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Boys of Summer
They say you never know what you have until it's gone, but I've always known what I had.
I've never not known my Boys of Summer. They've been right here every year--like steady trees standing strong and larger than life, rooted in the earth and just waiting for me to come back to them.
Two long years have passed since I've visited the beach town they call home. The family my mother nannies for packed up and moved clear across the country and we followed. But after a chance encounter leaves my flighty mother with a new, wealthy husband, my life is turned inside out once again as I find myself standing on the shores of my childhood summers.
I expected them to welcome me with open arms the way they used to... but I quickly learned that my sweet, sun-kissed Boys of Summer have grown into the cold, unfamiliar Men of Fall.
This is a #whychoose Contemporary Second Chance romance that deals with light bullying, strong language, dark situations and possibly triggering content. 18+ due to sexual content and situations. (Everyone involved in sexual acts is over the age of 18.)
I've never not known my Boys of Summer. They've been right here every year--like steady trees standing strong and larger than life, rooted in the earth and just waiting for me to come back to them.
Two long years have passed since I've visited the beach town they call home. The family my mother nannies for packed up and moved clear across the country and we followed. But after a chance encounter leaves my flighty mother with a new, wealthy husband, my life is turned inside out once again as I find myself standing on the shores of my childhood summers.
I expected them to welcome me with open arms the way they used to... but I quickly learned that my sweet, sun-kissed Boys of Summer have grown into the cold, unfamiliar Men of Fall.
This is a #whychoose Contemporary Second Chance romance that deals with light bullying, strong language, dark situations and possibly triggering content. 18+ due to sexual content and situations. (Everyone involved in sexual acts is over the age of 18.)
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About the author
K.M. Raya
11 books121 followersHey everyone! I'm K.M. Raya and I write books! Primarily romance, paranormal, YA, mafia, fantasy and Reverse Harem.
I started writing in high school for the school paper, and after that it was a whirlwind. Most of my college years were spent creating stories and blogs and bringing my imagination to life so that one day I could share them with you all. I live in California with my amazingly supportive husband and my two crazy cats, who both definitely proofread everything I write. I spend most of my free time watching B movie horror flicks, crime dramas and any vampire TV show I can find. I'm a lover of fantasy, swoon worthy book boyfriends and suffer from a serious case of wanderlust that can only be cured by reading dozens of books a year.
Thanks a bunch for giving me a follow. I hope you enjoy my worlds and all my little creations. You can find my books on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, or if you want, you can follow my Facebook, Instagram and right here on Goodreads!
I started writing in high school for the school paper, and after that it was a whirlwind. Most of my college years were spent creating stories and blogs and bringing my imagination to life so that one day I could share them with you all. I live in California with my amazingly supportive husband and my two crazy cats, who both definitely proofread everything I write. I spend most of my free time watching B movie horror flicks, crime dramas and any vampire TV show I can find. I'm a lover of fantasy, swoon worthy book boyfriends and suffer from a serious case of wanderlust that can only be cured by reading dozens of books a year.
Thanks a bunch for giving me a follow. I hope you enjoy my worlds and all my little creations. You can find my books on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, or if you want, you can follow my Facebook, Instagram and right here on Goodreads!
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 23, 2020
Here’s a book in which 2/3 of the harem:
- Called the heroine a whore (for having sex with him)
- Called her a bitch
- Called her trash
- Threatened her, in more than one occasion, with making her life hell unless she left town
- Wished her to be miserable
And never apologized for it.
The main culprit here is Luca, who also screams at the heroine for daring to have sex with a man because “You’re supposed to be mine!” despite the fact that they are not dating, and all he has done up to that point is threaten and insult her. The other part of the douche duo, River, doesn’t yell at the heroine but is happy to threaten her and bully her – while also cheating on his actual girlfriend.
I want to say that at least Jax, the final member of the harem, made it all worth it, but he was so absent for most of the book, I honestly thought it was mislabeled as a harem when it’s actually a ménage.
There’s not even a good excuse for all the anger and misery Luca and River pile on the heroine from the moment they set eyes on her. They’re pissed because, two years previous, she ghosted them after she had sex with one of them. Now, ghosting is shitty, but not enough to trying to threaten someone into leaving town. Especially when the ones making the threats are two grown men who should really know better.
Why do they claim they have loved her for years but, despite not hearing from her for two years, never bother to ask why? Were they at any moment worried for her well-being? Did they ever consider there might by any outside factor affecting this 16-year-old girl’s choice? The moment they set eyes on her they’re filled with hatred and anger that never feels justified.
Not that the book even bothers exploring Nora’s actions. It’s all waved away as “I was young and scared”, which is an incredibly unsatisfactory explanation. She lost her virginity to someone she loved, and immediately decided to throw her phone away and never talk to them again, despite crying for months on end while thinking about them. I understand this is related to her anxiety, but I know this because I know anxiety, not because the book ever tried to explain it.
Finally, there’s Nora herself, one passive heroine who has everything fall onto her lap without effort of any kind. From the start of the story, things happen to her and she does nothing to try and affect the way things go. She was meant to participate in a big show in NY, but the moment her mother asks her to go to California, she drops everything without even trying to argue that her future prospects may be affected by this decision. This is important because Nora claims she wants a future in dance, and that NY is a great place to network – but despite the magnitude of the show, one she supposedly had been rehearsing for months, she never even tries to find a way to stay and, you know, actually fulfill her responsibilities.
She doesn’t attempt to talk to the guys about her actions. She whines about “needing to talk about it” but does nothing – including talking about it! She’s happy to let them call her names in public, scream at her in private and threaten her life until they choose to stop. But at the end of the day, she ends up with three guys, an entire dance studio and a cozy apartment that the guys even decorated for her, all without making any effort bigger than crying. Because rest assured, Nora is a crier, despite the fact that she dedicates a few paragraphs about how her difficult childhood made her a non-crier.
So, in summary: The book was unsatisfactory and gross, as it feels more like a study in abusive relationships than a goddamn romance. Nora is insufferably passive, Luca and River are impossible to like as they are two adult men bullying a teenager and never apologize for it, and Jax comes off more as a secondary character than a significant part of the main cast. Everyone else exists as props, no-one’s actions feel excused in any satisfactory manner, and all in all I hate having wasted my time in this book.
At least the cover was pretty.
- Called the heroine a whore (for having sex with him)
- Called her a bitch
- Called her trash
- Threatened her, in more than one occasion, with making her life hell unless she left town
- Wished her to be miserable
And never apologized for it.
The main culprit here is Luca, who also screams at the heroine for daring to have sex with a man because “You’re supposed to be mine!” despite the fact that they are not dating, and all he has done up to that point is threaten and insult her. The other part of the douche duo, River, doesn’t yell at the heroine but is happy to threaten her and bully her – while also cheating on his actual girlfriend.
I want to say that at least Jax, the final member of the harem, made it all worth it, but he was so absent for most of the book, I honestly thought it was mislabeled as a harem when it’s actually a ménage.
There’s not even a good excuse for all the anger and misery Luca and River pile on the heroine from the moment they set eyes on her. They’re pissed because, two years previous, she ghosted them after she had sex with one of them. Now, ghosting is shitty, but not enough to trying to threaten someone into leaving town. Especially when the ones making the threats are two grown men who should really know better.
Why do they claim they have loved her for years but, despite not hearing from her for two years, never bother to ask why? Were they at any moment worried for her well-being? Did they ever consider there might by any outside factor affecting this 16-year-old girl’s choice? The moment they set eyes on her they’re filled with hatred and anger that never feels justified.
Not that the book even bothers exploring Nora’s actions. It’s all waved away as “I was young and scared”, which is an incredibly unsatisfactory explanation. She lost her virginity to someone she loved, and immediately decided to throw her phone away and never talk to them again, despite crying for months on end while thinking about them. I understand this is related to her anxiety, but I know this because I know anxiety, not because the book ever tried to explain it.
Finally, there’s Nora herself, one passive heroine who has everything fall onto her lap without effort of any kind. From the start of the story, things happen to her and she does nothing to try and affect the way things go. She was meant to participate in a big show in NY, but the moment her mother asks her to go to California, she drops everything without even trying to argue that her future prospects may be affected by this decision. This is important because Nora claims she wants a future in dance, and that NY is a great place to network – but despite the magnitude of the show, one she supposedly had been rehearsing for months, she never even tries to find a way to stay and, you know, actually fulfill her responsibilities.
She doesn’t attempt to talk to the guys about her actions. She whines about “needing to talk about it” but does nothing – including talking about it! She’s happy to let them call her names in public, scream at her in private and threaten her life until they choose to stop. But at the end of the day, she ends up with three guys, an entire dance studio and a cozy apartment that the guys even decorated for her, all without making any effort bigger than crying. Because rest assured, Nora is a crier, despite the fact that she dedicates a few paragraphs about how her difficult childhood made her a non-crier.
So, in summary: The book was unsatisfactory and gross, as it feels more like a study in abusive relationships than a goddamn romance. Nora is insufferably passive, Luca and River are impossible to like as they are two adult men bullying a teenager and never apologize for it, and Jax comes off more as a secondary character than a significant part of the main cast. Everyone else exists as props, no-one’s actions feel excused in any satisfactory manner, and all in all I hate having wasted my time in this book.
At least the cover was pretty.
July 6, 2023
Hablando de libros random jajajajajja.
Es que la manera en la que la sinopsis me estafó tanto no es normal.
Les juro que algún día me acordaré como pensaba que el libro era un childhood friends to lovers jajajajajajja BASTA.
Es que la manera en la que la sinopsis me estafó tanto no es normal.
Les juro que algún día me acordaré como pensaba que el libro era un childhood friends to lovers jajajajajajja BASTA.
Want to read
October 31, 2020🎁 FREE on Amazon today (10/26/2019)! 🎁
February 8, 2020
Pages: 208
My rating: 2
Read other books by this author in the future: no
The idea of the book, that someone is forced to get to thing she left behind, is a not a new one and this book had some plot holes. Basically some thing are not explained or only glossed over and that’s why I was unhappy with this book. Like what happened exactly two years ago, why did Nora dump her phone so her friends could not contact her?
The FMC Nora was thinking about her stuff- being self centered. But she never thought about the guys problems. For example Jax flew in for her from New York, missing his dance presentation, which Nora was supposed to do with him, but when he shows up for the engagement party, she does not know that he can't be at this presentation and the engagement party because they are scheduled for the same evening. Or she just ignores Jax, even if he came to stay with her, for long periods.
There is a HEA, but there are so many questions and no answers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2020
I liked it as a whole but I did think the MC was somewhat self-centered & self-indulgent. She wallowed a lot in her own angst as well. She could have been a lot more proactive about a lot of things but she didn't really do anything to improve her own situation. Things just fall into place for her. She was constantly running off to get "fresh air" and leaving behind people without a second thought. If I had a best friend/lover who came all the way from NY to California to be there for me than I wouldn't just run off and leave him to the tender mercies of family and friends that kind of hate him without a second thought. She did this often to several people. Who does that? Who just runs off without any sort of explanation for the people left behind? She was so lucky and didn't even realize it. The moment she arrives in town she finds an instant best friend, a perfect new job, and a great new step-dad. Idiot.
April 26, 2020
Cute
Standalone contemporary RH with a second chance romance. I liked that it was the girl that needed the second chance. Though the guys were pretty mean to her for only leaving and ghosting them. She was 16 and not in control of her life yet, though she could of talked to them. However, she didn't want to have to say goodbye or have that as memory. They assumed the worse of her so when she returns it isn't all roses and heart moments. River was the worse for me. His character description at the beginning was laid back surfer and they had not evened kissed yet he was constantly parading another girl in front her, telling her something different and then kissing her. He sent the most mixed messages. Jackson is the cutest. Luca the bad boy with a heart of gold. Cute story. Enjoyed on a rainy day.
Standalone contemporary RH with a second chance romance. I liked that it was the girl that needed the second chance. Though the guys were pretty mean to her for only leaving and ghosting them. She was 16 and not in control of her life yet, though she could of talked to them. However, she didn't want to have to say goodbye or have that as memory. They assumed the worse of her so when she returns it isn't all roses and heart moments. River was the worse for me. His character description at the beginning was laid back surfer and they had not evened kissed yet he was constantly parading another girl in front her, telling her something different and then kissing her. He sent the most mixed messages. Jackson is the cutest. Luca the bad boy with a heart of gold. Cute story. Enjoyed on a rainy day.
February 12, 2021
Like that Nora knew what she wanted and didnt back down from it. I really thought is was adorable how cute a d sweet the guys were. They were big and bad with their friends, but when they were alone with Nora they seemed so shy. I liked reading this, however it didn't hold my interest too long. I did finish it because I wanted to know how it ends.
April 16, 2020
You know those cringey moments in teen movies where all sound stops, time slows down and the wind blows through your crush’s hair as they enter the room? Well, none of that bullshit happens here. Luca Perry takes one look at me and turns on his heel, slamming the door behind him before disappearing down the street.
I wheezed at this. Seriously.
It was kind of good. Light. Warm. Not enough.
I wish it would have been a bit more complex, a bit more full, like 400 pages more of development and a bit drama. Because even though the idea is good and characters are interesting, i found the story lacking. Development, backstory, more things about dancing and Luca's music. I wanted to know the characters, i wanted to grow close with them. But they stayed distant and unreachable. Sadly. It truly needed to be more full. Detailed. Then it would have been perfect. I enjoyed it still!
July 23, 2020
I enjoyed it
It's a super cute read about coming together again. I liked the story. It may have been short but it packed the feelings. I really would love to see more from their characters. Maybe this could be the prequel and the next book is Nora and Jax running the dance studio, Ryder surfing, and Luca with his music. Then Nora finds out she's pregnant. Even if not of that happens this was a nice read
It's a super cute read about coming together again. I liked the story. It may have been short but it packed the feelings. I really would love to see more from their characters. Maybe this could be the prequel and the next book is Nora and Jax running the dance studio, Ryder surfing, and Luca with his music. Then Nora finds out she's pregnant. Even if not of that happens this was a nice read
March 10, 2020
DNF @ 13%
I know I stopped reading very early on but I couldn’t get into Nora’s personality. I like my FMC to have strong personalities and not let anyone walk all over them and this was not the vibe I got here... the mom came off as selfish and self-centered and Nora just went along with what was happening ...
I know I stopped reading very early on but I couldn’t get into Nora’s personality. I like my FMC to have strong personalities and not let anyone walk all over them and this was not the vibe I got here... the mom came off as selfish and self-centered and Nora just went along with what was happening ...
November 19, 2020
Enjoyable, but I wanted more.
I really liked the story and the characters, but I felt they needed to go through more to get where they ended. Almost like it could have been stretched out over more than one book. Would have liked to see certain snooty people get what was coming, maybe a peek into their future. Still, it is worth the read. I would like my own Boys of Summer.
I really liked the story and the characters, but I felt they needed to go through more to get where they ended. Almost like it could have been stretched out over more than one book. Would have liked to see certain snooty people get what was coming, maybe a peek into their future. Still, it is worth the read. I would like my own Boys of Summer.
January 21, 2020
Happy Ending
This was a light bully, good read. I am happy the way things ended in this love story. I love me some Jax. Thank you.
This was a light bully, good read. I am happy the way things ended in this love story. I love me some Jax. Thank you.
August 19, 2023
Estuvo bien, pero tampoco diría que fue bueno; bastante equis.
February 12, 2024
Lo ame es super tranqui y rápido de leer te engancha desde el primer momento y la colección que tiene con cada uno es palpable.
December 8, 2019
So good!
I really like this book! The characters are well written and interesting. The storyline is solid and well written! !
I really like this book! The characters are well written and interesting. The storyline is solid and well written! !
February 12, 2022
This was good, but I would have liked it more when I was younger (teen). The plot was predictable, the mc was not relatable the secondary characters just didn't work for me.
November 15, 2019
Me gusto mucho en plan clásico de enredos y mal entendidos, pero con el toque de varios amantes. Cada uno en su forma especial.
November 7, 2019
More
So sweet fast paced loved this story. Young love . Great story highly reccomend. If you love rh romance this Is for you
So sweet fast paced loved this story. Young love . Great story highly reccomend. If you love rh romance this Is for you
November 6, 2019
Made me smile
I was in a book hangover and this was just what the book doctor ordered. It was light while still being realistic. It definitely made me smile at the end.
I was in a book hangover and this was just what the book doctor ordered. It was light while still being realistic. It definitely made me smile at the end.
October 28, 2019
Loved this story
Nora found her true love in her summer vacation town while she wad young. But she then Nora moves away at 16, didn't stay to fight for them. Nora just finished high school and is a dancer. Her mother meets a man, she plans to marry in a month. Nora moves back to her summer hometown and is shocked her true loves are still there. But her 2 love dont want her and make it known day one they want her gone. Life gets complicated for Nora with heartbreak but she pulls thru. This book was so a major page turner and i stayed up way to late reading it. A girl can only dream to have these kind of men in her life. Yummy reading so enjoy
Nora found her true love in her summer vacation town while she wad young. But she then Nora moves away at 16, didn't stay to fight for them. Nora just finished high school and is a dancer. Her mother meets a man, she plans to marry in a month. Nora moves back to her summer hometown and is shocked her true loves are still there. But her 2 love dont want her and make it known day one they want her gone. Life gets complicated for Nora with heartbreak but she pulls thru. This book was so a major page turner and i stayed up way to late reading it. A girl can only dream to have these kind of men in her life. Yummy reading so enjoy
November 3, 2019
Wonderful Story!
I absolutely loved this book. I really felt pulled in by the writing. I don't often cry while reading but I did with Nora.
I absolutely loved this book. I really felt pulled in by the writing. I don't often cry while reading but I did with Nora.
October 25, 2019
I very much enjoyed this story. I wish it was a little more developed and the characters where a little deeper. Also, the timeframe off the whole story seemed a little off at times. I would definitely read the book again though.
October 25, 2019
Great story!!!
I really enjoyed this book! Great writing and wonderful storyline!! Nora had a fantastic personality and I loved the individuality of the guys!
I really enjoyed this book! Great writing and wonderful storyline!! Nora had a fantastic personality and I loved the individuality of the guys!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews