Guest Post: Molly McAdams + The New Adult Genre

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Molly McAdams to the blog to talk to us a little bit about the New Adult genre and what it entails. The New Adult genre is one I'm completely in love with, and I've been devouring as many books that fall under this label as I can get my hands on. As a slightly older reader of YA fiction, it's sometimes difficult for me to connect to the younger characters, so the New Adult genre and its myriad of upper-teen/early twenties men and women and their corresponding life situations just makes me happy. Take it away Molly!

People have many ways of defining the New Adult genre; whether it’s the general age group that you’ll find in the stories, the problems the characters may face or the intensity of the steamy scenes…different readers and authors see it their own way.

I feel the New Adult genre is about the experiences we’ll have, the freedom we’ll finally taste and the lessons we’ll learn…most likely the hard way. It’s all about the time in your life when you’ve just legally become an adult and you’re learning what exactly it means to be an adult. People are excited to hit that age, and to finally be able to say they are “legal”; but going into that time in your life can be more overwhelming than you’re prepared for. Bills start coming, you are suddenly responsible for things like buying your own food and, if you went the college route, actually getting yourself out of bed and to class.

For a lot of “new adults” you’re finally free from the parental units and with that freedom comes the time to find who you are. And that’s what we’re all wanting to know, isn’t it? Who we really are, where we want to go in life, and what paths we’ll take to get there.

It’s the time in our lives when I feel we learn the most that will help us in life. It’s almost like when your parents told you not to touch that burning stove when you were a child, but until you touched it yourself, you had no idea just how much it would hurt. Our parents and people we look up to can tell us countless times to do this…oh, but don’t do that! But until we’ve experienced these things ourselves, we aren’t going to truly comprehend exactly what will happen if we do decide to “touch the burning stove” – whatever it may be.

New Adult is really all of these things. The epic highs and terrifying lows of becoming an adult and becoming who you want to be. We get to follow heroes and heroines through journeys that a lot of us often face during those incredible years of eighteen to mid-late twenties. I can’t say there is one thing that defines the genre, and as I said, other people may have a different view on it. But for me, it’s all about the thrilling time in our life that we get to learn about who we are, and it’s those steps and paths we take figuring that out, that make up the genre.

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MOLLY MCADAMS

Molly grew up in California but now lives in the oh-so-amazing state of Texas with her husband and furry four-legged daughter. Some of her hobbies include hiking, snowboarding, traveling and long walks on the beach…which roughly translates to being a homebody with her hubby and dishing out movie quotes. When she’s not diving into the world of her characters, she can be found hiding out in her bedroom surrounded by her laptop, cell, Kindle and fighting over the TV remote. She has a weakness for crude-humored movies, fried pickles and loves curling up in a fluffy comforter during a thunderstorm...or under one in a bathtub if there are tornados. That way she can pretend they aren't really happening.

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

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TAKING CHANCES

Eighteen year old Harper has grown up under her career Marine of a father's thumb. Ready to live life her own way and experience things she's only ever heard of from the jarheads in her father's unit; she's on her way to college at San Diego State University.

Thanks to her new roommate, Harper is introduced to a world of parties, gorgeous guys, family and emotions. Some she wasn't expecting yet, and others she never knew she was missing.

She finds herself being torn in two as she quickly falls in love with her boyfriend Brandon, and her roommate's brother Chase. Covered in tattoos, known for fighting in the Underground and ridiculously muscled...they're exactly what she was always warned to stay away from, but just what she needs. Despite their dangerous looks and histories, both adore and would do anything for Harper, including stepping back if it means she's happy.

Her first year away is turning out to be near perfect, but one weekend of giving in to heated passion will change everything.

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FROM ASHES

Aside from her dad, who passed away when she was six, Cassidy Jameson has only ever trusted one man: her best friend, Tyler. So of course she follows him to Texas when he leaves for college. She just didn't expect to be so drawn to their new roommate, Gage, a gorgeous guy with a husky Southern drawl. The only problem? He's Tyler's cousin.

 Gage Carson was excited to share an apartment off campus with his cousin. He didn't mind that Tyler was bringing the mysterious friend he'd heard about since they were kids . . . until the most beautiful girl he's ever seen jumps out of his cousin's Jeep. There's something about Cassi that makes Gage want to give her everything. Too bad Tyler has warned him that she's strictly off-limits.

Despite everything keeping them apart, Cassi and Gage dance dangerously close to the touch they've both been craving. But when disaster sends her running into Tyler's arms, Cassi will have to decide whether to face the demons of herpast . . . or to burn her chance at a future with Gage.