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6 Romance Reads! Clean book recommendations for teen/YA readers this Valentine’s Day + podcast episode

 



6 Romance Reads! Clean book recommendations for teen/YA readers this Valentine’s Day 



Every time February comes around, it is the time I want to find good sweet clean Christian romances. I love giving you all some clean book recommendations. With Valentine’s Day coming up this month, it feels like the most fitting time to give a book recommendation episode all about clean romances. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these so this is going to be fun! 


Before getting to the recommendations, let’s get coffee! <3 


…


Hi friend! Today I have with me an iced mocha latte! I hope you too have a good drink with you! 


So today I wanted to share with you all some clean romance reads for young teen and young adult readers. I’ve done posts like this before on my blog, which I’ll link to at the end, but I wanted to do a new list and chat about 6 clean romance reads and have this list on my podcast! 


When making this list, I wanted to make recommendations that would be safe for young teen readers (these can also all be read by older teen and adult readers but they are safe for young readers which is a passion of mine to find clean reads and recommend them to you all!). All the books I mentioned here are in my opinion appropriate for 13 year olds and older. I will also have links to my book reviews for each book mentioned along with their more in-depth clean guides! 


I do want to say that when I give an age range for a book that is usually not based on what the publisher says on the book age rating. I have a specific rating based on the content, topics discussed, and how clean it is usually in regards to romance and bad language. 

If a book is clean to me and it discusses topics I think a thirteen year old (and a Christian) can handle even if the novel was written for an older audience I will say it is appropriate for a thirteen year old. Same as if a book is not clean even if it was written for teens I will say it is not clean for teens. 


So now that I've gone over a bit about how I rate books in regards to age appropriateness, let’s get into these 6 recommendations!!! 



More Episodes: 



Melanie Dickerson 

One author I’d recommend for young teens to older young adults and new adult readers is Melanie Dickerson! I love Melanie’s books! I haven’t read all of them but the ones I have a love recommending. I’ve read her 


The top three I would recommend for first time readers is…



  • The Merchant’s Daughter— a beauty & the beast retelling 

    • ★★★★★ 

    • If you love grumpy love interests, kind hearted maidens, working hard, characters who love God, and characters who fall in love by reading the Bible together then you will LOVE this book! 

    • This can be read as a standalone 


  • *a quick clean guide: a character has been scarred and maimed and you hear about a wolf attack, a girl is attacked by a man who has evil intentions but he is stopped multiple times from harming her but that is a part of the story. There is also some bullying.  I’d say this book is appropriate for 13+ 

  • The Merchant’s Daughter book review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4897006567 


  • The Golden Braid — a Rapunzel retelling 

    • ★★★★★

    • This was the first Melanie Dickerson book I read and has a special place in my heart. 

    • If you loved the Disney tangled movie, Flynn rider was your favorite Disney prince and you had a crush on him as a kid, you love retellings, sweet heroines, protective hero and secret identities then you will LOVE this book! 

    • This one can be read more as a standalone with minimal spoilers to the rest of the series that always connects to each other. 


  • *a quick clean guide: there is some violence with a short battle scene, characters get injured, there is some deaths including the main girl character having to kill someone in self defense which is hard for her and other characters. Characters like each other and find each other attractive. There is nothing beyond kissing! I would say this book is appropriate for young teens and older! 

  • The Golden Braid book review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5102081907 


  • The Beautiful Pretender — a beauty & the beast retelling x a princess & the pea retelling 

    • ★★★★★

    • This is such a good book and is a part of a trilogy. This was the first Melanie Dickerson book my younger sister read and is her favorite! *heart eyes* She first read it when she was 13 so it is definitely appropriate for young teen readers and older. 

    • If you love hidden identities, beauty pageants, clean dating show kind of story, slow burn romance, love based on trust, a gruff love interest with a heart of gold, and a female character who is strong and will do anything to protect those she loves…then you will love reading The Beautiful Pretender! The third book in this trilogy is my favorite but you have to read this one first and it is a perfect first book to read from Melanie! 


  • *a quick clean guide: as there is a hidden identity trope there is quite a bit of lying. There is violence with an uprising, a character is sabotaged and almost falls down from a tall height, there is a wolf attack. It is mentioned how a character died in a fire in the past with his mistress (not married). Otherwise, this is a really good read and is appropriate for 13+ 

  • The Beautiful Pretender book review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4897007042



Now moving on to some more books by other authors: 


  • CROWN by Madisyn Carlin— a goose girl retelling 

    • ★★★★★

    • I love Madisyn Carlin’s books! She is such a good writer and such a sweet friend and I wanted to give her books a shout out! Her books are all non-magical fantasy and while romance is not the main part of the story it is still an integral part to most if not all her books! 

    • CROWN is the prequel to the Redwyn Chronicles which is so far my favorite series of hers. This one, I’d say more than the others, is a bit more focused on the romance which is so sweet! 

    • I loved how much faith played a part in CROWN! I also loved how the characters had struggles and struggled with aspects of their faith but still they trusted in the Beginning (God). They felt so real! 

    • Just talking about it makes me want to re-read it so…I might do that! 

    • If you love the goose girl fairy tale, pen pals, a hero who fights for his girl, strong faith, lots of cream with your tea, amazing banter, characters who react like real people would in dangerous situations (there is a certain rescue scene that felt like it would be how I would respond), and characters who can be emotional and its a strength…then you will love CROWN! 


  • * a quick clean guide: This is a clean read. The only thing to note are mentions of blood, wounds, poisoning, fight scenes, kidnapping, death (including that of a loved pet). Otherwise this is clean and I highly recommend reading!  (I will say, this is a new adult novel but based on the content and clean guide I’d say is a novel appropriate for 13+) 

  • CROWN book review: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2023/02/crown-by-madisyn-carlin-bookish-review.html 


  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen — a classic romance 

    • ★★★★★

    • I cannot talk about romance reads without mentioning the classic: Pride and Prejudice! This is a classic and is one of my favorite novels! I love this book. I also love the 2005 movie which I highly recommend if you have not watched it. 

    • If you like slow burn romances, love triangles you don’t even realize are love triangles, enemies to lovers, strong sister bonds, protective older brothers, quiet serious male characters with a heart of gold, family drama, traveling the English country side and more…then you will love this book. 

    • I will say, as all Jane Austen books are for me, the opening can be a bit…slow to get used to the language of 19th century English but once you get a few chapters in (usually its the 10th chapter for me) you will be hooked and I think you too will fall in love with this classic story! 


  • *a quick clean guide: this is a really clean story. Romance is a main plot line but it is always clean with the characters respecting each other. There is some flirting. A girl runs away with a man while they are unmarried which is scandalous in that time and can ruin a whole family. A mother pushes for her girls to get married so is always setting them up. Otherwise, this is a clean novel that I highly recommend! I’d say it is appropriate for 13+ more based on reading level than any content issues. I was fourteen when I read this book and I loved it! 

  • Pride and Prejudice book review: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2023/04/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen.html 


  • Little Women by Louisa may Alcott — three romances in one 

    • ★★★★★

    • Same as with Pride and Prejudice, I can’t make a romance reads list without Little Women. Little Women is one of my favorite stories! I love the characters and the sister bonds and it is such an incredible story. 

    • I actually just did a review on the 2017 Little Women BBC mini series which is on my blog and podcast which I’ll have linked! 

    • If you love stories about sisters who have a healthy relationship, tales of growing up, seeing the transition from girlhood to womanhood, sweet romances, a variety of female characters that show that there is strength in being soft as well as there are others that being bold is strength and strength as a woman can take many forms, you love romance, the civil war era, ballroom gatherings, and so much more then you will LOVE this book! 


  • *a quick clean guide: this too is very clean in my opinion. There is some talk of the Civil War and that time but nothing is ever shown. A girl falls through a frozen lake but she is saved. A character gets sick. There is a very sad death that could be hard for sensitive readers. It is also mentioned that a character likes to gamble and drink and smoke. Besides these few things it is clean and I HIGHLY recommend reading! This one I would say is appropriate for younger readers too! This could even be a good read aloud book though it is a bit bigger. 

  • Little Women book review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4898925291 




Now I have a few honorable mentions meaning that I loved these books but for the sake of time, I’ll do a quick shout out instead of going in-depth (I will have all the reviews linked so you can read my thoughts and I do think these are appropriate for YA readers and older): 



I also made a whole Clean Guide series two years ago with more clean romance book recommendations! https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2022/08/Moriyahs-clean-book-guide-romance-for-teenagers.html 


More to read 



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Hi! I’m Moriyah! I am a writer, book-lover, graphic designer, baker with restrictions extraordinaire, and worshiper of Jesus. My hope is to encourage people to follow their dreams (and read some books along the way). MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

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