Title: Last Chance Summer
Author: Shannon Klare
Release Date: July 21,2020
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★
Thank you to NetGalley and Swoon Reads for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!
Synopsis
Alex is a sheriff’s daughter with a less than pristine reputation. When she’s caught drinking at a party by her dad’s deputy, she’s in deep trouble. With an already incriminating incident in her past, Alex’s parents ship her off to her aunt’s summer camp to work as a counselor.
What’s worse than spending your summer deep in the mosquito-infested woods of Texas?
Being paired with an obnoxious co-counselor who wants nothing to do with you.
Alex is determined to make the best of her summer, even if it means putting up with Grant, who has secrets of his own that he’s determined to protect. Can Alex and Grant put their egos to the side and find the bright side of a summer that neither of them signed up for?
Review
Alex was a selfish, snarky and entitled bit** who thought everything should be handed to her in a silver platter. I get something totally awful happened to her but even before that she rubbed me that wrong way. A year after her accident and she’s still floundering, lashing out at those just trying to help her. This lands her with the ultimatum of boarding school or summer camp counselor for troubled kids. She could also pick neither but would end up losing her college fund which her entitled ass thinks is hers. News flash her parents worked hard to save their money and this brat thinks she doesn’t have to do anything to earn it. Every page made me more angry to the point where I wanted to DNF but it had so many good reviews and I still wanted Alex to be redeemed.
Grant and Alex have good chemistry right off the bat. They’re both sarcastic, witty and stubborn to the core. I loved their interactions but I never really saw them as romantic or flirty, that was just how they interacted with almost everyone. They also don’t really know each other beyond trading snarky remarks and trying to counsel these groups of kids that have their own issues. Alex needed someone to see her in a good light, to be there to listen when she finally exploded and that’s what she found in Grant.
The camp is meant for troubled kids with issues. There is a strong focus on team activities and opening up. These kids really got not only to me but also Alex. While it was a rough start, we get to see this program, this second chance summer, really help not only Alex but her campers. I would have liked to have gotten to know her girls better though and have seen the relationships they formed with Alex firsthand.
Overall Last Chance Summer was very different from the synopsis. There was a lot more to the story than Alex just getting in to trouble for drinking at a party, in fact she wasn’t even drinking so I found that tidbit in the synopsis very odd. Also she and Grant hit it off immediately and he wasn’t hiding his past she was. I do wish the ending hadn’t been so clean and that we’d gotten to know the secondary characters better than beyond just knowing their names. It did take me about 50% of the book to really want to continue reading it though because of my extreme dislike of Alex. This is one I’d recommend a sample of before going all in on.
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