The Love Triangle

According to AI Overview, the love triangle trope in romance novels can be described as a romantic relationship involving three people, usually two vying for the affections of the third. It creates tension and explores themes of jealousy, rivalry and choice. The third person in the triangle may be indecisive, unrequitedly in love with one of the suitors or be drawn to both. Three new YA novels attempt to add a fresh spin on the love triangle trope in unique ways. Something Like Fate by Amy Lea has a psychic predicting a girl named Lo meeting her soul mate on a backpacking trip, but the prediction is complicated by her feelings for her best friend. Love Unmasked by Becky Dean introduces Evie Whitmore who goes to Venice with her art class. By day she is attracted to Gabe her project partner, but by night she disguises herself to meet up with Angelo on a quest to find the Elven Realms from her favorite book series. All Paths Lead to Paris by Sabrina Fedel has Aurie McGinley, a fashion influencer, managing two fake dating relationships. One is between Aurie and her best friend pop star Remy St. Julien and the other is between her and her math tutor. She struggles to decide which romance she wants to be real. 

In Something Like Fate, the psychic women in Lo Zhao-Jensen's family have for generations foreseen meeting their soul mate.  When Lo finally has her vision, she finds she'll meet him on her backpacking trip to Italy. After her trip companion breaks her foot, Lo's best friend Teller Owens takes her place.  He has just broken up with his long-term girlfriend, and Lo thinks he needs a distraction. When they get to Italy, Caleb, a fellow backpacker saves Lo from getting hit by a runaway trolley, and she knows he's fated to be her great love.  However, her complicated feelings for Teller make Lo question fate.

Love Unmasked finds Evie Whitmore in Venice with her art and architecture class. Venice is not only an inspiration for her art, it is also the setting for her hidden passion, a series of novels entitled Elven Realms. It has a fan club which meets at night, wearing costumes and reenacting scenes from the books.  Sneaking out at night, she meets Angelo, another fan in disguise, who accompanies her on a quest to find the Eleven Realms. Meanwhile, during the day, Evie is partnered with Gabriel Martinez for her class project.  Gabriel is a loner, and people-pleaser Evie can't help but try to win his friendship.  As she and Gabe explore the city, working on their project, she begins to wonder where her heart lies: with Angelo in the fantasy realms or with Gabe in real life. 

The love triangle trope in All Paths Lead to Paris involves fake-dating.  Seventeen-year-old Aurie McGinley is a fashion influencer in Paris.  Her best friend is a pop star, Remy St. Julien whose publicity agent thinks a fake relationship between Aurie and Remy will boost their popularity.  But when they stage a kiss for her online video diaries, she finds herself developing real feelings for Remy, which he seems to rebuff.  To ward off the demise of their friendship, Aurie begins fake-dating her math tutor Kylian and her double life becomes even more complicated.  As she and Kylian draw closer and Remy becomes jealous, Aurie struggles to decide which love she wants to be real. 

Whether it's psychic predictions, lovers in disguise or fake-dating, the love triangle spins in these three new YA romances are sure to be entertaining summer reads. 

Teen Rom/Coms

 Why do readers and filmgoers enjoy romantic comedies or Rom/Coms so much? According to movie web, pleasantries felt while enjoying Rom/Coms elicit dopamine and serotonin, aka "happy hormones." Different from a straight romance, the central romantic relationship in a Rom/Com creates comedic tension. In Jessica Q. Sutanto's Didn't See that Coming, an outspoken gamer girl, poses online as "DudeBro" to avoid harassment. When she transfers to a new school, she realizes her online best friend "Sourdawg" goes there and is either her crush or her nemesis who are both gamers.  Eric Smith's With or Without You pits two teens whose parents own rival cheesesteak trucks against each other, even though they are secretly in love. Mindy Kaling's book club pick this month, Amy Lea's Woke Up Like This, is an adult/YA crossover about two battling teens who are transported 13 years into the future where they are engaged to be married. Unaware of what happened in the last 13 years to change their feelings for each other, they struggle desperately to get back to their teenage years and high school prom.

In Didn't See that Coming, Kiki Siregar, who lives in South Jakarta, Indonesia, games under the name "DudeBro" to avoid being objectified by guys in the gaming universe. Worrying that Kiki is too liberal, her parents transfer her to a traditionally Chinese school, where she immediately draws negative attention when she stands up to a bully, Jonas Arifin, and is branded on TikTok as #Crazy Kiki. She confides in her online best friend "Sourdawg," but later finds out he goes to her new school.  She wonders if he is her sweet sensitive lab partner Liam, or Jonas, whose delusional attraction to her is making her life miserable.  She enlists the help of the Li'l Auntie's dating service to solve the mystery. Although serious subjects of gender bias and STEM related topics are explored, they are dealt with in humorous ways.  As Kiki struggles to stand up to aggressors and be true to herself, she also recognizes that she doesn't want to alienate her crush Liam. Readers will find Kiki's entertaining hijinks a fun romp that of course, leads to a happy ending. 

In With or Without You the legendary rivalry between cheesesteak trucks Plaza Steaks and Ortiz Steaks is fueled by high schoolers Jordan Plaza and Cindy Ortiz, whose escalating insults go viral. What spectating customers don't realize is the bickering is a marketing ploy.  Jordan and Cindy have been secretly in love for years.  Hoping to put the antics behind them when they graduate, they are conflicted when TV executives propose a reality show based on the rivalry. The two families are scheduled to compete in a "Truck Off!" food fair and as competition heats up, real grievances begin to arise.  Jordan wants to buy his own food truck and set off across the country with Cindy, whereas she would rather attend college to study the television industry The story is told in alternating perspectives with reality TV-style confessionals.  Will Cindy and Jordan find a way to make their relationship work, yet keep their families and TV executives happy, especially when their dreams are diverging?

Woke Up Like This introduces high school senior Charlotte Wu, who has despised golden boy J.T. Renner since he stood her up for Freshman Homecoming. Adding insult to injury, he runs against her for student council president and wins effortlessly, after she has devoted four years to student service and clearly deserves the job. During a prom decorating accident, Char falls off a ladder into Renner, and they slip through a wormhole to 2037 where they wake up in bed together a week before their wedding.  They now work at their former high school (She is a counselor, and he is a gym teacher.) and must keep up appearances as they try to figure out how to get back to 2024.  As they spend time together, trying to unravel the mysteries of the past, they learn more about each other. Char, who narrates the story, becomes desperate to get back to the past and make changes in decisions she made.  Their chemistry and witty bickering, as they evolve from enemies to lovers, make this a widely appealing rom/com.