Aw, the brother love triangle trope, coming to young adult books near you.
What sort of brother love triangle trope books for young adult readers would you like?
The following books will satisfy teen readers. I have linked to Amazon as an affiliate. Plus, three of these four books are the starting book in a series, so if your readers love rivalry in a variety of genres, you’ll have plenty more tor read.
Why do so many young adult series feature brotherly love triangles?
If you’ve heard of Cousins beach or waited to see a beloved book on Prime video, you know that romantic feelings among a female protagonist and two brothers have a stronghold on young adult readers. Below are four books (read by me!) that you can confidently recommend to young readers.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
by Jenny Han, triangle with the Fisher brothers.
I watched the series with my daughter, and we both prefer the books—and I have read the entire series. In this brotherly love triangle, I leaned team Conrad. Isabel, or Belly, spends years growing up and torn between Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher.
The Inheritance Games
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, triangle with the Hawthorne brothers.
My favorite young adult romance series focuses on games and mysteries. This series is genre bending: romance, mystery, and coming of age.
Avery inherits a billionaire’s fortune, and of course, his family has questions. The wealthy gentleman has left clues, though. She has both best friends and enemies along the way.
Red Queen
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, triangle with the Calore brothers.
My freshmen read Red Queen in class, and many of them continue with the series. I’ve read the second one but not continued from there. This book is fantasy and dystopian. Mare is a Red (people are divided by their blood color), but as our protagonist, she still has powers.
People often criticize this book as being too close to The Hunger Games. They are similar, and when students enjoy one, they often enjoy the other.
Red As Royal Blood
by Elizabeth Hart
Triangle with Asher and Rowan.
This book is the only one on my list that is not part of a series.
A working class girl, a maid, becomes the queen overnight. As she assumes responsibilities, she learns that her predecessor has left her a message and a warning.
This book was a three-day read for me, and freshmen will enjoy it. It has quite a few curse words (I felt they were a bit unnecessary), so be aware if your audience is sensitive to that.
About that brother love triangle trope:
Overall, these four young adult romance books with the fun brother-love-triangle-trope are pretty clean and have variety in readers’ desires. Some balance fantasy and romance while others are dystopian and mysteries.
Don’t prefer Amazon? You can check out these books on Bookshop.
Please read my disclosures as I am an affiliate.