Top Ten Tuesday (34)

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I’d Recommend to People who LOVE Jennifer Echols

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!

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I just finished reading Jennifer Echols’ next book, SUCH A RUSH (AWESOME), so I’ve got her on the brain. When I saw that this week’s TTT was a chance to recommend books that fans of a certain author would love because they’re all so similar, Jennifer wedged herself in my brain. And so here we are. Ten books that I would recommend to people who can’t get enough of steamy, fun, dramatic, humorous, Southern contemporary romances. 

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler. This book is turning into my new Penderwicks, guys (which is JUST SILLY because there could only be one Penderwicks). I’ve been mentioning it a lot lately. But it completely fits the bill for fans of Jennifer Echols. It’s got the steamy, it’s got the drama, it’s got the older teens working through some life-altering experiences together. This book is a winner.

Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom. I just recommended both of these books on my blog yesterday, so I apologize for the overlap. Not intentional. But both of these books are so good, just in different ways. Where PLAYING HURT is a little more serious and heavy on the sexytimes, like Jennifer Echols’ dramas, DITCHED bears a little more resemblance to Jennifer Echols’ lighter-hearted comedies. It was SERIOUSLY fun and swoony and crazy.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. THE STEAM. I CAN’T EVEN DEAL. Also, THE DRAMA. This is the first in a series of contemps about three Hispanic brothers who fall for girls who are their MAJOR opposites. There’s gangs, sexytimes, jeopardy–all the good stuff is here.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. Guys, I’m going to warn you right now: get used to seeing this book name-dropped around these parts. It has all of the best aspects of Jennifer Echols’ books–and great contemps in general for that matter: a great relationship, big drama, a little bit of humor. A little bit different in that there really isn’t too much of the “will they, won’t they” here; Jase and Samantha are together for most of the book. But don’t let that dissuade you from reading it, even if you usually find yourself pining away for that tension. You won’t miss it. I SWEAR.

Awkward by Marni Bates. This book is a little bit HILARIOUS, and a little bit serious. I loved it for a lot of the reasons I love Jennifer Echols’ comedies. It’s got heart, humor, a really cute romance, and drama of the slightly crazy variety. AWKWARD is a great, fun, contemp.

*I interrupt this list to tell you that I CAN’T tell you how many times I’ve almost recommended a Jennifer Echols book on this list.  She’s so good that her own books recommend her OTHER books. Ahem. Moving on….*

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas. SIGH. This book is a little more serious and sad that Jennifer Echols’ books usually are. It’s about a girl who’s mother has just died from cancer, and she is trying to get her life back together. OF COURSE, she meets a boy who has his own problems, and they are swoony and perfect together, mostly because they have to work at it. LOVE.

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally. A lot of the girls in Jennifer Echols’ books are tough cookies. They know what they want, they have opinions, they’re smart even though they sometimes do stupid things. Jordan had a lot of those qualities to me, but perhaps not all at once, or in great quantity. She was tough and strong, for sure. But she was also naive, a characteristic that Jennifer Echols’ female leads almost NEVER seem to be. Still. Good stuff.

Moonglass/In Honor by Jessi Kirby. These books give the same tingly, cute, kind of broody/emo vibe of Jennifer Echols’ dramas. There’s deeper things going on: characters dealing with death, which is something that Leah and Grayson from SUCH A RUSH ar dealing with; finding important people while we are feeling our worst. Jessi Kirby’s books are so super.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. You know I couldn’t have this list WITHOUT some Dessen on it, right? Sarah Dessen’s books have the contemporary romance down to a science. A tingly, dramatic science that gives you FEELINGS. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if people found and read Sarah Dessen FIRST, and that led them to Jennifer Echols. Also, they’re mostly set in the south, like Jennifer Echols’ books are (THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER definitely is). HOLLA, Y’ALL!

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. So Jennifer Echols is one of my very favorite contemporary authors. Morgan Matson is, too. Amy & Roger are on a road trip that detours through Kentucky horse country. Jennifer Echols’ LOVE STORY–admittedly not my fave of hers, but still great–is partially SET in Kentucky horse country. I always think of those two parts of each of those books at the same time. But that’s not the only thing they share. They’re just legit, is all.