Picture Perfect by Catherine Clark
Like many books by Catherine Clark, Picture Perfect is a fun teenage summer romance. Four teens have spent every summer for most of their lives vacationing as families. Although they have essentially grown up together and at times regard each other as siblings, this summer may prove to be just a little different.
The previous summer, Emily took a chance and told Spencer that she thought they might be more than friends. Painfully remembering the embarrassment of that situation, she is determined to seek out other boys and find the perfect summer romance. Armed with her camera, her partner in crime, Heather, and nothing to lose Emily hopes that this summer will be “Picture Perfect.”
Also from Catherine Clark, another fun poolside read – Banana Splitsville – is an entertaining romance. In this flirty book, Courtney finds herself starting her senior year with more surprises than she had anticipated. Her dreamy boyfriend, Dave, has just left for his freshman year of college at the University of Colorado , breaking up with her right before he leaves.
All of Courtney’s friends are also Dave’s friends and everyone at school knows Dave and Courtney were together all last year. What will Courtney say when they ask about Dave? What will Courtney do when she has to fly solo for all the parties and dances that her friends are sure to go to with dates? How will Courtney get over losing Dave, and will she find romance again in her senior year? Banana Splitsville has all the answers.
The Boyfriend League by Rachel Hawthorne is a fabulous find in the young adult summer romance department. Although most of her life Dani has been more involved in baseball than anything else, this summer she hopes things will be different. When her hometown calls for volunteers to host baseball players for the summer, Dani begins a campaign to convince her parents to house one of the players in hopes that it will give her the “in” with the team and possibly a summer romance.
Things get complicated when the player that she finds herself liking the most is off-limits because he lives in her house. Whether you like baseball or romance or a little of both, The Boyfriend League is sure to hit a home run for crazy teenage love.
A little change of pace brings us to a fantastic book, The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper. Set in beautiful Italy , this story begins as six teens from different worlds end up together for a summer study seminar on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet .
Jealous and smarting from the rejection from her love interest, Sylvia and her cohorts plan revenge on the poor unsuspecting boy, Giacomo, by planning to trick him into falling for the most unlikely girl of the group, Kate. Fortunately for Kate and Giacomo, Kate overhears the other four teens plotting. Angered but armed with a plan of their own, they decide to play a trick of their own on the rest of the group and pretend to be in love.
Italian countryside, Shakespeare, and a little fate may be no match for this group as they find familiar strains of the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet in their own lives. The Juliet Club is my pick for the best romance novel of the summer.
For the mature teen (maybe even one taking off soon for college) I recommend A Bride So Fair by Carol Cox. Set in the year 1893 at the height of the World’s Columbian Fair hosted in Chicago , this romance is a beautiful stroll through a time that once was. Orphaned at a young age, Emily Ralston has always worked hard for what she has. Thrilled at the chance to be near the World’s Fair she takes a job working in the Children’s Building as the receptionist.
Among the sweet children who are brought for Emily and her co-workers to care for is a young boy whose mother has come up missing. Knowing what awaits children who are sent to the orphanage, Emily can’t find it in her heart to turn the poor child over to the authorities. She instead takes the child home and hopes that she may care for him until his mother is found.
Unfortunately, the man who is investigating the missing mother and the child turns out to not only be handsome and smart, but he shows an instant interest in Emily – which she reciprocates. If he only knew that she was the one hiding the child, would his interest turn to distaste? And what will be the fate of Emily or the child, if her secret is revealed?
I found this book to be a compelling read that was so clean and fun that I find myself smiling every time I think about it.
Finally, The Painting on the Pond by Susan Lewis Koho is another romance/mystery novel for the mature teen or adult. David Young buys a cabin in the Pacific Northwest where he can concentrate on his painting and build his talent into a lucrative career. While exploring the magnificent hills and forests surrounding his property, he encounters a beautiful woman who he swears is real, but based on legend and history he knows she can’t be more than either a figment of his imagination or a ghost.
After seeing the woman two more times, David’s thoughts are “haunted” by her image and he finds himself unable to concentrate or paint. Hoping to clear his mind and find some respite from his torment, he takes off on his horse exploring the beauty of nature. While out riding, his horse is spooked and David is critically injured. In the following days he fights not only for his life but deciphers whether the ghost is a woman of the past or a real woman that could bring love into his life.
This romance is woven beautifully together with an age old mystery that begs to be solved. I recommend this book to lovers of legends, mysteries, and of course, to those who like a little romance as well.
If you like this book, the sequel by Susan Lewis Koho, To Walk in his Moccasins, continues the story started in The Painting on the Pond.
