I could not get into this book and it was partly due to the main characters. I could not click with either of them and I wish I could have. The setting and premise were really interesting but it was not for me.

I had such a wonderful time falling into the story of Sidney and Asher. Stories that take place during the summer on a lake are so nostalgic for me, so I think that's a big reason why I loved this book! But I also loved the characters and the plot. The end dragged out a bit too much writing wise, but I think for the sake of the plot it made sense. It felt realistic to me yet still had that YA magic that we all love. I read it in 24 hours and wish I had a physical. It's a perfect book to bring on vacation or to make it a vacation at home! Thank you to the publisher for my copy. All thoughts are my own!

I love this enemies to lovers book. It started and ended great. It was fun filled pranks, falling in love. What more can a girl ask for.

I loved everything about this book! I loved the enemies to lovers trope. I loved all the pranks they played on each other. And I loved the banter between Sydney & Asher!

Jessica never disappoints!

Sidney and Asher have spent the summers of their teenage years vacationing at neighboring lake houses, and this summer it all comes to an end. While this may seem like the perfect chance for romance, these two teens see it as anything but. During these vacations, Sidney and Asher have sought to out prank the other, and this last time is no different. When an over-the-top prank forces the two families to share one house, the rivals soon realize that their hatred for each other may have been a mask covering up their true feelings all along.

Pennington does a marvelous job creating a realistic story about enemies-to-lovers that leaves the reader on their toes. Her well-developed characters hold the true essence of teenagers and allow readers to easily relate. Sidney and Asher’s personalities shine in this fun-filled summer read.

when the practical jokes between sidney and asher go too far and they are forced to co-habitate with each other and their families to keep their summer tradition real, they band together to with a revenge plot. the math in meet me at midnight is a little wonky, because they've been summer together for 6 years, but repeatedly talk about the first summer they were 14, but the characters have just turned 18 and it just, well, okay it's not wonky it's wrong. but whatever. that's a minor nitpick.

the key is that before the pranks began in earnest, the two characters really liked each other, and it was a misunderstanding that brought things to a breaking point. and things basically get to a breaking point again and it takes a long ass time for these two to make up, but eventually they manage it and it's all in good fun.

it's a breezy, fun summer read. one of those perfect escape books where you end things on a smile.

**meet me at midnight will publish on april 7, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/tor teen in exchange for my honest review.

It was an amazing book. I loved the enemies to lovers aspect of the book. I was really sad when they broke up and weren’t talking to each other. The writing was so amazing! She brought every aspect I could ask for in a romance novel and made it all work together. Can’t wait to read more!

Be aware that this review contains copious amounts of fangirling. This is my current favorite read and I feel like I need to force it on everyone so they can experience it too!

I don't know what kind of voodoo magic the author has, but somehow she can create the best kind of sexual tension and steam without even having sex occur in her books. I have read adult romances with actual sex on the pages and yet somehow I found this book to be super steamy just by the stolen looks and gentle, totally PG touches that amped everything up and I basically needed to fan myself. If you want romance that builds, this is the perfect choice.


“What are you majoring in?” I interrupt her, and she looks confused.
“English, I think. Why? What are you majoring in?”
“Finance.” I shake my head. “You have the brain of a criminal mastermind.”
She looks at me blankly. “Um. Thanks? I think. ” Her finger pulls a card toward us on the table. “I don’t think they have majors for that, though.”


Oh my gosh, the crazy paranoia between the is about the best thing ever! Even while they call a truce between the crazy shenanigans, they assume the other is out to get them, and the internal commentary is even better than the practical jokes, in my opinion. This book had everything I could have wanted, humor, heart, backstory and a future- and I could not stop the tears and it takes a lot for me to cry! Each book by Jessica becomes my new favorite and this is no exception. She set the bar very high for herself when it comes to my love and I just can;t wait to get more of her stories in my life.


He’s lucky I’m too claustrophobic— and easily bored— to go to prison, or he’d need to be worried about being out on the open water with me.


I highly recommend this for anyone who loves YA contemporary, summer reads, over the top pranks and a fun kind of war, and so man emotions! To be perfectly honest, I recommend all her books so save yourself the trouble and buy all three that are out now so you can have a heartwarming binge.

I am always hesitant going into YA contemporary/romance reads. It is a genre that I had myself convinced I had “aged out of”. I haven’t read one that I really enjoyed in well over a year. That being said, when Tor Teen emailed me to see if I would be interested in reading and reviewing this I immediately looked up the review and when I saw it was a “YA take on The Hating Game by Sally Thorne” I knew I had to give it a shot, and I am so glad that I did.
This book set out to be a fun, angsty, summery, enemies-to-lovers romance and it did just that. This was such a fun book to get lost into for a few hours. I actually read it all in one sitting. Asher and Sidney have this perfect angsty relationship full of high jinks and snarkiness. The chemistry was dripping off of the page and left you screaming at them to just get together already. There were enough little traces of chemistry and sweet moments sprinkled throughout the entire book that it never felt drawn out, or TOO heavy on the enemies part of enemies-to-lovers. I think it had a perfect balance of all of the romance elements you want to find in a light summer read.
The only reason I am deducting one star for this book is for the character of Sidney. Although I loved her for 95% of the book, there was that 5% where her self-sabotaging got under my skin and just kinda pulled me out of things a bit. I can overlook most of it because I think had I been a teenager reading this book it would have been way more relatable, but as an adult, I was just stuck feeling like her self-sabotaging came off as being petty.
Overall I really enjoyed this read and would definitely recommend it to those that love romance and YA contemporary. It would be the perfect read to sit down on a chair by the pool with for an afternoon.

Thank you Tor Teen for sending me a finished copy of his novel for review. That does not in any way affect my rating of the book. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

Meet Me at Midnight is a YA summer romance packed with all of the genre’s best tropes. Pranks, enemies-to-lovers arcs, and sweet gestures galore, this book has everything! This is the kind of story that’s easy to fall in love with.

What’s a summer romance without a house by the lake? Sidney and Asher’s families have been spending all summer in their adjacent rented lake houses for years. Pennington strikes all the right notes when it comes to setting. Meet Me at Midnight’s small-town adventures and lake swims are crystal clear and 100% summer. Even as a reader who has never visited an American lake house (someday!), it was easy to picture Sidney and Asher’s world.

Sidney is a type A perfectionist. Asher is cool, calm, and easygoing. But neither of them is quite who they usually would be when faced with the other. Meet Me at Midnight’s plot centres around the prank war, and subsequent truce, that Sidney and Asher have been fighting every year since the first year they spent the summer together at the lake. Pennington’s characters feel real and relatable. Even when they are outrageous and out of control, taking their pranks much too far, they maintain their likability—both of them. Dual perspectives make it easy to understand both Sidney and Asher’s often contradicting points of view. Great character development keeps the story moving forward.

Meet Me at Midnight is a coming-of-age story, focusing on themes of growing up, falling in love, and discovering who we are. But if summer is a theme—which I think it should be—this book definitely has it printed on every page too!

I’d recommend Meet Me at Midnight to fans of The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen and Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer.

Meet Me at Midnight

3.5 stars

One of my favorite things about Jessica’s books are her relationships and the way they are developed. Not just development in relationships but as well as individual character growth that is both inspiring and really well fleshed out.

As far as the enemies to lovers trope goes, this book definitely did it justice. I really loved the banter and humor between our two leads, It was really well written especially with the history between them, you really get more of a feel of the intense build up and tension. It made my ‘enemies to lovers’ loving heart truly happy.

Both characters were really relatable, we get Sidney who lets her anxiety do the (over)thinking for her and in turn doesn’t allow herself to fully invest in a relationship. And then we get Asher, who knows what he loves and wants but doesn’t want to disappoint. What I really enjoyed was seeing them both struggle with their own issues while also trying to navigate a new relationship. It was something I, as I’m sure many others can relate to.

I also really loved seeing the swimming aspect come in. In YA contemporaries we get a generic overlook of just stating a character is athletic or does a certain activity, but it was really refreshing to see it as a big part of each character’s life.

I do wish the epilogue was longer, it felt a bit sudden and I was left with withdrawals of wanting more Asher and Sidney but overall it was a really fun, sweet read and a really well written contemporary with amazing character development!

I really enjoyed the beginning of this story, with the two main characters, Asher and Sidney, returning to their families' lake houses and continuing the prank war they have been fighting for years. The pranks were fun and the dynamic between them showed that there was more to their relationship than the outward hate they were showing. When the romance started it was really cute, and they had a fun yet naturally awkward way of interacting. But then the romance kept going back and forth between going well and then falling apart. It went hot and cold between them too many times for my taste. By the end it got to where I didn't really care if they got together because I was tired of their same issues recurring over and over.

Jessica Pennington is the queen of summer YA romance. While all of her books have some common themes, they are all so extremely different. In this novel, Pennington takes the classic enemies to lovers plot and fills it with teenage worry and angst, which she wraps up in some crazy pranks. In Meet Me At Midnight, Pennington really explores what it means to explore how you change throughout time, through knowing someone over the course of a long period of time. And she absolutely NAILS the confusing feelings of being a teenager who is masking their feelings for someone with feelings of absolute hatred. This is the perfect book to read during quarantine as an escape. Join these characters as they enjoy the summer in a beach town, something we cannot do right now.

This book was so cute. I am a sucker for a good YA romance and friendship story, which is what I felt like this was. I love to see growth in characters and REALLY see their character arcs, so I loved this book.

Definitely 5/5 and a perfect summer read!

My Thoughts:

Meet Me at Midnight was such a fun reading adventure. It took me to the lake, and I was enjoying summer, the refreshing water, and the interesting dynamic between Sidney and Asher.

Readers are rewarded with an entertaining story narrated by both Sidney and Asher in first person. These two have been vacationing together every summer for eight weeks, since they were thirteen, and this is the summer before they go off to college.. Their mothers are best of friends, and their families are extremely close. Sidney goes through boyfriends really quickly, and they never seem to make it past ten days, because she finds something wrong with them, and gets easily bored.

Sidney and Asher have an epic prank war every summer, that they look forward to and start to make plans for all year long. It was fun seeing them trying to always one up each other! When Sidney goes too far with one of her pranks, she gets both of their families kicked out of their rentals. Asher proposes that the two of them join forces, by pranking the landlord that kicked their families out. This along with their families being forced to share a rental, becomes the catalyst for the two of them growing closer.to one another.

Asher embraces his feelings for Sidney, but she is scared of getting her heart broken. They agree to go on four dates with one another to see if they are meant to be together, or should go their separate ways. However, Sidney overthinks everything, and every time they start to get close, or share a special moment, she panics, backs away, and avoids him. Can Asher push past her walls, and in to her heart, or will he be the one left behind with a broken heart?

Meet Me at Midnight was the perfect book for me to read at such a chaotic and stressful time in my life. It was fun, light, entertaining, and enjoyable, I loved how caring, thoughtful and sweet Asher was to Sidney. He made me swoon with how he treated Sidney, and I loved getting the history between the two of them. I liked Sidney too. I felt bad for her, and the way she demanded perfection from herself. She was a planner, list maker, and over thinker like me. Asher acted more on impulse, and wasn't overly serious like Sidney was. They balanced each other out. I got frustrated with the way Sidney repeatedly pushed Asher away, and was so quick to give up on him, or believe the worst about him. However, as the story progressed, we saw her grow and mature.

I enjoyed Sidney and Asher's romance, how they knew each other so well, and fit together perfectly. If you are looking for an easy going, fun, light, and entertaining read, look no further! Meet Me at Midnight is a great read!

Absolutely exactly what you would expect from a teen romance. They are in conflict because of attraction and jealousy, so of course they crash together. But the jealousy and old resentments continue to come between them and drive them apart again. That's actually the one thing that I like about this one. It's not simple love. YEars of attraction are not enough to overcome all of the resentment and distrust between them. They have to work on themselves before they can be a successful couple. I liked the prank elements but wish they'd been more consistent.

Maybe I'm getting tired of romances YA, but then I remember the ones I held dearly and close to me, or maybe this just wasn't for me. Since the beginning I didn't click with the characters, the banter, the romance building, even the story itself wasn't compelling. Sadly, this was a no from me.

Cute but bland. The couple acted a bit young to be leaving for college after summer. There wasn’t enough there to make me want to finish the story.

This was my first time reading a book by this author and while I didn't completely love it, I am interested in seeing what they write next. For me personally the first half of this book was stronger and more enjoyable. I liked reading the banter between the characters and discovering what pranks they had pulled. Meanwhile the second half felt dull in comparison without the animosity and back and forth mischief of the beginning. Overall it was a quick read that felt perfect for summer, and I am looking forward to Pennington's future projects.

I'm a sucker for any summer romance story. The cover definetely caught my attention and I really enjoy a enemies to lovers book story. The only issue that I had with the book was that it took me some time to get really invested with the characters and the whole plot. But as I kept reading I loved the dynamics between Sidney and Asher, especially the whole pranking thing. Overall I really enjoyed the story and the family/friends aspect of it.