This past summer there were a few books I saw trending from some of my favorite authors on Twitter, A Summer Like No Other was one of them. The cover appealed to me (yes, I judge books by their covers) and the overall story line seemed pretty good. I was knee deep in Stephanie Plum novels so I set the book aside and finally decided to pick it back up.
It is safe to say that A Summer Like No Other sucked me in. The book ended a lot sooner than I expected it to (around 87% on my Kindle) so I very quickly picked up Always Second Best. I highly suggest picking up A Summer Like No Other and getting sucked in like me, while you’re at it just buy the sequel.
Synopsis
She’s his best friend’s little sister. He’s the biggest player of them all. They shouldn’t be together. But this summer’s just too tempting.
Sixteen-year-old Emilia Moretti’s goal for the summer is simple: forget her brother’s best friend—Nick Grawsky—ever existed. It should be easy: He’s spending his summer in the Hamptons, adding girls in tiny bikinis to his list of broken hearts. Guarantee he won’t be telling them they’re like his little sisters.
This summer, Emilia won’t stay awake at night thinking about him. She’ll need flawless ballet movements to have a shot at next year’s showcase, and she’s finally ready to search for her birth parents. But when Nick decides to stay in the city, Emilia’s resolve disappears in a pirouette. Maybe it’s the spin they needed to be together. As long as she doesn’t get stuck believing in happily ever after…
Nick is tired of pretending to be the happy, let’s-have-fun guy. His father wants him to change his career from professional dancer to…lawyer. He needs to put all of his focus on dancing to prove to Daddy Dearest he’s good enough to make it big. And he may have a case of the bluest balls in history courtesy of Emilia. She’s off-limits: The bro code with Roberto even forbids the dirty thoughts he has about her. Besides, he’s not boyfriend material. He only has time for flings, for girls who don’t expect much, for girls he doesn’t want to kiss goodnight. He knows he should resist her, but he’s not sure he wants to… At least for this summer.
It’s going to be a summer like no other.
My Thoughts
I loved A Summer Like No Other but I was also frustrated with some aspects of it, mainly how/where it ended. I was not expecting the book to end as quickly as it did, so I felt like I really had to pick up Always Second Best to be content with the series. I always enjoy a good cliffhanger but my kindle had told me I had 13% left in the book where I really did not. I would have liked to have known that I was closer to the ending of the book instead of the shock when it ended. Then again, it just made me start another book that much faster.
This is book two in a series (that can be read independently of one another) and I have not read the first one. For the most part I did not feel like I was left out with the main characters of this book. The first book in the series, One Two Three, focused on Emilia’s roommate Nata from what I can tell and Nata did have her moments in A Summer Like No Other. There were some pieces I feel like I might have understood a little more if I had read One Two Three, but for the most part was fine picking up with book two.
As for the main characters in the book, I LOVED Em. I can be hit or miss with main characters but she seemed to truly just want to find herself and felt that her birth mother was necessary in that search. She never acted like a spoiled brat and the days that she was frustrated felt pretty justified. I felt so bad for her when she made progress that messed with her mentally and emotionally. If only she hadn’t agreed to only one summer with Nick.
When it came to Nick I went back and forth. I see where he and Em have a long history. They’ve been friends forever, he is her brother’s best friend and their dad’s used to work together. His dad had reasons to want to keep him away, but I hated how Nick was unable to stand up for himself. I understand his struggle but would have liked to see a better ending with his dad.
Overall I really enjoyed the book despite it ending so quickly. I jumped right into Always Second Best because I can’t wait to find out what happens with Nick and Em. I would definitely recommend the book A Summer Like No Other just be ready to start on the second one as soon as you finish!
What have you been reading lately?