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32 Swoonworthy Young Adult Books of the Last Decade
Young love, first love, star-crossed love. YA fiction has brought us some of our very favorite heartbreaks and Happily Ever Afters. For Valentine's Day, we're highlighting young adult titles with romantic plots or subplots that readers of any age can fall in love with.
We put together this list by looking at popular books from the last decade that fall into both the romance and young adult genres with an average rating of at least 3.5 stars from your fellow readers. It's heavy on contemporary, of course, but we made sure to scatter in some sci-fi, fantasy, and historical releases as well!
Here are 32 reads that will make you feel that heart-beating-faster, sweaty-palmed, tongue-tied, trip-over-your-shoelaces kind of love.
Be sure to add the books you want to meet(cute) to your Want to Read shelf!
Which are your favorite romantic YA reads? Share them with us in the comments!
Check out the complete coverage of Romance Week, including:
Meet Today's Rising Stars of Romance
A Starter Kit of Reads for Romance Newbies
Lisa Kleypas Talks Changing Trends in Romance
Check out the complete coverage of Romance Week, including:
Meet Today's Rising Stars of Romance
A Starter Kit of Reads for Romance Newbies
Lisa Kleypas Talks Changing Trends in Romance
Comments Showing 1-50 of 61 (61 new)
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Louie
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Feb 10, 2020 01:27AM
Yay, These Witches Don't Burn is SO good with a very cute romance! I can't wait to read the sequel, I desperately need more witchy books in my life!
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Uhhhhh Red White and Royal Blue is FANTASTIC and a lovely romance, but it is NOT Young Adult, and the author does not want it included in YA lists. All the characters are in their 20s, and the mc graduates college about halfway through. It is very solidly New Adult.
why isn't Eleanor and park on here? that is an amazing romance novel that had me in tears
Mary wrote: "Uhhhhh Red White and Royal Blue is FANTASTIC and a lovely romance, but it is NOT Young Adult, and the author does not want it included in YA lists. All the characters are in their 20s, and the mc g..."This^
Eleanor and Park needs to be on this list! Also one of my favorite books of all time (very under-rated) The Sea of Tranquility!
Chris wrote: "why isn't Eleanor and park on here? that is an amazing romance novel that had me in tears"my first thought
... This list should definitely have had both Eleanor and Park AND The Lovely War.
This list is missing the Selection!!!! One of the greatest love stories of all time!
Great list but I have to agree with previous commenters. Red, White and Royal Blue was amazing, but definitely an adult read. I also think A Court of Thorns and Roses (the entire series really) needs to be included in this list. It's exceedingly popular and an incredible epic romance/adventure plot line.
Needs Selection series.
Jackie wrote: "Eleanor and Park needs to be on this list! Also one of my favorite books of all time (very under-rated) The Sea of Tranquility!"Sea of Tranquility is the best romance I have ever read
*banging knives and forks on the table chanting *Eleanor and Park! Eleanor and Park!
ACOMAF by our lord and saviour Sarah J Maas needs to be on this list
Sea of Tranquility and On The Jelicoe Road are also fantastic life long favourites of mine
Chris wrote: "why isn't Eleanor and park on here? that is an amazing romance novel that had me in tears"I agree with you. Eleanor and Park was one of my favorites. THis should really be on the list.
The divergent series should be on this page. This series was a little more than young adult literature but i feel like if this page were to show the real romance books, The divergent series should be on the list.
Young Adult has always included early 20s and there is contention about whether New Adult is really a worthwhile separate age bracket. It's classified as YA in libraries, so 🤷♀️
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan is incredible!!!
Mary wrote: "Uhhhhh Red White and Royal Blue is FANTASTIC and a lovely romance, but it is NOT Young Adult, and the author does not want it included in YA lists. All the characters are in their 20s, and the mc g..."YES. It should definitely be recommended, but not on YA lists.
Brooke wrote: "ACOMAF by our lord and saviour Sarah J Maas needs to be on this list"What does this anacronym mean?
Alli wrote: "Brooke wrote: "ACOMAF by our lord and saviour Sarah J Maas needs to be on this list"What does this anacronym mean?"
A Court of Mist and Fury. It is probably my life-long favorite romance /adventure story. It is SO GOOD! But read A Court of Thorns and Roses first because then you get the story more completely. WONDERFUL books!
Jackie wrote: "Eleanor and Park needs to be on this list! Also one of my favorite books of all time (very under-rated) The Sea of Tranquility!"YES!! I so rarely see anyone bring up Sea of Tranquility and its such a good one!!!
Y’all are talking about how good the ‘ACOTAR’ series is but I’m over here laughing about how bad it is 💀
⭐️Abi⭐️ wrote: "Y’all are talking about how good the ‘ACOTAR’ series is but I’m over here laughing about how bad it is 💀"LMFAO same!! I am over here cringing like you guys are just really horny, that's all lololol
I think that Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon was a pretty incredible love story. So so sweet !!!
kellybuds wrote: "⭐️Abi⭐️ wrote: "Y’all are talking about how good the ‘ACOTAR’ series is but I’m over here laughing about how bad it is 💀"LMFAO same!! I am over here cringing like you guys are just really horny, ..."
Pfft same!
Eva wrote: "kellybuds wrote: "⭐️Abi⭐️ wrote: "Y’all are talking about how good the ‘ACOTAR’ series is but I’m over here laughing about how bad it is 💀"LMFAO same!! I am over here cringing like you guys are j..."
Hold up now. I love A Court of Thorns and Roses but not because I'm horny. In fact while they are very well written they are my least favorite scenes. I love everything else it has to offer like the interesting plot, amazing characters, the making of allies out of enemies and that that it shows that a cover is not at all the book.
Savannah wrote: "Young Adult has always included early 20s and there is contention about whether New Adult is really a worthwhile separate age bracket. It's classified as YA in libraries, so 🤷♀️"It shouldn't be in YA collections. The author, publisher, bookstores, library suppliers (companies that sell books to libraries), and the New York Times don't consider it YA. https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-se... If people are so insistent that New Adult not be a separate category, then it's adult. It's NOT YA.
https://twitter.com/casey_mcquiston/s...
RWRB is shelved as Adult at my library, and all the others I've been to.
Strange the Dreamer should be on here, along with The Diviners, Let's Talk About Love, and There's Something About Sweetie.
Eva wrote: "RWRB is shelved as Adult at my library, and all the others I've been to."Mine too.
This list is very notably missing Gayle Forman - If I Stay and Where She Went are sooooooo romantic. Also, Stephanie Perkins' novels, Flat-Out Love and Flat-Out Celeste by Jessica Park, and The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay.
Olivia wrote: "This list is missing the Selection!!!! One of the greatest love stories of all time!"OH MY GOODNESS I ABSOLUTELY AGREE. I JUST RECENTLY READ THIS SERIES AGAIN AND IT REMINDED ME JUST HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT IT MADE ON MY READING EXPERIENCE. IT LAUNCHED MY LOVE OF READING. SUCH A GOOD SERIES. YES.
Red White and Royal Blue is New Adult.
all of you writing that acotar series needed to be added, it’s definitely more NA than YA.
Where is Eleanor and Park??? It's my number one YA romance novel
⭐️Abi⭐️ wrote: "Y’all are talking about how good the ‘ACOTAR’ series is but I’m over here laughing about how bad it is 💀"Yeah, I suffered through the first book and said no more... I HATED it.
I also agree that Eleanor and Park needs to be on the list. It was a good read and it is diverse.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi needs to be on this list !
ok this list is amazing but the selection, delirium and all the bright places deserves better
My favourite YA romance novels are TFIOS, All the bright places and Five feet apart.
Shadow and Bone? I know it's labeled as romance, but far from it lol
Olivia wrote: "This list is missing the Selection!!!! One of the greatest love stories of all time!"Yesssssssssssss!!
...Kingdom of Ash does have romance, but not enough to be in this list. Regardless, it shouldn't even be classed as YA. Neither should Red, White and Royal Blue :/
Brooke wrote: "Sea of Tranquility and On The Jelicoe Road are also fantastic life long favourites of mine"I loved Jellicoe Road! Though romance isn't really the core of the plot so maybe that's why it's not on here.
