Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Hidden Gem Books in X Genre. My choice for the week is Ten Hidden Gem Books in the NA Genre.
This is kind of a tough topic. New adult books have become more popular recently, and what I consider a hidden gem might not be anymore. I’m going to do my best to pick books that I don’t believe are read enough. Or at least I’m not seeing them reviewed very often. (That could be because they’ve been out for a while, too.)
1. Sincerely, Carter by Whitney G.
Just friends.
We’re just friends.
No, really. She’s just my best friend…
Arizona Turner has been my best friend since fourth grade, even when we “hated” each other. We’ve been there for one another through first kisses, first “times,” and we’ve been each other’s constant when good relationships turned bad. (We even went to colleges that were minutes away from each other…)
Throughout the years, and despite what anyone says, we’ve never crossed the line.
Never thought about it.
Never wanted to.
Until one night changed everything.
At least, it should’ve …
Just friends.
We’re just friends.
I’m only saying this until I figure out if she’s still “just” my best friend…
2. Where I Belong by J. Daniels
When Mia Corelli returns to Alabama for a summer of fun with her childhood best friend, Tessa, there’s only one thing keeping her on edge. One person that she’d do anything to avoid.
Benjamin Kelly. World’s biggest dickhead.
Mia hates him with a fury and has no desire to ever see him again. When she decides to start her summer off with a bang and finally give away her v-card, she unknowingly hands it over to the one guy that excelled at making her life miserable, learning a valuable lesson in the process.
Always get the name of the guy you’re going home with.
Ben can’t get the girl he spent one night with out of his head. When she leaves him the next morning, he thinks he’ll never see her again. Until he sees her lounging by the pool with his sister.
Mia is determined to hate Ben, even though she can’t forget him.
Ben is determined to prove he’s not the same guy he used to be.
What happens when the one person you wish never existed becomes the one person you can’t imagine being without?
3. Sacked by Jen Frederick
What he wants he gets…
Knox Masters is a quarterback’s worst nightmare. Warrior. Champion. And…virgin. Knox knows what he wants–and he gets it. All American Football player? Check. NFL pros scouting him? Check. Now, he’s set his sight on two things. The national title. And Ellie Campbell. Sure, she’s the sister of his fellow teammate, but that’s not going to stop him. Especially not when he’s convinced Ellie is the one.
…but he’s never met her before.
But Ellie isn’t as sure. She’s trying to start a new life and she’s not interested in a relationship…with anyone. Beside it’s not just her cardinal rule of never dating her brother’s teammates that keeps her away, but Ellie has a dark secret that would jeopardize everything Knox is pursuing.
Knox has no intention of losing. Ellie has no intention of giving in.
4. Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roark
His father’s debt, a failing farm and a floundering track team. College coach Will Langstrom already has too many responsibilities, and the last thing he needs is Olivia, a beautiful new addition to his team with a bad attitude and a troubled past.
Abandoned and broken, Olivia trusts no one — especially not the cocky track coach the rest of the team adores. But when her past is revealed to Will, she discovers another side to him — one she could grow to love. Forced together by a secret no one else can know – and breaking university rules to do it – Will and Olivia’s connection deepens. As does an attraction that could cost them everything.
5. Burning Moon by Jo Watson
There’s a very fine line between blushing bride and mascara-streaked sobbing mess. #beenthere
Lilly Swanson has been planning her perfect life since she was twelve years old: Meet Mr. Right, have the big white wedding, buy a house in the burbs, and raise 2.5 picture-perfect kids. However, when her fiancé bails, leaving Lilly alone at the altar to face five hundred gossipy guests, her dream turns into a nightmare. But then Lilly makes an impulsive decision—she ditches the dress, grabs her passport, and heads off to Thailand to spend her honeymoon alone.
Or so she thinks . . .
Because Lilly quickly learns that everything in Thailand is very hot: the weather, the merchandise, and especially Damien—the sexy, spontaneous man she meets before her feet even hit the sand. Now with no plan, and nothing holding her back, Lilly lets Damien lead her on a wild, unpredictable ride to the world’s most exclusive party, Burning Moon. But after a week of letting go, indulging her every impulse and desire, Lilly must go back to the girl she used to be. Or can Damien convince her that their party doesn’t have to end?
6. When it Rains by Lisa De Jong
One night changed my life forever.
Beau Bennett has been my best friend since I can remember. He was my first crush before everything came crashing down, and now he wants more, but it’s more than I can give him. Things are different now. I wish I could tell him why, but I can’t.
I haven’t told anyone.
I never knew how much I really needed him until the day he left for college, and I was completely alone.
Then one day, Asher Hunt rides into town with his dark, captivating eyes and cocky grin. He doesn’t care who I used to be, he’s simply breathing life into what’s left. People warn me to stay away from him, but he helps me forget the pain that has held me hostage for so long; something I thought was impossible before he walked into my life.
I’ve been hurt.
I’ve been saved.
And I’ve found hope.
I thought my story was written that night, but now I know it was only a new beginning. Until one secret turns my world upside down…
Again.
7. Left Drowning by Jessica Park
What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?
Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.
8. Only for You by Beverly Kendall
College freshman Olivia Montgomery is thrilled at the chance to start over, escape the rumors that plagued her in high school. And she can finally put her juvenile crush, Zachary Pearson, where he belongs–in her past. Then her unrequited love strolls into her French class, shattering Olivia’s newfound peace, and the feelings she’d thought buried for good come rushing back. Now she can’t shake her unwanted attraction to the one guy who can twist her stomach into knots with just a smile…but has never given her the time of day.
Zach’s good looks may have always gotten him his pick of girls, but it’s the star quarterback’s skill on the football field that gives him his pick of the Big Ten colleges. To escape the crushing demands of his win-at-all-costs father, Zach opts for a private university in upstate New York where…his present and past collide. And the one girl he’s always wanted but can’t have–and a class trip to Paris–turn out to be the ultimate game changer that has him breaking every one of his rules.
9. The Hurricane by R.J. Prescott
Emily McCarthy is living in fear of a dark and dangerous past. A gifted mathematician, she is little more than a hollow, broken shell, trying desperately to make ends meet long enough to finish her degree.
Through an unlikely friendship with the aging, cantankerous owner of an old boxing gym, Em is thrown into the path of the most dangerous man that she has ever met.
Cormac “the Hurricane” O’Connell is cut, tattooed and dangerous. He is a lethal weapon with no safety, and everyone is waiting for the misfire. He’s never been knocked out before, but when he meets Em he falls, HARD. Unlike any other girl he’s ever met, she doesn’t want anything from him, but just being around her makes him want to be a better person.
They are polar opposites who were never meant to find each other, but some things are just worth the fight.
10. There is No Light in Darkness by Claire Contreras
A past hidden in darkness. Her present cloaked in secrets. The future holds the only truth that cannot be escaped.
After the mysterious and violent death of her parents, Blake Brennan finds comfort with an unconventional family. As the dramatic loss of her parents continues to haunt her—and hinders her from reciprocating love that others give freely—Blake embarks on a harrowing journey in search for the truth.
Living in a constant state of fear and need for control, vivid nightmares reveal details that lead to perilous situations. The past begins to collide with the present, and Blake must decide if the truth is worth losing the ones she loves.
Can love conquer all as her past comes to light? Or will Blake realize that there is no light in darkness?
Have you read any of these? Do you want to?