Book Crushes + Sneak Peaks

I am not ashamed to admit the fact that I've had more than a few literary crushes in my day. Who didn't find Fred and George Weasley's witty conversations completely adorable, or feel their heart beat a little bit faster at Mr Darcy's aloofness and hidden affection. The list is infinitely long, thanks to writers who continue to skew my real world expectations by creating characters that are flawed, funny, and completely irresistible.

Sometimes an author weaves their words together so seamlessly that you can't help but fall in love with a name on the page. You find characters you want to have as your new BFF and boys that are worth drooling over (but not if it's a library book. Come on, guys). And, if that author is Stephanie Perkins, you get to read a love story so sweet and so funny and so true that you want to curl up inside it and live between the pages for the rest of your days.

Three times.

Stephanie Perkin's first book, Anna and the French Kiss, follows a slightly neurotic, artsy and hilarious American girl at a boarding school in Paris. Come on. That, in itself, should be enough to send you flying to the closest bookstore - not to mention her classmate Etienne St Clair who says things like "Oh pants" and speaks with an English accent. Next up we journeyed to San Francisco in Lola and the Boy Next Door to get to know an eccentric dressing clothing designer and her neighbor, Cricket, who is absurdly tall and stays up late working on his latest inventions.

Stephanie Perkins writes characters that I wish I knew. They are such exciting, enthralling and everyday people that I want to go watch a trashy movie with Anna and hear her review it while Etienne smiles fondly and eats buttery popcorn. I want to explore thrift stores with Lola and see what kind of crazy outfit she puts together, then sample her dads' homemade pies with Cricket.

This is a world that seems so utterly tangible that I want to hold it close and never let it go.

Perkins's third book, Isla and the Happily Ever After, is coming out in August this year but you can read the first two chapters online right here. They involve coffee shops and long time crushes and being slightly high on painkillers after having your wisdom teeth removed. Third time's the charm, and I can't wait to stay up late getting to know Stephanie Perkins's latest love story.