Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Free Wheeling Summer

Rate this book
Sometimes taking a risk keeps the wheels turning.

Everyone seems to have life figured out but me. I’ve never been good at much, though I’ll give anything the old college try.

Well, except for actual college. I’m not trying that at all. Not yet.

So here I am, taking a gap year after high school, which I hear is a totally acceptable practice in many countries. In my high school filled with over-achievers, I’m the odd one out.

Working my summer job and feeling my lowest, I accept an invitation to sub in on a roller derby team. I own skates and am okay at it, so why not? I never expected to love the feeling of racing the track. Of pushing my way to victory. For once in my life, I might actually be good at something.

I even have a new guy to crush on—Rob, who I met at a derby match. Only it turns out, he’s affiliated with our rival team-slash-sworn enemies. The team split in two last year from a big blowout between the captains.

And worse, Rob is the brother of our rival’s captain. Maybe worse than that, I kinda took a solemn vow when I joined the team that I’d never associate with any of them.

The team means everything to me, but Rob is finding a place in my heart too. Just when I thought I’d figured out my life, I fall back down again.

Free Wheeling Summer is a young adult secret dating romance and the fourth book in the Love on Summer Break series. It can be read as a stand-alone story.
lone or part of the series.

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2022

39 people are currently reading
290 people want to read

About the author

Stephanie J. Scott

24 books594 followers
Stephanie J. Scott writes light-hearted, quirky romance and young adult. She enjoys dance fitness, everything cats, and has a slight obsession with Instagram. A Midwest girl at heart, she resides outside of Chicago with her tech-of-all-trades husband and fuzzy furbabies.

I spend a lot of time on Instagram! @stephaniejaynebooks

More about books & my author newsletter at:
www.stephaniejscott.com

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
30 (31%)
4 stars
28 (29%)
3 stars
31 (32%)
2 stars
6 (6%)
1 star
1 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Anna Jason.
1,176 reviews13 followers
November 6, 2024
This was a fun and quirky book that I quite enjoyed from the start. I haven’t read many roller derby romances before so this one was different for sure. I honestly learned a lot more about the sport and everything that they have to fight through to get what they want. To win. To love. To sacrifice. It was relatable in many ways. 1) figuring out next steps on going to school or not. 2) gap from school. 3) summer romance
Profile Image for mariana ౨ৎ.
193 reviews13 followers
July 8, 2025
2 ⭐️ every single character acted like a child and mind you some were grown ass adults with literal kids. also why was the FMC arguing with the MMC over roller derby 24/7 when she literally said she didn’t wanna talk about it? she was infuriating and annoying asf. and don’t get me started on the whole rivalry between teams because it was unnecessary and childish and that is me being nice.
Profile Image for Logan Bolton.
108 reviews
June 10, 2023
maybe like 2.75 stars. i feel like some of the topics were blown out of proportion.. but it was fine. why was his name rob? and if you like roller derby or want to learn more, you’ll prob love this book. pretty okay ending.
4,012 reviews35 followers
February 25, 2022
The book is a good, and enjoyable sweet teen and young adult romance read. The story has a good story line. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Meghan.
723 reviews114 followers
March 6, 2022
Once again Stephanie J. Scott has written a book I could dive into and read in one (long) sitting, eating up the drama, the teenage angst, and all of the emotions I felt when I was 18 and finding my place in the world. Sometimes I read contemporary YA and find it difficult to sink into, perhaps because I wish to forget those years of hormone-driven angst and changes that weren't always welcome. However, the way this book was written, it almost made me wish I could go back and experience the excitement of change again. At my age, my life is much more stable and less exciting, and I was able to live vicariously through the heroine for a few hours. It produced so many memories for me, and I finished the book feeling hopeful for the future.

Chelsea feels lost after graduating high school, watching her friends go off to college and find love. And when her parents drop a metaphorical bomb into her already fragile state of anxiety, she realizes she's going to need to make some changes if she's to ever find her way forward. While working her summer job at Wild Adventures amusement park, she is pulled in to be a roller skating clown last minute, and that's when she meets people who will change everything. Soon she is joining a roller derby team, making eyes at the rival team's cute young coach, and hiding the fact that she fully intends to live on her own when her parents move. She has a lot of learning to do, but maybe with some new friends and a fresh outlook on life, she can finally find her own way to a happy future.

I loved Chelsea and was so excited to see her again after the last book! She grew so much even then, and I felt her pain when she was struggling to be excited even when she wasn't sure what the future would hold for her. She had options...but none of them were appealing. When her parents told her they were moving, my heart dropped alongside hers, knowing that this would be an additional stressor on an already stressful situation. I was so glad when Rob came into the picture, even though he definitely had moments where I wanted to shake him. Learning more about roller derby was really fun - I could never do it, but I've always thought it would be cool to watch and meet people who played that sport. The dynamics between the two rival teams ratcheted up my stress level...and I wasn't even there! The fact that Chelsea and Rob had to hide that they knew each other, all the while their feelings for each other were growing, had me tied up in knots. Ah, teen love, and the drama of oaths between friends. You'll see what I mean when you read!

As always, I leave feeling satisfied and excited to read more! Looking forward to whatever this author writes next.

**I received a free copy from the author and this is my honest review.**
Profile Image for Ann Miller.
Author 3 books273 followers
March 4, 2022
A huge thank you to the author for providing me with an advanced copy of FREE WHEELING SUMMER! This is the fourth installment in the Love on Summer Break series. Even though a few characters from the previous books appear, this can certainly be read as a standalone.

FREE WHEELING SUMMER tells the story of Chelsea, who’s about to turn 18 and is at a crossroads in her life. She’s just graduated from high school and isn’t sure what she wants to do next. The one thing she’s sure of is she doesn’t want to move to a different city with her parents, who’ve just announced they’re selling the family home. She’s also not keen on the idea of attending a typical four-year college program, at least not until she figures out exactly what she wants to do with her life. As she’s floundering, she accepts an invitation to join a roller derby team, and she finds a place where she feels needed, a place where she belongs. The problem is, the guy she’s falling for—cute, charming Rob—turns out to be the coach of her team’s biggest rival, The Brawlers, and she’s made a promise to stay away from them.

There is so much to love about this book. Firstly, we need more YA sports books, so I was thrilled to discover this one centers around roller derby. It’s a sport I know nothing about, so I was fascinated to learn about the team structure and the various moves. As always, the author writes with a clean, strong style, and the dialogue and situations all felt incredibly realistic.

I adore Stephanie’s storytelling ability and her talent for creating characters that readers can relate to. From the very beginning, I both empathized and sympathized with Chelsea. Many times in my life I’ve experienced that same kind of uncertainty, not knowing which path to take, and the message that we don’t have to have all the answers RIGHT NOW really resonated with me. Speaking of characters, the love interest, Rob, is sweet and supportive, and I loved all the ways he helped Chelsea, despite the fact she’s on the rival team. Plus, I always enjoy a secret romance. 😊 I also have to give a shout out to Barb, one of the older derby team members who acted as sort of a mentor to Chelsea. I think we should all have a ‘Barb’ in our lives.

FREE WHEELING SUMMER is a sweet summer YA romance, but at its heart it’s about taking the time to find yourself and trusting that you’ll find your way. Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Latte Hawthorne.
117 reviews5 followers
March 27, 2024
Just-graduated Chelsea Devlin has tried out so many different hobbies and possible interests, but she hasn’t yet found her thing. Her passion. She can’t quite bring herself to apply to any colleges quite yet, so she decides to take a gap year to find herself. How exactly she’ll do that, she doesn’t know, but the time ticks down when her parents announce that they’re moving. Chelsea loves her little town of Ginsburg, and doesn’t want to move upstate with her parents, so she devises a plan to get a job, move out, and stay in Ginsburg. Only, she doesn’t want any old job—she wants one she’s passionate about. Meanwhile, she also joins a local roller derby team, and discovers that she’s actually pretty good at it. She’s suddenly finding herself falling in love with the sport, as well as the adorable Rob, who Chelsea met the day she went to her first bout (roller derby match). She soon finds out that there are two roller derby teams in the area, and there’s a lot of bad blood between them—especially their respective captains, former best friends and now sworn enemies. Even worse? Rob is the coach for the rival team—and the captain’s brother. But he’s not like the rest of them—he helps her practice her skating skills, and even strives to help her find her passion (a la the career days in The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, but not quite as cute)—right? But between rivalries, romances, tornadoes, and starting adult life, Chelsea has a lot on her plate. Can she keep her balance on and off the rink?
Likes:
* Chelsea! Surprisingly, I actually really like the main characters in this series.
* Rob! I really like the love interests in these too. I also appreciate that he asked for consent to kiss her, and it wasn’t made into a big thing, it was just normal.
* The team was great (except Lyah).
* Elena and Chelsea’s friendship! This BFF-ship is everything, despite all that happened between them in Big Wild Summer (not me pretending I read these in order when I didn’t lol).
* The epilogue!!! SO many mentions of the characters from the other books, and we get to find out a bit about what happens to them! Although ngl Aiden and Lila being like twenty now is kinda weird. But it seems like Grace finally got herself together so that’s good.
* Also just all of the references to the other books! Ohmygoodness Will in pink shoes!
* Very clean, as is the whole series. The most that ever happens is kissing, with one very brief mention of their tongues touching. Not really any swearing either, just one use of “bad-ace” as a replacement.
* CHELSEA IS AN ONLY CHILD WHOSE PARENTS ARE BOTH ALIVE. AND THEY’RE STILL MARRIED. Y’all, this never happens. And she has cousins! They’re barely in it but they exist.
Dislikes:
* Lyah (though I do like her name!)
* The drama with the rivalry was a little over-the-top at times.
* While well-written, especially for a self published book, there were a few instances of missing words or punctuation, etc.
Things I’m on the Fence About/Random Notes:
* I did have a hard time, especially at first, with remembering the names of all the women on the team. Then you add in the other team, and the nicknames…it was just a lot.
I apologize for the lack of dislikes and random notes but I read this when I wasn’t feeling well, so that’s why I don’t have many notes. Also, just so you all know, you can read these books out of order (I did) but you’ll get all the adorable references if you read them in order. The epilogue will probably seem really unnecessary to anyone who hasn’t read the others, but it’s actually so perfect!
Profile Image for Arceli.
1,569 reviews11 followers
March 15, 2022
This book is super cute and enjoyable. I really loved the whole plot and characters. One of the main reasons is because this book is so freaking relatable. The whole struggle of whether to go to college is something most people in America feel. Especially, the whole gap year part. Chelsea is wonderful and she handles her challenges with an air of maturity. Rob also is wonderful. Both characters are mature and have resilience.

The whole premise of summer romance is one of my favorite things. This book gave me all the fuzzies. I enjoyed the romance a lot. The kissing scenes were super sweet. I liked the tenderness and the feelings they gave me. Also, despite this book being more on the cleaner and sweeter side, there was still a ton of chemistry. The interactions with Chelsea and. Rob always contained an awesome spark.

The side characters were wonderful. I loved Chelsea's relationship with her parents. It's pretty rare to have a character enjoy and respect their parents. Her parents are so supportive and I appreciate that. Rob's teammates are awesome. It is nice seeing the characters having friends.

In summary, I highly recommend this sweet YA romance.
Profile Image for Jenifer.
2,745 reviews6 followers
February 27, 2022
3.5 stars - rounded up

This is the first YA novel I've read by Stephanie J. Scott and it was well written, however, I do still enjoy her adult novels more. That being said this story dealt with a lot of adult themes still and how a younger crowd handles them and in certain cases how an older crowd fails to handle them. The story dealt with acceptance of change in your life and how we are all faced with it constantly and how we all process and react to it differently. There were some really good messages sprinkled through-out the story. I feel like both YA and adult audiences could enjoy this book and both would have a positive take-away from it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3,706 reviews40 followers
February 27, 2022
This is book four in The Love On Summer Break Series and it is Chelsea and Rob's story. Chelsea has decided to take a gap year as she was uncertain what to do with her life but while working a summer job she was asked to be a sub in the roller derby and that is when she meets Rob only things don't always go as planned because Rob is on the rival team and that makes things even more complicated. I really enjoyed reading this book as it has great characters and storyline and it was a real page turner and I had to keep reading to see what would happen next. I recommend you read this book and others by Stephanie J Scott as her book's are so well written and worth reading.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
1,652 reviews11 followers
March 1, 2022
This is an enjoyable young adult romance as Chelsea and Rob explore their new relationship but there is a lot of drama and impending upheaval as her parents prepare to move to another city and Chelsea is unsure of her life plan. Rob has his own family issues which also impact on Chelsea. The characters are likeable and the assorted dramas are well handled and friendships strengthened as a result.
I received an ARC of this book but voluntarily leave this review.
1,738 reviews10 followers
July 18, 2022
This was well written and would be great for others having doubts but it just didn't click with me. I'm well past the age it was meant for and not being in the US and being certain I wasn't going to Uni I didn't relate. It was also very sweet and chaste for my taste. Its a good book but I was trying a different genre and it didn't work for me.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Barbara.
19.1k reviews8 followers
March 3, 2022
Free Wheeling Summer is a young adult forbidden romance romantic comedy and the fourth book in the Love on Summer Break series. It can be read as a stand-alone story. I found it to be well written and it held my interest throughout. I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
10.8k reviews125 followers
March 3, 2022
This is the 4th book I've read written by Stephanie J. Scott; I can’t wait to read more of her books.

This is the 4th book in the Love on Summer Break Series; it is a stand-alone book. The story is about Chelsea & Rob; they meet at a roller derby match.

I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
4,559 reviews19 followers
March 4, 2022
This was a lovely story. I loved the first person point of view of the story, this is always a deal breaker for me. Chelsea was a wonderful character who was just trying to figure out what it was that she wanted now, that she graduated high school. I really enjoyed this story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Michaela | Reading in the Heartland.
3,683 reviews71 followers
March 2, 2022
I enjoyed this roller derby romance. I liked learning about the sport and the life lessons that had to be worked through.

I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
3 reviews
August 3, 2025
Ok loved the book! Related with Chelsea in the sense of figuring life out! Totally recommend reading the 3 other books prior because it really is full circle. Kissing only which is as much as I like⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
737 reviews7 followers
March 2, 2022
I really enjoyed the YA book. She's right out of high school trying to figure out what she wants to do. Lots of excitement and fun along the way!. Very enjoyable and entertaining to read!
Profile Image for Evy.
9 reviews2 followers
March 9, 2025
Took me a moment to get into this one. I do love roller skating but I feel as though it dragged along.
Profile Image for Meredith.
773 reviews33 followers
June 3, 2022
Do you like the forbidden romance trope?
I think I've always assumed I don't like forbidden romance/star crossed lovers because I hate Romeo and Juliet. It is not romantic. The characters are shortsighted. It should not be studied by teenagers. It shouldn't be held up as a good example of anything besides what happens when you're 13 and don't obey. Whew. Sorry, I digress. I read this book and I think I DO like the trope. Because this book, here for it. Every page.

- Chelsea
- I find roller derby terrifying. Everything I know about it is from one episode of Bones so the murder case might play a role there
- Rob is a nice guy. I love that
- she runs into him a lot
- the irony of the tornado
- the date! Oh the date 😍
- I like that she doesn't have it all figured out. I feel like that's real. I thought I had it all sorted but my life is nothing like I planned.
- I do love revisiting old friends- Jonah and Elena, Holli and Will
- "The team was all over the place tonight. Our captain was furious, my secret boyfriend was part of the bout and hadn't told me, and our rivals filled the seats to watch every move." It's getting stressful
- Elena is a riot. She's such a funny character
- kneeweakening smile- I love that
- "But right now, I was right where I wanted to be. Life might not stand still, but I knew how to roll with it." Solid ending line
- such a good epilogue. Football should play at least a minor role in every book 😉

Thank you to the author for the ARC. It was truly a joy to read. All opinions are my own.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.