We have five books to close out June! Which ones are on your TBR list?
13 Little Love Stories: An anthology inspired by Taylor Swift songs
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
If you could live inside one Taylor Swift song for a day, which would you pick? In this shimmering anthology, thirteen best-selling and acclaimed authors do just that, reimagining some of Taylor’s most iconic songs as love stories.
Whether you’re in an era of fairy lights and folktales or diss tracks and dance floors, here’s a playlist that features all the hits: The soaring high note of first love. The minor key of heartbreak. And the steady rhythm of true friendship and self-discovery.
Stories by: Elise Bryant, Jennifer Dugan, J. Elle, Jessica Goodman, Sloan Harlow, Crystal Maldonado, Krystal Marquis, Katharine McGee, Julie Murphy, Lynn Painter, Laura Sebastian, Sara Shepard, Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cursed Ever After by Andy C. Naranjo
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Love is not for cursed girls. Risa is better off without it.
Risa Porto is a Bad Thing who was born on a Bad Day and is cursed with Bad Luck. After years of taking the blame for every calamity, mishap, and minor inconvenience that befalls the townspeople of Barrow, Risa longs to escape her village. And on her seventeenth birthday, her wish is granted.
Sort of.
Risa owes a (very annoying) witch a favor, and it comes in the form of a quest: She must escort Prince Javi―the youngest, handsomest, and least significant of the kingdom’s princes―through the dark (and deadly) Bosque to his wedding. This measly errand quickly spirals into a struggle with greedy assassins, a murderous cult, a vicious tyrant, and Risa’s own curse.
Most unfortunate of all . . .
Risa is not immune to Javi’s charms. The more time she spends with the prince, the stronger―and more irritating―her urge to kiss him becomes.
These Kindred Hearts edited by Shari B. Pennant
Sweet July Books
Seventeen authors from varied backgrounds come together to showcase the diversity of romance and celebrate the wild hearts of teens in this timeless, sweeping YA Romantasy anthology edited by Shari B. Pennant.
The daughter of a royal hell dimension deals with an unwanted betrothal to a boy she’s supposed to murder and questions the meaning of fate. An aspiring writer accidentally summons her own book character and struggles to send her new crush back to her fantasy world. An orphaned thief and a “Chosen One” must go on the run from a tyrannical empire. Two friends confess their feelings for each other in the middle of an earth-shattering apocalypse. A mix of cozy, high-stakes, and action-packed fantasy, and everything in between fill these seventeen tales that explore the power and magic of love.
These Kindred Hearts includes stories by Alexene Farol Follmuth, Angela Montoya, Brent Lambert, Chelsea Padilla, Cheryl Isaacs, Jamar J. Perry, Jennifer Helen, Jill Tew, Kalynn Bayron, Kwame Mbalia, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Nia Davenport, Nikki T. Grant, Shari B. Pennant, Sophie Li, Vanessa Montalban, and Zoraida Córdova.
Winners & Liars by Aleema Omotoni
HarperCollins
Derin’s acceptance into Cambridge University is the end of an era—just not the one she expected.
When she and her ultra-competitive Uni prep group, the Kenfield Set, were first invited to Professor Darnley’s summer ball, they planned on celebrating the group’s success, surrounded by the riches of his historical Kenfield estate—not kicking off the festivities with the professor’s will reading.
But when the Darnleys’ aristocratic children are disinherited, the students are offered the opportunity of a lifetime: compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired inheritance competition to be named the new heir—winner takes all!
For Derin, it’s a chance to help her working-class family. But the remaining Darnleys won’t take losing their stately home and its multimillion-pound inheritance lying down. And added to the mix, a mysterious note is slipped under Derin’s door alluding to a dark family secret lying in wait.
Now Derin must balance the cutthroat games; scheming relatives; and a cute Kenfield intern amid her dawning realization that the history of this inheritance might be soaked in lies . . . and blood.
You Jump First by Myah Ariel
Simon Pulse
Andie has had a hard year. With her parents now divorced, it’s just her and her mom at their lake house for the summer. But Andie is trying to forget about that and focus on reuniting with Patrick, her long-time, will-they-won’t-they crush. Did Andie and Patrick have a disastrous attempt at a first kiss last August? Well, yes. That’s behind them, though. This summer will be all sunshine and fireworks—literal and otherwise.
Tommy is supposed to have the perfect summer with his girlfriend, Chloe, who’s staying with his family at Big Bear Lake. He’ll finally feel like he fits in with the lake crew—something his brother, Patrick, always seems to do with ease. This summer will be all about working on his writing and being blissfully coupled up with the girl who has the most gorgeous eyes he’s ever seen.
Then Patrick shows up to the lake with a girlfriendof his own in tow and Tommy gets spectacularly dumped via text. Suddenly, Andie and Tommy are weighed down by heartbreak instead of buoyed up by romance. But who can better help you weather a broken heart than someone in the same boat?