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A Novel
by Dahlia Adler
In this opposites attract romance for fans of Begin Again and Better Than the Movies, a fresh start doesn't have to mean changing yourself.
Hot on the heels of a broken heart, Everett "Evie" Riley arrives at Camden Academy ready for a new beginning - one far away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, the sister who stole him, and the best friend who let it happen. But her fresh start is stopped in its tracks when she's accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm, with no choice but to stay.
When rumors and gossip about Evie's housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new reputation... but she's definitely going to require help. Her grumpy emo dorm mate Salem Grayson isn't exactly her first choice, but he does need her help to repair his relationship with his parents every bit as much as she needs his to learn how to be cool. And so they make a pact: he'll teach her how to be bad, if she teaches him how to be good.
It's a flawless plan, except while Salem thrives academically, romantically, and–annoyingly enough– even physically, Evie's quest feels like one dead end after another. But when Evie realizes what she wants more than anything, she'll have to contend with her thrice-broken heart and figure out how to become someone capable of chasing happiness.
Dahlia Adler's Come As You Are is about refusing to accept less than you deserve, and realizing that the best relationships are forged with people who know exactly who you are.
"Adler's latest young adult romance is as sparkling, swoony, and delightful as readers will have come to expect. The chemistry between Evie and Salem, paired with banter that moves at the speed of light, is nothing short of delicious." —Booklist (starred review)
"A beautiful tale of love, friendship, forgiveness, and self-acceptance." —Kirkus Reviews
"[Evie and Salem's] bickering-but-caring dynamic, orchestrated by Adler, is the star of the show." —Publishers Weekly
"Heartfelt and hopeful. In Come As You Are, Dahlia Adler deftly combines the witty dialogue of a grumpy-sunshine romance with the emotional turmoil of searching for self-acceptance. This is the royal flush of YA romances!" —Kristy Boyce, bestselling author of Dungeons and Drama
"Dahlia Adler's uplifting Come As You Are is full of snappy banter, personality-plus characters, and the chaos and complications that come with being sixteen. Plus, a giggle-inducing grumpy-sunshine romance. This fresh take on the boarding school story is a delightful way to spend the afternoon!" —K.L. Walther, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules
"Come As You Are captures the teen spirit of classic rom-coms in all the right ways, with vibrant, nuanced characters enlivening a delightfully clever premise. Adler remains a vivid and joyous voice in contemporary YA." —Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of If I'm Being Honest
This information about Come As You Are was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dahlia Adler is an editor by day, a freelance writer by night, and an author and anthologist at every spare moment in between. She's the founder of LGBTQReads; her novels include the Kids' Indie Next picks Cool for the Summer, Home Field Advantage, and Going Bicoastal, a Sydney Taylor Honor book; and she is the editor of the anthologies His Hideous Heart, That Way Madness Lies, At Midnight, and, with Jennifer Iacopelli, Out of Our League. Dahlia lives in New York with her family and a wall of overflowing bookcases.
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