Welcome!

Hi! I'm Kenzie, an indie author of YA romance novels. The stories are all sweet in tone, but I don't categorize them as clean. If that matters to you, you can find full content information for each book here.

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Summer Expectations

Set the summer before Haven Valley High, my latest series focuses on three friends and the girls who steal their hearts. Taking place concurrently, each is a standalone romance that can be read in any order. Click the covers to view on Amazon.

Ava & Colton

Brooke & Tyler

Alyssa & Mason

Haven Valley High

My first series follows a group of friends (high school seniors) as they find love. Each book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series (I recommend reading in order, or starting with book 4).

Emma & Kai

Chloe & Nate

Lauren & Jason

Mia & Ryder

Allie & Josh

Looking for bonus content? The Kisses and Castles bonus epilogue is now included at the end of the ebook, and the alternate POV scene from Faking What's Real can be found here.

With a background in film, Kenzie loves crafting stories that feel like your favorite teen movie.
Her books are sweet in tone (but not squeaky clean), full of crushes, awkward moments, temptation, and heart-pounding new experiences.
She lives on the South Coast of England, where she can often be found obsessing over a puzzle, playing board games, or trying to improve her Mario Kart skills.

Content Advisory

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Kai's POV

“Hey, guys, you’re just in time,” Allie called over the music as we entered the basement. She waved her arms, gesturing for us to join the circle of people that had formed on the floor.“Are we playing your usual?” Chloe asked her.Allie was obsessed with truth or dare, mostly because she wanted to kiss all the guys in the hope of finding true love.“Yep.” Allie giggled as she confirmed the obvious.I sat down, and Emma squeezed in by my side. Stretching out my legs, I reclined onto my hands, ready for a good show.“I’ll go first,” Allie said. “And no recordings allowed.”We’d played this game countless times, and no one ever broke the rules.“I choose Nate,” Allie said, giving him a determined smile. Oh, man, he was in trouble. “Truth or dare, Nate?”“Dare, of course.” He smirked.“I dare you to kiss the girl who you think is the prettiest.”Emma grabbed for her drink. She took a big gulp before returning it behind her. Even though she was the prettiest girl here, Nate would be thinking of someone else. Emma was safe. She didn’t need to be nervous.Nate put on a pretense of thinking through his options, before moving to kneel in front on Chloe. She looked every bit as disgusted as I’d have expected.But Nate didn’t kiss Chloe. Instead, he shuffled to the side where Allie was sitting.Allie could barely hide her excitement as Nate pulled her in and let loose on her lips.I frowned. What was he thinking? Allie was bound to get the wrong idea. Leading her on would only ever end in disaster.Nate returned to his original place. I was probably the only one to see through his satisfied smile. He might’ve just passed up his only chance to kiss Chloe. If she wasn’t with Jason he would’ve given it a shot, but Nate would never go for a girl already in a relationship, no matter how tempted he was.Tasked with choosing the next player, Nate slowly scanned his gaze around the circle, stopping on Emma.He wouldn’t. Would he?I stopped breathing, waiting for Nate to move along.“Truth or dare, Emma?” he asked.I glanced at Emma. She stared ahead, not moving a muscle. Not reacting at all. There was no need for her to be nervous though, so I leaned over, bringing my lips close to her ear. “Don’t worry. He’ll go easy on you.”She nodded, trusting me. “Dare.”My heart pumped in excitement. Even though I’d wanted Emma to pick dare, I figured she’d go for the easier option of truth. It wasn’t as if Nate would risk exposing our fake relationship.He’d have ideas for dares though.“Hmm,” Nate played with his chin. “My best friend’s girlfriend. What should I have her do? Oh, I know! I dare you to—” He paused, and my anticipation spiked. Ever since my earlier conversation with Emma, I hadn’t been able to get the thought of kissing her out of my head. Would Nate go that far? He finished his sentence, “—give Kai a lap dance.”“What?” Emma sat up with a start.My whole body tensed, and I scowled at Nate, ignoring the laughter and comments from our friends. He gave me an innocent shrug but had a grin plastered across his face.“Choose another dare, Nate,” I said, forcefully enough that he’d know I was serious. “That’s not going to happen in public. I mean it.”“Okay, okay. Maybe that’s something for next weekend, hey Kai?” He chuckled.I didn’t think Emma even knew it was my birthday on Saturday. Not wanting a fuss, I avoided mentioning it whenever possible.Emma’s body relaxed at my side as she let out a long breath and then finally met my eyes. I tried not to show how I was feeling, but Emma couldn’t mask her emotions at all. There was anxiety in her eyes, so I raised my hand to her back and gave it a little rub. That was an acceptable boyfriend action, right? Emma seemed to like it, since she gave me a quick smile of gratitude.“Just a kiss then,” Nate said. “New dare, Emma. I dare you to kiss Kai.”Emma laughed, as if that was a ridiculous suggestion. “You’re daring me to kiss my boyfriend?” Her voice trembled. Was it just nerves? Or was it because she hated the idea?“Or the lap dance. Your choice,” Nate answered.“This is stupid,” I said. I wouldn’t let Nate force Emma outside her comfort zone. But before I could say more, she twisted her upper body to face me.The look in her eyes took my breath away. There was courage there, determination. And before I could register what was happening, Emma swung her leg over me and climbed on.Damn. Was she sure about this?I stared into her eyes, searching for reassurance.Emma paused. I wanted so badly to pull her against me, to do what everyone was waiting for, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t steal her first kiss. It needed to be her decision.Maintaining our eye contact, Emma placed her hands on my shoulders. I took that as a sign of intent, and I couldn’t stop my smile from breaking through.Emma’s gaze dipped, and she leaned toward me until our lips touched. Her kiss was hesitant, and as she brushed her lips over mine for the second time I reached my arms around her, tugging her against me.My heart pounded as we kissed slowly. This was all we needed to do for the dare. All we needed to convince people.But I wanted more.Think unsexy thoughts.I forced my mind to the auto shop, to my upcoming tasks, but it was no use. As Emma’s sweet lips swept across mine, I gave into temptation.Emma didn’t object as I deepened the kiss and pulled her tighter into me. She tasted so good. So right. I didn’t want to stop.I didn’t ever want to stop.My hands traveled over her back, up to her head. I didn’t even know where to put them. I wanted to touch her everywhere. I couldn’t get enough.“Guess it makes sense why they don’t do that in public!” my friend Tyler hollered, ruining everything.Emma tensed then pulled back. One glance at her flushed cheeks and her messy hair, and all I wanted to do was grab her and kiss her again.She scampered off me like a startled rabbit. I didn’t stop her. Instead, I relaxed my expression, laughing as our friends hurled their teasing comments in our direction.My heart rate was quick to stabilize, but I couldn’t forget the feel of Emma in my arms. Our relationship was all an act, but I liked her a lot. Too much.Could we make it real?

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