“Riley Anderson swears she will never fall in love with Sammy Hong.
After all, every girl on earth already has.
But when Sam shows up next door with a scandal on his heels, their childhood friendship is rekindled and Riley feels the pull toward something more. But Sam is only here until the end of the summer and then he's leaving to face the consequences of his actions and return to the world of pop stardom.
The pair, accompanied with Riley's rambunctious younger cousin, make a list of all the things they want to do while Sam's in town, but as they work through the activities and dodge rabid fangirls, letting Sam go may be harder than Riley ever imagined.”
Series: No, seems to be a stand-alone novel.
Spiritual Content- Many Prayers & Thanking God; A couple Scripture are mentioned; Some talks about God, praying, & having a faith; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Sam confesses to Riley about faith when growing up was easy because of it being his family’s thing and going to church, youth group, and Bible studies, but now that he is on his own, he isn’t sure he is saved (Riley tells him that he can be by believing that Christ died for his sins, repent, and ask Him into his heart); *Spoiler* Towards the end, Sam tells Riley that he has “gotten right with God” and feels like God can use him in the music industry *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of singing hymns & songs that point to the Savior; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of church going, youth group, & Bible studies; A couple mentions of faiths & sharing daily Scriptures on social media; A mention of blessings; A mention of a cross necklace;
*Note: Mentions of luck & being lucky; A few mentions of ghost stories; A couple mentions of aliens (regarding to someone’s appearance when getting his hair dyed); A couple mentions of fate; A mention of the tooth fairy; A mention of a cavewoman.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘shoot’, an ‘oh my word’, two ‘wimp’s, three ‘dumb’s, five ‘duh’s, and six forms of ‘stupid’; Riley exclaims “cheese and crackers!” seventeen times; A mention of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Riley avoids lying; Some grief (Riley for her mom); Riley wonders about Sam’s relationship with his parents (including her wondering if they moved on from him once he bought them a mansion); Mentions of the death of a parent (from an unnamed illness) & grief (Riley and her family for their mom/wife); Mentions of death threats; Mentions of possible a serial killer or axe murderer, crimes, criminals, arrests, break-ins, kidnappings, & ransoms; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of parties & partying (which is not Riley’s idea of fun); A few mentions of car accidents; A couple mentions of blackmail; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of vomiting; A mention of a tattoo;
*Note: Riley struggles with the idea of her father dating.
Sexual Content- A bit of staring at lips, two fingers-to-lips touches, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two almost kisses/wondering if a kiss will happen (barely-above-not-detailed), and one border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Some touches, embraces, hand holding, warmth, shivers/tingles, butterflies, & nearness; Noticing & Blushes; In a song, someone is called ‘baby’ a few times; Riley vowed a long time ago that she wouldn’t fall for Sam; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of blushes; Mentions of crushes; A few mentions of broken hearts; A couple mentions of cute guys; A mention of a summer fling; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A mention of a dog shoving his nose up a woman’s dress.
-Riley Anderson, age 17
1st person P.O.V. of Riley
323 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
So this was pure enjoyment for me. 10/10, no notes on that detail. This was so much fun to read and I think I had a smile on my face for the large majority of the book. At some points, it reminded me of “Sketchy Behavior” by Erynn Mangum even though the plots are completely different. (This is a very high compliment if you know me!) Maybe it was the artist main character or just the humor throughout the book, but I enjoyed this one even more because of it.
I loved the family element of this with Riley, her sister, dad, and younger cousin. Even though there was the grief of missing their mom/wife/aunt, they were such a happily realistic family and made me laugh often. Lou-Lou is a mess, but she was fantastic and really made the book even better. I think I highlighted over fifty parts that made me laugh out loud and most were because of her.
This story almost reminded me a bit of a teen movie—maybe Starstruck? But instead of the love interest being arrogant, they’re childhood-best-friends-to-more. That’s an easy “sign me up” to say because I love that trope with every fiber of my being. Riley and Sam were truly best friends despite the years apart and were able to go right back to how it was. I had a couple questions at the very end of the book that weren’t answered and would have liked the end to go longer, but overall I greatly enjoyed “Riley + Sam” with the summer setting, friends-to-more trope, the sassy cousin, and the perfect YA feel!
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
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