Review
This is Claire’s second story and it is so different from her first. This cute summer read is mainly a light-hearted read with some heavy topics that are handled well. The heavy topics aren’t the main focus of the story, and I think that’s a key point to realize when the resolution comes. They just add to making the main characters who they are.
I have to remember that these are college-aged kids and how they act and reactions are vastly different than whey you are an older adult. We follow the story of Callie and Gabe in the sleepy town Sea Spray. This story is a journey of growth and discovery of who each of the main characters is, who they want to be, and that love can always win.
Callie had a lot on her shoulders. I think she was so responsible even when she didn’t want to be. How she handled all she was going through seemed very realistic. She tried her hardest to just be everything to everyone when at the end all she needed to do was be everything for herself. Then all the puzzle pieces would fit together perfectly. There were a couple of spots that I got annoyed with her character, but I liked that I did. I think it made her character more real to me that she wasn’t this perfect little ray of sunshine. She hurt and felt things too. In the end, she took the long road but found her ultimate happiness. I don’t want to spoil, but am glad she didn’t give up. I think that would have been the difference between realistic fantasy and total fantasy for me.
Gabe is your picture-perfect college heartthrob. He gets laser focused on anything he wants and holds on not wanting to let go. I felt deep down some of the reasons he held on so tightly so quickly, had to do with his past. He has these goals and dreams that he didn’t want to give up, but at the same time wanted to for Callie. He had a lot of soul searching to do as well to figure out what would lead him to the ultimate HEA. Would the summer love be enough to bring that about. On his summer journey, he meets Steve. That relationship woven in there melted my heart.
Banger and Sophie are the friends that come to the rescue of Gabe and Callie. I like the roles they played in the story and it made me want more from them. They were funny, supportive, and just good strong secondary characters. Callie’s family was written into the story so beautifully. I love that this story didn’t have the outcome I thought it would. While we don’t get a full resolution on things going on, I think that is okay. You don’t always get a full resolution in real life, and that wasn’t the main point of the story. Jackie… well that chick is craycray. I told Claire that. I mean this girl is another level of evil.
Overall this story is what I would expect from a lighthearted summer fling read. The timeline may move quick for some of my followers, and you may not like the gaps, but I think they worked well. The main plot was concluded in a beautiful way. The epilogue helped show some future for the couple. We don’t get a resolution on some of the subplots, but I didn’t feel gipped by it. I don’t feel like we were supposed to. It wasn’t the main point in the story. With all that said, I really enjoyed this one. It had me laughing, sighing, mad, and heartbroken. I felt emotions while reading and to, me that always shows a good sign for a book and author. Just like her first book, I enjoy her writing style and the way she can pull me in from the first page.
GAME ON.This is a standalone new adult romance. No cliffhanger, No cheating, HEA.
This is a standalone, full-length novel.
*** THE FORECAST IS SCORCHING! So if heat isn’t your cuppa… use caution! ***
directions. There’s no one else here. But then out in the water, under a beam
of blinding moonlight, a dark head bobs.
Looking back down, I grin recognizing the gray hoodie.
eyes. The fragrance industry sure knows what they’re about. My hormones are
driving the bus, and I’m tempted to strip my clothes off and ride that pony
swimming in the moonlight.
and towards the dunes covered in shadows.
doesn’t stand a chance.
His clothes acting as a barricade saves my face from sand scrapes.
planted in the sand on either side of my body.
by this handsome stranger—until—it dawns on me he’s naked as the day he was
born. Something hard rocks into the cradle between my hips causing me to gasp
as he shifts his weight.
get up. “Fuck it. I’m not sorry.” He rolls back on top of me, tracing a finger
over my stunned, parted lips. “I made a wish on a star tonight. Haven’t done
that since I was ten. And here you are, showing up here like a thief in the
moonlight. Technically, you are a thief. Maybe I should call the cops on you,
baby?”
to stop it.
head lowers a breath from mine. “Thank you for turning the shittiest day I ever
had, into the best one,” he murmurs capturing my lips.
hips and invite him inside.
tongue boldly comes out to play with mine. “But you won’t be needing this.”
With a smirk, he unclasps the buckle to my fanny pack tossing it next to my
sneakers that dropped when he caught me. His lips never leave mine. He does
this so smoothly and skillfully as if seduction is his profession.
Dornan can kiss like this.
hungrily kiss him back.
hiss at the spot on my ribs where the pavement scraped me.
ribcage up to my breasts. He unclasps the front snap bra I put on, and my
breasts spring free from confinement.
with his wet tongue, licking and sucking them.
closer to his hungry mouth. The large palm on his other hand presses my breasts
together so that he can suck both nipples at the same time.
to go.
cupping my sex hard.
it’s been struck by a live wire.
disoriented by his mad voodoo make out skills.
it as he catches me dropping my eyes.
head on the concrete.
thick as fuck.
almost killed me about his dick size?
my legs, “last time I was out here with a naked guy behind the dunes it didn’t
end well.”
sand is not as hot as you’d think.”
would catch fire.”
is just as fine as the rest of him. Every muscle is cut, lines delineating each
part.
don’t need to chase you when we have a habit of running into one another.”
myself.
and a room full of books. She’s horribly shy, never misses a UFC Fight, and has
a horrible addiction to sushi and banana peppers (maybe even eating them
together). Books have been her means of escape. It’s been a
long-standing dream of Claire’s to travel to Australia where she hopes to
find a hot rugby player to sweep her off her feet and romance her on Bondi
Beach while petting koala’s and drinking champagne at midnight. (this
might be her next book)
Until then, she’ll have to write her perfect man on paper
while waiting for him to magically appear.
You never know, stranger things have happened.
