Kara McDowell is the author of novels for young adults, including One Way or Another and This Might Get Awkward, published by Scholastic; and The Prince & the Apocalypse and Heir, Apparently, published by Wednesday Books. She received her BA in English Literature and worked as a freelance writer and blogger before publishing her debut novel, Just for Clicks. She lives with her husband and three sons in Arizona.
Katelyn Detweiler
An American teen stranded in London is forced to team up with the British crown prince if she wants to make it back home before the end of the world in this delightfully rompy high-stakes rom-com.
Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There’s only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.
The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there’s a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent who looks remarkably like the errant Prince Theo, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape a pack of tourists, the Prince scribbles down his number and offers her one favor in return. She doesn’t plan to take him up on it—until she gets to the airport and sees cancelled flights and chaos. A comet is approaching Earth, and the world is ending in eight days. Suddenly, that favor could be her only chance to get home to her family before the end of the world.
Wren strikes a bargain with the runaway prince: if she’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini, he can charter her a private jet home in time to say goodbye. Traveling through Europe by boat, train, and accidentally stolen automobile, Wren finds herself drawn to the dryly sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable Theo. But the Prince has his own agenda, one that could derail both their plans. When life as they know it will be over in days, is it possible to find a happy ending?
Praise for The Prince and the Apocalypse
“A charming escapist romance.” –Kirkus
“A treat for fans of rollicking, romantic road trip novels or rom-coms in which independent-minded young women fall for intelligent, good-looking princes.” –Booklist
“The duo’s magnetic chemistry and wry banter work levity into a would-be dire situation, culminating in a cavorting, globe-trotting jaunt.” –Publishers Weekly
“Readers who like a dose of adventure with their romance will devour this page-turner (and hope for a sequel). Recommended for YA collections.” –School Library Journal
“I am obsessed with everything Kara McDowell writes and her new book is no exception. This book was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be. One part humor, one part angsty romance, one part vulnerable feels, and all parts bonkers. THIS IS THE ROYAL ROMANCE WE DIDNT KNOW WE WANTED BUT ABSOLUTELY NEED.” –Kristin Dwyer, author of Some Mistakes Were Made
“Kara McDowell is—hands down—my favorite rom-com author of all time. The Prince & the Apocalypse is an absolutely perfect blend of romance, humor, and adventure—Wren and Leo are going to live rent-free in my heart forever!” –Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100
Wednesday Books
July 11, 2023
Young Adult
Contemporary
JGLM
An American teen learns she may have accidentally married the King of England, only to end up stranded on a tropical island with him in this highly-anticipated sequel to The Prince & The Apocalypse.
Freshman year is stressful enough without accidentally being married to the King of England. Of course, Wren Wheeler can’t tell her Northwestern classmates about that; after surviving a narrowly-averted apocalypse over the summer, everyone’s had enough excitement for one lifetime. Wren knows she needs to move on from Theo, but she can’t forget the look in his eyes when he left her on that island in Greece—and also, he took her dog.
When an ill-fated attempt to rescue Comet the Apocalypse Dog turns into a chemistry-fueled reunion with Theo that’s caught by the paparazzi, Wren finds herself under the royal spotlight. Suddenly, she’s a problem for “the firm” to solve, and in order to be protected from the rabid press, she’ll have to fly back to London with Theo. Along for the ride are Naomi and Brooke, as well as Theo’s siblings, including Henry, the brother he’s spent his life being compared to. But because the universe can’t let these two maybe-newlyweds have one conversation in peace, their plane goes down over the Atlantic, crashing on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere.
Stranded with no sign of rescue, the group will have to band together against poisonous animals, catastrophic injuries, a brotherly rivalry, and an ill-timed volcano if they’re going to make it out alive. And, scariest of all, Wren and Theo will have to face their feelings for one another and decide what they want their futures to look like—and if that future will be heartbreak, or happily ever after.
Praise for Heir, Apparently
“Fans of British royalty, adventure, and romance will enjoy this gratifying conclusion to McDowell’s entertaining duology…” –Booklist
“A romantic story with serious elements that will have readers wringing their hands and holding their breath.” –Kirkus
Wednesday Books
July 9, 2024
Young Adult
Contemporary
JGLM
Sophie Kinsella meets Sarah Dessen in the most hilarious, romantic book of the summer about a girl with social anxiety and the boy who refuses to let her hide herself away.
Seventeen-year-old Gemma’s favorite kind of beach is an empty one. Social interactions are too much for her to handle. She always says the wrong thing―if she manages to say anything at all. She can’t even bring herself to speak to her longtime crush, Beau Booker, without losing sleep over her own awkwardness.
During a solo outing to her favorite beach, Gemma realizes―to her horror―that the popular kids from school have shown up to throw a party. Before she can sneak away (and possibly puke behind her car) Gemma is pulled into the action and ends up talking to Beau, who asks her to pretend that they’re “close.” Gemma is too flustered and flattered to refuse, and mostly, she’s wondering why Beau is talking to her at all . . . right up until the moment when he falls off the boat, hits his head, and ends up in a coma.
After rescuing Beau from the water, Gemma is mistaken for Beau’s girlfriend by his friends and family, including his mysterious older brother, Griff, who has returned to town after a year away. Gemma tries to correct the record, but her social anxiety (and a nosy reporter) gets in the way at every turn. Before she knows it, she’s in too deep to backtrack. And when Beau’s warm, boisterous family pulls Gemma into their orbit, she realizes how much she wants to keep them in her life.
For the first time, Gemma has everything she’s ever wanted: friends, big family dinners, and Griff―a boy who she can be herself around. But how can she embrace her new dream life when everything is built on a lie?
Scholastic
March 1, 2022
Young Adult
Contemporary
JGLM
The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That’s about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what ifs. What if she’s destined to be a famous ceramicist but wastes her talent in drama club? What if there’s a carbon monoxide leak in the ceramics studio and everyone drops dead? (Grim, but possible!)
That’s why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she’s paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family’s romantic mountain cabin? Or should she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about?
Just when it seems like Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in—in the form of a slippery grocery store floor—and Paige’s life splits into two very different parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city . . . and the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz . . . until her anxiety threatens to ruin everything.
However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny, she’ll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety—and learn that you don’t have to be “perfect” to deserve true love.
Praise for One Way or Another
“An engaging combination of delightfully over-the-top Christmas swoons and realistic anxiety representation.” –Kirkus
“Full of swoon and heartache, this sparkling snowy romance combines flirty banter, yummy baking, and tender emotion into a must-read story that is equal parts Jane Austen and Kasie West!” –Abigail Johnson, author of Every Other Weekend
Scholastic
October 6, 2020
Young Adult
Contemporary Romance
JGLM
