Summer is right around the corner and it's time to recommend summer beach reads. With my love of the movies, I can't resist recommending Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter. Liz Buxbaum, whose deceased mother used to be a rom/com screenwriter, is looking for her own happily-ever-after, but finds it in an unexpected love interest. My Epic Spring Break (Up) by Kristen Rockaway (How to Hack a Heartbreak) introduces Ashley Bergen, a coder who has always been focused on academics. When she is rejected for a summer internship by ZigZag, a popular social media platform, she decides to refocus on her social life with unanticipated results. It's Kind of a Cheesy Love Story by Lauren Morrill (Meant to Be) finds Beck Brix, the infamous Pizza Princess who was born on the bathroom floor of Hot n' Crusty Pizza, struggling to escape her notoriety and move on. In Sunkissed by rom/com favorite Kasie West (Lucky in Love), Avery Young is heading off to a summer vacation with her family in an homage to Dirty Dancing.
Better than the Movies introduces Liz Buxbaum, who loves romantic comedies. After losing her mother, who was a rom/com screenwriter, Liz draws comfort from the soundtracks, the happy endings and the connection she feels to her mom when she watches them. Her senior year is ripe for rom/com moments, but she finds herself missing her mom more than ever. When Michael, her childhood crush, moves back to town, she decides going to prom with him with be the perfect happy ending. She enlists the help of her arch nemesis Wes Bennett, her next-door neighbor, who has driven her crazy since they were kids. He agrees to help her attract Michael, in exchange for her giving him the prize neighborhood parking spot for the rest of senior year. Like the best rom/coms the story is filled with witty dialogue and there are twists and turn in the path to true love. Each chapter starts with a quote from a classic rom/com and they are peppered throughout the text, as well.
In My Epic Spring Break (Up) mathlete Ashley Bergen has always been focused on academics and is sure she is a shoe-in for a summer internship at ZigZag, a popular social media platform. When she is rejected, she is devastated and decides to focus on her lack of a social life over spring break. In addition to competing in a coding hackathon, she is going to pursue her crush, popular Walker Beech. To her surprise he seems to reciprocate her interest, and she finds herself involved in risky behavior and paying the price. Meanwhile Ashley's lifelong friend Jason, who seems to be a better match, tries to convince her Walker is bad news. As the hackathon approaches, she finds out the ZigZag team will be judging the contest and the prize will be a summer position in Silicon Valley. Inviting Jason to join her team, she vacillates between her growing attraction to him while practicing for the competition and trying to please Walker. Making one misguided choice after another, she struggles to find the right path for her romantic, as well as STEM future. The author is a former programmer and has a real sense of a female navigating the IT world.
It's Kind of a Cheesy Love Story focuses on Beck Brix, who is known as the "Pizza Princess" or "Bathroom Baby" after her notorious birth on the bathroom floor of Hot 'N Crusty Pizza. The restaurant manager has given her free pizza for life and a guaranteed job when she turn sixteen, but she is mortified by the attention she receives from the media and the pizza palace every birthday. When she falls in with the popular crowd, she is determined to shed her infamy, but ends up taking the job and finding her true comfort zone with the pizza crew. Although she has a crush on Mac, a popular football player, she finds herself attracted to Tristan, the moody delivery guy at Hot "N Crusty, and her workmates are obsessed with the same vintage Sci/Fi show that she and her dad love. When disaster strikes the restaurant, her status as Pizza Princess gives her a unique opportunity to help. Her self-deprecating personality and predictable rom/com disasters, makes this a enjoyable summer romp.
Kasie West's latest book Sunkissed is an homage to the classic film Dirty Dancing. Avery Young's family summer vacation finds her at a remote resort in the California woods, where she is trying to recover from her best friend's betrayal in kissing Avery's boyfriend. Cautious by nature, Avery decides she is going to spend the summer stepping out of her comfort zone. She agrees to help Brooks, a handsome staff member, write songs for his band and ends up singing with the band when the lead singer is injured. Of course, campers fraternizing with staff is against the rules, so her outgoing sister, who is a video blogger hoping to do a piece on the band, helps her sneak around to spend time with Brooks. Although Avery has a great voice, she has stage fright and is reticent to sing with the band at an upcoming competition. Coupled with her parents' disapproval. her growing attraction to Brooks leaves her struggling find herself in this predictable but satisfying YA romance.
