Thursday, November 20, 2014

Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Title: Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord
Published: April 15th, 2014
Read: August 3rd to 5th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. 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. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

I read Open Road Summer after most of my friends had raved about it and said how much they enjoyed this inspirational story about best friends, a swoony romance, a road trip and always welcomed character growth. Plus, a story with a pretty cover and gorgeous writing is always a must-read if you ask me.

“It takes a long time to see a person as a whole spectrum, from worst to best—from the mismanaged heartache that lands them in AA to the pancake dinners, from the hurtful things shouted in a dressing room to the huge-hearted strength that only a best friend can understand. Once you get there, it’s forever.”

The book starts with our leading lady Reagan going on a road trip with her best friend Lilah (or Dee to us) who also happens to be a world-wide pop-country superstar. These two have awesome chemistry and the suitcase scene made me smile, as did most of their scenes. Their support and encouraging words for each other were some of my favorite parts in this novel and I think this is what a friendship should be like: supporting each other through thick and thin. Dee and Reagan definitely had a great relationship going on.

We also get some great family dynamics and see two sorts of families: the ones who have it all together and the ones who are still trying to reach that point. Dee’s family was adorable and I loved the growth of Reagan’s as well. Reagan, her dad and her stepmother had a lot of growing to do, but I liked where they all ended up. This road trip Reagan took was really the thing everyone in her family needed.

I also enjoyed the slow-burn romance between Matt and Reagan. Reagan is of course attracted to Matt, but she’s been burned before and Matt isn’t her type at all (though isn’t he really?) and throughout the novel we see her come to a realization that Matt is exactly what she needs: a sweet guy who’s fun, respectful, makes her laugh and is all around a complete charmer! These two had a good banter going on and their dates (public or private) were really just too darn adorable. As for the side romance, I was hoping to see a tad more of Dee’s, but I’m happy with the way that storyline turned out for her by the end of the novel.

It’s the perfect kind of book to cuddle up with on a warm summer night, but you should also crack it open when you’re missing summer and want to read some heartwarming scenes, the best kind of friendship and a slow-burn romance. Put Emery Lord on your watch list, people! She’s on her way to steal your hearts in the best possible way!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

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17 comments:

  1. YAY! I'm so happy you loved this one. It's one of my favorite reads of the year and I can't wait to get my hands on Emery Lord's next book. My favorite part about this book was undoubtedly the friendship. Not going to lie, I loved it more than the romance and the romance was pretty much perfect. Reagan and Dee were so good together as friends. I loved their loyalty.
    And of course, Matt! <3
    I LOVED this boy so much!!!
    Lovely review!

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  2. Umm...the fact that you say this is a summer read has me thinking that this is the book for me hahahaha. I'm weary of road trips though :((( BUT hey, I'm being "openminded" right now so I might as well, right? Plus, I'm looking for a sweet romance to melt my cold heart so I'm up for anything at this point xD
    And...this Matt sounds like a charmer and THAT'S WHAT I WANT RIGHT NOW! Fabulous review, Siiri! <33

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  3. I'm so glad that you enjoyed this story Siiri, I have been hearing great things, and also after you so kindly gifted me with a copy, I know that I need to be getting to it soon. As you know I'm a huge fan of contemporary reads, with great friendships and wonderful romances, so I think this book will certainly be right up my alley! Gorgeous review as always! :)

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  4. I've heard a lot of great things about this story, and Matt and Emery's slow burn romance sounds like something I'd enjoy! Lovely review, Siiri! :)

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  5. YEAH SIIRI!!!! I'm so, so glad you loved this one too! I was just blown away by it, and now cannot wait to get my hands on anything and everything Emery rights. I couldn't have loved the friendship between Dee and Reagan any more, it was just so well done and so positive. Often female friendships in YA are full of petty jealousies and what not, but there was not even a little bit of that here. SO GOOD!

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  6. Oh this sounds delightful. I love road trips and the romance between Matt and Reagan. I love good banter...eep. I need to add this to my list :) Fantastic review Siiri

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  7. Lovely review, Siiri! Glad you enjoyed this one! The romance and the friendship are indeed things of beauty. It's amazing to see both done so well in a YA book. The only reason I didn't *love* this is the slut shaming Regan does throughout the book - it completely turned me off, and it was never addressed by herself at the end or by other characters. :/ Otherwise I really enjoyed it - the road trip + country music elements helped, too. :)

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  9. i'm not crazy for road trips but this one has been recommended by everyone in 2014!! you've made me really eager to read more about Matt and Reagan... ;D also, how cool is it for your best friend to be a pop-country superstar?? that's like having taylor swift over at your house for late night movie marathons eeeep!! <33 thank you so much for the brilliant review!

    alicia @ noverly things

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  10. How is it that I've never heard of this book before? It sounds so good and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Great review!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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  11. I've been hearing wonderful things about this one for months so I am glad to see you enjoyed it, hon! I love the sound of the friendship between the two though. That's how it should be! Friends who have each others backs instead of keeping secrets and going behind each other's backs. *sigh*

    The love interest also sounds cute ;) How about that? Can I haz him Siiri? Pretty please with cherries on top?!?!

    Okay thanks.

    Bye.
    Have a good day.

    *runs for her life*

    Rashika @ The Social Potato

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  12. Oh I miss you so much Siiri! I like the focus on family in this book, and how they go on a road trip which adds a lot of character development between them all. A slow burn romance is definitely awesome as well, I always enjoy banter and Matt sounds like such a sweet guy! Yay for beta males! Awesome review hun <3

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  13. Yay I love friendships and Dee and Reagan seems to have that part perfected. Summer is fast approaching in Aussieland so I'm definitely going to keep this book in mind when I need a cutesie read by the beach :D

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  14. Isn't this such a gorgeous cover? I recently bought myself a copy on TBD because I just had to own a copy. I cannot wait for it to arrive, there will be fangirling, hah.

    Lovely review, Siiri <33

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  15. OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE BACK :D <3333333

    I'm so glad you enjoyed this one! I've heard awesome things about it. Awww I love books that center around family. This slow-burn romance sounds great ;) This book sounds absolutely adorable! Fantastic review as always lovely <33333

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  16. When I read this, I remember rolling my eyes a lot (SORRY!!) and was glad when it all ended (SORRY AGAIN!!)
    However, I did love the writing. Think I mentioned how beautiful it was in my review. Anyway, I am glad you loved the story!! Super review, girl!

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