Cover Image: My Summer of Love

My Summer of Love

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Member Reviews

This book was difficult to take and difficult to read at times. I get that it was supposed to be hard but sometimes it was just too much,

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I think this novel was an ambitious effort, but it just fell a a bit short for me. I had a hard time falling into the plot and didn't quite enjoy the plot. I think I may have just not been the right target audience.

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I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I'll admit that I did not finish this book as one of the main characters, Marco seemed like he was borderline abusive and I just didn't like him.

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I have a love/hate relationship with My Summer of Love. SA Collins immediately captured my attention with the smart and sassy writing. Told in 1st person pov, it's got humor, as Elliott is delightfully funny with his thoughts. It's wonderfully done as if the main character is entertaining me with his tale in person.

Elliott works at his family store and soon Marco comes in, starting an amazing summer for the two. The two are still in high school, with Marco as a closeted football player. Personally, I was shocked with how aggressive Marco is in his pursuit of the openly gay Elliott.

Their summer together is one of sexual experimentation and the beginning of a great love story.

But Damn! After my initial investment into the story, my interest waned a little.
Everything just happens quickly, and too easily and is just so perfect for so long. But then things start to get complicated and the story gets good.

After becoming fully invested again, ugh, a cliffhanger. Now, not only do I need to wait to find out what happens, but I'm also terrified to find out what will happen. There are still so many questions, and I'm left frustrated. I'd be excited if I could read the second book right now. But, instead I'm left waiting.

Overall, I love this book, but I also hate it. I love the love story and the emotional investment at the end. But I hated the middle part of the book as it all just seems too easy. Don't worry though, that doesn't last forever.

I'm honestly left unsure of who I would recommend this one to. It's a long story, with a slow pace. But, it's also a good story of falling for a closeted athlete in high school. There are typical high school antics and characters, you'll swoon, and you'll be angry. And in the end you'll be worried. Honestly, I am terrified of what is going to happen next.

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I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to our readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

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I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't stand Marco. He came off as a stalker and borderline abusive, so I felt like this was a toxic relationship and the plot itself was paper thin. I was severely disappointed in this book. There are so much better LGBT+ books out there to read with better plot that showcases healthier relationships, and this obviously isn't one of them. It would be one thing if Elliot realized that this relationship wasn't healthy and he learned to deal with it and move on-frankly that would be a better book-but this isn't the case, so I can not recommend this book. At all.

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Elliot works in the family business. They own a Dairy Queen. He thought it was going to be another boring day in the Q (me rolling my eyes... the Q!).
But nope.... Marco his crush from school walks in. After a very brief (and I mean brief) conversation. Marco starts kissing Elliot. They start rubbing up against each other. The. Bam! They are boyfriends.

“ boyfriend it is. Life’s too short to sweat the long courtship thing. right?”

All that in the span of 10-15 min, tops! They never even talked up until that moment!!!

All this just 6% in. Huhhhh ok.
I could already tell this book was going to be a challenge for me.

I didn’t find Marco’s stalking Elliot as a good thing. For 2 years Marco’s was just lurking in the background. It was pretty creepy.
And he was just so overly aggressive with his love towards Elliot. It was weird.

I wasn’t feeling how the boys talked. They are supposed to be teenagers in high school. I worked in a high school! The kids do not talk like how they were taking in this book!!

“Sweetheart, there’s nothing salacious about how I want us to become a couple, legally, matrimonially. Elliot, I want to bind myself to you in every way possible.”

Hmmm... ok! Then we have this.

“I don’t want to act rashly or give in to impulsive thoughts.”

Rashly?!
Yeah... that didn’t work for me.

Then we had the boys having sex constantly. I mean... they were doing it like rabbits! But what put me off was how Elliot kept calling Marco’s cum baby batter!!

“We were talking about his baby batter being inside me.”

“I grinned. “Wow, it’s a…um, a whole lot of baby batter there.”

Ughhh...

Now, I didn’t get why this character Angelo was even there. He seemed like he was just thrown in. And he only showed up twice. The second time was kinda unbelievable. What Elliot and he did together.

The ending ends in a cliffhanger. Why? I don’t know. Marco’s did something and won’t tell Elliot about it. Elliot hasn’t told Marco’s what he did.
So many things are open.

I'm not going to read the second book. I’m not invested enough to find out what happens to the boys or how it all ends. This is such a shame. I absolutely loved the cover and the synopsis. Both don't live up to the story I just read!

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This is such a feel good book and despite the fact contemporary isn't something I really reach for I really enjoyed it. I think part of the reason I liked it so much is that I tend to not go in expecting too much from fluffy contemporary and I think that if you do the same and if your in the mood for something like this you'll really enjoy this.

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I was out of the country for a while and was unable to review this book before it was archived. I apologize for my lack of a review.

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2.5 stars.
This is a coming of age story, a book about coming out in a town that has its principles written in stone. I was annoyed about many (Almost all) decisions the characters made. The story was compelling at parts, but it mostly felt boring. I think the title gives a misconception, you think the book will be fluffy and fun and a quick read, but it’s not. The writing was good in my opinion, and the characters were interesting even if I didn’t agree with most things they did.

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DNF— not a fan of the incredibly long introduction and descriptions. Felt like it kept dragging on without giving me any intro to the story line. I skimmed until I saw the first dialogue exchange and I wasn’t a fan of that either.

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i'm not quite sure what to think about my summer of love, i thought it would be a sweet summer romance about a geeky boy and the jock he'd never thought he'd have in his arms. and i suppose it is partly that. but it ended up feeling like a super stalkery borderline abusive relationship.

the prose here is also done in journal style, which is not my particular favorite so that made it even harder to feel fully engaged with the story. i guess in the end, this wasn't quite for me. but different strokes for different folks.

**my summer of love will publish june 10, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/ninestar press in exchange for my honest review.

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First of all, I would like to thank the author and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I DNF and put it down at 21 pages. I tried to push through and hoped there would be more storyline being built.. I

t just wasn't my type of book unfortunately.

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Unfortunately, I just could not finish this book. I can't follow Elliot's narration. He jumped around to so many different topics in just the first chapter. I wanted to like this because the premise of it seemed like something I would enjoy... But unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

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3.5 stars

I have conflicted feelings about My Summer of Love because there are part of this story, I loved . BUT other parts that annoyed the heck out of me.

Marcos and Elliot story take place during their last year of HS, when they're both 18 years old. And typical for their age , their hormones are all over the place and any stiff wind -pun intended - cause them a boner. So, they are constantly thinking about sex and having sex.

Here is the thing , Marcos is the captain of the football team by all accounts, he is straight, but he isn't. He has been , secretly in love , for two years, with the sweet , shy twink , quirky and openly gay Elliott.

So , there you have it , this is a story about coming out in a small town where the lines, of who is who , what is your net worth and prestige , are clearly defined. Is about Marcos exploring his new found sexual identity . Is about Elliot insecurities and self sabotage.

As an adult, I read all the wrong, illogical and plain stupid decisions these two characters take and it aggravated me; but at same time, I remember these two are so young and inexperienced that all their OTT shenanigans , sort of make sense , even though I don't like it.

So here is or was my dilemma. Almost DNFing this book , it wasn't until 30% or so that book , just sucked me in and I ended up invested in the heroes lives. And I'm the process liking it.

This book have no HEA or HFN because it freaking ends in a huge plot twists with the MF of all Cliffhangers.

I just reviewed My Summer of Love by SA Collins. #MySummerOfLove #NetGalley

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It pains me to say this, but this book was simply not for me.

I spent the first half of the book just waiting for the main character to realize how toxic and problematic the relationship was. There seemed no rhyme no reason to all the details he mentioned on and on over ten pages, except to delay the time character Marco Sforza would appear… which I can’t help wonder why as the characters swiftly declare their love to each other. Part of the appeal, in a romance, is to see the characters fall in love; this never happens in My Summer of Love.

Not to mention that Marco is a stalker and honestly a bit creepy. It would've been such a good read if it progressed in the fashion that Elliot would've realized what was going on and leave him. If this had been a book about Elliot finding new love after Marco I would've liked this more, but this was not how the story progressed.

Marco followed and spied on Elliot for two whole years; he knows his habits, his schedule and he’s planned out their life; he is bossy and he does not hesitate to teach Elliot a lesson through rough sex when he disagrees or to coerce him into dubious consent when he hesitates. I kept on hoping the narrator would wake up and see how toxic this is; but that, too, never happens.

The intensity of the relationship between the two main characters was too over-the-top for me, unrealistic and made me feel quite uncomfortable. It certainly wasn't written as a healthy relationship - in spite of the constant references to them being "normal teenage boys" who just expected to have sex all the time. I found it difficult to believe that two teenage boys would be discussing marriage, a house and children the first week they were together.

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I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley & author.


I unfortunately could not finish this book.. I put it down about 30% into it. I just couldn't get into it at all

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The storyline was difficult for me to follow at times, but overall I enjoyed it. I would have liked to have seen a bit more action. I feel like it would have helped to pick up the pace in the areas that dragged a little for me.
I also felt like there was a lot of telling from the narrator as opposed to showing. Which is a small detail that tends to take me out of the story for a moment because I am wishing I could experience the action alongside the narrator.

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I have to be honest and say I did not realy enjoy this book. Although readable if wasn't very well written. Abit far fetched and just not my type of book

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Just nope.
This book wasn't for me, i didn't tollerate any of the characters or how the story progressed.
That ship was not for me, sadly. I expected more and maybe different for this

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