about the cause of her disability, a high school junior with cerebral palsy is on the verge of giving up on herself until she learns that her childhood crush has moved back into town.


Love From A to Z

S.K. Ali
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Ali)

18-year-old Muslims Adam and Zayneb meet in Doha, Qatar, during spring break and fall in love as both struggle to find a way to live their own truths.


Love is a Revolution

Renée Watson
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Watson)

Harlem teenager Nala is looking forward to a summer of movies and ice cream until she falls in love with the very woke Tye and pretends to be a social activist.


Loveboat, Taipei

Abigail Hing Wen
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Wen)

When Ever's parents sent her away for the summer, she's expecting Chien Tan: a strict, educational immersion program in Taiwan. Instead, she finds the infamous "Loveboat." There, Ever is surrounded by prodigies, like Rick Woo, Chinese American wonder boy and longtime bane of her existence.


A Match Made in Mehendi

Nandini Bajpal
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bajpai)

Simi comes from a long line of Indian vichole -- matchmakers. When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the "gift." Simi starts a matchmaking service-via an app, but she turns the high school hierarchy topsy-turvy, soon making herself public enemy number one.


Our Way Back to Always

Nina Moreno
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Moreno)

Lou Patterson reconnects with her neighbor and ex-best friend Sam Alvarez, now seniors in high school, after they rediscover their childhood bucket list.


A Phở Love Story

Loan Le
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Le)

Bao and Linh have never even had a class together - but after a chance encounter, sparks fly. Can this relationship survive their families' feud?


Rent a Boyfriend

Gloria Chao
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Chao)

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn't met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your 'Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.


The Revolution of Birdie Randolph

Brandy Colbert
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Colbert)

Birdie works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past whom she knows her parents will never approve of.


Something Like Gravity

Amber Smith
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Smith)

After coming out as transgender, Chris is still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before, while Maia, grieving the loss of her older sister, is trying to find her place in the world, which makes falling in love the furthest thing on their minds--until it is not.


Somewhere Only We Know

Maurene Goo
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Goo)

Told from two viewpoints, teens Lucky, a very famous K-pop star, and Jack, a part-time paparazzo who is trying to find himself, fall for each other against the odds through the course of one stolen day.


Super Fake Love Song

David Yoon
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Yoon)

When new-girl Cirrus mistakes self-described nerd Sunny Dae as the lead in a rock band, Sunny rolls with it forming a fake band with his friends, but as the lies continue he risks losing both Cirrus and his friends.


Tahira in Bloom

Farah Heron
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Heron)

When aspiring designer Tahira's coveted fashion internship falls through, her parents have a Plan B. Tahira will work in her aunt's boutique in the small town of Bakewell, Ontario. But she just can't deal with Rowan Johnston, the rude, totally obsessive garden-nerd next door with frayed cutoffs and terrible shoes.


There's Something About Sweetie

Sandhya Menon
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Menon)

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there's an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?


Tokyo Ever After

Emiko Jean
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Jean)

Izumi has never really felt like she fit in--it isn't easy being Japanese American in her small, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it's always been Izumi and her mom against the world. But then Izumi discovers a clue to her previously unknown father's identity: he's none other than the Crown Prince of Japan.


We Contain Multitudes

Sarah Henstra
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Henstra)

Jonathan and Kurl are partnered in English class, writing letters to one another in a weekly pen pal assignment. With each letter, the two begin to develop a friendship that eventually grows into love. But with homophobia, bullying, and devastating family secrets, Jonathan and Kurl struggle to overcome their conflicts and hold onto their relationship, and each other.