Two of my first reviews on here were Swoon
Reads and they were less than favorable.
So, I was hesitant when some new Swoon Reads came across our advanced
reader table at the store. However, I’m
a sucker for young adult romance and took them home to give them a chance.
If you don’t remember what the idea behind
Swoon Reads is, I’ll remind you.
Macmillan publishing created a website swoonreads.com where writers can
submit their original manuscripts. Then,
readers can browse the site, read from the submitted manuscripts, and rate
their favorites. Those submissions with
the highest ratings are chosen for publication.
The novels are usually between 200 and 300
pages, so they’re rather quick reads.
They’re understandably a bit cliché, but I was actually pretty surprised
by the more unique story lines this time around.
My first read was Kiss Cam by Kiara London. In
Kiss Cam, we meet Juniper, Jasper,
and Lenny, three teenagers who run a very popular vlog (video blog, for those
who don’t know). When their fans dare
Juniper and Jasper to kiss, and then go crazy over it, the crew decides to
start a kiss cam segment on their show.
They promise they won’t fall for one another, but as the novel develops,
one of them realizes that they’ve already broken the promise.
I don’t really understand vlogging, or
people being famous from YouTube. I was
probably too old when these sorts of things started getting popular, so the
novel was a little difficult for me to get into. I have no doubt that a teenager would find
the basis for this story very entertaining.
While the plot was unique, the overarching storyline was pretty basic as
far as romance novels go. Still, this is
a young adult romance, not a New York Times bestseller, so I had to remind
myself to cut it some slack. Overall,
the novel was a fun read that reminded me of when I was a teenager.
The second novel I read was No Holding Back by Kate
Evangelista. Same as the last time they
sent us Swoon Reads, this one was a romance between two young men. One thing that’s great about Swoon Reads is
the diversity. In this novel we have
Nathan and his best friend of over ten years, Preston. Preston is on track to be an Olympic swimmer
and Nathan is the support he’s needed all those years of training. The only problem is that Nathan has been
harboring romantic feelings for Preston and has finally decided that he can no
longer keep it a secret, even if it means losing Preston as a friend. While Preston waits to hear some important
news regarding his swimming career, Nathan whisks him away for a fun European vacation. However, Nathan’s plan to admit his feelings
for Preston goes awry and their friendship may be irreparably damaged.
As a former swimmer, I enjoyed the sports
twist on a romance novel. I liked both
Nathan and Preston as characters and, while the unrequited love plotline is
played out, I still found myself unabashedly rooting for the two of them. There were a few times that I found myself
frustrated by the slow moving plot line, but the author would manage to bring
my interest back to the characters and their developing romantic relationships.
As these are young adult romance novels, you’ll
find that the actual romance is pretty tame.
The books keep to a couple kisses and some heart fluttering, but they’re
entertaining for a couple hours. If
you’re the sort of person who enjoys giving a new author a chance and might
appreciate the idea behind Swoon Reads then I think you’d like these and other
Swoon Reads novels. If you’re a picky
reader who wants the best of the best and doesn’t patience for clichés or
predictable story lines then you might want to steer clear. I fall somewhere between the two, but I’ll
pretty much read anything once.
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