Spring "CLEAN"-ing!

A few weeks ago, I talked about what constitutes "romance" books and how/why they are inherently different from porn. There was some interest in the Sweet/Clean romance aspect and questions came in about my personal preferences.

For me: LOVE THEM! Honestly. They are some of my favorite comfort rereads. They are books that I would gladly introduce my children to when/if they show interest in this genre. (As of now, one is into NF/historical war-fiction; the other is into superheroes.)

A lot of Sweet romance books center around high school MCs, so that aspect alone tends to turn many older readers away from the get go. If you don't want to read about 15-18 year olds discovering love in the most innocent way... fair. It's not for everyone! I kind of love it though. It reminds me of how it could be for so many couples at that age. Less of the sexualized glamour Hollywood gives us; more real in a way.

Want some of my favorites?

The Upside of Falling is truly a fun read. I think this was one of the first books I read when I decided to get back into reading in 2019. It has lines like It was like, if love couldn’t exist in reality, at least it was alive in fiction.

Swoon, right?

This fantasy series by Josephine Angelini is freaking incredible! It has world building like you've never seen without bogging the reader down in an info-dump. It's real world meets parallel universe(s). It's witches and healers and creatures that are truly terrifying. And it's also a love story. I've read this series four times I think.

Kelsie Stelting gives us not one but two series of high school girls trying to find comfort in their skin with her Curvy Girls and CG 2.0 series. The FMCs here are all plus-sized but they also deal with things like asthma, vitiligo, PCOS... they are relatable in their humor the way they judge themselves while hyping their girlfriends. It reminds me so much of what high school was like as someone not in with the popular kids. And each love story is sweet to the core.

Ballerinas and football players? Heck yeah! These clean romance stories pull at your heartstrings with their tough tales.

This series again focuses on high school students as they fall in love. There are now 6 books in this series, a fact I learned researching sweet romance books. So I'll be reading books 5 & 6 this weekend!

There are so many more, but these are ones I've read and remembered throughout the years. Some--like Upside--have stuck in my head and heart for almost 5 years now! And yes, a lot are sports romance books, but that can't be a big shocker. We all know that sub-genre has me in a chokehold.

Errr. Sorry. Clean romance.

That sub-genre has me "releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding." 😉