Love and Mary Ann by Catherine Cookson

Mary Ann is growing up - she's going on seventeen now, and in love with her childhood sweetheart Corny Boyle. But Mr. Lord (the old devil) entices him by dangling a carrot in front of him. And Corny tries to grab the carrot, deserting Mary Ann to go to America. The field is now open for Mr. Lord's grandson to court Mary Ann, and of course he proposes to her. Will she marry him? Will she ever see Corny again?


220 pages.

First Love by James Patterson

Posted for Paul Mathews

Sixteen-year-old Axi finds out a lot as she travels across country with the boy she loves. They enjoy and encounter many adventures. Very nice romance novel.

Audio:  5 hrs. 11 min.
Print:  560 pages                                                     

"Collide" by Riley Hart

Noah and Cooper were best friends from the time they collided trying to catch a football when they were both 10 until Noah and his family mysteriously disappeared when they were 13.  Seventeen years later, Noah has returned to the small Colorado town where Cooper still lives and works as a firefighter.  As they resume their relationship, secrets are revealed that test the boundaries of their friendship.  I enjoyed this story, its two main characters, and the way they dealt with the adversities in their lives.  332 pages.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Summary: "Budding costume designer Lola lives an extraordinary life in San Francisco with her two dads and beloved dog, dating a punk rocker, but when the Bell twins return to the house next door, Lola recalls both the friendship-ending fight with Calliope, a figure skater, and the childhood crush she had on cricket."

The sweetest surprise of this book is the reappearance of 2 favorite characters from Anna and the French Kiss! I love that Stephanie Perkins is connecting her lovely characters in a cute, easy fashion. It's nice to have familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting. This book moves even faster than Anna, but it's even more heartwarming in its tale of the triumph of first loves. It's so sweet and fluffy, it might give you a tooth-ache. 

338 pages