The 10 Best YA Romances of 2024
There’s no better way to close out the year than by taking a look back at the many excellent love stories that populated YA books this year. No matter the trope or genre, YA had some of the most heartwarming (and devastating) tales of love.
So make room on your shelves, and check out Swooon’s picks for the 10 best YA romances of 2024.
Love Requires Chocolate
Ravynn K. Stringfield
This bite-sized romance (clocking in at under 275 pages) whisks readers to the most romantic city of them all: Paris. Or at least that’s what study abroad drama student Whitney Curry once believed. Her first days in Paris are off to a rough start, especially with her grumpy tutor, who also happens to be a chocolatier, Thierry Magnon. But after Thierry rescues her from getting lost, the two begin to see new sides of one another. Stringfield has a talent for pulling the most out of such a quick-paced story. It’s a light-hearted story full of wide-eyed innocence that feels like those first crush butterflies times ten.
This Day Changes Everything
Edward Underhill
Nothing ever goes the way you think it will in a city like New York City. And that’s definitely true for Abby and Leo, the stars of Underhill’s sophomore YA novel. The Universe absolutely needs to be on Abby Akerman’s side, today of all days. She’s in New York with her marching band, and she’s finally ready to confess her feelings (and come out) to her best friend. Trans peer Leo couldn’t care less about the Universe and simply wants to make it out of this trip unscathed. When the pair are separated from their band on the subway, and Abby loses an important gift for her crush, the two resolve to traverse the city in order to find replacements. But perhaps this was the Universe’s love story all along. Readers will want to fall in love with New York City and this book all at the same time.
Canto Contigo
Jonny Garza Villa
Rafeal Álvarez was once on top of the world. He was the lead vocal of Mariachi Alma de la Frontera, his school’s mariachi band, snagged another win with his sumptuous voice, and even had a fast but pulse-pounding rendezvous with a cute boy. But all of that is gone now. Rafie and his family make a sudden move to San Antonio after the death of his abuelo, and he’s at the bottom of the list when it comes to earning a spot in Mariachi Todos Colores, this school’s mariachi band. And worse? Said cute boy from his secret entanglement’s name is Rey. As the lead vocalist of the Mariachi Todos Colores, he has no plans of stepping aside. So starts the rivalry between two powerhouse vocalists who find that their passion doesn’t have to be a barrier, but the start of a flame.
Twelfth Knight
Alexene Farol Follmuth
At this point, what can’t Alexene Farol Follmuth do? She’s the adult fantasy juggernaut behind the Atlas Six series under the pen name Olivie Blake and also writes YA romances sure to steal your heart. The Reese’s Book Club Summer YA Pick ’24 centers on Viola, who’s struggling with the constant sexist harassment she finds at tabletop games and carrying the weight of student body president and football star Jack Orson as his VP. In an effort to escape the growing chaos around her, Vi joins online MMORPG Twelfth Knight as a male character, only to discover that the person on the other side of her favorite digital avatar is Jack himself. In a digital world where they can be as brave as they want to, Vi and Jack unleash more than power wielding hits, but also their deepest vulnerabilities and desires. But can the beautiful bond they’ve formed online transfer to reality?
ASAP
Axie Oh
Axie Oh’s XOXO brought all the swoonworthy goodness of your favorite K-drama to the page, and its follow up ASAP continues to dial up the romance and drama. ASAP retintroduces Sori and Nathaniel, introduced in the first book as pop starlets desperate to keep their relationship under wraps at any cost. But now, Sori is questioning what a life in the limelight really means, especially when it cost her Nathaniel, the one person who truly felt like hers. When Nathaniel’s career is knocked off course by a damning scandal, Sori knows the pressures and invites him to hideaway in his apartment with her. In a private world made of just the two of them, Sori and Nathaniel remember the magic that blossoms when the two of them are allowed to fully be themselves, not the idols everyone expects them to be. But when a life changing opportunity comes knocking at Sori’s door, what will she choose? A chance at the future she’s always wanted? Or the boy who got away?
Otherworldly
F.T. Lukens
Oh, the pleasures of cozy fantasy! F.T Lukens honors the joy and warmth of the genre in Otherworldly. Ellery doesn’t exactly believe in the paranormal. Who cares if it’s been winter for five years in their region? Global warming exists! But when they’re trapped in an ally with Knox, who is being chased by demons, Ellery’s perspective on everything they’ve believed shifts. Knox, a familiar from the Other World, must make a deal with a human to secure his place in this world. And with Knox’s help, Ellery can finally get help for their family and farm that’s been suffering through the endless cold. A deal with not-quite-the-devil is all it takes to entangle the duo’s paths together, but maybe it was always meant to be this way.
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You
Ann Liang
If you enjoyed Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Ann Liang’s I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is right up your alley. Valedictorian Sadie Wen can’t let her peers see her perfect facade ever crack. That’s why she channels all of her pent up frustration into drafted emails to everyone who infuriates her, especially her co-captain Julius Gong. But when her emails are accidentally sent out, she’ll have to face the backlash of everyone finally knowing her true feelings. Julius is the one person whose feelings she should care about least, yet as her world unravels Sadie can’t help but notice that the one she hates most is the only person who grounds her.
Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
Maggie Horne
Alana and Gray aren’t together anymore now that Alana has come out as a lesbian, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t keep their friendship intact. And that includes Alana helping Gray fall in love with someone else. At the sight of Tal, a new student who Gray has fallen for, Alana knows that things will be different this time. Because for the first time in her life, she can’t help Gray. Because she likes Tal too. Horne’s painstakingly clear novel is a portrait of codependent friendships, social politics in small town high school, the constant hum of homophobia in the background Alana is too afraid to truly face. Who is Alana Lucas? Gray’s girl? Tal’s new girl? Horne allows her protagonist to define herself.
Your Blood My Bones
Kelly Andrew
In the year of romantasy, Kelly Andrew brings nightmares to life in this feverish and devastating offering. Wyatt Westlock would have once called Peter her best friend. After all, they spent almost every summer of their childhood years together at her father’s estate, until a fateful night revealed the sinister happenings on their farm. When her father dies and leaves Wyatt the old estate where she’d once spent her summers, her plan is simple—burn the place, and all of its heartbreaking memories, down. The last thing she expects is to find Peter imprisoned in the basement, a victim of her father’s dark magic and a necessary evil to keep a hungry creature in the woods at bay. Wyatt is trapped between following in her father’s footsteps or letting the world be consumed. But Peter isn’t the same person he once was as a boy. He’ll do anything to earn his freedom, even destroy the girl who has heart. Warning: You may not leave this one with your heart intact.
Immortal Dark
Tigest Girma
Among this year’s slate of vampiric offerings is Tigest Girma’s debut paranormal romance Immortal Dark. Following the sudden disappearance of her sister, Kidan would do anything to find her. When all clues point to Uxlay University, the vampire academy of which her family house resides, Kidan has no choice but to return to the one place she said she’d never go. She’ll have to earn her place at this cutthroat school, and sharing her home with Susenyos, the vampire bonded to her family line, doesn’t make it any easier. The answer Kidan is looking for sits at the crux of a vampiric world full of secrets, and the one person she knows she shouldn’t trust, is the only one she can rely on, even when she knows she can’t trust him. Girma builds a tantalizing world that you’ll want to stay in forever—at least if you can survive it.
