Kara McDowell

An American teen learns she may have accidentally married the King of England, only to end up stranded on a tropical island with him in this highly-anticipated sequel to The Prince & The Apocalypse. Freshman year is stressful enough without accidentally being married to the King of England. Of course, Wren Wheeler can’t tell her Northwestern classmates about that; after surviving a narrowly-averted apocalypse over the summer, everyone’s had enough excitement for one lifetime. Wren knows she needs to move on from Theo, but she can’t forget the look in his eyes when he left her on that island in Greece—and also, he took her dog. When an ill-fated attempt to rescue Comet the Apocalypse Dog turns into a chemistry-fueled reunion with Theo that’s caught by the paparazzi, Wren finds herself under the royal spotlight. Suddenly, she’s a problem for “the firm” to solve, and in order to be protected from the rabid press, she’ll have to fly back to London with Theo. Along for the ride are Naomi and Brooke, as well as Theo's siblings, including Henry, the brother he's spent his life being compared to. But because the universe can’t let these two maybe-newlyweds have one conversation in peace, their plane goes down over the Atlantic, crashing on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere. Stranded with no sign of rescue, the group will have to band together against poisonous animals, catastrophic injuries, a brotherly rivalry, and an ill-timed volcano if they’re going to make it out alive. And, scariest of all, Wren and Theo will have to face their feelings for one another and decide what they want their futures to look like—and if that future will be heartbreak, or happily ever after.

An American teen stranded in London is forced to team up with the British crown prince if she wants to make it back home before the end of the world in this delightfully rompy high-stakes rom-com. Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There's only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right. The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there's a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent who looks remarkably like the errant Prince Theo, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape a pack of tourists, the Prince scribbles down his number and offers her one favor in return. She doesn’t plan to take him up on it—until she gets to the airport and sees cancelled flights and chaos. A comet is approaching Earth, and the world is ending in eight days. Suddenly, that favor could be her only chance to get home to her family before the end of the world. Wren strikes a bargain with the runaway prince: if she’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini, he can charter her a private jet home in time to say goodbye. Traveling through Europe by boat, train, and accidentally stolen automobile, Wren finds herself drawn to the dryly sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable Theo. But the Prince has his own agenda, one that could derail both their plans. When life as they know it will be over in days, is it possible to find a happy ending?

Sophie Kinsella meets Sarah Dessen in the most hilarious, romantic book of the summer about a girl with social anxiety and the boy who refuses to let her hide herself away. Seventeen-year-old Gemma’s favorite kind of beach is an empty one. Social interactions are too much for her to handle. She always says the wrong thing—if she manages to say anything at all. She can’t even bring herself to speak to her longtime crush, Beau Booker, without losing sleep over her own awkwardness. During a solo outing to her favorite beach, Gemma realizes—to her horror—that the popular kids from school have shown up to throw a party. Before she can sneak away (and possibly puke behind her car) Gemma is pulled into the action and ends up talking to Beau, who asks her to pretend that they’re “close.” Gemma is too flustered and flattered to refuse, and mostly, she’s wondering why Beau is talking to her at all . . . right up until the moment when he falls off the boat, hits his head, and ends up in a coma. After rescuing Beau from the water, Gemma is mistaken for Beau’s girlfriend by his friends and family, including his mysterious older brother, Griff, who has returned to town after a year away. Gemma tries to correct the record, but her social anxiety (and a nosy reporter) gets in the way at every turn. Before she knows it, she’s in too deep to backtrack. And when Beau’s warm, boisterous family pulls Gemma into their orbit, she realizes how much she wants to keep them in her life. For the first time, Gemma has everything she’s ever wanted: friends, big family dinners, and Griff—a boy who she can be herself around. But how can she embrace her new dream life when everything is built on a lie?

Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love. The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins, who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what-ifs. What if she's destined to be a famous ceramicist but wastes her talent in drama club? What if there's a carbon monoxide leak in the ceramics studio and everyone drops dead? (Grim, but possible!)That's why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about?Just when it seems like Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in -- in the form of a slippery grocery store floor -- and Paige's life splits into two very different parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city . . . and the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz . . . until her anxiety threatens to ruin everything.However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny, she'll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety -- and learn that you don't have to be "perfect" to deserve true love.

Mommy blogs are great . . . unless the blog happens to belong to your mom. Twin sisters Claire & Poppy are accidental social media stars thanks to Mom going viral when they were babies. Now, as teens, they're expected to contribute by building their own brand. Attending a NY fashion week and receiving fan mail is a blast. Fending off internet trolls and would-be kidnappers? Not so much. Poppy embraces it. Claire hates it. Will anybody accept her as "just Claire"? And what should Claire do about Mom's old journals? The handwritten entries definitely don't sound like Mom's perfect blog persona. Worse, one of them divulges a secret that leaves Claire wondering what else in her life might be nothing but a sham . . .

De gemiddelde persoon neemt zo'n 35.000 beslissingen per dag. Dat zijn er ongeveer 34.999 te veel voor Paige Collins, die elke keer weer bang is dat ze de verkeerde keus maakt. Wat als het haar bestemming is om een beroemde kunstenaar te worden, maar ze haar talent verspilt en voor drama kiest? Wat als er een koolmonoxidelek is in het kunstlokaal, en iedereen dood neervalt? (Heftig, maar mogelijk!) Niet zo gek dus dat Paige als ze moet kiezen tussen twee lastminute opties voor haar kerstvakantie, verlamd raakt door de angst dat ze de verkeerde optie kiest. Moet ze met haar beste vriend (en stiekeme crush) Fitz meegaan naar het romantische vakantiehuisje van zijn familie in de bergen? Of moet ze met haar moeder meegaan naar New York, een stad waar Paige haar hele leven al over droomt? Op het moment dat Paige ongeveer ontploft van de keuzestress, grijpt het lot in. Paige glijdt uit op een gladde supermarktvloer en vanaf dat moment leidt ze twee paralelle levens. In het ene vertrekt ze naar New York, een stad waar ze verliefd op wordt... en waar ze valt voor de charmes van haar onverwachte stadsgids. Het andere leidt naar de bergen waar Paige eindelijk een kans lijkt te hebben bij Fitz... tot haar angsten alles dreigen te verpesten. Voordat Paige haar happy ending kan beleven moet ze haar angsten zien te accepteren én overwinnen. En ze zal moeten inzien dat je niet perfect hoeft te zijn om liefde te verdienen.

O singură alegere. Două ocazii să te îndrăgostești. O persoană normală ia 35 000 de decizii în fiecare zi. Asta înseamnă cu 34 999 prea multe pentru Paige Collins, care trăiește cu teama epuizantă că face alegerea greșită. Simplul fapt de a se hotărî la ce curs facultativ să meargă o aruncă într-un vârtej de nesfârșite îndoieli. De aceea, când Paige este pusă în fața a două decizii de ultim moment pentru vacanța de Crăciun, e paralizată de neputința de a alege. Să meargă cu Fritz, cel mai bun prieten și marea ei iubire, la cabana din munți a familiei lui? Sau să o însoțească pe mama ei la New York, un oraș plin de posibilități? Dar înainte ca Paige să aleagă o cale sau alta, va trebui să facă față adevărului despre lupta sa cu anxietatea – și să învețe că nu trebuie să fii „perfectă" ca să meriți dragostea adevărată. „Scris în stilul comediilor romantice, romanul Karei McDowell îi va încânta pe cei care adoră poveștile de dragoste și așteaptă cu sufletul la gură finalul fericit." - School Library Journal „O combinație încântătoare de poveste romantică de Crăciun și un portret realist al anxietății." - Kirkus Reviews Născută în munți și crescută în deșert, Kara McDowell și-a petrecut copilăria înotând, plimbându-se cu barca și născocind povești. Acum locuiește în Mesa, Arizona, unde își împarte timpul între scris, gătit și jocuri de societate cu soțul său și cei trei fii ai lor.