Rebecca Barrow

Familiar tropes, unique twists, all the feels. Grab a snack, some tissues, and try not to fall in love with this playful anthology that explores or reimagines a well-known trope about love from some of the most talented and captivating voices in the YA space today. Each trope acts as a prompt and inspiration for a different story, as well as serves as the main thread throughout the collection, while also allowing each author to put their own spin on these classic favorites that are sure to steal your heart including:* "Enemies-to-Lovers": Two boys from rival schools are forced to share a room the night before their championship baseball game. What begins as their mutual nightmare just might just turn to something more between the two of them.* "Fake Dating": Every year, Rachel's siblings and cousins bring dates to the family Hanukkah party, but Rachel always flies solo. Tired of everyone asking when she's going to meet a nice Jewish boy (or girl), she asks Matthew Klein to be her fake date. The only problem? He may have accepted her invitation only because he has a crush on her sister.* "Kissing Under the Influence": Two interns in the Department for Unexplained Phenomena are assigned to investigate a city that seems to have disappeared. Antics (including a mistaken ensorcellment and an unexpected declaration of love) ensue.

This tender story of friendship, music, and ferocious love asks: what will you fight for, if not yourself? You Don’t Know Me But I Know You author Rebecca Barrow’s next book is perfect for fans of Katie Cotugno and Emery Lord.Who cares that the prize for the Sun City Originals contest is fifteen grand? Not Dia, that’s for sure. Because Dia knows that without a band, she hasn’t got a shot at winning. Because ever since Hanna’s drinking took over her life, Dia and Jules haven’t been in it. And because ever since Hanna left—well, there hasn’t been a band. It used to be the three of them, Dia, Jules, and Hanna, messing around and making music and planning for the future. But that was then, and this is now—and now means a baby, a failed relationship, a stint in rehab, all kinds of off beats that have interrupted the rhythm of their friendship. But like the lyrics of a song you used to play on repeat, there’s no forgetting a best friend. And for Dia, Jules, and Hanna, this impossible challenge—to ignore the past, in order to jump start the future—will only become possible if they finally make peace with the girls they once were, and the girls they are finally letting themselves be.

Rebecca Barrow's bright, honest debut novel about chance, choice, and unconditional love is a heartfelt testament to creating the future you truly want, one puzzle piece at a time. There's a box in the back of Audrey's closet that she rarely thinks about. Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she's never met, handed to her by the woman she's called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey's life-the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is. But when Audrey realizes that she's pregnant, she feels something-a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart-crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves. Almost two decades ago, a girl in Audrey's situation made a choice, one that started Audrey's entire story. Now Audrey is paralyzed by her own what-ifs and terrified by the distance she feels growing between her and her best friend Rose. Down every possible path is a different unfamiliar version of her life, and as she weighs the options in her mind, she starts to wonder-what does it even mean to be Audrey Spencer?

Three girls with entangled pasts compete for glory in their private school's annual tournament, putting their survival skills and their relationships to the test, in this young adult thriller that's "Shakespearean...stunning...dark academia at its finest" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Gardner isn't like other boarding schools. They take in those who've been rejected everywhere else, they offer a survival skills class that has students killing and gutting animals, and then there's the Tournament. A competition available only to seven elite seniors, the Tournament is revered by the entire student body. They'd do almost anything--including completing a series of grueling physical challenges--to win the champion's cup. And this year, three seniors make the Tournament more cutthroat than ever. Max, the ruthless scholarship student who can't afford any distractions, not even her ex best friend Nora's stupid confession of love at the end of last year that ruined everything between them. Nora, who always put herself on the sidelines so Max could have everything she wanted, but might just be ready for center stage now that Max has brutally excised herself from Nora's life. And Teddy, the transfer who's on her last chance and will chase any high that can pull her back from the gaping, dark void inside herself that's always threatening to pull her in. If one of them wants to win, then they can't let anything--or anybody--get in their way.

Harlow and her mum, Cora, have been on the run her entire life. She has no idea why or what they're running from, but in every place they stop, they create new names and stories, and they never stay for long. Then, one night, while attempting to skip town, Cora is killed, leaving Harlow alone and with a million questions.But her mum's secrets live on. And when a key to a hidden safety deposit box leads Harlow to Crescent Ridge - Cora's hometown - she discovers a trail of buried secrets and lies.Harlow was hoping to find something that would help her understand her mum better. But what she finds instead will change everything she knows about her mum - and herself - forever.From the author of BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE comes another gripping thriller, perfect for fans of WE WERE LIARS, ONE OF US IS LYING and GIRL IN PIECES.

After her mother's death, a teen pieces together the truth of her family's past and what her mom was hiding from in this "hauntingly atmospheric and utterly engrossing" (Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments) thriller that's perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson. Harlow Ford has spent her entire life running, caught in her mother's wake as they flit from town to town, hiding from a presence that Harlow isn't even sure is real. In each new place, Harlow takes on a new name and personality, and each time they run, she leaves another piece of herself behind. When Harlow and her mom set off on yet another 3 a.m. escape, they are involved in a car accident that leaves Harlow's mother fatally wounded. Before she dies, she tells Harlow two things: where to find the key to a safety deposit box and to never stop running. In the box, Harlow finds thirty grand in cash, life insurance documents, and several fake IDs for both herself and her mom--an on-the-run essentials kit. But Harlow also finds a photograph of her mom as a teenager with two other girls, the deed to a house in a town she's never heard of, and a handful of newspaper clippings discussing the disappearance of a woman named Eve Kennedy, Harlow's grandmother...relics of a part of Harlow's life she never knew existed. With these tantalizing clues about her mother's secrets and the power to choose her own future for the first time, Harlow realizes she has two choices: keep fleeing her mom's ghosts or face down the nebulous threat that's been hanging over her for her entire life.

I Killed Zoe Spanos meets The Cheerleaders in this "atmospheric and multi-layered mystery" (Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders) about an island town with a history of unsolved deaths--and a girl desperate to uncover the mystery behind it all. Luca Laine Thomas lives on a cursed island. To the outside world, Parris is an exclusive, idyllic escape accessible only to the one percent. There's nothing idyllic about its history, though, scattered with the unsolved deaths of young women--deaths Parris society happily ignores to maintain its polished veneer. But Luca can't ignore them. Not when the curse that took them killed her best friend, Polly, three years ago. Not when she feels the curse lingering nearby, ready to take her next. When Luca comes home to police cars outside her house, she knows the curse has visited once again. Except this time, it came for Whitney, her sister. Luca decides to take the investigation of Whitney's death into her own hands. But as a shocking betrayal rocks Luca's world, the identity of Whitney's killer isn't the only truth Luca seeks. And by the time she finds what she's looking for, Luca will come face to face with the curse she's been running from her whole life.

With compelling characters, broken friendships and complicated romances, BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE is a gripping murder mystery full of dark truths, lethal betrayals, and poisonous secrets.Paradise can be deadly ...Luca Laine Thomas lives in Parris, a beautiful island plagued by the unsolved deaths of young women - most significantly, Luca's best friend. All Luca wants is to heal from the traumatic loss and leave her feelings of guilt and helplessness behind.Then Luca comes home to find police cars in her driveway. Her sister, Whitney, is dead.Luca and Naomi, the new girl next door, decide to take the investigation into their own hands, and along the way their connection deepens. Soon, their casual touches and innocent flirtations become something way more real. But finding out what happened on the night of Whitney's disappearance reveals lie upon lie.Nothing is as it seems. Will Luca's search finally reveal the truth about her sister's murder?Perfect for fans of WE WERE LIARS, ONE OF US IS LYING, ACE OF SPADES, and ASKING FOR IT.

I Killed Zoe Spanos meets The Cheerleaders in this "atmospheric and multi-layered mystery" (Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders) about an island town with a history of unsolved deaths--and a girl desperate to uncover the mystery behind it all. Luca Laine Thomas lives on a cursed island. To the outside world, Parris is an exclusive, idyllic escape accessible only to the one percent. There's nothing idyllic about its history, though, scattered with the unsolved deaths of young women--deaths Parris society happily ignores to maintain its polished veneer. But Luca can't ignore them. Not when the curse that took them killed her best friend, Polly, three years ago. Not when she feels the curse lingering nearby, ready to take her next. When Luca comes home to police cars outside her house, she knows the curse has visited once again. Except this time, it came for Whitney, her sister. Luca decides to take the investigation of Whitney's death into her own hands. But as a shocking betrayal rocks Luca's world, the identity of Whitney's killer isn't the only truth Luca seeks. And by the time she finds what she's looking for, Luca will come face to face with the curse she's been running from her whole life.