Guilty Secrets

I have a deep dark secret and I feel oddly shamed by it.

I love teen romances. There, I said it.

I've spent most my live mocking people who read these things. I've snorted at the sap-factor, and chortled at the cheese. Then I read one because a student insisted that it was good and I always read a book a student recommends. I liked it too. I never thought I would, but it was actually really good and sweet in a way that didn't rot my teeth.

These books offer more than watered-down regency romance. I think most of the mainstream romance market is either focused on sex or a heavy dose of cynicism. It's always the wounded heroine finds love in spite of her deep seated mistrust of love. Or, wounded bitter man needs the love of a sweeter more optimistic younger woman to remind him what is good in life. Or whatever... add a sex scene to a book and the plot diagram can get even more ridiculous.

I reject the idea that love is necessarily about sex and it doesn't need to be cynical at any age. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my fair share of tawdry romance novels but the stories don't end up being all that interesting really.

Teen romances are different. It's all about the characters with these. The relationships tend to be more focused on emotion and character development. Sex rarely enters into it, and if it does, it's a side note. In many ways, these books are the natural inheritors of the gothic romance. Ok yes, they are a little sappy and a little saccharine, but in a pleasant way.

Here's my top 6 +1 list for authors in this genre:

1. Nelson Jandy - Not the most prolific of authors, but I'll Give You the Sun made me ugly cry. That doesn't sound like much of an endorsement in hindsight, but honestly a good cry now and then is cleansing. The Sky is Everywhere  is her big romance and it's a messy gorgeous story about a teen recovering from the loss of her older sister and the complicated emotions that come out of that kind of grief. 
2. E. Lockhart - What I like about Lockhart is that her characters struggle with themselves. They aren't deeply wounded or deeply flawed. They are just very real feeling teenagers dealing with teenager stuff. There's something nice about that and the characters are appealing for the exact way they reflect an iconically normal teenage experience.
3. Sandhya Menon - Embrace the culture shock. I love Menon's books because she does an excellent job writing romances that involve Indian cultural expectations. I think most non Indians have a hard time wrapping their heads around the viability of arranged marriages. Menon writes these beautiful sweet books where her characters struggle with integrating Indian culture in Western culture. Her characters are vibrant and totally believable and,through her writing, I feel I'm closer to understanding.
4. Rainbow Rowell - Ok, this is a guilty pleasure. I haven't read anywhere near all the books she's written but I love how she writes about us geeks in love. I think I love them because I find myself in them. It's beautiful dorky love among the nerds.
5. Nic Stone -  A newish author, and not everything she writes has a romance angle. However, Stone earns a place on my list for Odd One Out which takes on romantic relationships in the increasingly non-binary world we live in. Both her books are excellent though.
6. Nicola Yoon - Her books make me cry. Every. Single. Damn. Time. So far she's written two: The Sun is Also a Star and Everything, Everything. The Sun is Also a Star might be the most emotionally devastating book that I've ever read. 

+1. John Green - Green doesn't really write romances. He writes anti-romances which isn't as negative as it sounds. Most of his books involve some character dealing with crush fall out in some direction. I've never read a book from him that I didn't love and I put him in this list because sometimes the romance doesn't work or simply fails to launch and that's a good story too.

For the purposes of this list I didn't include any genre authors and I admit to my neophyte status.