Mini Reviews: Open Road Summer and To All the Boys I've Loved Before

I bought Open Road Summer and To All the Boys I've Loved Before (both squee-worthy reads) the week they released, and I loved both these contemporary romances.  So, even though they're past their publication dates, I decided to review them for y'all (mainly so I can rave about how adorable they are).


Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Grade: A+
Summary: After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.

Review: This book...I bought it April 15th, read it in one sitting, and was ready to reread it immediately.  That says how good it was, right?  Reagan was awesome, Dee (Lilah) was awesome, and Matt Finch...well, I think Matt is my favorite book boyfriend of all time.  He's not your typical bad boy.  He's a nice guy all around, a good friend to Dee, and so adorable when he was with Reagan.  I loved the traveling, and the songs, and how Taylor Swift-y Dee was. (Oh, and let's not forget how adorable Dee and Jimmy were, too.) As for any objectionable content, the worst was a few s-words, and romance stayed pretty PG.

Verdict: If you haven't read this book yet, you must.  I don't care if contemporary romance isn't your preferred genre, Open Road Summer is quite possibly the best contemporary romance I've read ever.  Or at least tied with Better off Friends because Levi and Macallan are just as squee-worthy as Matt and Reagan.

Buy: Barnes and Noble  Read Between the Lynes

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
Grade: A
Summary: Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them... all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

Review: So first off, I should note that the summary isn't entirely correct.  The book is less about those secret letters and more about Lara Jean fake dating a guy to get over one of her crushes.  TAtBILB had its weaknesses - Lara Jean's voice was a bit young at times, and Peter's feelings for Genevieve (not to mention Genevieve in general was a pain) and typical boyness got tiresome at times - but I really enjoyed it overall.  I loved the family dynamics.  Mr. Covey is a great dad, and Margot, Lara Jean, and Kitty had a lovely sister relationship (even if I didn't like Kitty most of the time).  But I loved Peter and Lara Jean, and I kept yelling at them to stop fake dating and start actually dating.  Josh was an interesting character that I did enjoy; it'll be interesting to see where things go with him in the next book (this is going to be a duology!).  Anyways, Lara Jean was perfectly quirky and adorable.  
Language was a bit iffy at times, and sex was mentioned on multiple occasions, although it was never shown, and making out is the extent of what is shown.

Verdict: This book was just adorable in general, and I'm so glad I purchased it (without having read it before, or anything by Jenny before either).

Buy: Barnes and Noble  Read Between the Lynes