Tag: Michelle Dalton

Review: Pulled Under by Michelle Dalton

Posted May 16, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Rowena’s review by Pulled Under by Michelle Dalton.

A shy teen befriends an attractive beach town tourist in this refreshing summertime romance, in the tradition of Sixteenth Summer and Seventeenth Summer.

In the small town of Pearl Beach, Florida, Izzy Lucas needs only her surfboard and the water to be completely happy. She wants nothing to do with parties, popularity contests, or showing her face around the clichéd touristy hangouts. Izzy’s tight group of coworkers at the local surf shop have tried relentlessly to break shy Izzy out of her (sea)shell. But Izzy isn’t interested…until the day Ben Barker walks into the store.

Ben’s from the city. He’s cute, charming, and wants her help adjusting to beach town culture. As the weeks of surfing lessons and pizza shack visits fly by, Izzy and Ben realize their attraction goes beyond mere friendship. But Ben is only in town for three months, and Izzy wonders if this amazing guy is worth stepping out of her comfort zone for what might be the perfect summer romance—or her first heartbreak.

I read both Sixteenth and Fifteenth Summer and enjoyed both books so when this book came up for review, I was excited to jump right in. I’m a fan of the summer romances stories and this was one of those that I was sure I would enjoy. I wasn’t wrong. This was a cute read that made me smile. It was adorable getting to know both Ben and Izzy. Seeing them become smitten with each other and then eventually take that fall into love with each other.

I loved that Ben ran all those miles with Izzy’s father after they kissed. I loved Izzy’s parents and their highly competitive board games. I loved Izzy’s friends and I absolutely adored Ben’s way of getting Izzy’s attention.

This book takes place over the course of one summer and of the three books that I read by this author, this summer romance had my favorite ending. It was a cute, contemporary beach read that hit all the right spots. Too cute for words and one that I definitely recommend.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from Simon Pulse. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Tagged: 3.5 Reviews, Contemporary, Michelle Dalton, Rowena's Reviews, Simon Pulse, Sixteenth Summer Series, Young Adult

Review: Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton.

Posted January 16, 2013 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Rowena’s review of Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton.

Main Character: Chelsea
Love Interest: Josh
Series:
Author: Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

Love blossoms by the lake in this sweet summer romance, in the tradition of Seventeeth Summer and Sixteenth Summer.Chelsea isn’t looking forward to her summer at the lake. It’s the first time her family has been there since her grandmother died, and she can’t break out of her funk. But her summer takes a turn for the better when she meets a boy who works in the bookstore. Josh is cute, sweet, funny…and best of all, seems to like her as much as she likes him. As the days pass by in a blur of boat rides, picnics, and stolen kisses, she can’t believe how lucky she is. No one has ever made her feel so special, or so beautiful.

But Chelsea knows her days with Josh are numbered. She’ll be heading home at the end of the summer—and he’ll be staying behind. Will this be Chelsea’s summer of love? Or will it be the summer of her broken heart?

Michelle Dalton has written another charming summer novel that had me grinning like a crazy person.

Chelsea’s fifteen years old and her grandmother just died. Her parents plan a summer trip to her grandmother’s house in Michigan (she lives in L.A.) and the summer is spent dealing with her grief, her families grief and just trying to move on from a death in the family that rocked their world.

Chelsea is a huge reader so when she finds a new bookstore in town, she’s more than a little thrilled because her ebook reader went kaputz when she took it with her in the bathroom when she showered. Water and electronics don’t mix and Chelsea learns that the hard way. Not being able to take her books with her on the long road trip, Chels is bummed that she might be spending her entire summer reading the same old books at the town library but when she sees Dog Eared (the bookstore), things are starting to look up.

Especially since inside the bookstore, she sees a really cute boy that she’d really liked to get to know better.

This book follows Chelsea and her sisters fall in love, get their hearts broken and deal with the loss of their grandmother. I thought Dalton did a great job with fleshing out each and every single character in this book. Even though this book was primarily told from Chelsea’s POV, I still had a very vivid picture of each character in this story and I really liked the whole lot of people in Chelsea’s life. They were each flawed and they were each different but they were all what made Chelsea’s life full.

The romance between Chelsea and her love interest was too cute for words. I really enjoyed getting to know the both of them and really loved their shared love of books. There were times when I felt that both Chelsea and her love interest were a little on the young side but for the most part, they were adorable. This was a very entertaining book, one with a too cute summer romance that was everything a summer romance should have. I think fans of Stephanie Perkins, Lauren Barnholdt and Jennifer Echols will enjoy this story. I’m so glad that I read it.

…and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Simon Pulse. This book was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This book comes on May 7, 2013 so mark your calendars!
Pre-order the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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Tagged: 4.0 Reviews, Contemporary, Edelweiss, Michelle Dalton, Reviews, Rowena's Reviews, Simon Pulse, Young Adult

Review: Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton.

Posted May 17, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 3 Comments

Main Character: Anna
Love Interest: Will
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

Anna is dreading another tourist-filled summer on Dune Island that follows the same routine: beach, ice cream, friends, repeat. That is, until she locks eyes with Will, the gorgeous and sweet guy visiting from New York. Soon, her summer is filled with flirtatious fun as Anna falls head over heels in love.But with every perfect afternoon, sweet kiss, and walk on the beach, Anna can’t ignore that the days are quickly growing shorter, and Will has to leave at the end of August. Anna’s never felt anything like this before, but when forever isn’t even a possibility, one summer doesn’t feel worth the promise of her heart breaking….

It’s summer time on Dune Island and Anna has got ants in her pants. She’s restless and not quite sure why she feels the way she does. She loves the island but she’s also longing for adventure, somewhere in the big city. Her two best friends Sam and Caroline have gotten together and are officially a couple which kind of weirds her out because she’s not used to seeing them all lovey dovey with each other and try as she might, she can’t stop feeling left out of whatever they’ve got going on.

So what do you do to cure yourself of all of the weirdness going on with your friends? You get yourself a boyfriend, duh!

Anna meets Will one night on the beach and it’s almost cute the way that they stare at each other. Will is a shoobie, a summer tourist and he’s like to do all of the touristy things around town which is something that Anna and her townie friends frown upon. But Anna can’t help it, she doesn’t care what she does as long as it’s with Will.

Watching Anna and Will’s relationship blossom was such a treat. They were too cute and I loved that the way their romance was so normal. It’s the kind of romance that you’d likely hear from someone you met in real life. Dalton did a great job of showing the reader that even normal people can have great romances. This book was about summer romances and even though they’re short and passionate, they’re still real and memorable.

The worries Anna had about the end of the summer were all so real and the author did a wonderful job of making me sympathize with Anna instead of wanting to beat her for ruining a perfect summer romance. She was upfront with what worried her and she had those normal teenage worries that made me sigh and think back on my past summer romances.

Will was a great love interest. I thought he was adorable and the way that he loved Anna was too freaking cute. He wasn’t this perfect boy who had all the answers and was the popular boy on the beach, he was just Will and I adored him.

This is the perfect summer read. It’s got a cute romance, characters that will have you smiling all through out the book and it’s a fast read. There wasn’t any time for it to lag so all around, it was a great story! I enjoyed it a lot. Read this book if you’re in the mood for something light and summery with cute boys in it. This one fits that bill!

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com