Author: Shel Delisle
Genre: YA Romance
Publication Date: 18th July 2016
Book Summary:
Melody and Duncan are best friends who spend every summer vacationing at their families’ lake houses in the Northwoods of Minnesota. Their plan for this summer is to have as much fun in the sun as they can before they head off for their first year of college at the U in the fall.
Everything changes when Duncan’s father announces he’s been promoted and the family will be moving to Florida. Secretly, both Mel and Duncan are harboring feelings for each other, but both are holding back. With only one week before the life-long friends are separated by two thousand miles, can the budding romance find a way to blossom?
The Summer We Believed is the first installment of Denim Days, a friends-to-lovers series by Shel Delisle.
Everything changes when Duncan’s father announces he’s been promoted and the family will be moving to Florida. Secretly, both Mel and Duncan are harboring feelings for each other, but both are holding back. With only one week before the life-long friends are separated by two thousand miles, can the budding romance find a way to blossom?
The Summer We Believed is the first installment of Denim Days, a friends-to-lovers series by Shel Delisle.
MY REVIEW
The plan had always been for Mel and Duncan to go to the same college, but when Duncan's dad gets a job in sunny Florida, he has to break the bad news to Mel that their plan isn't going to go according to how they had hoped. This is a story about two best friends who have not gone a day without each other coming to terms with the fact that one is moving thousands of miles away, and neither one is willing to admit that they're terrified the distance will change the way they feel about each other.
I wanted to enjoy this book. I should have enjoyed this book. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book. It did not captivate my attention in any way. Mel and Duncan were the male and female versions of each other. I found it hard trying to distinguish their individuality. After the first three chapters, the story started to drag, which shouldn't have been the case given that this was such a short story. There were many scenes and conversation that were ineffective and could have been used to better portray the characters so the readers could have a better insight into Mel and Duncan. The chapters became repetitive, the story predictable. Nothing much happened in the way of progress. Mel was a sympathetic character to some degree, but I didn't really care much about her relationship with Duncan, specifically whether or not their friendship blossomed into romance.
As it was such a short story, I did finish the book, but it just wasn't my kind of read.
VERDICT:
BRONZE
Award: Bronze
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Source: Own copy
