Saturday, May 9, 2015

TOUR STOP: Swept Away

ISBN: 1481436090
Pages: 320
Source: Fantastic Flying Book Club/Author
Appearance:
23309795

Summary:
Beachfront love blossoms in this refreshing summer romance, in the tradition of Sixteenth Summer and Seventeenth Summer.
Mandy Sullivan isn't exactly looking forward to the summer months as tourists invade her seaside hometown on the coast of Maine. Her best friend, Cynthia, has abandoned her for camp and her older brother just announced he'll be staying at college taking classes for the summer, leaving Mandy with nothing to do and no one to hang out with. Hoping to keep herself busy, Mandy takes a volunteer job at the Rocky Pointe Lighthouse. On her very first day, Oliver Farmingham asks for a private tour. A new and incredibly cute face in Rocky Pointe, Oliver seems more interested in Mandy than the lighthouse and its history.
Without her best friend at her side, Mandy is scrambling to act the right way and say the right things when Oliver is around. Cynthia not Mandy has always been the confident, flirtatious girl that everyone wanted to be around. As Mandy and Oliver spend more time together exploring the coast, biking through the woods, and attending the local summer festivals, their budding friendship becomes much more. But with Mandy's insecurities creeping to the surface, can she open her heart to someone who will only be in town for three months?

Hello everyone! Welcome to my tour stop for the Swept Away book tour! I survived my APUSH test yesterday and I'm still in disbelief. One down, two more to go and then I can relax and wait for BookCon 2015 to come! Anyway, let's just get into the review~

Mandy Sullivan's summer is pretty much ruined. Her best friend Cynthia is off to a fancy camp for upcoming theater stars and her older brother is staying at college to take summer courses. Even worse, her mother has roped her into helping out at the local "Candy Cane" lighthouse officially called Rocky Pointe Lighthouse. However, her summer starts to look up when newcomer Oliver Farmingham arrives to visit his grandfather Freaky Farmingham for the summer. Without Cynthia to guide her in the arts of flirting and romance, Mandy has to figure out how to maintain a steady conversation with Oliver without making a fool of herself. What starts as a friendship starts to develop into something more, but Mandy's faced with the constant reminder that once summer ends, Oliver will have to leave.

Thank you so much to FFBC and the author for allowing me to review this book! Swept Away is your typical summer romance story but with all the awkwardness and stuttering. The relationships in this story is so real and raw that it brings the "book romance" to life. I've found with a lot of YA summer contemporaries that the romances seem almost story book like and hard to recreate, at least in my won life, but Mandy and Oliver's relationship is so vividly real. Both characters are awkward and adorable in their own way and it was so sweet to watch their relationship develop from stolen glances and awkward stammering conversations, so an easygoing friendship and then something more.

In addition to exploring the changes of a first relationship, the characters also display considerable character growth. While I was kind of annoyed at Mandy in the beginning she really grew into her confidence and learns to not judge her appearance by the people surround her such as "celestial Celeste," her confident and talented best friend, and her extremely smart brother. She learns her own strength and how not to be so judgmental based on appearances.. Similarly, Oliver is so awkward in the beginning it's kind of painful, but you get to learn more about him as the story continues and more about his passions. One thing I want to address is the concept of the "weirdo" in town. Freaky Farmingham is Oliver's grandfather and the whole town thinks he's weird. However, yes he's a bit odd, but his personality goes to show that there's more to people than the town rumor.

So after reading this, I can conclude that I really want to go visit Maine for the summer, even if I'm not a huge fan of lobster myself. Definitely check this book out if you're interested for a light but beautiful summer read~

GIVEAWAY

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Dalton is one of the many names Carla Jablonski uses when writing. Her two YAs written as Carla Jablonski (published by Razorbill/Penguin), Thicker than Water and Silent Echoes, were included on the NYPL Books for the Teen Age list, and her graphic novel trilogy Resistance (illustrated by Leland Purvis, published by :01 Books) has won several awards, including the Sydney Taylor Silver Medal. In addition to writing novels she is an actor, playwright, and former trapeze artist. A native New Yorker, she is eternally grateful to her friends who invite her to their beach houses.

4 out of 5 stars
 

Foreverly Obsessed,

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