Hey Guys! In case you might’ve missed it, I was part of the bookstagram tour for Open Summer Road by Emery Lord and I finished this read just in time for my day to post my image. You can see it above on this post, it is such a pretty book! Thank you so much to Bloomsbury Publishing for giving me the opportunity to be a host and for sending me this gorgeous review copy.
As a fan of ‘The Start of Me and You’ by Emery Lord, I had high expectations even when I was really trying not to. I’m a bit of sucker for contemporary romances these days so this one was even more exciting to pick up and see how it went. First, here’s what it’s about:
Goodreads Blurb:
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.
Rating: ★★★★☆(4/5)
Writing
I really enjoyed this read! Like ‘The Start of Me and You’ it was a pretty fast read for me because I just fly through Emery’s writing. It is just so easy to read and it flows so well and keeps me engaged that it was hard to put this book down. I read it in a few sittings over maybe a day and a half, and I love it when I can fly through books so quickly it helps my motivation so much!
Characters
Reagan was a very interesting character. She was basically the bad girl in the best friend duo who was always being saved by Dee (Lilah) but trying to overcome her bad girl days throughout this road trip with her. While Dee is nursing her own painful breakup, so is Reagan but in a different way as she had just gotten out of a very abusive and toxic relationship. Their best friend banter and interactions were so cute but I found more interesting the character development both girls went through throughout the novel.
Reagan’s journey was about finding herself and creating a better future for herself by making better and less impulsive decisions. Dee’s was about trying to get through her breakup as well as the obstacles that come with fame. The introduction of Matt Finch was a little weird for me because I didn’t like his character at first. Unlike Reagan, I sometimes found it hard to distinguish between his ‘charming’ and his ‘real’ self, but his humour and his charm were really attractive. I shipped them the second I started to like him and I think that he seriously became an important character to both girls.
Something I really like about Emery Lord’s writing is that she manages to tie a lot of things together and has so much cohesion in her storytelling. Her characters obviously all have flaws – Reagan is a bit of a bitch and very judgemental (I won’t get into the slut-shaming but it is there.), but they have such a wonderful character development that you can’t help but sympathise.
Overall
This was a really cute and fluffy book! It was a quirky and quick read and probably one of the only downsides if that I don’t enjoy reading lyrics or songs in books but I pushed through this one by skimming over them. I just find it so hard to read them because they’re supposed to be lyrics, there should be a melody and I can’t just make one up while reading. It definitely got me in the mood for listening to more country music though and gave me another reminder as to the cruel ways of social media towards celebrities and their privacy as well as the great value that real friendship offers.
I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light, fluffy contemporary read!
Have you read this one? What did you think?
Until next time,
xx Tracy
