Open Road Summer by Emery Lord Pages: 352
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA on April 15, 2014
Genres: Coming of Age, contemporary, Friendship, Love & Romance
Source: ARC from Publisher
After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.
Open Road Summer is a really heartwarming tale of two best friends. Dee is a country music rising star. She is a teen music idol, and she is going on a summer tour. But what is awesome about the story is that she is the famous secondary character. The main character of the story is her best friend, Reagan. We still got to see Reagan and Dee be goofballs together, but this was Reagan’s coming of age story. Hers and Matt. Matt was part of a family tween music group and now he is a solo performer. Teen heartthrob- all that. He is just a big ole sweetheart.
Reagan is a tough nut to crack. She seriously does not give anyone a pass. You can easily tell how much she loves Dee and how she would do anything for her, but other than Dee everyone kind of got the tough girl act. She would not give Matt an inch when she first met him. I thought it was cute that Matt liked her feisty side, and it was so much fun watching them banter back and forth. I loved how great of friends Dee and Matt were and I thought it was sweet when Reagan finally decided that Matt had good intentions and started to open up to him.
Matt, Dee and Reagan were each dealing with their own demons, and throughout the course of Open Road Summer we got learn about all of them and watch how they handled them. It was really a great story about each of the three friends. It was easy to forget how young they were(17 and 19) because they were handling with such grown up things. But they each snapped once or twice. None of them were perfect. Sometimes they were immature, sometimes they would lash out at another one without meaning too. But they always seemed very real.
Open Road Summer is a book that will make you smile, it will make you frown. It will make you feel connected to each and every one of the characters. Emery Lord did a wonderful job with her debut novel. It is so easy to fall in love with the characters- even Reagan will steal a piece of your heart. Even with her tough chick act, and her steel walls; she will make you believe in her and make you root for her. There are no love triangles, no unsupportive friends, no huge jerks(well there is one, but he was in the past the whole time. So I should say no current jerks.). It is just a really great story about friendship and love.
Have you entered my blogoversary giveaway yet?
kindlemom1
I really think I would love this it so sounds like my kind of read and I think it would be perfect for summer! I am definitely going to pick this one up soon.
Fabulous review!
Michelle @ Book Briefs
Thanks, this one was really sweet. I am all about the romance but I loved the friendship in this one just as much 😉
Missie
I love when the book allows you to connect to the characters, it really makes you feel the story!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
kimbacaffeinate
I love a book that makes you feel and connect with the characters. This sounds sweet and I am want to discover their friendship 🙂
Jordan
I cannot wait to get my hands on this book. She is going to be at a signing near me and I have to wait to get it. that is the only bad thing about signings, you have to buy the book there!
Great review. You made me want this book even more.
-Jordan
Michelle @ Book Briefs
ooh have fun at the signing! That is awesome. I bet this book will make you smile 🙂
Christy
Darn, I almost got this when I saw it on NG or Edelweiss but decided against it. I should’ve got it. I really like the whole rebellious girl thing; I think I’d like Reagan. Now I need to buy this and make time for it.