Main Characters: Jamie, Ella and Beth
Series: Summer Boys, Book 1
It’s summer. It’s hot. And it’s time to hook up.Cousins Ella, Beth, and Jamie are at their family’s beach house, and they’re gearing up for the wildest time of their lives. Sassy Ella is majorly crushing on a cute older boy — who just happens to be her sister’s new boyfriend. Meanwhile, practical Beth is surprised when she finds herself falling for her best friend George. And shy, creative Jamie gets her heart broken when her summer love abandons her. Three girls, too many boys, and some seriously stormy romances…it all adds up to one unforgettable summer.
This is the first book by Hailey Abbott that I’ve read and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t my favorite read of the summer. It has, however, made me mighty curious about the rest of the series. I’m kinda annoyed with myself because I got the first book in this series and the last book in this series so I have to wait for the second and third book in this series before I can actually read the next book that I have.
But anyway, on with the review.
This book follows three cousins, Jamie, Beth and Ella over their summer vacation at Pebble Beach. We first meet each cousin as they’re arriving in Pebble Beach. Jamie, is shy but taken. Beth is tom-boyish and Ella is the hottie of the bunch. They’re all ready to have fun over the summer and they can’t wait to get it all started.
Over the course of the book, we see Jamie go from being in a relationship to not being in a relationship. We see Beth finding herself falling for her best friend George and then we see Ella lusting after her sister’s boyfriend. Let me tell you, these girls give real meaning to you do stupid crap when you’re young. Because each of these girls, well maybe not Beth but those other two? Yeah, total dummies.
Jamie’s boyfriend Ethan breaks up with her and instead of letting him go gracefully or if she was going to make him jealous, do it in a way that wouldn’t make what she’s doing, totally obvious, she acts like a straight up fool and then spends a good deal of the summer holed up in her room, too embarrassed to come out. She pouts, she cries and while I understood why she did all of those things, she didn’t win any sympathy from me because the whole ordeal with Scott made me want to choke her the hell out.
Don’t even get me started on Ella. I can let a lot slide when reading these YA books because I understand that the main characters are young and they’re immature but holy goodness! What Ella does in this book makes me want to punch her in the face. I could not like her because of her continued crap that she pulled throughout the book. Yeah, she felt horrible for doing what she did but did she stop? Nope so yeah, no sympathy from me. Bleh.
Then there was Beth. I liked Beth. Out of all of the cousins, including Kelsi, my favorite cousin was Beth. I adored her and George. I adored her growing crush on him and I loved how clueless he was. I loved watching her heart break while George went on with his Summer of George and toward the end of the book when they’re cuddling on the hammock? Oh yeah, totally cute! I adored George (the best out of all of the guys) and was so glad for him in the end.
This book is full of teenage summer fun. It’s filled with cute boys, cheeky girls and was a fast, easy read. I’m curious to read the other books in this series to see what goes down with these cousins. I enjoyed the book enough that I want to keep up with this series so there you go.
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
This sounds really great, a light and easy read!
This is a light, fluffy read. Perfect for the beach!
I agree with everything you said. Beth was my fave, Jamie annoyed me, and Ella….I don’t even know what to say about her. Haha. All in all it was actually enjoyable. 😀
I read this in high school and all I remember about it is that I thought it was dumb. Haha but thats before I really read or understood the YA genre, and I also had to read lots of classics for school so I was probably being stuck up about it.
I almost picked this up at B&N a few weeks ago but just didn’t. I am going to have to get in from the library though because it sounds really good.
Justine,
Have you read the other books in this series? I’m curious to see if I should read them. Jamie was rather blah to me and Ella, I couldn’t stand so that leaves just Beth. I’m curious.
Danielle,
LOL, I would probably have read and thought the same thing if I read this in high school. It took a lot to hold my attention in high school which is why I didn’t read too much. I was much more distracted by boys then I was by books. Boy did I miss out!
Jennie,
I would get it from your library, don’t buy it.