Books like 'Star-Crossed'
Readers who enjoyed Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance realistic lgbtq children wlw friendship retellings coming-of-age family
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Saving Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe kids and their favorite teacher from Because of Mr. Terupt and Mr. Terupt Falls Again return for a third book in the funny, warmhearted series for fans of Wonder. Seventh grade was going to be awesome. The only thing missing was Mr. Terupt.The kids from Mr. Terupt’s fifth- and sixth-grade classes are entering their first year of junior high school... -
Better Than Expected by Haley Cass
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHannah Dalton had a lot of expectations in her life. Growing up watching her mother struggle for everything they had, she resolved to make sure she did everything she could to make those hardships worthwhile. She would pursue the career she dreamed of, she would marry someone trustworthy and kind, and she would try to give her own daughter everything her mother gave her, only without the struggle... -
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsWith humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship. Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends... -
There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself... -
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Spindrift by Anna Burke
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan a hot summer fling mend the hearts of two broken women?Morgan Donovan had everything she ever wanted: a dream job as a large animal veterinarian, awesome friends, and a loving and supportive fiancée. But it all comes crashing down when her fiancée dumps her after realizing that Morgan’s job will always come first... -
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie, Maria Liatis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings#OwnVoices YA contemporary following Ophelia Rojas, a romantic chismosa with a penchant for gardening roses and crushing on every boy in sight, who begins to question her sexuality and sense of self when she starts to fall for a shy girl in the weeks leading up to their high school prom and graduation... -
You're Bacon Me Crazy by Suzanne Nelson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTessa loves working at the trendy food truck her aunt runs in their native San Francisco. Whipping up creative treats, serving yummy BLTs to her classmates after school… Tessa feels like she’s living the dream. Then the dream turns into a nightmare. Popular, arrogant Asher starts working at the truck! He can’t make a sandwich to save his life, and on top of it all, he’s frustratingly cute... -
Bittersweet by Deborah Bladon
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMy world exploded on my wedding day.A dark-haired, gorgeous stranger objected as I stood at the altar in my long, white gown.He told all of my friends, my family, and my fiancé that he was the man for me.I had no idea who he was, but he offered me an escape I was craving, so I left the church with him.He might have been a little drunk and horribly confused... -
Macarons at Midnight: A Wish Novel by Suzanne Nelson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Lise Santos stumbles into a bakery's midnight taste test, she meets a supercute boy. He's as sweet as the macarons they share, and Lise is totally smitten. She's pretty sure he is, too -- but they never get a chance to exchange names. Now Lise has to find him again... -
The Language of Seabirds by Will Taylor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA sweet, tender middle-grade story of two boys finding first love with each other over a seaside summer.Jeremy is not excited about the prospect of spending the summer with his dad and his uncle in a seaside cabin in Oregon. It's the first summer after his parents' divorce, and he hasn't exactly been seeking alone time with his dad. He doesn't have a choice, though, so he goes.. -
Save the Cupcake! by Lisa Papademetriou
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis delicious new series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Papademetriou is a real treat -- full of humor and heart and cupcakes!Confession: My life is soooo not sprinkles and sunshine . . . Hayley's world is far from perfect: her parents have divorced, her mom has lost her job, and she and her sister Chloe are stuck sharing a bedroom in their grandmother's apartment... -
Redwood and Ponytail by K.A. Holt
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTold in verse in two voices, with a chorus of fellow students, this is a story of two girls, opposites in many ways, who are drawn to each other; Kate appears to be a stereotypical cheerleader with a sleek ponytail and a perfectly polished persona, Tam is tall, athletic and frequently mistaken for a boy, but their deepening friendship inevitably changes and reveals them in ways they did not... -
Casting Call by J.A. Armstrong
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThree years passes quickly in the limelight. Writer Addison Blake, and her wife actress Emma Bronson, have weathered more than one storm together. The popular television show that the two helped create called OFF SCREEN continues to draw audiences, making the couple a hot commodity. But, something is missing for Emma... -
Shouting Match by Pandora Pine
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter the death of his father, Capone Lombardi was tasked not only with keeping his father’s legacy alive, but also to look after his mother and three younger brothers. Putting his own love life on the back-burner, he’s spent the last five years ensuring the family restaurant, Lombardi’s, thrives... -
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Intermission by J.A. Armstrong
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAddison Blake and Emma Bronson are headed away from the bright lights of Hollywood for the holidays. Emma is eager to take a step back and spend time with her family. The stress and demands of a television production have left Emma feeling fatigued and missing the quiet months she and Addison had spent after their daughter’s birth. Addison is battling her own demons... -
Little Harbour by Sophia Soames
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis is a story about life and death, because there was never anyone else for Jens. He had been with Sofie almost all his life, from the day they met at school when they were fifteen, until the day she took her final breath against his chest. She was always everything to him. As he was to her. He never doubted that. Not for a minute... -
Love on Location: A Sapphic Travel Romance Anthology by Margaux Fox, Johana Gavez
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSeven trips across the globe, and seven loves to last a lifetime. Got your ticket?Airport layovers and far-flung islands, sunny shores and breathtaking mountains—step out of your comfort zone, leave the world you know behind, and join seven of today’s top sapphic romance authors on adventures across the world... -
The Way Things Should Be by Carrie L. Carr
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this, the sixth novel in the Lex and Amanda series so many readers have come to love, Amanda begins to feel her own biological clock ticking while her sister prepares for the birth of her first child. Lex is busy with trying to keep her hands on some newly acquired land, as well trying to get along with a new member of her family... -
What Happened After... by Nicole Pyland
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDo you ever read a story, fall in love with the characters and wonder what happens to them after the book ends? Epilogues are nice, but they’re a snapshot in time. Maybe it’s a year after the end of the book or even just six months. Maybe there’s a proposal or a wedding. Maybe a character announces she’s pregnant. Maybe a character just got their dream job... -
Cold Girls by Maxine Rae
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEighteen-year-old Rory Quinn-Morelli doesn’t want to die; she wants refuge from reality for even a minute: the reality where she survived the car crash eight months ago, and her best friend, Liv, didn’t... -
Mother Load by K.G. MacGregor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn earthquake didn’t break them. Old demons only tested and deepened their commitment. Even a toddler couldn’t tear them apart. Now Anna and Lily Kaklis have decided on a new adventure: adding to their family. As usual, the timing couldn’t be better. Lily’s only involved in the most important case of her career, and Anna struggles every day to keep her auto empire intact... -
Small Packages by K.G. MacGregor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn Without Warning, they fell in love. In Aftershock, that love was tested and reaffirmed. Now Anna and Lily Kaklis face questions about family and future when a homeless woman is killed in San Francisco, leaving a three-year-old who happens to be Lily's nephew in foster care.Lily will not allow her birth mother to ruin another childhood, but ways to save the little one rapidly dwindle... -
Tremendous Things by Susin Nielsen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA funny and heartfelt story about learning how to rise above your most embarrassing moment while staying true to yourself--with the help of old friends, new friends, and some cheesy poetry.At the start of ninth grade, Wilbur Nuez-Knopf is hoping for a fresh start. But he just can't live down a deeply humiliating moment from two years ago that's followed him to high school... -
Kill Your Darlings by MesserMoon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKill Your Darlings: To remove or refrain from using something in spite of one's affection for itYears after Regulus loses his brother they're reunited, and as he struggles to figure out where he fits in Sirius's life he also struggles not to get lost in the impossible feelings he has for Sirius's best friend... -
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Times Squared by Julia DeVillers, Jennifer Roy
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIdentical twin sisters Payton and Emma Mills have “traded faces” and created “twin-dentical chaos” at school and at home. But you haven’t seen anything yet. Payton and Emma are off to “twin-vade” New York City! Payton’s drama club plans a field trip to see an off-Broadway show, and Emma’s mathletes team will compete in an elite competition... -
This Is Our Place by Vitor Martins
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree teens -- in three different decades -- navigate life, love, and family in Vitor Martins's heartfelt new novel that spans generations. Perfect for fans of Tales from the City and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.If the walls of Number 8 Sunflower Street could talk .. -
The Road to Amazing by Brent Hartinger, Josh Hurley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"I think gay guys like weddings more than anyone. And it's not because we want to destroy marriage, like some people say. It's because we really, really want to get married!"Russel Middlebrook is gettin' hitched! The wedding is taking place in a remote lodge on an island in Puget Sound... -
Everybody Bugs Out by Leslie Margolis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAnnabelle has tamed the wild boys and catty girls of middle school. Now it's time for her first school dance! A couple of Annabelle's friends already have dates and she would like one, too. Better yet, she finally has a crush on someone-Oliver. The problem? Claire also likes him, and she's called dibs... -
Tutus and Tinsel by Rhys Ford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsZig Reid-Harris has everything an eleven-year-old girl could ever want: a great home, two fantastic fathers named Deacon Reid and Lang Harris, and all the books she could possibly read. When a school assignment about holiday traditions unexpectedly broadsides her, she discovers burying the past isn’t as easy as it looks, and the stark reality of her life before her adoption sinks in... -
Afterglow by Phil Stamper
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter a summer of life-changing, these four friends are finally ready for senior year.Gabriel is thrilled to create his school's first LGBTQ+ advocacy group, but his long-distance relationship is fading from summer love to something else... Heath feels secure for the first time in years, but with his future riding on a baseball scholarship, each pitch triggers his anxiety.. -
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal by Anna Whateley
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAt sixteen, neurodivergent Peta Lyre is the success story of social training. That is, until she finds herself on a school ski trip - and falling in love with the new girl. Peta will need to decide which rules to keep, and which rules to break…'I'm Peta Lyre,' I mumble. Look people in the eye if you can, at least when you greet them. I try, but it's hard when she is smiling so big, and leaning in... -
Accidentally Fooled by Lisa Papademetriou
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeventh grader Amy Flowers is finally making her mark at ultra-exclusive Allington Academy, but there's always one thing standing in her way: the League. They rule the school, and their queen is oh-so-mean Fiona, who doesn't exactly appreciate a new girl invading her turf. This time, Amy's stuck working on a service project with Fiona and preppie know-it-all Preston... -
Four Truths and a Lie by Lauren Barnholdt
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEighth grader Scarlett is boy crazy -- and not just a little boy crazy. We're talking seriously, utterly, completely, 100-percent boy crazy! So much so that her mother, in an effort to curb Scarlett's enthusiasm, ships her off to a prestigious all-girls charter school. Scarlett thinks her life is absolutely over... -
Special Delivery by J.A. Armstrong
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsObstetrician Brooke Campbell helps families grow every day. She delights in the anticipation of her patients and finds satisfaction in watching new families be born, and families she's helped for years continue to grow. Still, something is missing in the doctor's life. Busy with her work, Brooke is determined to avoid romantic attachments... -
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The Blue-Haired Boy by Courtney C. Stevens
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSet before the events of Courtney C. Stevens's debut novel, Faking Normal, this digital short story focuses on Bodee Lennox, otherwise known as the Kool-Aid Kid.Bodee Lennox has secrets. About where he got the four-inch scar on his leg. About the bruises on his back. About what it's really like to live in the Lennox household. These are things he doesn't share with anyone . . -
Now I'll Tell You Everything by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt's Alice—for the rest of her life! Yes, the very last Alice book, and it reveals every last bit you'd want to know about Alice, including whether she spends the rest of her life with Patrick! "This is the book where Alice, every girl’s girl, turns into every lady’s lady" (VOYA).Alice McKinley is going to college! And everything, from her room to her classes to her friends, is about to change... -
The Truth Project by Dante Medema
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Cordelia Koenig was sure of many things going into her last year of high school. For one, she wasn’t going to stress over the senior project all her peers were dreading—she’d just use the same find-your-roots genealogy idea that her older sister used for hers... -
Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsScarlett's in trouble at school. Again. With black fingernails and dyed ketchup-red hair, she's not your average twelve-year-old Londoner. So her mum sick of trying to get her into "another" school ships Scarlett to her father's cottage in Ireland. Having to learn Gaelic in a one-room schoolhouse and enduring a new stepmum and younger stepsister is just too much... -
The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMom says karma always comes around to get you, and I guess it's true. Because last summer I was a total liar, and now, right in the middle of Mr. Pritchard's third-period math class, my whole world is about to come crashing down... -
Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat if you don't follow the rules and it radically alters the course of your life?What if you get kicked out of the house and lose all your friends and everyone you love? Will you turn the corner into a world filled with unusual friends and create a new kind of family... -
Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer, Karissa Vacker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"Heartbreaking, painfully romantic, and deeply human." --Stephanie Garber, #1 bestselling author of CaravalFrom bestselling authors to booksellers and librarians, early readers are obsessed with this debut YA romance pitched as Sarah Dessen meets Adam Silvera, told in alternate timelines and perfect for fans of messy, complicated relationships...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship realistic book contemporary fiction friends-to-lovers -
Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAll it takes is one missed step for your life to change forever.Luca Mason knows exactly who he is and what he In six months, he’s going to be accepted into the Australian Ballet School, leave his fancy private high school, and live his life as a star of the stage―at least that’s the plan until he falls down a flight of stairs and breaks his foot in a way he can never recover from... -
My Summer of Pink & Green by Lisa Greenwald
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAt the end of My Life in Pink & Green , Lucy Desberg had just won the grant that would save her family’s pharmacy—and turn it into a modern eco-spa. Now it’s summer, and the work has begun in earnest. Lucy figures that with the spa opening and her sister, Claudia, home, she’ll have a great summer... -
The Swift Boys & Me by Kody Keplinger
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNola Sutton has been best friends and neighbors with the Swift boys for practically her whole life. There’s the youngest, Kevin, who never stops talking; the oldest, Brian, who’s always kind and calm; and then there’s Canaan, the ringleader and Nola’s best-best friend. Nola can’t imagine her life without the Swift boys — they’ll always be like this, always be friends... -
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Whisper by Chrissie Perry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsI'm always trying to figure out what's really going on. Always having to fill in the gaps, but never getting all the details. It's like trying to do a jigsaw when I don't even know what the picture is, and I'm missing one of the vital middle pieces... -
Full English by Rachel Spangler
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsAfter a publicly humiliating divorce, best-selling author Emma Volant runs away to hide in the seaside English village of Amberwick, where she doesn’t know another living soul. She wants nothing more than to surrender to her broken heart in private... -
Something New by Lisa Papademetriou
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEveryone's heading for happily ever after . . . and leaving me behind! Hayley's life hasn't exactly been a piece of cake, and now there's even more change in an adorable new puppy, a possible new school, and a new baking challenge - a wedding cake for her grandmother's big day! Too bad the puppy isn't housebroken, the school is filled with ritzy girls, and Hayley's practice cakes keep collapsing... -
Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Hazel Clarke is no stranger to heartbreaks, and being sent to live with a father she’s never met is the latest in a string of them. Even the beauty of eastern Australia isn’t enough to take her mind off her mother and the life she had to leave behind in England... -
Crushing It by Erin Becker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the soccer field, Magic Mel is in her element. She's ready to lead her team to victory at the city championship in her new role as captain. Off the field, however, is a totally different story. Mel can't get a handle on her class presentation, her friend group has completely dissolved, and her ex-friend-current-teammate, Tory, is being the worst... -
Don't Let It Break Your Heart by Maggie Horne
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsYou only get one soulmate, and I'm not throwing mine away. Alana and Gray have been the perfect pair all through high school, and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure, their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever dynamic is stronger than ever...
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