The Boy Next Year

Author: J. Lamara

“I made a promise to myself: no boys, no distractions, just me. Then he came back.”

Tiana Brooks had a plan. Senior year was supposed to be about leveling up, glowing up, and keeping her heart far away from distractions—especially the boy-next-door type. But when her childhood best friend Jalen Rivers returns from overseas looking nothing like the kid she remembers—taller, charming, and suddenly way too good at making her heart race—everything gets complicated.

One moment he’s annoying her. The next, he’s making her laugh, showing up when she needs it most, and looking at her like she’s the only girl in the room.

She told herself she wasn’t falling for anyone this year. But then again… she didn’t expect him.

A heart-fluttering, clean teen romance full of comedy, chemistry, and all the butterflies. For fans of soft love stories, late-night convos, and best friends who were always meant to be more.