The Summer Series
CJ Duggan
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Young Adult
Synopsis book 1
The Boys of Summer
It seemed only natural to nickname them the ‘Onslow Boys’. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week’s work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him ... Toby Morrison.Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.
To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.
How did she let her friends talk her into working?
After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.
All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.
It will be a summer she will always remember.
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REVIEW:
I absolutely loved this series. I reviewed Endless Summer last summer, I think. A little while back. And I absolutely fell in love with this world that CJ Duggan created. First of all, I love books that are set in Australia. It fascinates me, I hang on every description, and I adore the local slang.These books are pure escapist romance. They are not completely twisty and angsty, although they have their share of conflict. They are just romances filled with very likable flawed characters and a unique setting that draws you in and makes you feel like you live there.
Endless Summer was one of my top books of 2013 – that’s how much I loved it. Each book focuses on one couple. In book one it’s Toby and Tess. In book two it’s Sean and Amy. And In book three it’s Tammy and Chris.
I admit, I was enamored by Sean in Endless Summer, as was half of Onslow! I can see why, he just oozes charisma. He is a total mystery man and he keeps Amy guessing with his veiled hints, never revealing his true feelings until he’s ready. Amy has that “little sister” label tagged to her, since her cousins who work at the Onslow Hotel (that her parents own, and where she spends her summers) are front and center in this god-like group of “bad boys” who run wild on the lake, drink, and party.
The Boys of Summer takes place years before the others, and here’s a fun fact that totally makes this series unique, the entire series takes place in the 90’s! You really don’t see that much in new releases these days, so it’s a simpler time and it was a nice deviation from the present.
I was intrigued with Chris when I read Endless Summer, so I was glad to meet him for real in That One Summer. There’s so much more to him that meets the eye, and even though he comes off as broody and dark, he’s not. He’s actually quite mature and open, just not to everyone.
And let’s face it, every girl wants to be the one to crack that hot aloof stranger’s inner wall and have him open up to her, and only her. Well, that’s exactly what Tammy gets in That One Summer. This is a road trip book. I love those because you get two characters and you thrust them together on the road, and things are just different when you’re traveling. It’s just different. Like you’re not part of real life anymore, but just passing through it, observing, for a little while.
Tammy is not an extrovert. She was very shy back in school and Chris, of all the Onslow Boys, was always the one who confused, intrigued, and even scared her. But circumstances land her in his van for a trip to the beach to celebrate like it’s 1999! Well, it is 1999, and since summer in Australia is in December, New Year’s Eve is a summer thing. I swear, even though I knew this, it seriously took me a while top put that together. I just automatically attach freezing your ass off with New Year’s.
I can’t say enough good things about this series. If you haven’t checked it out, you should. Endless Summer was my fav, but all three are 5 star worthy.
Synopsis book 2
An Endless Summer
Sean looked out over the lake, squinting against the sunlight. He turned to me, his expression sobering as his eyes flicked over my face in a silent study.
“Come on Amy, I saved you once, I’ll save you again.”
I met his stare unflinchingly. “I don’t need saving.”
A wicked grin formed slowly. “Don’t you?”After a rebellious summer night that almost claimed her life, Amy Henderson – the Onslow publican’s only daughter – is sent away to suffer a fate far worse than any other punishment:
Boarding School.
Three years on, a now nineteen-year-old Amy returns to Onslow for the summer. What once was a cauldron of activity with live bands, hot meals and cold beers, the Onslow Hotel now lies dark, deserted and depressing. All fond childhood memories of loitering on the hotel stairs and eavesdropping on customers’ colourful conversations are in the distant past.
How had her dad let it come to this?
With the new threat of putting the Onslow up for sale, Amy reluctantly turns to a local tradesman for help: Sean Murphy, the very same Onslow boy who saved her life all those years ago. With his help and that of some old friends, the task is clear: spend the summer building the hotel back up to its former glory or lose it for good.
In an endless summer, Amy soon realises that sometimes in order to save your future, you have to face your past, even if it’s in the form of a smug, gorgeous Onslow boy.
Synopsis book 3
That One Summer
Loving Chris Henderson would be wrong. Diabolically disastrous. I mean, what is there about him to love? He’s moody, bossy, brooding, a control freak, and that’s on a good day … but there was one achingly obvious fact that haunted my every thought, every minute of every day …
He sure could kiss.
As the countdown to the new millennium begins, there is one thing everyone agrees on: no one wants to be in Onslow for New Year’s Eve.
So that can only mean one thing: road trip!
No longer the mousey, invisible, shy girl from years ago, Tammy Maskala is finally making up for all those lost summers. A new year with new friends, which astoundingly includes the bossy boy behind the bar, Chris Henderson.
She likes her new friends (at least most of them), so why does she secretly feel so out of place?
After chickening out on the trip, a last-minute change of heart sees Tammy racing to the Onslow Hotel, fearing she’s missed her chance for a ride. The last thing she expected to meet was a less-than-happy Onslow Boy leaning against his black panel van.
Now the countdown begins to reach the others at Point Shank before the party is over and the new year has begun. Alone in a car with only the infuriating Chris Henderson, Tammy can’t help but feel this is a disastrous start to what could have been a great adventure. But when the awkward road trip takes an unexpected turn, Tammy soon discovers that the way her traitorous heart feels about Chris is the biggest disaster of all.
Fogged up windows, moonlight swimming, bad karaoke and unearthed secrets; after this one summer nothing will ever be the same again.
About CJ Duggan
C.J Duggan is an Australian author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia.
The Boys of Summer is Book One in her Mature Young Adult Romance Series.
Giselle
I LOVE that it’s set in the 90s, dude! I grew up in the 90s! I also love how romantic and character driven this series sounds to be – definitely up my alley. I love to dig into a story like this after I’ve read a bunch of darker books (which I do all the time lol) to get a change of pace and not become depressed haha. Great review, Julie!
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Julie
Me too Giselle! All of the above!
Julie recently posted…SERIES REVIEW: The Summer Series by C.J. Duggan
Jenea @ Books Live Forever
Yay, for the the setting being back in the 90’s. I was a teenager then, and loved it. I would love to get this series for sure. Wonderful review.
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Bookworm Brandee
I absolutely agree, Julie! And I was giggling over it being 1999…I didn’t realize the series was set in the 90’s until TOS. Although I wondered over the music.
Obviously, I’m very familiar with the 90’s and *ahem* the 80’s. LOL
I loved getting to know Chris – I have a thing about serious, broody men! 😉
Fantastic review, my dear!
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