The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one—not even Julia's boyfriend— knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can't mourn Julia openly, and he's tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia's journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he's desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

The Secret Year was unusual in a good way. It’s from a guys point of view, which is a rare find in the Young Adult world. This is a perfect debut book for Hubbard. Colt is an intense character that I loved reading about. The emotions in this novel were overwhelming at times, like they needed to be. This it he first book I’ve read about a secret relationship, and despite the slightly dark topics at hand, it was oddly refreshing.
Jennifer R. Hubbard has made a very good name for herself in the world of Young Adult books. I know that I’ll be reading whatever she has coming out next.

FTC- Library