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A review by maggiemaggio
Lovestruck Summer by Melissa C. Walker
4.0
Lovestruck Summer combines so many things I love: music, Austin, TX, internships, summer, post-high school stories, that I was actually kind of afraid to read it. Silly, but true. Thankfully I had nothing to fear as I absolutely loved this book. It’s just so much fun!
Quinn has always felt out of place in her North Carolina town, she’s an indie rocker hipster and she longs to be in a music city like Austin. When Quinn gets her dream summer internship at her favorite music label (how she gets it is amazing) she’s over the moon. She’ll live with her studious cousin Penny who will never be around, she’ll attend tons of live shows, and she’ll meet the perfect indie rock guy for a summer fling.
Fast forward to arriving in Austin and cousin Penny is now “Party Penny” and president of her sorority, the internship isn’t exactly like she pictured (although still really cool), and even though she meets the “perfect” guy, she starts to question if he’s what she really wants. See, although Quinn judged Penny and her Greek friends at first, little by little Quinn starts to warm up to them and think they might not be as vapid and annoying as she first thought. Especially Russ, Penny’s cowboy-country-music-loving-frat-boy neighbor who takes a liking to Quinn.
Russ is way more my type than Quinn’s ideal music boy, so I immediately rooted for him. Plus, he takes Quinn to do all sorts of cool Austin things like going to Barton Springs, seeing the bats under the South Congress bridge, and taking her tubing. This means there’s a little bit of a love triangle in this story, not my favorite, but I liked that Quinn has perspective. Even though she likes DJ boy she never pictures him being a long-term thing, it’s just a summer fling. And the more she gets to know Russ the more she likes him, but it’s not like she’s running off to marry either of them. I especially appreciated this attitude towards the end of the story, I feel like I say this a lot, but it’s a teenage relationship, maybe it lasts, maybe it doesn’t and I loved how Melissa Walker treated these relationships.
Finally, there’s Austin. I absolutely love Austin. I used to go at least twice a year for my old job and I always tacked on extra days on either side of the trip so I could spend more time there. I was glad to see so many places I’ve been and heard about in Austin included in the book and it makes me sad that I won’t be taking my normal January trip down there.
Bottom Line: This is another winner from Melissa Walker. Quinn is a great main character, I loved the supporting characters, and the setting of Austin, TX is fabulous. I loved watching Quinn open her mind up to new people and new music. My only complaint is that there isn’t a playlist included in the book!
This review first appeared on my blog.
Quinn has always felt out of place in her North Carolina town, she’s an indie rocker hipster and she longs to be in a music city like Austin. When Quinn gets her dream summer internship at her favorite music label (how she gets it is amazing) she’s over the moon. She’ll live with her studious cousin Penny who will never be around, she’ll attend tons of live shows, and she’ll meet the perfect indie rock guy for a summer fling.
Fast forward to arriving in Austin and cousin Penny is now “Party Penny” and president of her sorority, the internship isn’t exactly like she pictured (although still really cool), and even though she meets the “perfect” guy, she starts to question if he’s what she really wants. See, although Quinn judged Penny and her Greek friends at first, little by little Quinn starts to warm up to them and think they might not be as vapid and annoying as she first thought. Especially Russ, Penny’s cowboy-country-music-loving-frat-boy neighbor who takes a liking to Quinn.
Russ is way more my type than Quinn’s ideal music boy, so I immediately rooted for him. Plus, he takes Quinn to do all sorts of cool Austin things like going to Barton Springs, seeing the bats under the South Congress bridge, and taking her tubing. This means there’s a little bit of a love triangle in this story, not my favorite, but I liked that Quinn has perspective. Even though she likes DJ boy she never pictures him being a long-term thing, it’s just a summer fling. And the more she gets to know Russ the more she likes him, but it’s not like she’s running off to marry either of them. I especially appreciated this attitude towards the end of the story, I feel like I say this a lot, but it’s a teenage relationship, maybe it lasts, maybe it doesn’t and I loved how Melissa Walker treated these relationships.
Finally, there’s Austin. I absolutely love Austin. I used to go at least twice a year for my old job and I always tacked on extra days on either side of the trip so I could spend more time there. I was glad to see so many places I’ve been and heard about in Austin included in the book and it makes me sad that I won’t be taking my normal January trip down there.
Bottom Line: This is another winner from Melissa Walker. Quinn is a great main character, I loved the supporting characters, and the setting of Austin, TX is fabulous. I loved watching Quinn open her mind up to new people and new music. My only complaint is that there isn’t a playlist included in the book!
This review first appeared on my blog.