Review ~ The Boys of Summer by C.J. Duggan

Title: The Boys of Summer

Author: C.J. Duggan

Series: Summer #1

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Published: December 17th 2012

t 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.

I could not help but snicker and giggle the whole way through this book!! I spent my teenage years in the 1990’s growing up in a small town in Australia, working a few shifts at the local pub and fell for a local guy too. Reminiscing about music and TV shows that I grew up with and dealing with small town drama!! That is the beginning of the similarities I had to this story and I loved reading every minute of it!

Tess has had a difficult high school experience and is keen for the summer holidays to begin. She is peer pressured by her best friends into working at the local pub for the summer. She is a quiet kind of girl who tries to live in the shadows and out of the spotlight, but this summer job changes her life for the better. It brings her out of her shell and she makes new friends that accept her for who she is.

I enjoyed how the whole story unfolded and learning about the crush Tess had on an older boy at such a young age. It was cute to see her stalkerish side and how she freezes when confronted by him. She has little guy experience and is not sure what to do or how to act, but she takes it like a trooper! It was great to see her open up and become a more confident person, but she makes mistakes only to get up and soldier on.

I liked all the side characters too. Ellie and Adam are great best friends and the three of them are close. They have supported each other through a lot of tough times. The ‘Onslow Boys’ are all amusing characters and are entertaining to read about. I cannot wait to read all their books as I grew quite attached to them all.

C.J. Duggan has written an enjoyable romance story and it was a realistic insight into Aussie life in the 1990’s!! I enjoyed how she wove it all together and I connected to all the characters easily. The story flowed at a great pace and I was flicking the pages as fast as I could, I was that engrossed by the story. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series that is set 4 years after this book!!