Told from dual first-person perspectives, When Summer Ends follows the lives of high school star pitcher Aiden, who is secretly dealing with a vision impairment, and aspiring journalist Olivia, who did not get the summer newspaper internship she was hoping for and is nursing her first heartbreak.  Securing a job at his family vacation boat rental store on Lake Michigan, Olivia begins to heal as she and Aiden work side by side and begin an innocent flirtation.  Then her absentee mother arrives in town, just as her custodial aunt tells her they are moving to Arizona for her senior year.  Aiden, who quit the baseball team at the end of their junior year without any explanation, confides in Olivia that he is losing his vision, which puts an end to his pitching aspirations. He now is focusing on his passion for art, but his high school teammates, including Olivia's ex, who are unaware of his diagnosis, won't stop pestering him about rejoining the team.  Olivia and Aiden decide to live summer by chance, using coin flips and rock, paper, scissors to make important decisions. They begin to fall in love as they each explore new possibilities, including a life together.  These two sympathetic characters will keep readers engaged and rooting for them until the very last page.

(4.5 stars)

"why did we have to meet the summer before I moved away?"

Through the story we follow Olivia and Aedin - two teenagers struggling with a lot of things, just wanting to let loose and enjoy their summer.

The characters felt really relatable and as the book progressed I ended up falling completely in love with them! I really shipped them together and anticipated what would happen next. 
I loved how I was waiting for them to make a move and to finally get to together.

The characters are the most essential component of the book for me and they can make it or break it and I am glad to say that in this book, they made it a 1000x better! 
The relationships amongst the characters were also complex but they could have been developed more- especially between Olivia and her mom - but they came together nicely and felt very realistic.

The writing was overall amazing as well! It sucked you in and I was unable to get up and do anything while I was reading this novel! It felt as if the words were flowing and I was enraptured by it all.

The plot was interesting as well. It felt a little cliché at first but then it dived into a new direction which made it much better.

The suspense of how it was all going to end was always hanging above our heads and the fact that there was a definite deadline for everything made the book so much more interesting! 

Overall, it turned into something I did not expect and I am really glad I read this book. The 'art adventures' that I went on with this book are something I will always remember. This book was exactly what I needed to get out of a slump. 
It was a cute, fluffy, fast read.

Other plus points for this book are: 
Slight visual disability representation 
Minor LGBTQIA+ community representation

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Pennington’s Love Songs & Other Lies last year, but I enjoyed her sophomore novel, When Summer Ends so much more! 
Even though conceptually it’s a book I’m less attracted to when compared with LS&OL, I actually swooned a lot more during Olivia and Aiden’s story. 
It’s a low-stakes, fun & romantic read good for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson—the romantic nature of Dessen’s work and the summer atmosphere of Matson’s. 
When Summer Ends has ALL the summer romance swoons! 
The atmosphere and summer setting were definitely one of my favorite parts of this. 
While I was meh in Love Songs & Other Lies about the setting, I absolutely adored this small, tourist town and summery story! Not only does this open up possibilities for so many fun scenes, like canoeing and interesting outdoors activities (as you can tell, I’m not very outdoorsy), but it also adds to that atmosphere! 
Teens can act a lot differently in the summer, and I think the atmosphere really helped Pennington establish this in the story—especially with Olivia’s move looming ahead at the end of summer. 
From canoeing to camping out to working in a tourist-y area, I definitely thought the worldbuilding was really top notch for this contemporary, and it made it a sweet and lighthearted read!
It’s a fun sort of read that’s great for relaxing.
I felt so peaceful when reading this book. 
It wasn’t just that I knew there would be a happily ever after (because, romance!), but also because the summer mood made it a little less stressful (I am less stressed in the summer) and the romance isn’t super high stakes. 
No one’s going to die or anything, and I just really needed this sort of gentle read that was more of a cozy summer read than a high-stakes romance. 
So, if you’re in the mood for something with lower stakes and not as much stress, I’d definitely recommend you pick When Summer Ends up!
I wanted a little more angst.
This may sound contradictory, given the fact that I just said that I liked the low stakes, but I guess what I mean by “I want more angst” is that I wanted more of the characters ruminating on these things. Not necessarily that the storyline is changed, but I wanted to get further into Aiden and Olivia’s heads. 
I feel like we didn’t really get to know them, and I wanted more from their sort of internal narrative. I wanted more of that relationship/dating induced anxiety, the “will he/won’t he?”, that sort of stuff. And although this definitely happened in places where it needed it, I wanted more from this. 
I wanted to hear more from Aiden and Olivia’s heads, and I think this is something I wish could have been expanded more on in When Summer Ends. 
Overall, When Summer Ends was a light read, good for romance fans!
In the end, I had a positive reading experience and found When Summer Ends to be a relaxing read, spurring on my senioritis with its tales of summer love. 
I’d recommend if you’re looking for something light, fluffy, and with low stakes to let you just sit back, relax, and enjoy.

This is such a good summer read! I was awwing and ohing so many times through the story. I usually don't like POV changes, but these were done really well! I also really love that loss of vision was included. Just a while back I read a book where a character was deaf and I realised, when you have romance books, especially summer reads like this one, characters are usually perfect. Otherwise the story gets too 'heavy' , but this wasn't the case at all. I just really love this book.

High school is hard enough without throwing major wrenches in the plan. Just ask Olivia and Aiden, two rising seniors who have just had their worlds shaken up in epic proportions.
Aiden is the high school baseball team's golden boy, the star pitcher. But he starts to wither under the pressure (and a rather serious health concern), leaving him off the field and behind the scenes at the local town shop. It's a break from his peers and makes his family happy. He also gets to send tourists out on boats, filed with ice cream, all summer, and the local folks usually stay far away. At least they do most summers.
This summer proves to be a little different, though.
Enter: Olivia.
Olivia has had everything going for her. Her perfect boyfriend, her cool aunt, distance from her estranged mom, a potential writing gig at her local magazine. But a few threads of her dream summer start to fray and then pull completely apart as one disaster after another threatens to unravel everything she'd imagined for her break.
Olivia's mom moves back into town to cover parent duties for her aunt (who just landed a dream job in Arizona) and Olivia finds herself escaping family drama to work at nine other than River Depot, where Aiden has set up for the summer.
Aiden and Olivia crash into each other's lives (they've been kind of orbiting one another for a while but never really connected) and, well, you can probably guess the rest. Summer romance ensues but only after a lot of awkward teenage fear and the assumption that there will be drama carried over from school and the baseball team.
One of my favorite, background aspects of this book was Michigan itself. The entire story revolves around this touristy shop where Aiden and Olivia work, sitting right on the lake. The way the setting is painted, it almost seems like the lake is its own character, beautiful and serendipitously pulling out two cranky, down and out teens together.
This story is a super sweet summer romance, perfect for anyone in need of a pick-me up. It has just the right amount of sugary softness balanced by deeper, underlying conversations. I loved Jessica Pennington's Love Songs & Other Lies, so this was an auto-pick for me and I was definitely not disappointed.

This was such a nice, easy, cute read about two teens trying to find themselves after life threw them some curveballs. Aiden was the star pitcher for his school the golden boy, baseball is all he knew, the summer before his last year he quit the game letting his team down. How could he explain he was losing his vision and he didn’t know what or how he would move on. Olivia had been with her boyfriend Zander for the last 2 years when her aunt decides to take a job that would move her miles away, he dumps her and leaves for the summer. Now alone and unsure what she is going to do, no boyfriend, her aunts moving, and her estranged mother emerged from the bushes. Olivia decides to make her last summer a fun and easy one, letting fate decide what she does next. What I loved about this book was how it wasn’t just about a summer romance they learned about themselves helping each other grow and experience other things. I don’t have anything bad to say about this book, I quite enjoyed it and think it it a great book for this coming summer to read.

I got an advanced e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review. Thanks, NetGalley!

This is your typical young-adult-summer-romance story, with a few differences in it that makes it stand out from other typical stories of this genre. The male lead, Aiden, quits the baseball team at the beginning of summer due to him slowly losing his vision (which only his family knows about), and slowly starts a relationship with his ex-catcher's ex-girlfriend, Olivia, who starts working at the River Depot store after failing to score an internship at a lake magazine, "Lake Lights".

Being that this is the first book by the author that I've read, I didn't know what to expect. Although there is a splatter of cuss words, I still found this book realistic and enjoyable. Olivia's realization of her true feelings of her relationship with Zander (her ex) didn't feel rushed or slow, but as if it happened in real time.

I do like that there was an epilogue at the end that revealed what happened after the summer. It felt like a nice little wrap up to the story.

This is one worth reading for fans of young adult summer reads.

I got an advanced e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review. Thanks, NetGalley!

This is your typical young-adult-summer-romance story, with a few differences in it that makes it stand out from other typical stories of this genre. The male lead, Aiden, quits the baseball team at the beginning of summer due to him slowly losing his vision (which only his family knows about), and slowly starts a relationship with his ex-catcher's ex-girlfriend, Olivia, who starts working at the River Depot store after failing to score an internship at a lake magazine, "Lake Lights".

Being that this is the first book by the author that I've read, I didn't know what to expect. Although there is a splatter of cuss words, I still found this book realistic and enjoyable. Olivia's realization of her true feelings of her relationship with Zander (her ex) didn't feel rushed or slow, but as if it happened in real time.

I do like that there was an epilogue at the end that revealed what happened after the summer. It felt like a nice little wrap up to the story.

This is one worth reading for fans of young adult summer reads.

I would definately like to thank netgally for this wonderful book. This was a very good young adult book that I have read in a long time. It has it all. A sweet hero , a heartfelt heroine, a absorbing plot, great friendship. In short I enjoyed it very much. The love story between the two main leads is so absorbing and slow burn that I was rooting for these two the whole time. Loved the book. Loved every line, every character, every moment that I spent on reading it. Basically I devoured it in one go. I am very thankful that I got to read this.

Sports? Check.
Romance? Check.

I love a good contemporary, and Jessica has worked for me twice now. I love these characters and their relationship. It's always fun to read a book about a summer romance that has to end for some reason or other. These make the best (IMO) because that limited amount of time makes the thrill, passion, and overall intensity all the more exciting. 

I'm so glad this didn't go into the territory I was expecting (blindness). That would've really ruined a lot for me.

While I enjoyed this, I still think I liked Love Songs & Other Lies a bit more. I do look forward to her next story though!

When Summer Ends was a feel good story with a lot of ups and down similar to the likes of Sarah Dessen and Colleen Hoover.

The story followed Aiden and Olivia as their two life journeys crossed and brought about a summer of finding themselves, recovering from losses of different kinds, and having a good time. While it did have that summer feel good vibe to it that I so love in many of the Teen Fiction books I read, When Summer Ends also brought a lot of emotions and real life situations that teenagers find themselves in.

I felt like we got to witness the characters growing as individuals as we read about their journey and I found myself smiling or groaning at different points when I just knew something was going to throw things off kilter. This always makes for good reading and author Jessica Pennington did not disappoint. Olivia was relatable and likable. Aiden was that untouchable boy in high school that suddenly surprises you because he’s just like any other boy, but maybe with some outstanding looks. I loved the emotion level that was just under the surface of every scene. You could feel what they were feeling and it brought a lot to the story.

I’m a huge fan of Sarah Dessen as an author and Jessica Pennington writes similar to her, but has her own style that I love. This book is perfect for laying on the beach and soaking up her words.

I really enjoyed this book! If you are a Sarah Dessen or Kasie West you will too! Olivia and Aiden are a super cute couple. I loved the dynamic between Olivia and her Aunt Sarah too. This is a great read for a tween who really likes romance this is the perfect book for you!

Aiden, his school’s star baseball pitcher until life throws him a curveball in the form of vision loss, abruptly quits the team without explanation. Over the summer, he works at River Depot, his family’s outdoor adventure business and devotes his time and energy to finding an art form that inspires him. Olivia, who lives with the aunt who has raised her after her mother left to “find herself”, is dumped by her lifelong friend-turned-boyfriend Zander, loses a great job writing for a local newspaper when they are forced to sell the business, and finds out that she’ll be moving to Arizona at the end of the summer for her aunt’s new job. Desperate to salvage what she can of the summer, she begins work at River Depot and vows to focus on her writing.

Although Zander and Aiden’s were teammates, he and Olivia have to dispel misconceptions and acknowledge the break-up before they can begin to build a romantic attachment. As trust builds, Aiden reveals his vision loss and Olivia her family issues. However, she doesn’t tell him about her impending move. When the truth comes out, will Aiden’s sense of betrayal destroy their relationship?

There’s much to love in this character-driven coming-of-age romance. Aiden is the perfect boyfriend and their relationship is adorable. Pennington’s choice of Lake Michigan as the beautiful backdrop for their love story is brilliant and their visit to the Grand Rapids ArtPrize festival serves as the perfect inspirational vehicle for Aiden’s large-scale projects. The dual points of view give the reader a more complete picture of their relationship. She also introduces Aiden’s gay cousin Ellis while avoiding the stereotypical “gay best friend” trope.

However, there are some minor flaws that bear addressing. Problems that seem monumental are too easily resolved, such as Olivia’s renewed relationship with her mother and Aiden’s vision loss that is never fully-explained. When Olivia’s boyfriend Zander breaks up with her, she doesn’t seem very heartbroken. It also seems problematic to leave fate to a coin toss, which is cute only the first time.

Overall, it’s a perfect quick summer read with an charming romance and a refreshing lack of teen angst. Give this to fans of Sarah Dessen, Kasie West and Huntley Fitzpatrick


I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Tor Teen through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A cute book that has me ready for summer. I liked the premise. It was a nice, fluffy book without too much emotion or heaviness attached.
However, in the same breath, I could say there wasn't enough emotion attached. I didn't really care that much about whether Olivia moved or not, or whether she ended up with Aiden or Zander. I mean, it kept my attention and kept me turning the page, but not with an avid desperation to find out what happened. 
The story is told from two perspectives, that of Olivia and that of Aiden. I really like when books do this, adn the author does a great job of keeping the voices easy to differentiate. But sometimes the jump between characters lost timing for me. Let me explain. Sometimes when the point of view went back and forth between Olivia and Aiden, it was from one moment to the next, continuing in the same scene. Other times, when the point of view changed, it would be in a completely different scene, setting or even day, but without any notice or explanation. One moment Aiden and Olivia are talking. Then the next point of view change, Olivia is with her mom or aunt or friend. I'd have to go back and read the last paragraph of the scene before to see if I missed something, but no, it just jumped. Those times were a little confusing and perhaps should have been flushed out more in editing. 
But overall, the story was cute.

I didn’t know that I received this book. It was to late when I realized, it’s now archived. If I had known sooner I would have loved to be able to read this.

When Summer Ends is a cute, fun read for anyone missing summer right now (aka me). It’s alternates between: Aiden, an all-star pitcher who quits the team without explanation before his senior year because he doesn’t want to admit his vision is failing; and Olivia, whose plans of a dream internship and warm days spent with her boyfriend completely fall apart. When Olivia has to find a replacement summer job, she does.. at the same place where Aiden works. Their paths cross and naturally, sparks fly although both try to fight it. But as much as the romance plays a big part, it’s also very much about the individuals. We find out what Aiden’s hidden passions are and watch as Olivia learns to let go by letting a coin flip decide her fate again and again. It's on the predictable side and surprisingly quiet when it comes to drama or angst (don't get me wrong, it's not devoid about it but its just not crazy) but ultimately I think that's why I liked it. It’s a sweet love story and personal journey that made for a quick read to easily immerse my self into for an afternoon.

Do I recommend? If you’re in the mood for a feel-good contemporary, I’d check this out from the library.

This book was a really cute weekend read. 
Life kept interrupting me otherwise I would have finished this in a day or so.
It's pace was neither too fast nor too slow. It was practically Goldilocks. 
When Summer Ends was the type of book I would not have hesitated to pick up when I was in high school and middle school. The relationship that Olivia had with Zander was the kind that a lot of girls get into during that age. In order to be cool, or accepted, or to have a boyfriend, they went along with whatever the boy wanted and didn't say anything. 
It was so gratifying to see that Olivia, instead of wallowing in her breakup, takes those feelings and looks back on the relationship. It was very healthy and I was so glad when she and Zander talked about it. Too little too late, but definitely better late than never. 
The relationship that Olivia then starts with Aiden wasn't really an improvement, so to speak, on her relationship with Zander. Despite the fat that Aiden did want to hang out and go on actual dates and take her places and enjoy time together, doing things they both liked, the fact that Olivia was not invested, or was trying not to be, wasn't good. 
Do I think that Aiden might have overreacted a little?
Yes. 
Do I think that it was probably necessary as a good kick in the pants for Olivia?
Yes.
Olivia's relationship with her mother, while not a huge plot point, was very significant. 
It was really nice seeing how they were both trying to be mother and daughter again and how Olivia kind of let go of the anger she felt towards her mother.
Aiden also was very important in terms of building relationships. 
He thought that the guys he hung out with were only hanging out with him because of baseball. And that was not the case. 
It was very important to see that. Neither became isolated and it was really interesting to see. 
I really liked it. But I wouldn't call it a five star.

3.5/5 stars!

Super cute summer romance story.

I loved the Michigan beach town summer setting! As someone from Michigan, it’s exactly something you’d see and it was charming!

Aiden has an eye disease (shared with the author) which was nice to see some rep for this in a book. Because of it, he’s unable to drive or play baseball anymore, but he’s able to pursue his love of art.

Olivia has been basically deserted by mom and deals with rejection and situations out of her control.

Olivia gets a job at a canoe rental place where she meets Aiden.

I enjoyed many aspects of this book but I wish the relationship between Olivia and her mom had been explored a little more. As a mom, I struggle to see how quickly they were able to resolve their long term separation. 

I think teens will really enjoy this book a lot.

I received this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have so much love for this book I can't contain it. Honestly, I really just want to talk about how much I love this book in a million different ways, but I'm sure you would get totally tired of it by the 20th reason. Seriously though, this book was amazing. It blew me away. I read it in 2 sittings, and it was really hard for me to not just stay up all night and read it. This book had everything you need for a perfect contemporary. 

Our POV's in this book are Olivia and Aiden. Olivia lives with her aunt and has the perfect boyfriend. She has been best friends with him since they were kids, and of course, was in love with him then. In high school, she finally becomes the girlfriend.  Oliva feels like she has a perfect life until she finds out her Aunt is moving them away her senior year for a better job, and her "perfect" relationship falls apart. She decides to make her summer full of fun and let her coin tossing guide her. 

Aiden is the all-star pitcher for his high school team. He is super popular in school and is an all-around nice guy. When he finds out he is starting to lose his vision, everything he thought he wanted to do changes. He has to quit the team but doesn't want to tell them why. The rumor mill starts, but he doesn't really care. He decides over the summer to find out who he is without baseball. But of course, he ends up working all summer with Olivia, which he thinks is going to ruin his whole summer. 

Once Oliva and Aiden's story intertwines you will fall in love with these 2 so quickly if you already haven't. I pretty much fell in love with these characters from the beginning. If you are a fan of any of Kasie West's books you will most definitely love this book. Jessica, like Kasie, has a way of writing this super predictable book with so many little surprises sprinkled in. She writes characters that you can't help but love and can easily connect with them. I laughed so much in this book, but I also cried my eyes out a few times. 

I highly recommend this book! There is no way you won't love it as much as I do.  I cannot wait to read Jessica's other book, and I am so excited for more to come. She will definitely be on my auto-buy list!

This was such a cute read that will be perfect for anyone looking for that summer read! It's a story about how life may not go just the way you thought/planned for, but how fate might have something even better in store. Both of the main characters experience significant changes in their lives and the story really showed them figuring out who they were through these changes. The main characters were really relatable and had a ton of character growth throughout the book. 

➽ Olivia - Olivia has everything she's ever wanted: she's dating her best friend that she's been crushing on for years, scored an amazing internship for the summer, and lives with her fun aunt. Sounds like the perfect life right? Well things take a turn pretty quickly when her aunt announces her new job in Arizona. Suddenly Olivia's life isn't going as she had planned. Her boyfriends breaks up with her after she announces the move and then takes off for the summer without a word. To top it all off the dream internship she had scored is no more and she will now be working at the River Depot and Olivia isn't really the outdoorsy or go with the flow type. She'll be changing up her planning ways by letting fate take the wheel from now since nothing she plans goes right anyways. On the plus side she'll have yummy Aiden Emerson to look at all summer.

➽ Aiden - The all-star pitcher of the Varsity baseball team and golden boy of the town who is going to take the team to playoffs. Until he doesn't by losing the last regular game of the season by getting clocked in the face with a line drive. Then he suddenly quits the team and pisses all his "friends" off. Aiden is struggling to come to terms with the facts that he's losing his vision in one eye and is trying to discover who he is without baseball. Luckily he has the summer to try and figure it out. It's too bad that his catcher's girlfriend will be working with him all summer too.

Olivia and Aiden really helped each other find themselves. It was interesting to see what Aiden wanted to pursue after baseball and how he did have other interests outside of it. Olivia just wanted to take chances and not be her usual tight-laced self and Aiden really helped her do that in a safe environment. They both tried new things and had cute outside of the box date ideas that I might steal this summer


While I loved the storyline there were a few things that I disliked. At the beginning of the story we're told how Olivia's mom abandoned her when she was younger to "find herself." She does pop up in the story though but the relationship between the two just didn't come off as believable. There was no real diving beneath the surface and fixing what I assume would be years Olivia struggling with her mom just dumping her wither her Aunt and Grandma. Nothing was ever really hashed out and I would have liked to have seen that.

The other thing I disliked was how the problems that arose in the story never seemed dire. Like yes they sounded dire, but were resolved so fast that the impact of them never really took hold. If there was a fight it was resolved a few pages later so I never really worried too much.

Final Thoughts:
Even with what I mentioned above it was still a read that I really enjoyed. I do wish there had been more to the Epilogue because I have lingering questions, but overall a quick and cute read that should be read next to the pool or at the beach this summer. The Michigan setting was amazing to read about and made me want to find the nearest lake/river asap even though I'd freeze my butt off. I'll miss Aiden and Olivia but will be checking out Jessica Pennington's other novel Love Songs & Other Lies!