Can we talk about the NA genre?

EliStar · July 2014

Without bashing indie authors. That's a debate for another day

I feel like this might be a genre that a lot of us read but don't really talk about because it's "guilty pleasure reading."

There are a TON of NA books out right now. Most are indie, right? I think a lot of them are either romantic suspense or borderline erotica. I've read some, and TBH, only a few have been decently written. And I also think there are a lot of NA books out that are hanging out with other books that aren't NA.

I want to read a GOOD NA book. Don't care if it's indie or not. It can totally be guilty pleasure reading. There's nothing wrong with that.

So hit me - what books have you read in this genre, and which ones are worth reading? I'll post the books I've read below.

sfgiantsjo · July 2014

I'm not even sure I know what NA is. Is it just another way of saying Chick-lit? Or does it refer to the age range of the MC? Or is it the whole "becoming an adult" thing?What qualifies a book as NA?

EliStar · July 2014

sfgiantsjo said:

I'm not even sure I know what NA is. Is it just another way of saying Chick-lit? Or does it refer to the age range of the MC? Or is it the whole "becoming an adult" thing?What qualifies a book as NA?

NA is like older YA, really.

It's for protagonists in the 18-25 age bracket. It deals with becoming an adult, developing sexuality, leaving home for college, etc...

sfgiantsjo · July 2014

EliStar said:

sfgiantsjo said:

I'm not even sure I know what NA is. Is it just another way of saying Chick-lit? Or does it refer to the age range of the MC? Or is it the whole "becoming an adult" thing?What qualifies a book as NA?

NA is like older YA, really.

It's for protagonists in the 18-25 age bracket. It deals with becoming an adult, developing sexuality, leaving home for college, etc...

Got it - now I should go see if I read any of it. Hahahahaha.

EliStar · July 2014

So here are books I've read that fall in this genre. Not that many and what stands out to me is that the books by traditionally published authors were much more organized and had better writing. Also the two traditionally published books on here are firmly New Adult, while the others are more sub-genres.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day

The Artists Trilogy by Karina Halle

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Catch Me by Claire Contreras

SnShne322 · July 2014

Thanks for the suggestions, Eli!

I've read a few that you mentioned, plus Easy and I just finished Wait for You. I really enjoyed Easy and Wait for You was worth reading, but not fantastic.

I'm not sure this is going to come out the right way. I'd really like to read a (good) NA that doesn't involve some sort of huge trauma that happens to the MC. They both revolved around a backgound of sexual assault. I've enjoyed the characters in these two books, but I find it a bit hard to read about it in the context of these books. I feel like a total asshole saying it, but I would love a lighter read in the NA genre.

nocturnalintimacy · July 2014

Almost all of the New Adult that I've read are borderline Erotica.
I'm going to go look through my GR, and I'll give you a list of recommendations, as it seems NA is all I've been able to focus on lately.

cnthrdlywt2bwZ · July 2014

Flat Out Love was a cute read.

Definitely NA. I wasn't horrified by bad writing.

sfgiantsjo · July 2014

Well, I've read Fangirl, so yahoo! I enjoyed that one, for sure. I haven't read much of the quasi-erotica stuff. I know not all of it is like 50SoG, but 50SoG turned me off of that sort of thing for a while.

nocturnalintimacy · July 2014

What seems to be the trend for New Adult is damaged characters. I don't know why. Maybe 18-24 is the age for melodrama? Anyway, most of these have pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your thing, I probably wouldn't recommend any of them.

Ten Tiny Breaths, K. A. Tucker
Trust in Me, J. Lynn
Easy, Tammara Webber
Beautiful Addictions, Season Vining
Isn't She Lovely, Lauren Layne
Finding Dandelion, Lex Martin
Foreplay, Sophie Jordan
The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
There is no Light in Darkness & Catch me by Claire Contreras

These may be Contemporary Romance, I'm not sure:
Tangled, Emma Chase
Wallbanger, Alice Clayton
Tragic, JA Huss
Selling Scarlett, Ella James

nocturnalintimacy · July 2014

SnShne322 said:

Thanks for the suggestions, Eli!

I've read a few that you mentioned, plus Easy and I just finished Wait for You. I really enjoyed Easy and Wait for You was worth reading, but not fantastic.

I'm not sure this is going to come out the right way. I'd really like to read a (good) NA that doesn't involve some sort of huge trauma that happens to the MC. They both revolved around a backgound of sexual assault. I've enjoyed the characters in these two books, but I find it a bit hard to read about it in the context of these books. I feel like a total asshole saying it, but I would love a lighter read in the NA genre.

These are assault-free. I think it's hilarious that we have to qualify this. I didn't LOVE them, but I think I gave them all 3 stars.

Finding Dandelion
Losing It, Cora Carmack
Make it Count, Megan Erickson
Give Me Love, Kate McCarthy
Forever & Always, Jasinda Wilder
Frigid, J. Lynn

And yes, any Indie book that I've read (including those listed above) has grammatical errors and writing that needs an editor. Indie books make me want to change professions. I want to correct ALL THE THINGS

EliStar · July 2014

nocturnalintimacy said:

What seems to be the trend for New Adult is damaged characters. I don't know why. Maybe 18-24 is the age for melodrama? Anyway, most of these have pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your thing, I probably wouldn't recommend any of them.

Ten Tiny Breaths, K. A. Tucker
Trust in Me, J. Lynn
Easy, Tammara Webber
Beautiful Addictions, Season Vining
Isn't She Lovely, Lauren Layne
Finding Dandelion, Lex Martin
Foreplay, Sophie Jordan
The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
There is no Light in Darkness & Catch me by Claire Contreras

These may be Contemporary Romance, I'm not sure:
Tangled, Emma Chase
Wallbanger, Alice Clayton
Tragic, JA Huss
Selling Scarlett, Ella James

Ahhh! Love seeing this on your list. She's a really good friend of mine

Anyway, explicit sex scenes are one of my favorite things. So, awesome. haha

EliStar · July 2014

SnShne322 said:

Thanks for the suggestions, Eli!

I've read a few that you mentioned, plus Easy and I just finished Wait for You. I really enjoyed Easy and Wait for You was worth reading, but not fantastic.

I'm not sure this is going to come out the right way. I'd really like to read a (good) NA that doesn't involve some sort of huge trauma that happens to the MC. They both revolved around a backgound of sexual assault. I've enjoyed the characters in these two books, but I find it a bit hard to read about it in the context of these books. I feel like a total asshole saying it, but I would love a lighter read in the NA genre.

I agree. And I feel like there needs to be more traditionally published books in this genre, like STAT.

Books that get editing and come out nice and polished. Not saying there is anything wrong with indie, but the difference is always noticeable to me.

EliStar · July 2014

sfgiantsjo said:

Well, I've read Fangirl, so yahoo! I enjoyed that one, for sure. I haven't read much of the quasi-erotica stuff. I know not all of it is like 50SoG, but 50SoG turned me off of that sort of thing for a while.

So many authors are trying to be the next E.L. James. I don't want to read those books either.

Unless they're really awesome and well written and not plagiarism. In that case, bring em on.

84Lauren · July 2014

EliStar said:

nocturnalintimacy said:

What seems to be the trend for New Adult is damaged characters. I don't know why. Maybe 18-24 is the age for melodrama? Anyway, most of these have pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your thing, I probably wouldn't recommend any of them.

Ten Tiny Breaths, K. A. Tucker
Trust in Me, J. Lynn
Easy, Tammara Webber
Beautiful Addictions, Season Vining
Isn't She Lovely, Lauren Layne
Finding Dandelion, Lex Martin
Foreplay, Sophie Jordan
The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
There is no Light in Darkness & Catch me by Claire Contreras

These may be Contemporary Romance, I'm not sure:
Tangled, Emma Chase
Wallbanger, Alice Clayton
Tragic, JA Huss
Selling Scarlett, Ella James

Ahhh! Love seeing this on your list. She's a really good friend of mine

Anyway, explicit sex scenes are one of my favorite things. So, awesome. haha

Dead.

BabyRN2006 · July 2014

I tend to read a lot of NA lately. A lot of them are guilty pleasures

A few that I have enjoyed:
Easy by Tammara Webber
There Is No Light In Darkness by Claire Contreras
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
Falling Into You by Jassinda Wilder
Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
Wait For You by J. Lynn
The Edge Of Never by J A Redmerski
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen
Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Young_Love · July 2014

I have to recommend More Than Music by Elizabeth Briggs. Liz is my CP and good friend, but I would love this book no matter what. It is actually a FUN NA with no damaged/broken characters. It has a great plot and there's sexytimes, but not in a gratuitous 50SOG way at all.

Another fun NA I read recently was Make It Count by Megan Erickson. The writing in the first 2 chapters was a little clunky, but after that it smoothed out and it was a fun ride. Again, no Tragic Pasts. Plus it had a nerdy guy and a girl with a learning disability, which I thought was really awesome. (The next book in the series features a girl with a physical disability. I think this is so great!)

j*&p* · July 2014

I just started Rule by Jay Crownover last night. This is my first experience with NA and it came highly recommended by some writer friends of mine who are obsessed with the genre right now.

I'm just going to say this: I don't get why tattoos and bad boys are supposed to be so sexy. *Shrug* Maybe just not my thing. However, I think it might be a fun read and I think it's dark past-free.

I've also heard really good things about Sophie Jordan's Foreplay (this was the most stolen prize at my RWA Christmas gift exchange this year) and Losing It by Cora Carmack. I recently listened to a recording of a conference panel with Cora and she said she wanted to read a book that was not all heavy issues and baggage from the past because that didn't reflect her own college experience at all. So she wrote Losing It which is more like a romantic comedy.

Edited to add:

I guess this not my first time reading NA if you count Fangirl, but that doesn't seem to be in keeping with the vibe of most of the other books coming out in the genre.

SnShne322 · July 2014

There is just simply not enough time to read books. I want to read them all!

sfgiantsjo · July 2014

84Lauren said: EliStar said: nocturnalintimacy said: What seems to be the trend for New Adult is damaged characters. I don't know why. Maybe 18-24 is the age for melodrama? Anyway, most of these have pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your thing, I probably wouldn't recommend any of them.

Ten Tiny Breaths, K. A. Tucker
Trust in Me, J. Lynn
Easy, Tammara Webber
Beautiful Addictions, Season Vining
Isn't She Lovely, Lauren Layne
Finding Dandelion, Lex Martin
Foreplay, Sophie Jordan
The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
There is no Light in Darkness & Catch me by Claire Contreras

These may be Contemporary Romance, I'm not sure:
Tangled, Emma Chase
Wallbanger, Alice Clayton
Tragic, JA Huss
Selling Scarlett, Ella James

Ahhh! Love seeing this on your list. She's a really good friend of mine

Anyway, explicit sex scenes are one of my favorite things. So, awesome. haha Dead.
I did not know this! I started There Is No Light in Darkness once before and couldn't get into it. Often times, that is just because of my mood at the time, and is no fault of the book. The fact that you are friends will give me more incentive to make sure I pick it up again sooner rather than later.

EliStar · July 2014

sfgiantsjo said:

84Lauren said:

EliStar said:

nocturnalintimacy said:

What seems to be the trend for New Adult is damaged characters. I don't know why. Maybe 18-24 is the age for melodrama? Anyway, most of these have pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that's not your thing, I probably wouldn't recommend any of them.

Ten Tiny Breaths, K. A. Tucker
Trust in Me, J. Lynn
Easy, Tammara Webber
Beautiful Addictions, Season Vining
Isn't She Lovely, Lauren Layne
Finding Dandelion, Lex Martin
Foreplay, Sophie Jordan
The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
There is no Light in Darkness & Catch me by Claire Contreras

These may be Contemporary Romance, I'm not sure:
Tangled, Emma Chase
Wallbanger, Alice Clayton
Tragic, JA Huss
Selling Scarlett, Ella James

Ahhh! Love seeing this on your list. She's a really good friend of mine

Anyway, explicit sex scenes are one of my favorite things. So, awesome. haha

Dead.

I did not know this! I started There Is No Light in Darkness once before and couldn't get into it. Often times, that is just because of my mood at the time, and is no fault of the book. The fact that you are friends will give me more incentive to make sure I pick it up again sooner rather than later. You really should! It's a quick, fun read. Cole is sexy.

I've read all her other books, too. I actually think I liked Catch Me more than the TINLD series. Right now I'm harassing her to let me read what she's got of her newest book, lol.

Leeba25 · July 2014

Oooh, I just finished one that I absolutely loved. Unteachable by Leah Raeder. Flawed but likeable characters, check. Amazing sex scenes, double check. Beautiful writing, yes.

I love all these other recs, too - I'm definitely going to check out stuff by Claire Contreras because her name keeps coming up in this thread.

pinkybooklover09 · July 2014

I've read a lot of the books mentioned in this thread and I have to say I'm really disappointed in how the NA genre has turned out. I feel like most of the books are just damaged dudes with tattoos or lip rings or emo bangs meeting damaged (but still sexually innocent of course) Bella Swan-like characters and the entire plot is just epiphany through orgasm.

I have to second Y_L's rec of More Than Music. It is such an enjoyable read and very sexy at the same time. The male lead is SO HOT! #priorities

julie37619 · July 2014

I've only read Beautiful Disaster (a total disaster), Hopeless/Losing Hope, and Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker. I liked them all, especially Hopeless, but I kind of got burned out on all of the super damaged characters really fast. I'm going to try @Young_Love's recs for more something more lighthearted.

SRodi811 · July 2014

I've loved K.A. Tucker's books: Ten Tiny Breaths, One Tiny Lie, Four Seconds to Lose, Five Ways to Fall.

Also, I enjoy Colleen Hoover (I just read Maybe, Someday), Jaimie McGuire, and Cora Carmack

BabyRN2006 · July 2014

Just picked up More Than Music, Make It Count, and Unteachable for my kindle. Less than $9 for all three total!

Leeba25 · August 2014

BabyRN2006 said:

Just picked up More Than Music, Make It Count, and Unteachable for my kindle. Less than $9 for all three total!

Start a post when you've finished Unteachable! I'd love to discuss it. I'm going to pick up some too. Love this thread!

BabyRN2006 · August 2014

Leeba25 said:

BabyRN2006 said:

Just picked up More Than Music, Make It Count, and Unteachable for my kindle. Less than $9 for all three total!

Start a post when you've finished Unteachable! I'd love to discuss it. I'm going to pick up some too. Love this thread!

I will! It will be a little bit, I have a few books out from the library to work on first.

CeeCeeSugaPie · August 2014

I love this genre, even though I have encountered some that are not written well. Some of my faves are below.

Thoughtless series
The Sea of Tranquility
Flat-out Love
Rule
All of Abbi Glines' books
The Seven Deadly series
Archer's Voice

Skeezon · August 2014

Since this is my genre, I feel the need to chime in. I had never even heard of NA until my editor told me that my manuscript was NA. It is a genre that is saturated with indie books. Some are good, some are not so good. From what I understand, St. Martin's Press basically created the genre by having a contest asking for college-age romance stories and coining the phrase "New Adult." But then they didn't publish NA for a while. My editor said that my book was the first NA St. Martin's published. So, maybe they recognized the need for this genre, but were hesitant to dive into it?

I started reading a ton of NA just to acquaint myself with the genre. I began with the more popular ones and read everything I could get my hands on. Frankly, I didn't get the appeal of a lot of them. Maybe, it's my personal taste? I barely read romance before I started writing it. I read Anne Rice, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Dan Brown. I think maybe I'm just not a fan of any story without a little danger or mystery?

That being said, there are some great NA books out there and I'm discovering more NA authors every day. Our twenties are such an amazing, challenging time in our lives and I think there are some fantastic stories lurking in there. If the genre continues to branch out and begins to include a wider range of people from all walks of life, I think it'll stick around.

On the flip side of that, in the most simplistic terms, a large percentage of contemporary romance readers want to read about tattooed, bad boy, overprotective alpha males. (i.e., typical New Adult heroes)

denmanam · August 2014

Most of what I read in July would probably be classified as NA. Some of the ones I've loved have already been suggested.

Dearest Clementine and Finding Dandelion by Lex Martin. I loved these!
The Real Thing by Cassie Mae. No traumatic past, but the MC is kind of annoying with her technology addiction.
The Only Exception and The Only One by Magan Vernon
Make it Count by Megan Erickson. Like mentioned before, this is a great book with a hot, nerdy guy. I loved this book! The author's next one comes out in September.

Can we talk about the NA genre?

Re: Can we talk about the NA genre?

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