Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Kidding. A singer I am not.
BUT there are definitely some talented singers in Open Road Summer. Reagan O’Neill is ready to spend the summer with her best friend, leaving the last tumultuous year behind her. Her best friend Dee, is none other than country superstar Lilah Montgomery which means they will be touring the country by bus as Lilah puts on concert after concert. Lilah herself is nursing a broken heart so their girls only tour is needed by both.
But ‘girls only’ is put on hold when Matt Finch joins the tour to deflect some bad press. Reagan certainly didn’t expect to have a boy on the tour, much less one that she is having a hard time pretending she doesn’t want to get to know better.
Let me just start off by saying that I almost bumped Jase Garrett from my top two list for Matt Finch.
Go ahead and let that sink in for a moment.
This book was one of my most anticipated for this year and I sat by jealously as blogger after blogger received an ARC of this book. I cried bitter tears of sadness each time I saw someone say how amazing it was.
And then.
Then I found it on Netgalley and I stared at my email waiting for the approval I hoped would come, and it finally did!
First and foremost what I loved about this story was that it focused on friendship. Not just the superficial friendship of a couple of girls. I’m talking, deep down, life long, “I’d take a bullet for you” friendship and it’s done so amazingly well.
Looking at Lilah from the outside you would think she has everything… fame and fortune doing something she loves. But we get to see a bit of the dirty side of fame in this story. It’s not all parties and fun. The press is trying to destroy her image with no thought to the consequences to her life. She’s also had to give up some very important things in order to pursue this dream so coming to terms with it has been a struggle, and one that Lord portrays wonderfully.
Raegan herself has had a rough year, but she’s taking the summer to turn everything around. She doesn’t like who she was for several reasons and she’s prepared to make the changes necessary to start turning things around.
I’m a taped-together girl, but I can carry my own baggage. What I can’t do is pretend that I’m weightless, unburdened. Dee never hides her heartache from me, and that makes it okay to feel alongside her – no censoring, no embarrassment.
I really loved her love for her friendship with Dee. Their relationship wasn’t complicated and I think that’s how the best friendships endure. It was a wonderful thing to read. But I also love that she didn’t lose herself over the incredible Matt Finch.
His eyes are somewhere between gray and blue, and his hair somewhere between brown and blond, and I am somewhere between hostile and attracted.
She makes no attempt to hide that hostility and she makes her stance very clear from the get-go with him about her trust… or lack of it until he earns it.
Matt Finch
That is totally a lie… he’s not perfect, but that’s what makes him perfect. I’m sorry if you don’t get that. LOL
Matt grew up in the limelight – part of a family band he knows how tours work and he knows how the press is, and his squeaky clean image is exactly what is needed on the Lilah Montgomery tour. At the ripe old age of 19 he’s attempting a solo career, but his past year hasn’t been all that great either and going on tour might be just what he needs too.
Matt is the quintessential boy next door – he’s sweet and he’s charming and he knows just how to make a girl swoon even if it wasn’t what he intended. He tells stories though his music and what girl doesn’t want to know a boy like that in real life? Plus… he totally knows when ice cream is appropriate and I swear I highlighted a ton of quotes but the following might be my favorite:
“I really like you,” Matt announces, which somehow makes me feel more embarrassed. “You’re unpredictable and smart, and I basically want to spend all of my time with you.”
I know what I said up there about this book being about friendship, but there is definitely a romance and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The build of the relationship between Raegan and Matt was so well done. She didn’t just fall at his feet and I loved that he worked to get to know her, and omg all the fluttery butterflies were present during reading…
It’s not the first time he’s run his hands through my hair, almost absentmindedly. Normally I’d pull away from being petted like a house cat, but it isn’t like that. His fingers weave through my hair the way he touches his guitar strings, as if I’m something cherished, something he’s connected to. Instead, I stare back at him, at his salt lake eyes and the strong lines of his face. In coming on tour, I had hoped to find escape – enough distance to figure out how to start over. I still don’t know the whens and hows of repairing my own life. But I know that Matt Finch makes me want to feel everything. Instead of numbing myself in any variety of ways, I want each sensation; I want to feel the way they pool together – his touch and smell, the sound of his voice. I want the tipsiness, the giddy ache that comes as he slides his thumb across my lower lip, as his eyes fixate on my mouth.
Characters aren’t the only thing I loved about this. Emery Lord’s writing is beautiful and captivating, her storytelling wonderfully done and once you start reading this, you won’t want to put it down. Lord hits all the right notes in this story about friendship, family, and love… pursuing your dreams and realizing your past is just your past and it doesn’t have to define your future.
This will definitely be on my top of 2014 list and fans of contemporary YA absolutely need to put this on your ‘read immediately’ shelf so you grab it when it arrives. I will definitely be waiting as patiently as possible for more from Emery Lord!
#sorrynotsorry for all the gifs
THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH to Bloomsbury for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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