The Castle is mine
The heroine of Smith’s novel may be from the 1930s, but she still wants to be a Jane Austen heroine — timeless! The coming-of-age story includes plenty of romance and familial strife, all recounted in this fictional diary by said heroine, who learns how to speed-write in shorthand so she can keep up with penning her life’s twists and turns.
Target
Walmart
Interview with the Vampire
Perhaps it’s not quite right to describe Interview with the Vampire as a steamy romance novel, since it’s not exactly romantic or sexually explicit, but I would argue that vampiric bloodlust is inherently sexual — especially with Anne Rice’s vampires, and even more especially if it’s a hormonal teenager turning the pages.
Target
Walmart
Maison Ikkoku
Rumiko Takahashi’s 15-volume manga is a slice-of-life romantic comedy about a college guy who falls in love with the young widow who runs his boarding house. She doesn’t have a clue about his feelings, and he’s too shy to tell her. This series has many sitcom-worthy scenes and the painful, unrequited longings that so many teens know.
Amazon
RunawayS
Every V.C. Andrews book was included in my library of camp books, and I have the breakout hit. Attic FlowersHowever, RunawaysIt was also my favourite book back then. It’s preceded by four less impressive books about four teen girl orphans who became a found family for one another; RunawaysThe culmination of their story is this: it describes how they escaped from horrible foster parents, and what their lives were like on the run.
Amazon
Thongs, Angus, and Full-Frontal SnogginG
The “snogging” in the title baffled me as a young American reader, but once I learned it meant “kissing,” Louise Rennison’s series had my attention. You might also like The Castle is mine, it’s a fictional teen girl’s diary, but she’s a ’90s girl with Bridget Jones’ sense of humor. Tragically, I took years to learn this book was part of a series — the first one was the only one at my summer camp. Don’t sleep on reading the rest of heroine Georgia Nicolson’s confessions.
Target
Quartet entitled The Song of the Lioness
One of my favorite series (with one of the first books I ever read with actual sex in it), Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness books tell a story of a young girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can train to become a knight. Only a handful of trusted friends know her gender, but two boys fall in love with her.
Target
Walmart
Howl’s Moving CastlE
When Miyazaki’s animated adaptation for Howl’s Moving Castle came out in 2004, I didn’t see it right away, having been advised by my teen girl friends to read the book first. It’s less of a straightforward romantic story than the film, but that’s why it’s worth a look, especially for shy girls who can relate to Sophie’s reluctance in life (aka me when I first read this book).
Target
Walmart
Wicked
Source material is very different from its famed adaptation. Wicked doesn’t play out like the Broadway musical. There’s a lot more drama, more unresolved conflicts, and, uh, the Wicked Witch gets it on.
Target
Walmart
X-Men: Phoenix Endsong
The original Phoenix Saga from the 1970s is well worth a read, although its story isn’t even close to as hot as Phoenix Endsong. The following compilation focuses on the love triangle of Wolverine and Cyclops as well as Jean Grey and Emma Frost. Perhaps more important, there is some orgasmic imagery featuring Jean Grey igniting fire in Phoenix form and begging Wolverine for pleasure and/or killing her.
Amazon
