It’s constantly in the headlines—teenagers are under stress like never before. A recent study by the American Psychological Association found that more than a quarter of the teens surveyed experience what they call “extreme stress” during the school year, including from friends, work, and family. Seattle-area author, T.M. Franklin’s new young adult novel takes a refreshing look at these stressors.

“I think it is tough for teens these days,” Franklin said. “There’s pressure—pressure to get good grades, get into college, and no guarantee they’ll get a job even if they do get a degree—heap on top of that the social stresses of being a teenager, and it can be a lot.”

As the mother of a teenager, Franklin knows there is a huge burden to fit in, but time has taught her fitting in and being popular isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That’s the message she strives to get across in her new book, How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You. Her hero isn’t popular or athletic. He’s a bit of a nerd, but he doesn’t let it bother him.

“Everybody wants to fit in, but I wanted to write a story about a boy who doesn’t – and who’s okay with that,” Franklin said.

On the flip side of that coin is Ainsley Bishop, who’s pretty and popular, but not as happy as everyone thinks—including Oliver. Like many teenage girls, she’s a people pleaser willing to put her own dreams on the back burner in deference to those around her, including her father and her boyfriend.

“Ainsley needs someone to tell her that what she wants matters,” Franklin said. “That it’s all right to fight for her own wants and goals. And Oliver’s up to the challenge.”

How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You is already gaining thumbs-up from readers who call it “laugh-out-loud funny,” but also “a story with heart.”

“Yes, this wonderful book made me laugh . . . and then Ms. Franklin made me cry,” says Kathie, from First Page to the Last. “There’s silliness, there’s growth of characters, there’s sorrow, and there’s joy. This is what one reads books for.”

Seventeen-year-old Oliver Wendell Holmes (Yes, his parents are just that peculiar, but his brother’s name is Sherlock, so it could have been worse.) knows he’s different. He’s quirky, awkward, and he’s okay with that. Oliver also likes making lists—meticulous procedures for achieving his goals, step-by-step. Whether it’s How to Get an A in Chemistry or How to Get Accepted to MIT, he has a process, and it’s worked for him so far. He doesn’t even care that the popular crowd mocks him. Oliver’s got his eye on the prize.

So when he decides it’s time to declare his feelings for Ainsley Bishop, the girl of his dreams, it’s only natural to start a point-by-point strategy to win her heart. Along the way Oliver learns what Ainsley really needs is not quite what he expected.

How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes, and TheWritersCoffeeShop.com.

About the author

T.M. Franklin started out her career writing nonfiction in a television newsroom. Graduating with a BA in communications specializing in broadcast journalism and production, she worked for nine years as a Seattle television news producer, and garnered two regional Emmy Awards, before she resigned to be a full-time mom and part-time freelance writer. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days. MORE was well received and selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Awards.

In addition to MORE and its sequel, The Guardians, Franklin penned the Amazon best-selling short stories A Piece of Cake and Window, which also won a Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Award for Short Story/Fantasy. Her new YA romance, How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You, is Franklin’s first love story without a paranormal or fantasy element, although she believes love is the best kind of magic.

TWELVE, the final installment in the MORE Trilogy will be released in the fall of 2014.