Dear Adam (The Pen Pal Romance Series)

A great, sweet YA tale about how first impressions may not accurate.

DEAR ADAM is easy to read. Meaning, it flows and it’s engaging. I’ve read books with similar premises, but this one is written so well, the I’ve-heard-before bug didn’t bother me. Don’t expect huge plot twists or anything. This isn’t that kind of novel. Instead, expect great characterization, characters that feel real, lost of “feels,” and a sweet romance between smart kids.

Although DEAR ADAM isn’t high concept, it’s very entertaining and, for those who are interested, it’s very clean, just a few little things here and there. My only gripe is that the book felt a bit disconnected at the beginning, and it took me a while to latch onto the characters.

In summary, DEAR ADAM is a good novel for people who love clean YA romance.

Title: Dear Adam
Series: The Pen Pal Romance Series
Author: Kelsie Stelting
Publisher: Indie Published
Genre: Teen and Young Adult
Ages of Main Characters: Eighteen
Religion: Mention of Main Character being Catholics
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My Rating:

I really enjoyed this book, It’s different from the things I’ve been reading lately, but definitely in a good way. I think the questions the high school students wrote to Ada can and will be very relatable for teens and possibly provide helpful answers as well. I think we all need a Dear Adam in our lives.

A lot of people have been saying it’s great for fans of Kasie West. I can agree to that. Although this book really remind me of Judy Corry’s Meet Me There. The plot had a couple similarities but both are still very different and original. I loved how Nora and Emerick were forced to be partners for school when they disliked each other SO much. I honestly think Nora disliked Emerick a lot more then he disliked her though. Lol! With all honestly, watching them as their feelings changed was so cute.

This book teaches us that we are all human, we all bleed the same everyone makes mistakes. As a christian, this book reminds us, we all do not-so-good things, but it can and WILL be forgiven. We can change and this book shows that everything isn’t what it seems…

And oh my gosh, I loved the ending. It was emotional but in a super sweet and refreshing way. I’m super excited to meet the rest of the characters in other books.

I recommend this for a maturer teen.
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Content:
One “asshole”, one or two “bitch”, a couple uses of the word “shit”, mention of drugs, mention of “girls he wants to lay”, a small kinda inappropriate use of emojis, a mention of cleavage, some flirting, some cigarettes, a skirt riding up, mention of tongues down each other’s throats, a short conversation with a mention of sex, a paragraph where Nora walks into Victoria’s Secret and wonders to herself if the guy’s that come into the store with girlfriends, wondering what is under their clothing.

***Note: this content warning is a spoiler*** Nora finds her father cheating on her mother by making out and hiking up another woman’s skirt.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Kelsie Stelting herself. All views expressed are only my honest review.

Emerick Turner has had a complicated life and, unfortunately, he’s used to being judged by it. His father is serving a long term prison sentence, his mother is in debt and they’re struggling with financial issues. To top it all off, he’s just a step away from failing this school year. So, when his guidance counselor gives him a chioce: anonymously write the advice column in the school paper or fail – he chooses to at least give it a try. Although he thinks he’s the last person that should be giving anyone advice, Emerick is tired of seeing his mother disappointed.

Nora Wilson is the study body president, and from the outside, everyone would think her life is perfect. Her family is wealthy and, like her father, who’s running to be the future governor, they’re all successful in their own way. Appearances can be deceiving though, and while Nora looks like she has her life together, she’s secretly falling apart under the pressure of it all. One misstep could destroy their perfect facade, and maybe even ruin her father’s chances of being elected. Unable to voice her troubles to anyone she knows in fear of that, she keeps it all bottled up. Until, that is, when the school’s paper adds a “Dear Adam” advice column. She can’t cause any damage by spilling her secrets anonymously, can she?

Emerick and Nora are total opposites – they come from two different worlds, and because of that, they can’t stand each other. They have a very clear idea of what kind of person the other is in their heads, and nothing can make them see each other differently. But when they begin talking to eachother using false identies, they end up forming a deep connection to one another.

What will happen when they discover that their virtual best friend is really someone they wouldn’t think to confide in, in real life? Can the friendship they built anonymously withstand the trials of discovering each other’s true identities, or will everything go back to how it was before?

Dear Adam by Kelsie Stelting is a clean YA contemporary romance story – there is no sex, but there is some swearing through out the book.

This book is told in the alternating POV’s of both of the main characters. I love how fleshed out both of the MC’s are; I found myself getting attached to them because I felt like I knew them so well. Emerick and Nora start out as characters who are so used to being judged and held at certain standards that they themselves became one of those judgemental people. However, they both end up learning a lot about themselves, each other and the people around them. These two characters grow so much through out this story, and I enjoyed seeing them evolve into better, more understanding people – I was rooting for them and was not disappointed!

The secondary characters were fleshed out pretty well, too. I enjoyed the fact that none of the MC’S family members or best friends were ever forgotten about. They all played their roles and added to the story. I liked how different their friends were, and how they supported them and even went through some changes of their own. The problems these characters face and how they overcome them were believeable, and made them easier to relate to in some ways.

There were some scenes that I felt were written a little awkwardly. That whole part with Lacey at the show, Wolf’s swim in the lake, and even Nora’s reaction towards Trey in the beginning (it seemed like she hated him at first, but they were still on some what friendly terms), for example. There are also a few parts in this book that were kind of left open that I wish would have been tied up. I know not everything in life gets the closure we may want, but I was really curious how a certain couple (I won’t mention who) resolved their issues. Do they honestly just keep living in an unhappy relationship, despite how it effects the people around them? I can understand that being a reality for some people, but I can’t see the characters who are effected by their decisions letting it go after they found out the truth.

Overall, this is a sweet YA contemporary romance about two senior students who learn to see the people around them, and themselves, for who they really are. This is a great book for anyone who enjoys fluffy teen dramas that deal with realistic issues. Fans of Kasie West should give this a try! (I was actually reminded of ‘P.S. I Like You’ while reading this book, although the two stories are very different).

Thank you to the author, Kelsie Stelting, for gifting me an early copy of her book!

I absolutely loved this story! It was so incredibly good that I read it in one sitting. This is definitely my kind of read. It is a clean YA romance with super awesome characters. The emails were so good that I want to say they were my favorite part of the story but even when they interacted in real life I loved it because they were not enemies but they were not friends either, just schoolmates and they thought they didn’t like each other. I loved their back stories, we really got to know all the characters, even the secondary characters. This book was kind of perfect, at least for me. Really, really loved it!
Will definitely recommend this book to all my friends and blog followers.
This book might actually make it into my top reads for this year. It is that good!

This is a fun YA read. It’s very realistic and I could picture myself back in high school while reading this. I liked the fast pace and the originality of the storyline. It was good to see both points of view – the guy’s and the girl’s. No descriptive sex but there is swearing.

What a wonderful clean teen romance. The writer makes the story flow so that you don’t wanna put it down. I automatically empathized with both main characters so much it almost felt like I was living the story. I can’t wait for the next story in the series. I wish there would have been stories like this when I was a teenager. I received a free ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book! If you are looking for a fun, quick, charming read this is perfect for you. If you like Kasie West and Sarah Dessen, Kelsie Stelting is another author you should check out.

“Bad Boy” Emerick gets coerced into writing an advice column for the school paper and “Good Girl” Nora writes in when all the parts of her life start unraveling. Their correspondence helps both of the grow as people, confronting stereotypes and standing up for themselves.

The antagonists in the story are definitely not good, but I appreciate that they were not cartoon character evil, and while neither one gets quite the comeuppance I’d like to have seen, the results are probably more realistic.

I rated this a 4, as I will definitely check out more books by this author. However, there were a few minor details that keep it from being a 4: Formatting–When switching from emails to their own thoughts, there was nothing to designate the switch; Editing–“on guard” should have been “en garde” and “could have cared less” should have been “couldn’t have cared less.” If these errors were intended to be the character’s errors, that was unclear and I found them distracting.**

**Reviewed from complimentary ARC, so formatting and editing errors may be fixed in final draft.

I loved this book! The author alternated chapters from the point of view of the two main characters, Emerick and Nora. Emerick is in jeopardy of not graduating high school until the administration suggests he start a “Dear Adam” advice column in the high school newspaper. Nora recently broke up with the most popular boy in school, and writes the advice column for, well, advice. At the same time, she and Emerick are paired up for a school project, which she is not looking forward to because he’s usually thought of as an unmotivated student.

She and “Adam” start emailing each other outside the column, and a friendship blossoms. She wants to meet him, but Emerick cannot unveil his identity. It’s kind of a right side of the tacks vs. the wrong side of the tracks story, and it’s very well-told. I laughed and I cried (while I was on an airplane, no less!), and I can’t wait to read more! Another thing I really liked about this book is that it made the high school characters seem real, and not just a bunch of stereotypes.

Dear Adam – I am not a big fan of this age group, High School, but when Ms. Stelting writes another story, I want to read her wonderful prose. I like that her characters are not the usual stupid, foul mouthed, dimwits that are so common nowadays, but young people with a bit of maturity and brains to them. Yes, they are still youngsters but they chose a better path to travel.

This is a lovely, heartwarming story of opposites learning about each other through emails. Ms. Stelting has a value system that I can agree with and accept with open arms, and she writes in a positive style. Here books are usually full of things that make me want to post those quotes to share with others. This is another well-written fabric of life that shines brightly on the positive, similar to her other books. There is infrequent use of vulgar language and some cussing; not a common thing with this author. 4*

Abi and the Boy Next Door – Loving Skye is my favorite, but Abi is a close second. Another clean, heartwarming story about a high school girl with a troubled background. She has her loving grandmother to show her a different life. The neighbors and some classmates open their hearts to her and show her more of a loving, accepting world. Of course, there’s her new best friend, the neighbor’s son. The storylines are interesting, the characters lovable and the growth the young woman experiences in her life are intriguing. Skye appears several times since Abi goes to school with Andrew, so it was fun to see Loving Skye from a different angle.

Ms. Stelting does a wonderful job with her young characters giving them a maturity level and dignity that are often missing in today’s repeatedly used stupid formula plots. With each book, the author shows her growth with her craft and each new book is a joy to read. YA is not my typical genre, too much stupidity and drama, but I will read every book Ms. Stelting writes. Well written and edited, this is a good read for all ages, especially YA. I contacted the author to review her books. 5*

Lonesome Skye #1 – I usually don’t read much about this age group, but this is an excellent story about a high school junior and her trials. This is a well written, intriguing story filled with a gamut of emotions that keeps the reader rooting for the main character. All the characters are developing through out the story and I find their dialog realistic and mature instead of moronic. I didn’t like the way the book ended, but I assume there’s more to the story coming. It’s not a cliffhanger, but I did want to keep following her story. I’m interested in reading more by this writer; plus she understands and practices proper editing. I do wish I had read this book before All The Things He Left Behind, since one is past and the other future in some of these characters’ lives. 5*

Becoming Skye #2 – Starts right after Skye gets out of the hospital and she’s in her junior year of high school. Again, I don’t care too much for this age group, but I love what Ms. Stelting can do with the written word. Her vivid descriptions, her characters and their dramas, and how things are handle with a bit of maturity, instead of the usual stupidity so common today for characters of many ages. This story is clean and with no sexual misbehavior, just young soon-to-be adults trying to make the best of their situations and lives. Skye is determined to succeed and even when the cards are stacked against her, she doesn’t fold and give in. She suffers the blow but comes back more determined and with new plans that she puts into action. Ms. Stelting also manages to edit her books with only a few errors, in this case, three words that should have been uppercase. 5*

Loving Skye #3 – This is my favorite of the Skye series. Well written and clean, full of fun and drama but still heartwarming for a person this young to continue on when things are bad. Skye is an interesting character and she does handle things better than her age group usually does. She makes mistakes and sometimes doing the right thing slaps her upside the head. She has a good supporting friend, actually more than one, and the rest of characters are human, too. Ms. Stelting does a good job with all her books. 5*