Emery Lord’s Open Road Summer makes our list of recommended books of 2014.
We asked a few of our contributors to write about a book that came out in 2014 that they think would be an excellent read for any Young Adult literature fan, and we came up with six books that we think should be on your reading list that maybe you haven’t thought of or heard about. We’ll be giving one book each day for the next six days, and today’s book is called Open Road Summer, Emery Lord’s debut novel, which contributor Flo will elaborate on.
I came to realize in August of this year that summer was almost over and I hadn’t yet read a good summer book. Luckily, I was coming up on a weekend, so I went to the library and picked up two of them. Open Road Summer was the first one I grabbed.
First of all — cover love! Isn’t this cover just bright and colorful and happy?! It immediately attracted my attention with its summer feel. And it did not disappoint. Open Road Summer tells the story of Reagan O’Neill and her best friend Lilah (Dee) Montgomery. Lilah is a country superstar who is heading on tour for the summer, and Reagan joins along. Not long after the start of the tour, Dee’s image is tarnished. In order to do some PR damage control, hottie Matt Finch joins the tour as Lilah’s opening act and supposed love interest. But in reality, the true romance is building between Matt and Reagan.
I officially have a new Book Boyfriend by the name of Matt Finch. So sweet, so understanding, so flexible — and he’s hot! And he sings! AND he writes songs about his girlfriends!! Sign me up! I thought that Matt and Reagan were perfect for each other. The fact that they both came with baggage made it easy for each of them to relate to the other and bring out the best in each other. Dee was absolutely adorable, and I loved her friendship with Reagan. Infinity pinkie lock? Perfect!
I am a HUGE fan of my favorite bands, so another thing I really enjoyed about this book was the setting. I enjoyed reading about life on the road, and I really liked the different songs and how they fit into the story. I found myself making up melodies for them in the my head and then humming them at random times. True story. Can “Open Road Summer” be a real, recorded song? Because the version in my head is fantastic! I believe this is Emery Lord’s first book, and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next! In the meantime, if you didn’t get a chance to read Open Road Summer in 2014, I definitely recommend that you do!
– Flo
