The summer love strategy

Average Rating

Author

Stoeve, Ray

Publisher

Amulet Books

Publication Date

2024.

Language

English

Description

Ray Stoeve’s Summer Love Strategy is a sweet and swoony YA rom-com about two friends making a pact to find summer romance like they’ve seen in the movies—and finding love where they least expect it along the way! Hayley always has a crush. The problem is, her crushes never like her back. After her latest unrequited love—a girl from her basketball team—gets a boyfriend, she decides she’s done falling for girls who are unavailable. Her best friend, Talia, wants romance too, but rarely gets crushes on anyone, and she’s tired of watching Hayley get her heart stomped on over and over. So the two girls make a pact: they’ll help each other find summer love by putting themselves in situations that always lead to romance in movies. To help carry out their summer love strategy, they make a list of all the places they could find their real-life rom-com: the beach, the Pride parade, the pool, a MUNA concert, and a party. But as they go to each place and try to find the one, it seems like they just can’t catch a break—they don’t know how to talk to cute strangers, someone mistakes Hayley as straight, and Hayley does a truly unfortunate DIY haircut (that she cannot be held responsible for––it was a crisis!). But when Talia and Hayley finally manage to score dates, will they be able to get out of their own way and really dive into the romances they deserve? Or is summer love not as far off as Hayley thought?

More Details

Contributors

Stoeve, Ray Author

ISBN

9781419764967
9781647008406

Subjects

Best friends -- Fiction
Dating (Social customs) -- Fiction
Humor (Fiction)
Lesbian teenagers -- Fiction
LGBTQIA+ (Fiction)
Romance
Sexual minorities -- Fiction
Transgender youth -- Fiction
Young Adult Fiction

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Summary

Video And Music

Video Games

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Series

Professional Reviews

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Awards and Honors

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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Hayley and her best friend, Talia, are tired of waiting for love to find them. Hayley always has an unrequited crush--she has an unfortunate habit of falling for straight or otherwise unavailable girls. Talia is demiromantic, so it takes her a while and a deep emotional bond to feel romantic feelings for anyone. Together, they devise what they call their Summer Love Strategy: a plan to find summer love together. As the summer wears on, Hayley and Talia begin to realize that what's standing in their way isn't what they think and that they might have feelings for each other. This excellent addition to the slew of YA friends-to-lovers romance novels offers a nuanced portrayal of an autistic sapphic trans girl in Talia and a lesbian with ADHD and anxiety in Hayley. The novel sometimes gets lost in the characters' extensive social lives and many secondary characters, but it genuinely shines when it zeroes in on Hayley and Talia's friendship and blossoming romance. Readers will feel like they're in a teen summer romance themselves.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

Kirkus Book Review

A plan to get over a crush is more successful than expected in this romance set in Seattle. Childhood best friends Hayley and Talia, both white, do everything together. They share a birthday, they have the same favorite ice cream flavor, and they're prone to saying the same thing at the same time. The main difference between them is that Hayley seems to have a new unrequited crush every week, and Talia has only ever had crushes on two people. Hayley is also a lesbian who struggles with panic attacks, while autistic Talia is trans as well as demiromantic and demisexual. After Hayley's latest heartbreak involving a straight girl from basketball, Talia suggests they spend the summer trying to manufacture meet-cutes as a way to jump-start both their love lives. With the help of their endearingly supportive friend group, Hayley and Talia go to the beach, attend Pride, rock out at a MUNA concert, and more. But when their plan starts to work, and Talia meets charismatic nonbinary Rose, Hayley can't ignore the fact that she feels jealous. Hayley and Talia's story has all the butterfly-worthy moments of first love. Hayley's voice is well executed: She's an overthinker who doesn't take herself too seriously, which leads to some funny one-liners and internal monologues. Readers will appreciate that neurodivergence is normalized and represented positively in the novel: In addition to Talia, two other members of their friend group are autistic. A charming friends-to-lovers summer romance. (Romance. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Reviews

Hayley and her best friend, Talia, are tired of waiting for love to find them. Hayley always has an unrequited crush—she has an unfortunate habit of falling for straight or otherwise unavailable girls. Talia is demiromantic, so it takes her a while and a deep emotional bond to feel romantic feelings for anyone. Together, they devise what they call their Summer Love Strategy: a plan to find summer love together. As the summer wears on, Hayley and Talia begin to realize that what's standing in their way isn't what they think and that they might have feelings for each other. This excellent addition to the slew of YA friends-to-lovers romance novels offers a nuanced portrayal of an autistic sapphic trans girl in Talia and a lesbian with ADHD and anxiety in Hayley. The novel sometimes gets lost in the characters' extensive social lives and many secondary characters, but it genuinely shines when it zeroes in on Hayley and Talia's friendship and blossoming romance. Readers will feel like they're in a teen summer romance themselves. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

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