The Sting of Summer by Katherine Over Pages: 264
Published by Createspace Independent Pub on May 11, 2014
Genres: contemporary, Family, Love & Romance, Young Adult
Source: ecopy from Author
Summer has arrived. For seventeen-year-old Becca, it marks the start of the wedding season. Her family operates an event venue in the form of a renovated barn, and nearly every weekend a wedding takes place in their backyard. Becca lends a helping hand for the accelerated schedule, but work is not the only task on her mind. Seth, her longtime crush, has nabbed a photography internship that requires wedding coverage, putting the two of them in close proximity. Becca intends to make Seth something more than a far-reaching fantasy, but it's hard to build a dream when a growing tension in her family life cannot be avoided.
Will Becca succeed in her quest for love?
Or will summer collide with her plans and leave nothing but a sting in her heart?
The Sting of Summer was refreshing for me in so many ways. I loved all of the different themes and concepts that the author incorporated into the book. There was not only romance, but also the theme of expectations came up a couple of times. It was unexpected for me, but it was also kind of my favorite part of the book. The main character, Becca, dealt with various people not living up to her expectations- her lifelong crush, her sister, her mom. And each of these people had their own subplot that was resolved throughout the story in different ways. If you are looking for a sweet summer romance with a little extra, The Sting of Summer is the book for you!
Becca is seventeen and every summer she helps out with her families wedding and event planning business. It was kind of interesting to get a birds eye view of a small homerun business from the “inside”. We saw some of the difficulties and stresses that running a business can put on a family. I loved Becca and her best friend Andie. They had a great dynamic going on. At the start of summer, Becca finally gets noticed by her long time crush, Seth and she starts hanging out with him. I thought I knew where this book was headed from the start, and I was perfectly fine for that. But Katherine Over completely took me by surprise.
It seems like right when Becca finally got what she wanted, she thought she would be done and happy, but it was only the start of her decisions. Becca was a great character. She is sweet and smart, and not overly whiny. Let’s give a big woot woot! for that. And this girl had some legitimate things to complain about, but all of her stresses and worries were completely appropriate and never over the top. She held it together remarkably well. As I was reading The Sting of Summer, I found myself not only rooting for Becca and a certain someone to get together, but also for the big notorious Johnson wedding to go smoothly. Plus I wanted to find out what was going on with her sister and I wanted her family problems to get resolved. I love when I go into a book expecting one thing and I get that thing and so much more. That is what I got with The Sting of Summer. So much more.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
kindlemom1
This does sound like it is a great summer read. I am glad you enjoyed it so much!