My Bad Boy Summer by Ann Herrick – a Review

My Bad Boy Summer by Ann Herrick – a Review

 

My Bad Boy SummerAmazon

Description:
Will Nolan give up his bad-boy ways for Vija?

17-year-old Vija Skalbe wants to be an all-American girl—no matter how hard her parents try to impose their strict Latvian standards on her. She feels unsure of herself with one foot in each country.

Then Nolan, a folksinger, steals her heart at a coffeehouse. When Nolan stops at their table, it’s Vija’s friend, Caprice, who does all the talking. But it is Vija who gets his phone number—and later the back seat of his motorcycle. Soon she is cruising from one adventure to another, dizzy with joy, her new-found freedom and the excitement of being with the kind of guy who is a challenge.

However, when her father has a heart attack, Vija must take over running the family lawn-care business. She feels overwhelmed until sweet brainiac Joel volunteers to help. He shares the workload and lifts her spirits with his humor. But it is Nolan who fills her heart.

It doesn’t matter that Nolan wants everything his way. Or that he’s constantly eyeing other girls. Or that he can be pouty and punitive. Or that he says she’s seeing things all wrong. Until it does matter. But Vija’s in so deep. Will he change? Will she deal with Nolan’s controlling tactics, or is she too far under his spell?

Review:

My Bad Boy Summer by Ann Herrick follows teenager Vija Skalbe through her first true romance.  The year is 1959 and school has just ended for the summer.  Vija emigrated from Latvia to the United States when she was eleven.  Now seventeen – all she really wants is to have a typical American teenage summer.  Her first Friday night of summer vacation and she finds herself at The Exit – a local coffee shop that features music on Friday nights.  Vija’s best friend Caprice has brought her here for a night out of fun and possibly meeting guys.  And even though Vija knows her strict parents wouldn’t be happy that this is where she has found herself on a Friday night – she resigns herself to enjoy the night.  That’s when she meets local folksinger – Nolan Shar.  And while Caprice has her eyes set on bad boy Nolan – he seems to take an interest in Vija, much to Caprice’s chagrin.  Nolan gives Vija his phone number telling her to call if she feels like talking.  And what begins after is a whirlwind summer romance, fraught with lies, complexities, and teen angst.  Vija has exactly what she has wanted, a boyfriend to spend time with.  But as time goes on – she begins to contemplate why it is that she hasn’t told her family about him?  And what will happen when she does? 

I fell for Vija from the first page. She was relatable with real life issues.  Her parents are strict and exactly as I would picture parents being in 1959. She is complex, hard working, and not one to disappoint her parents.  She doesn’t refuse to babysit for a family friend, even though she wants to.  She doesn’t say no to helping her father with his yard-care business, although she would much rather be at the beach.  She is a dutiful daughter and not afraid of hard work.  But when Nolan comes along she begins to tell lies.  Lies to where she was, who she was with and what she was doing.  She knows, although she doesn’t quite admit it until later on – that her parents will not approve of Nolan Shar.  And with just reason.

I knew I was not going to like Nolan from their first phone conversation.  And it quickly went down hill from there.  His attitude towards Vija was ridiculous.  And while she was pining for her first love (we have all been there) he was treating her horrendously.  His criticism of her every time they were together – grated on me and infuriated me. And his constant dismissing of her feelings truly angered me.   I wanted to like him – I wanted to turn a page and have him have some redeeming quality that proved he deserved Vija.  But it never happened.   And although I know it was her first love and she was deeply immersed – I wanted her to see what a total ass this guy was. Because I get it – he was the quintessential bad boy – he lived by his own rules and no one tells him what to do.  She found it appealing – at some point we all have.  But I could not bring myself to like him – not one bit.  BUT, it was refreshing to see a real life, true to realism relationship.  With all that goes along with getting to know a significant other and what you are willing to change about yourself for another person.

Then “Joel the Genius” saunters onto the scene.  And I knew the moment I met him, that he was the one.  He is the one to show Vija how she is supposed to be treated.  He is the one that will show her the respect she deserves.  And although they have been friends for quite some time – eventually she would get past the fact that he was the smart kid she called for math help.  She would eventually see him for what he truly is and the man he is becoming.  And the more time she spent with Joel the less time I wanted to read about Nolan.  And Vija found that to be true too.  The more time she spent with Noel the less she thought about Nolan.  Will she be able to walk away from Nolan and find happiness with Joel?

I wanted Vija to be happy, I wanted her to have everything that she deserves. And as the story unfolds you realize that just like with everything – no one can tell you who to care about or who to fall in love with.  Each person has to walk that discovery on their own.  And Vija does just that.  This is her story to discovering who she is and what she wants, and if she is willing to sacrifice her beliefs or not.  

The story is thought provoking and should be a must read for all teenage girls.  We have all put up with things in relationships that we shouldn’t have and for way too long.  But she is young and first love is the hardest.  And even though the years are far apart (1959 vs. today) the story still holds true,  that even though the package is nice and pretty on the outside and quite tempting  – what’s inside isn’t always what its cracked up to be.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Author

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My Fake Summer Boyfriend by Ann Herrick-a review

My Fake Summer Boyfriend by Ann Herrick – a review

My Fake Summer boyfriend

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 13, 2014

Sun, surf, sand and Alex–Katie was swept away!

Katie eagerly agrees to pretend she is Alex’s girlfriend for the summer in order to protect his job. Amid sundrenched waves, they develop a friendship that is on the verge of turning romantic, when who should arrive but Nicole, Alex’s old girlfriend. In three days, Nicole ruins Katie’s relationship with Alex. So Katie gets involved with Logan, Nicole’s handsome older brother, though Alex is the one for her.

Soon enough Katie learns that fake romances can get out of hand and lead to complications she never imagined.

••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: My Fake Summer Boyfriend is a heartwarming YA summer love story by Ann Herrick.

Katie Price is a soon to be sixteen year old girl, with an undeniable crush. She has it bad for seventeen year old, school newspaper editor, Alex Stedman. With the summer fast approaching Katie better make her move. On the last day of school she crosses paths with Alex just as he is leaving school. When he offers her a ride home she gladly accepts. But the ride is awkward and Katie doesn’t quite know what to say. But as luck would have it her parents are dragging her away to the beach for the summer. She would not get the chance to cultivate the relationship she badly wants with Alex. After trying everything to get out of going on summer vacation, Katie reluctantly gives in. After the urging of her best friend, Samantha, Katie decides that a summer romance may be just what she needs to prepare her for the next school year and for Alex. Heading off on a summer of adventure in Chatfield, Katie is pretty happy about the prospect of a summer romance to get her in practice for the real thing with Alex. Until….She walks to the local store and finds that none other than Alex Stedman working there. Her summer may not be so bad after all.

I loved this story in that it is a classic summer love story. Katie is awkward in her dating / love life – as any wholesome sixteen year old would be. I found that I loved the friendship and bond she found with Alex. The sub-characters of the younger siblings were the right mix of annoying and lovable as any younger sibling would be. And I found that I truly enjoyed their part of the story. Of course with any love story there is those that try to cause chaos in the relationship. And the characters that brought the chaos were perfect, and they came along at just the right moment. I would highly recommend this quick read to anyone that wants an enjoyable classic love story. I can’t wait to share this love story with my daughter, she will absolutely love it as much as I did. I hope to hear more of Katie and Alex in future books – they deserve it.

Copy supplied by the author

Reviewed by Erin

About The author

You can find Ann at : Goodreads / Website / Twitter /

Ann HerrickAnn Herrick is the author of several books and short stories for kids and teens. Her books have won several awards, such as the ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers award and an IRA/CBC Children’s Choice award. Her stories have appeared in magazines such as ‘Teen, Listen, The Single Parent, Children’s Digest and The Friend.

Ann Herrick grew up in Connecticut, where she graduated from The Morgan School and Quinnipiac University. She now lives in Oregon with her husband, who was her high-school sweetheart. Their wonderful daughter is grown, married and gainfully employed, and has given Ann her only grand-dog, Puff, a bloodhound-rottweiller-beagle mix. While she misses the East Coast, especially houses built before 1900, she enjoys the green valleys, fresh air and low humidity in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Ann loves cats, walking and working in her back yard. In addition to stories and books for children and young adults, Ann also writes copy for humorous and conventional greeting cards.”

The vast majority of Ann’s books are HFN (Happily For Now, with the possibility of Happily Ever After. The characters are in their teens, after all, so Ever After would be a *really* long time.) Two books have positive endings, but not the standard HFN or HEA, but with those possibilities if the reader reads very carefully between the lines at the end of the story.

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