Pages:
342
Publisher:
Bloomsbury USA
Release
Date: 3rd
March 2015
Edition:
US paperback,
purchased
Other
Titles by this Author: The Start of Me and You
Two
best friends...
Two
broken hearts...
One
summer that will change everything.
After
breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious
ways behind. Her best friend, country superstar Dee Montgomery, is nursing a
broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Dee’s twenty-four-city tour is about to
kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up
ballads and healing.
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. With miles to go before Reagan and Dee are ready to risk their
hearts again, this summer will be one to remember.
I fell
in love with Open Road Summer in a
way that I haven’t in a very, very long time. I want to go back and read it
afresh all over again.
This
kind of summery, emotional US contemporary is my favourite and has been for as
long as I can remember. I love the focus on the ups and downs of friendships,
the slow burn or intense launch of a relationship and the hot, sprawling
American summers. Novels like these give me the summers I fantasised about
having as a teenager (okay, and now, as well) and I remembered that while
reading Open Road Summer.
Reagan’s
bitter, caustic tone sets a brilliant opening for the summer of country music
and healing broken hearts. She’s a ‘bad girl’ with genuine offences, a previous
community service sentence and a broken arm to show for it. Though Reagan is
initially open about her tangles with the law, there are a few secrets - dark
secrets – that had more of an effect on her heart and mind that her body. I loved
the way her trust and affection grew with Matt, how she denied it to herself
for so long and then eventually opened up her heart.
Then
there’s Dee’s very different brand of heartbreak. Rising to superstardom at 17
means you miss out on a lot and it’s starting to have an effect on her. She pours
her heart and soul into her song-writing (the lyrics included in the book are
really brilliant!) and performing for her fans but that isn’t always quite
enough. Dee has no freedom and very little control over her day to day life. I loved
that Dee and Reagan took refuge in a summer of music and travelling and their
friendship. They have a brilliant dynamic and I think that it was portrayed so
authentically – they had ups and downs and said things they shouldn’t, but they
had each other’s backs without question.
And
after a scandalous rumour threatens to ruin Dee’s career, former-child star,
cheeky, gorgeous Matt Finch comes to join the fun. I loved the chemistry
between the three of them and I loved the scenes where they were just hanging
around having fun, being teenagers during the summer of a lifetime. It was even
better that it stayed intact even when Reagan and Matt started something up. Emery
Lord has some serious skill.
Open Road Summer has restored my love of reading
in some ways. I went back to my roots, read something for me and I was blown
away by the way I felt about these characters, their relationships and their
perfectly imperfect resolution.
Sophie
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