Genres: New adult contemporary fiction, romance, coming-of-age

Stars: 4

Links: Amazon UK and Amazon US

 

The Blurb:

It seemed only natural to nickname them the ‘Onslow Boys’. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week’s work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him … Toby Morrison.

Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.

To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.

How did she let her friends talk her into working?

After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.

All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.

It will be a summer she will always remember.

 

My Review:

Brimming with the angst and awkwardness that comes with growing up, this is heart-warming new adult romance.

When Tess starts waitressing at the Onslow Hotel, all she wants is to forget the taunting she regularly gets at school, instigated by her ex and his nasty friends. But when her job brings her closer to Toby, a boy she’s been crushing on for years but was always too old and popular to notice her, Tess realises change is on the horizon… and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

With witty banter, fast pace, and lots of teenage dilemmas, this is both a coming-of-age and one of those romances that have you wanting to shake some sense into both protagonists – and to tell them to grow up. One for the beach, or those cold months wishing you were at the beach. Enjoy!