Unforgettable Summer: So Inn Love and Better Latte Than Never

by Catherine Clark

In So Inn Love, Liza McKenzie has landed her dream job working at the Tides Inn. It will be a summer of sun, friends, and independence—if only she can figure out a way to become part of the “inn” crowd. But fitting in isn’t always easy, especially when the hotel’s cutest employee keeps sending mixed messages....

This is not how Peggy Fleming Farrell planned to spend her summer. But in Better Latte Than Never, she owes her parents money after crashing two cars, she’s already been fired from her first job, and she’s this close to quitting her new one—and who could blame her? Being the barista in a gas station coffee shop, when you can’t drive anywhere, is just wrong. She is determined to make the best of a bad situation, and the first step to saving her summer is getting the boy she’s been pining for to finally notice her. After all, at this point what does she have to lose?

Catherine Clark’s pitch-perfect teen voice and humor have earned her legions of fans and will appeal to readers of Jennifer Echols and Stephanie Perkins. Now, two of Clark’s fan-favorite novels have been repackaged in a superb value trade paperback bind-up that is the perfect beach accessory. New readers will love these summer tales of first jobs, first love, and unforgettable summers.

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

592 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

I love reading books for children, young adults, new adults and all the old people after that.

I love writing for pretty much the same audiences.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So for this duology, overall I rate it 4/5 stars

So Inn Love: 4/5 stars
Better Latte than Never: 4/5 stars

[Britt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unforgettable Summer is a combo pack of So Inn Love and Better Latte Than Never, which I won via a Goodreads Giveaway. Neither book is related in any way, though they do share a common thread - both are about teenage girls during their summer vacation. Each books is roughly 300 pages.

So Inn Love was much better than Better Latte Than Never. Although I hated the main male character, who seemed underdeveloped, I still enjoyed the book and finished it rather quickly. The main female character, however, is pretty inspirational - spending her summer working to pay for college in a town she used to vacation in AND standing up for herself quite often.

I had to ultimately force myself to continue Better Latte Than Never, just so that I could move on to my next book. The main character is totally self-absorbed, and she never really has that "Come to Jesus" moment I expected - it's still all about her, even towards the end.

You can purchase these books separately, and I would recommend doing so. I would have felt I wasted money on Better Latte Than Never, whereas So Inn Love was at least satisfying even if it isn't a masterpiece.

[Jasmin Ku · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will give 5 stars to So Inn Love and 3 stars to Better Latte than Never. So Inn Love is such a beautiful story. I was expecting Better Latte than Never to be like that too, but unfortunately it's not. However, I still recommend this book!!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Inn Love gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Better Latte Than Never gets 4 out of 5 stars.

I liked Better LAtte Than Never so much more than So Inn Love. Mostly because to me it felt like the characters had more of a story to tell. Peggy had struggles, friends, interests, crushes, opinions, and Liza lacks so much personality and interest.
So Inn Love felt more like it was just about the romance (which I didn't like because to me they didn't really know each other) and not about Liza going trough stuff while doing her job at the Inn during summer. Peggy was actually struggling with her job and her home life with her siblings and parents. And her love life was a mess but she knew that it was. Plus, that twist at the end was fantastic.

In conclusion, Peggy could win in an arm wrestling match against Liza. HAnds DOwn!

[Jenielyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.5 stars to So Inn Love and 3 stars to Better Latte than Never.

[Elyse Cabrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished the book! Took me long enough because of work and not much free time to read but I enjoyed the stories a lot.

The first story is about a girl named Liza Mckenzie who ends up working at an Inn during the summer. I love the way this story made me love summer and think about how awesome it would have been to work a summer job by the beach when I was a teen. Liza was hired last minute at the Inn that she used to go to with her grandparents. She meets new friends and of course meets a new guy. I love young adult books that are about summer and little romances. I enjoyed this story a lot. Towards the end it got a little preteenish for me but I still liked it.

The second story is about a girl named Peggy who unfortunately has to work at a gas station as the coffee girl because she has to pay her family back for damaging the car. Throughout the story Peggy has this crush on this guy named Steve, she meets a new friend in french class, her mother is pregnant and so Peggy has to go to lamaze classes with her while also watching her other younger siblings whenever her father goes to practice (because he is an ice skater) and her mom goes to work (weather girl). So so far summer isnt as exciting as she had hoped, but with her new friend from french class, they have their own little fun adventures in a small town that hardly has any action going on.

I liked that this second story, yes had a boy fling in it, but was just mostly about Peggy and her summer. I did like the way it ended, and I enjoyed Denny's character. The humor in this second story is pretty good and had me laugh out loud at one point or another.

All in all I enjoyed reading this as one of my young adult summer books!

[Victoria Welliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's not much to say about this book. I did enjoy the first part of the bind-up but however, it did end abruptly. The second story was just plain awful. There was no plot and no entertainment to keep me reading non stop. Although I did finish the book, I would never read it again. Frankly, the second book was boring. It claimed to be a romance and there was none which is a turn off. If it were not for the random small "I still want you reading my book" attention grabber at the end then I would've said forget it and not given a second thought to it. Thanks for trying but you failed.

[Rebecca Plaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first story, but the second story wasn't as good. Easy read and an enjoyable escape.

[Thibiha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a good read.. The perfect book to kick back in the summer with.

[Cee Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book was such a cute summer romance I could’ve gone without the second story. It was quite boring and I feel like the whole plot was unnecessary.