#BookNerd: The Boys of Summer Tour and Giveaway!!

Welcome
to my stop on The Boys of Summer blog
tour hosted by YA Bound. Click HERE
to check out the full blog tour schedule!

The Boys of Summer (Summer #1)

by C.J.
Duggan

Release
Date: 12/17/12

294
pages

Summary
from Goodreads:

It seemed only natural to nickname them the ‘Onslow Boys’. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week’s work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him ... Toby Morrison.

Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.

To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.

How did she let her friends talk her into working?

After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.

All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.

It will be a summer she will always remember.

Warning: sexual references, and occasional coarse language.

The Boys of Summer is a fun, sweet, and touching romance. Tess is the 17 year-old girl who has come to the point in her life that she has a chance to potentially redefine her herself, both internally and the way she is viewed by those around her. She starts as the quiet girl, that wanted nothing more then to blend into the background, hiding behind her gorgeous best friend who loved the spot light. But here comes the summer, and a new waitressing job puts Tess in her own spot light with the regulars at the restraint the Onslow Boys. Though Tess has always crushed on the devastatingly handsome and irresistible Toby Morrison from afar, she now has him face to face, and he is looking back at her. The rest of the summer chronicles their relationship, through boyfriends and girlfriends (exes and current) pool games at the hotel, drives to the Pointe, days on the lake, they find their love for each other. This is a perfect YA romance, and will be enjoyed by all who still have those fond memories of first loves during summer days.

As much as I fell in love with Tess and Toby, what made the story that much more enjoyable were the secondary characters. Tess, Ellie, and Adam are best friends and quite the mismatched trio. Ellie is the lovable bubbly, girly-girl that helps build up Tess's confidence and Adam is the goofy, endearing "bozo" who adds the perfect amount of comic relief. I did like how there were parts of the story when he was not actually there and Tess had to relay what was going on to him through email. It gave a wonderful insight to what Tess was feeling, and some of his reactions to the situations were hilarious!

"To tessmcgee: Do you still love me??? How did it go tonight? I spoke to Chris, he said you smashed it! I take it he is not referring to a plate and assume you did well? Go you!! I knew you would do good. That's why I hand picked you, you know? Seriously Tess, that's really great. I better go, Nan's telling me Mattock is on. Oh goody! Sender: Adam I can jump puddles Henderson."

And Toby's best friend Sean was a great compliment to him; where Toby was more dark and brooding, Sean was Mr. Popular and full of carisma. I liked that Sean would sometimes let some of Toby's feelings and he obviously confided to him slip out to Tess. I think we need another novel centering around Sean! My favorite part of the book was when Tess, Ellie, Sean and Toby went out on the boat for the day. It was one of the first times Tess was able to fully and confidently come out of her shell (in a sexy white bikini and all!). They were all fun and flirty and it made your heart melt as the connection and sparks were flying between Tess and Toby. For me, the Aussie setting really made this book, I loved the slang and the references. The cover was great, it really drew me in, but I thought the title was a little lacking, it was a little shallow for my taste and didn't give justice to the story behind it.

Swoonworthy Points: I give this book a 9/10. One of my favorite aspects to this story is that is isn't insta-love, the majority of the book Tess and Toby's relationship is developing and growing, starting off as friendship and blossoming into more. I think this gave so much more validity to their feelings and their connection, it didn't just happen after one date or one look across the room. They spent time together, had conversations, and even though they did have that instant attraction to each other, they didn't act on those attractions until the timing was right. This, of course, added quite a bit of angst to the story (there were moments of screaming at the book: "Just kiss her already!") but I think that added to the credibility and emotional draw to their relationship as well as the authors talent to keeps us rooting for Tess and Toby through out the whole book.

"Toby strode towards me, his hands cupped my face and his lips claimed mine. My surprise soon melted into his touch, my hands entwined around his neck as I kissed him back. Toby's hands were in my hair, his soft lips brushed against mine, gentle at first and then more intently as the pressure of his kisses coaxed me to open my mouth, his tongue delving gently to taste my own. I followed his rhythm and pushed more eagerly against him, my hands moved to divide the thick, silken folds of his hair. I had dreamed of those lips, but never had I imagined they would be so soft, so utterly mind shattering. A small noise escaped me in pleasure; I could feel Toby smile against my mouth as he slowly edged me back against the table, the weight of his body pressed against mine; it felt like a dream, like I should wake at any moment, but no, this was real, this was definitely real!"

"I glanced around. "Did you want to talk about this somewhere else?" I asked. "Oh, I think right here is perfect for what I need to do." Toby smiled his perfect, wicked smile, the very one that melted me. I thought my heart might stop as he edged closer closer, tilting my chin up with his hand. "What do you need to do?" I whispered. "This." He captured my lips in a long, lingering kiss. My walls came crumbling down as I melted against him, his arms encircled me, and I was lost to the feel, the memory, of all that was Toby."