Jul 21, 2014

{Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway} of This Summer by Katlyn Duncan


This Summer by Katlyn Duncan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

GENRE: New Adult
THEME: Contemporary Romance
RECEIVED: NetGalley | Rockstar Tours
TOUR: Tour Schedule

BLURB:
Before college, before responsibilities, Hadley Beauman and best friend Lily are determined to have a summer to remember. There will be all the usual dramas - ex-boyfriends who don't seem to know what 'ex' means, pesky younger brothers with unrequited crushes, but what Hadley didn't anticipate was the out-of-the-blue return of the seriously hot boy-next-door, Will Carson. The boy who broke her heart when he skipped town two years ago.

Will may have shot up a foot and filled out (oh yes), but inside he carries the weight of guilt - for leaving, for coming back... Now he's just passing through to tie up loose ends but it's clear the old chemistry still crackles between him and Hadley. Trouble is, it's built on two years of lies...

This summer might just be the best time of their lives, but is Hadley ready for everything to change - again?

REVIEW:

Oh the fond memories of summer camp, it was like a trip down memory lane with this story, except I didn’t get the excitement and drama of romance. I had some love hate moments with this story, mostly in the beginning because the pace was a bit slow for my liking. This being the main reason I didn’t get five stars, I need to be hooked and I had to wait until almost the middle of the book to get there. The characters and their side stories were what will hook any reader that is a hopeless romantic like me, I always root for the underdog or the sad story just hits me, it just works.

This Summer follows Hadley, who is about to spend her last summer before college helping at her dads summer camp. This is the usual routine except that now she is single and has to deal with her ex working at summer camp with her. But the major difference is her best friend Will is back in town, he broke her heart and took off without a word years ago. Needless to say she has a lot of drama and tension to get through with her last summer camp.

Hadley is just an average sweet girl who is helping out as a counselor at her father’s summer camp. She is dealt with many problems right of the bat, with her ex steal wanting to be with her, her best friend Will coming home for the summer and her best girl friend being seriously over protective, all in all a very eventually summer is ahead for her. I liked Hadley’s character as the story moves forward; at the beginning I didn’t really understand why she broke it off with her boyfriend until Will was introduced. Her relationship with her best girl friend Lily was hilarious; they were trouble together, mostly because Lily is a wild child. But the major focus was on Will and Hadley, I liked that their relationship wasn’t instantly fixed; they had issues to figure out. Plus Will’s life is in a downward spiral, his family isn’t in a good place and his secrets are the real problem with Hadley. The parts of the story written from Hadley’s POV were sweet and I really felt for her, Will confuses her with his hot and cold moments and her heart is still hurting.

Will is a twenty year old who was forced to grow up fast, dealing with his unstable father and the impact of his mother’s absence. Will is much happier being back to his hometown and near the one person who made everything better, Hadley. Their relationship was always close, being best friends for so long. But after a kiss and his fathers shift, he had to make a life change by moving away. Now being back he is getting a much-needed break from his father and realizing the mistake of leaving the love of his life. The best bits for me were reading from Will’s POV, he has the most character development and the poor guy has a lot on his shoulders. But the best were every moment with Hadley, the way she made him feel and the protectiveness he still felt for her. Overall their relationship was challenged and grew stronger, they must come to terms with what both of them want and make it their choice.

Overall, this was a great summer read, as I said before all hopeless romantics will eat this book up with a bowl of ice cream. There are strong secondary characters with Hadley’s brother Ethan and her best friend Lily, as well as Will’s father who adds some major tension. I look forward to more stories from Duncan and hope that maybe Will and Hadley’s story will continue.

RECOMMENDATION:

This is a young adult novel with some minor sexual content for mature readers. Fans of Jennifer Armentrouts Wait for You and Abbie Glines Sea Breeze Series will enjoy This Summer by Katlyn Duncan.

View all my reviews



Katlyn Duncan was born and raised in a small town in western Massachusetts. Her overactive imagination involved invisible friends, wanting to be a Disney Princess and making up her own stories. Her bibliophile mom always encouraged her love of reading and that stayed with her since. Even though she works full time in the medical field Katlyn has always made time for books, whether she is reading or writing them.

Katlyn now lives in southern Connecticut with her husband and adorable Wheaten Terrier and she is thrilled to finally share her stories with the world.




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3 comments:

  1. Summer Romance because it's more meaningful :)

    Thank you :)

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  2. I would go with summer fling ! A fun flirty adventure if I was to have a hot summer romance I would want to keep that romance to hold on to always and it would not just be for one summer.

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  3. Ooo. I love good best friend dynamics! And summer camp seems like such a good setting. I'm very much interested. Thanks for the review. :D

    ReplyDelete