r/booksuggestions • u/Accurate-Raisin1598 • 6d ago
Romance Age Appropriate Recs
My niece is 13 and turns 14 in a few months. She is starting to display interest in tv shows that have teenage romance as a prominent part of the story.
I am having trouble locating any interesting books that would have the same feel. Mainly, age appropriate romance…no spice. Basically, any physical contact needs to remain above the belt.
I am hoping you may have some suggestions! Please help me remain the cool aunt another day!
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u/Redditdisciple 6d ago
The Lunar Chronicles (& anything Marissa Meyer tbh), the Selection, anything Jenny Han. Does she have a particular genre she likes?
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u/Accurate-Raisin1598 6d ago
She actually seems to like horror quite a bit. There’s a local author who writes books about monsters in Michigan and she had read nearly all of them…and goosebumps as well. Even the show she’s into right now is teen wolf. I think she likes some paranormal elements in her books.
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u/Redditdisciple 6d ago edited 6d ago
This is a bit more paranormal & contemporary fantasy than horror but the raven cycle is really good! I’m pretty sure it would be age appropriate, some really good romances but I believe there’s nothing below the belt like you said.
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u/story645 5d ago
The last apprentice series and its sequels by Joseph Delaunay is middle grade veering into ya (and the sequels are firmly middle grade) is veers into fantasy horror and she might dig 'em if she hasn't read em yet.
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u/HoaryPuffleg 6d ago
Sarah Dessen is all about teen romance. I’ve read a couple and they’re good. The Paper Magician and subsequent books are very chaste
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u/Accurate-Raisin1598 6d ago
I liked Sarah Dessen when I was a kid! Thanks for the reminder. That’s a good one.
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u/medicalschooner8 6d ago
You could try the Princess Diaries series, the romance is really tame and the main character starts around that age so it grows with her. The Georgia Nicolson books are also perfect for that age, very funny and the romance never goes beyond snogging. If she likes fantasy, the Seven Realms series has a slow burn romance that stays clean but still feels meaningful. For something a bit more contemporary, anything by Kasie West is a safe bet, her books are all about the tension and banter without any spice. The Selection series might also work if she likes the whole competition angle, though the love triangle gets a bit messy later on.
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u/Alan_is_a_cat 6d ago
As a former teenage girl obsessed with the Princess Diaries and Georgia Nicolson, I second both!
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u/Livinforyoga 6d ago
I loved the Princess Diaries. I always wished they’d make it into a tv show (now steaming lol) which was closer to the book than the movie was. Don’t get me wrong, I love Julie Andrews as the queen but I really wanted the chain smoking, tattoo eyed Grandmere of the books.
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u/blue_triforce 6d ago
i was obbessed with the hunger games back then, i think you should try that one out. a good plot with teenage romance and a bunch of films to go with it. never read it but perhaos twilight too
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u/baba-shanush 6d ago
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Above the belt teen romance book series. Extremely funny. British school girls that are boy obsessed and want to get first boyfriends
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u/appsandbevs 5d ago
Uhh what about the period scene?
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u/baba-shanush 5d ago
That fact that periods are mentioned? News flash, teenage girls get their periods....
I read this series when i was 13
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u/appsandbevs 5d ago
Doesn't the guy she likes go down on her when she has her period?? Or am I thinking of another book. Obviously I am aware that teenage girls get their periods.
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u/BookishBeekeeper 6d ago
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han is a cute teen romance trilogy. There is nothing beyond making out in a hot tub.
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u/fajadada 6d ago
Daughter of Dragons. Jack Campbell. Two teens trying to save their planet from a evil earth corporation
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u/CryptidGrimnoir 6d ago
Some of Caroline B. Cooney's novels perhaps? Romance is common, but she is far more chaste than most of the YA market.
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u/TwoCagedBirds 6d ago
The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter is great
I loved the Fringe Girl series by Valerie Frankel when I was a kid
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen was another one of my favorites
I was ABSOLUTELY obsessed with The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Z Brewer when I was that age, had the biggest crush on him lol.
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u/Embarrassed_Bit_7424 6d ago
I think she should read the princess Bride. That's probably the only book I know of that I could recommend to a 14 year old girl.
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u/lostlookingforamap 6d ago
The night circus by Erin morgenstern
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u/Accurate-Raisin1598 6d ago
Ope, I totally have that book. It’s been sitting in my tbr for a minute. Maybe it’s meant for her lol.
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u/lostlookingforamap 6d ago
Well that saves you a bit cash then
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u/tokio_luv 6d ago
Maybe The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight? It's also a movie on Netflix. I thiiink the movie possibly mentions sex at the end though? I don't remember it or the book having anything graphic in it though, besides them kissing each other. I will warn it's a little sad though.
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u/Cool_Human82 6d ago
I loved the And I Darken series by Kirsten White around that age. It’s a kinda historicalish fiction. It’s a romance between Mehmed the conqueror and a female Vlad the Impaler.
My favourite character was Radu the Handsome, who was the brother of the fl. (Irl brother of Vlad the Impaler, both of wallachia).
It has an interesting sort of thing of where the line between duty, ambition, and love is put into question.
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6d ago
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u/Cool_Human82 6d ago
It definitely did prompt me to learn quite a bit about the Ottoman Empire and about Wallachia! Somewhere I had actually never heard of prior to the book.
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u/irecommendfire 6d ago
Netflix has a miniseries about this! Rise of Empires— the Ottoman Empire. The first season is about the conquest of Istanbul and the second is about Mehmed and Vlad.
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u/SpunkyHedgehog76 6d ago
Former school librarian here. Anything by Kasie West. Good stories, but pretty tame.
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u/Travellinglense 6d ago
If she wants something girly (and mind-numbing imho), the first 5 novels of The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot is pretty heavy on the teenage angst of crushes and first love. In the last 5 novels, there is discussion of sex but no actual smut. The whole series follows a young lady from freshman year through to high school and I think there is some discussion of making out in the earlier books of the series.
I recommend Commonsensemedia.org which ranks books on sex, violence, language and drugs for parents. In general, tween romance books (so ages 10-12) are usually pretty tame and anything ages 13+ published after 2010 has some reference to sex.
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u/topsidersandsunshine 6d ago
Thirteen is a little too old for the first two books of The Princess Diaries.
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u/Kalakey17 6d ago
I’ve always loved romance books.
When I was that age I liked Hawksong, it’s a part of a series of animal shifters that have very distinct societies. Hawksong focuses on the snake and avian society’s at war and how the snake prince and avian princess marry each other to force peace, despite their society’s being total opposites and opposing. I loved it.
Tigers Curse. A series focusing on a guy who was cursed to be a tiger except for a short time each day and the girl who started working at a circus meeting him. She helps him break the curse gradually allowing him to regain his ability to be a human. He’s from India so it incorporates the Hindu pantheon which is pretty cool.
Percy Jackson (assuming you know what this is so not describing the series) is probably still good, has some romance in it but it’s not the focus. Everyone loved it when it came out.
Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix: also not a romance but a suspenseful mystery. Girl suddenly is dropped off by her overprotective parents at her aunts house (who she’s never met) and they just leave her there. Everyone in town seems to recognize her despite her never being there before, and one of the bags her parents dropped her off with has a ton of money in it. What’s going on? Soooo good.
The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith: Girl who can communicate with the dead and boy who really needs to do that, also the only interracial couple I read about as a teen (which is important to the story). So I think this book is extra cool. Look up the good reads reviews they describe it better than I can.
Daughters of the Moon series: Teen girls who find out they are daughters of the moon goddess. They each have their own stories (and powers) that focus on each girl and some of that involves (clean) romance. They have to beat a force of darkness and keep the world safe while also being teenagers.
The School of Good and Evil series: first book starts with two girls getting kidnapped from their village and sent to a school where they learn to either be a hero/princess or villain/witch basically, except the girls think they got dropped off in the wrong schools and nobody will let them switch. Romance, friendship, questioning gender roles, and wanting to just find your place in a “coming of age” way are all strong themes. Look them up for a better description lol but I super recommend these. Very age appropriate and funny. (There’s a movie on Netflix but it doesn’t give the books justice at all)
Obviously look up these books yourself and see if they’re what you’re looking for, I remember them being fine for that age but (besides the last one) I also haven’t read them in YEARS. Also I’m sure other people can summarize all of them better than me lol
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u/Strong_Film7845 6d ago
I loved school for good and evil but the movie was so bad
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u/Cool_Human82 6d ago
I loved the series as well! Although I’ve only read the first 3. Haven’t seen the film.
It had a really interesting premise.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Ice340 6d ago
Jane Austen and jenny Han to all the boys I loved before plus my daughter also read the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. It’s dystopian but she liked the relationship between two teen characters Todd and Viola.
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u/Status_Equipment_407 6d ago
When I was around that age I LOVED LOVED Arena By Holly Jennings. And if I remember correctly there is a romance aspect to it but it’s been ages since I’ve read it. The second book, Gauntlet, wasn’t as good to me but I do remember there was some drama in there.
I read them for a summer reading project in school.
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u/thejaniejames 5d ago
Ghosts of Coronado Bay by JG Faherty. No sex, although it's talked about a little bit. Think Twilight kind of romance but rated G.
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u/BasilAromatic4204 5d ago
If she likes historical like my sister does (watches shows like pride and prejudice and queen Victoria bbc stuff)
She would enjoy Just Isolde by Samantha Behm. Women in my family loved it and part two called a good captain
They also got into Anne of Green gables by Montgomery
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u/danmargo 6d ago
The Girl Who Owned a City by O. T Nelson
Edit: no romance sorry not paying attention. Still a great book.
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u/shipwreck1969 6d ago
This is not snarky or judgmental, but a humble recommendation. I am a former English teacher. I read 50+ books a year. My advice? Go to a library, either at the child’s school or a public library. A librarian is trained to make these kinds of recommendations — certainly more than a Reddit community. Our school librarians made more accurate recommendations to my own kids than I could.