What We Did Last Summer

Love Stories For Young Adults #33

by Elizabeth Craft

After the perfect romance with sexy Josh Nelson, Sara Connelly is devastated to part ways and return to her hometown at summer's end. But Sara's spirits are quickly lifted when she finds out she's moving to Connecticut--where Josh lives! When Sara sees Josh in the halls of her new school, she knows they're meant to be together...until she meets Josh's girlfriend.

Sara does what any intelligent, heartbroken girl would do--she tells Josh she has a boyfriend. And she does...kind of. Her new buddy Tim Kaplan just happens to be a cute guy. After a lot of begging and pleading, Sara convinces him to play along. Tim slips into the role perfectly--so perfectly, in fact, that Josh is soon longing to pick up where he and Sara left off. At last Sara has Josh right where she wants him...but is he still the one she wants?

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Teen, Contemporary, Childrens

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain wrote their first piece together when they were fifteen - a feature on Kansas City delis for their high school newspaper.

They now live in Los Angeles, where Sarah and Liz are currently Writer-Producers on the Emmy-award winning show "The Shield" and James Patterson's upcoming "Women's Murder Detective Club" TV series debuting this fall on ABC.

Reviews

[Dane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nostalgia almost demands I give this a higher rating. I read this book in the 90s, back when these books were popular. They were my induction into romance novels: love stories with all the melodrama and passion of the teenagers it stars.

This book fits the bill. Filled with the kinds of powerful, all-encompassing emotions of Kung adults. The writing isn't spectacular but it isn't a hardship to read either. The characters are as developed as expected for a short little novel, and the ending is expected but still pleasant.

Some of my enjoyment might have stemmed from the rosy glasses of nostalgia, because for me it's probably a 3 star.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mom's need not worry at all! Amazing for tweens & teens, no sex, no talk of sex. Not even sexual innuendos, (Despite the cover and title) just kissing! First kiss/first love, romantic, creative, clever, funny! I would highly recommend these "love stories" books written by different authors. They're what I started out on, as an adolescent in the 90s, daydreaming about my future first love, 😻 and I sometimes still pull them out and read them as an adult! And, most all of the main characters, a girl looking for love, have a best friend/gal pal like most of us do/did to rely on, and to chat with! My mom loved these for me, as did I!

[Tejeda Enoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im fall in love from this book

[Jennifer Currence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this book 5 stars only because this was my favorite book when I was in high school, and it was the first ever romance novel I had ever read! It's been years since I've read it! I think I may buy it for my e-reader!

[Roxy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I reread this out of curiosity, to see what I was into when I was a freshman. Dear God, never again. She positively crazy. I don't see how this girl truly justifies all she did. On the bright side? It's a short read. Not too big a loss.

Beware.

[Weronika · Rating 4 out of 5]

haha this was my first young adult book my sister got me when I was 14 :)

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated 5 stars for the nostalgic factor, this is one of my favorites when I was younger and I remember it well.

2024 Re-reading: 2 stars

[Katharina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was surprisingly good. It's a cute story. Nothing really special, but a fun, light read. I'm sure it'll have a bigger appeal on 13-year-old girls who just recently got interested in boys.

[Allyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another cheesy fast read. Don't be decived. I was knitting instead of reading this week.