Yes, I read these

Five new adult-ish titles

Because everyone needs a little popcorn/potato chip lit once in a while. They might not be the healthiest alternative, but they're damn good in your mouth and on the way down. And sometimes, popcorn's just what you need.

Case in point: before I started reading the top bestsellers on Amazon, I had not read a book for an entire month. I blame work. Loaded with it. The first book I had read after a month was J. Lynn's Wait For You. Not something I'd usually pick up, but I had two good reasons: 1) I know that New Adult is a trend in publishing, especially self-publishing, right now, so I figure I should sample at least one book; and 2) I just really needed a fast-paced, easy, and potentially exciting read. Because even though my days and nights are filled with work, family, or Candy Crush, not being able to finish a book in that long is like not being able to buy crack for a crack addict.

It's nice when you can merge work and bingeing. So, last weekend, I wrote that I'd up the ante in my "research" by reading as much as I could of these bestsellers. This is my report (not review) and my takeaways after reading five books from the bestseller list.

Wait For You by J. Lynn

My summary: Something awful happened to Avery five years ago, so much so that she goes to a college a thousand miles away from home. As a result, she just wants to be left alone. But, of course, she meets a guy who will challenge all her well-laid plans for her peaceful, eventless future. Cameron, said guy, is extremely hot and uncommonly attracted to Avery. He wants to figure her out, get into her secrets, protect her. Then, Avery starts getting threatening emails and phone calls that remind her of what happened five years ago. Will she be able to deal with the past and move on, and will Cam be there to help her when he finds out what really happened?

Observations: Avery's in college; Cam's her classmate. They each rent a unit in one of the off-campus apartment buildings. (Prime opportunities there.) Each doesn't have to worry about money, but each has deep, dark secrets that they're afraid the other will find out. Or, they do want to tell each other, but aren't exactly sure how. There's a comparison of families, because Cam's family is the kind that Avery wishes her family were, though both of them live away from their families. And, of course, there's the steamy build-up to sex, and the actual sex, vanilla, but in different variations.

One thing I'll also say--this Cam's an unreal dude, because the title--Wait for You? My god, he does. To the point that I think is unrealistic for a hormonal twenty-something dude.

Falling Into You by Jasinda Wilder 

Amazon book description: I wasn't always in love with Colton Calloway; I was in love with his younger brother, Kyle, first. Kyle was my first one true love, my first in every way.Then, one stormy August night, he died, and the person I was died with him.

Colton didn't teach me how to live. He didn't heal the pain. He didn't make it okay. He taught me how to hurt, how to not be okay, and, eventually, how to let go.

Observations: Nell and Kyle both come from privileged families who are neighbors. As the description says, Kyle dies. Nell turns self-destructive, even two years later when she's studying college in New York, where Colton also is, eking out a living after renouncing family support. Colton has his own deep, dark secrets, too (see a trend here?), and has seen the end-point of the self-destructive route that Nell is taking. So, they set out to save each other. The sex? Steamier, in my opinion, than the four others I've read because, you know, they're already into hurting themselves, so what's a little hurt in the bedroom? 

However, I think the story adds a little more dimension to the usual tale towards the end because a new issue is introduced, and there's no clean, bow-tied ending. There's an acknowledgement that they still have their own damage to work through, though, of course, they end up together. At least, by the last page of this book.

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Amazon book description: Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

Observations: Again, deep, dark secrets that the girl, Nastya, wants to keep from everyone, even Josh, whom she finds compelling. Again, both are kinda-sorta privileged. Again, both don't have much in the way of parental supervision. Circumstances even lead to "platonic" cohabitation, though you can guess it doesn't stay platonic. 

This actually isn't in the Top 100 of Kindle bestsellers. In fact, I downloaded the book because it was number one in the Top-rated Kindle romance books list, which is interesting because the top-rated Kindle romance is a new adult title without as much sex as the others. Also, to be honest, this is the one I liked the best of all five. Writing's better than the others, characters are more interesting, the build-up (not to the sex, but to the relationship and the reveal) seems more realistic. And the sex isn't even as vivid as the others. Time is actually spent tackling how Nastya deals with all the pain of what happened to her. Finally, it's pretty sweet.

Just One Night, Part 1: The Stranger by Kyra Davis

Amazon book description: You should sleep with a stranger, her best friend whispers in her ear as they take to Vegas for one last pre-wedding fling. Despite her best intentions, when Kasie Fitzgerald enters the casino and sees him, a man whose tailored clothes belied a powerful, even dangerous, presence, she loses herself to the moment.

It was supposed to be just one night. But right as she's thinking she wants more, he shows up in her office with an agenda. As the billionaire CEO of a company that's engaged her PR firm, his demands just became her reality...and he desires so much more than just some attention in the boardroom.

Observations: This isn't new adult anymore. At least, I think it isn't. Of course, some stretch the description of New Adult to extend to Fifty Shades of Gray, so maybe it is. And this book is obviously patterned after the Fifty Shades phenomenon: cover, trilogy, billionaire guy, young woman discovering her own nascent sexuality. No BDSM yet, but maybe it's there in Parts 2 & 3, which I will not bother to read because I didn't care much for how this was written. Too many overused metaphors. Still, I totally get why all three in the series are in the Top 100 bestseller list.

Just For Now by Abbi Glines

Amazon description: Preston is one bad boy. And Amanda has harbored a crush on him for forever. When she finally makes her move on him, it does not end well. But still, she can’t resist him. Especially now that he seems to be pursuing her, too.

No one wants wants them to be together. Not Amanda’s brother and definitely not any of Preston’s buddies. They know way too much about Preston’s dark side. Even Preston realizes he’s not good enough for someone like her.

But Amanda believes there is more to Preston than his bad boy persona, and she is determined to unearth what he’s hiding behind his seductive blue eyes—secrets that could explain his actions. Secrets Amanda might not be able to forgive.

Observations: This is my first Abbi Glines of Vincent Boys fame. Girl is a college freshman, guy is a few years older in college. The guy is from the wrong side of the tracks, but is friends with girl's family. Again, guy has a deep, dark secret, but girl is obsessed with him. Eventually, they see each other's good sides, including the fact that they're both spectacularly hot. Also, the book opens with a seduction, and perhaps every time the guy and the girl are alone together, things get hot and heavy. Guy is over-protective that, if it were me, I would've knocked him down. But the girl apparently enjoys it so, whatever.  

Take-aways:

• Obviously, feminism doesn't sell.
• Usual elements: protagonists range from 18 to early 20s, both really attractive; the guy is usually a girl/woman/cougar magnet; the girl may know she's pretty, but not realize how beautiful/sexually attractive she is; absence of a parental figure for an extended period of time; either or both protagonists have heavy issues to deal with (sexual abuse, death, poverty in one instance); girl may or may not be a virgin at the start of the book, but she definitely won't be by the end; sex is not hinted at but is explicit; language is easily accessible; guys calling girls "Baby" is expected, but not required.
• The books obviously cater to both older teens and the adult market, and the authors that tend to do better are the ones with several books under their belt.

Did I like the books? Sure. Except one or two. Point is, I understand why they would sell. When I was thirteen, my classmates and I would pass around those Sweet Dreams books. And then, in less than a year, we graduated to Mills and Boon. The following year, the more daring of us--myself included--got our hands on Johanna Lindsay, Judith McNaught, Judith Krantz, Sidney Sheldon, etc. That's from the young adult point of view. 

Then of course, when I was a thirty-something mom with two kids, I sucked up (excuse the pun) the Twilight series and the Mortal Instruments trilogy. I "read down" because I never really read a lot of YA when I was a YA. So I made up for it when I was an adult. And I'm sure all the Twi-moms and the Mundie moms out there, if Twitter is anything to go by, get a thrill when the young 'uns get a bit frisky.  Now you can judge us/them all you want, but there it is. And it sells books.

That would be bookseller/publisher me talking. Reading advocate me would probably say, "It's great that these books get more people reading, so we should celebrate them. I still hope that readers explore other kinds of books, too, but in the end, even if I don't like a certain kind of book, I'm still glad that they have their readers." Former English teacher me would say, "My, why do kids and adults read more trash these days?"

Maybe that's why I'm a former English teacher.

So now we've established that I'm conflicted, I'm going to go get a bowl of ice cream and download that new adult novel written by the 17-year-old who got a million dollar book deal.