The Romantic Comedy is Making a Comeback
With the Summer box office dominated by superheroes, Netflix has been helping me live my best life since the death of Nora Ephron and John Hughes. They have just been releasing adorable, addictive, and best of all diverse romantic comedies each month and I cannot get enough! It probably helps that my favorite genre of fiction is contemporary romance and that friends can sell me on a book or movie by telling me how swoon-worthy it is.
I like romances (whether they’re books or films) because they’re unabashed in their emotion. They don’t pretend like there’s anything more important than falling in love, and I don’t think they should. Making a human connection isn’t silly or trite; it’s important and special, and I appreciate a book or film that’s honest about that.
Romantic comedies notoriously get a bad-rap but sometimes I really treasure their ability to completely transport me out of my life for a little while. And while the YA bestseller list has fallen much more on the heavier side of topics, there isn’t a lack of lighter-hearted, funny, and romantic YA books in the last couple of years.
Yes, These Are Kissing Books
From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
Told through letters, aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra learns a lesson about love while directing a movie for the Midsummer Night arts festival, in which her longtime crush and his twin brother are also participating.
Airports, Exes, and Other Things I'm Over by Shani Petroff
After Sari caught her boyfriend Zev cheating on her, their romantic Florida vacation was ruined. She can't get back to NYC soon enough. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has different plans. Sari's stuck at the airport for hours. With Zev! Another stranded passenger suggests a connecting flight to Boston. Sari jumps at the chance-- and so does Zev. Can Sari survive being trapped with the guy who broke her heart?
Bookish Boyfriends: A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt
Merrilee Campbell, 16, thinks boys are better in books, chivalry is dead, and there'd be nothing more romantic than having just one guy woo her like the heroes in classic stories. She's about to get the chance to test these daydreams when she, her best friend, Eliza, and her younger sister, Rory, transfer into Reginald R. Hero High, where all their fantasies come true--often with surprising consequences.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Who wouldn't jump at the chance to spend her senior year at a boarding school in Paris? Anna Oliphant, that's who. Besides barely speaking French, Anna is perfectly happy at home in Atlanta, Georgia. But Anna's father insists, so Paris it is. And Anna does warm up to the city...especially after she meets gorgeous Etienne St. Clair, who seems to return her interest but already has a girlfriend.
It's Not Me, It's You by Stephanie Kate Strohm
High school senior Avery Dennis runs the prom committee, and she has always had a date for everything, but when a public breakup with her current boyfriend makes her start wondering about her own dating history, she sets out to investigate why her relationships never seem to work out--and ends up discovering some hard truths about herself and her dating choices.
P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
Every day in chemistry class, high school student and aspiring songwriter Lily Abbott is finding notes left to her by a mystery boy, love letters really, and she hopes they are from Lucas, a boy she is attracted to--so when she finds out they are really from, she is shocked and unsure about how to respond.
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