Blog tour: That One Summer (Summer, Book #3) by C.J. Duggan + review & giveaway
The Summer Series by C.J. Duggan
The Boys of Summer (Book 1)
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
It seemed only natural to nickname them the ‘Onslow Boys’. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week’s work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him ... Toby Morrison.
Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.
To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.
How did she let her friends talk her into working?
After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.
All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.
It will be a summer she will always remember.
The Boys of Summer (Book 1)
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
It seemed only natural to nickname them the ‘Onslow Boys’. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week’s work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him ... Toby Morrison.
Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.
To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.
How did she let her friends talk her into working?
After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.
All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.
It will be a summer she will always remember.
An Endless Summer (Book 2):
Sean looked out over the lake, squinting against the sunlight. He turned to me, his expression sobering as his eyes flicked over my face in a silent study.
“Come on Amy, I saved you once, I’ll save you again.”
I met his stare unflinchingly. “I don’t need saving.”
A wicked grin formed slowly. “Don’t you?”
After a rebellious summer night that almost claimed her life, Amy Henderson – the Onslow publican’s only daughter – is sent away to suffer a fate far worse than any other punishment:
Boarding School.
Three years on, a now nineteen-year-old Amy returns to Onslow for the summer. What once was a cauldron of activity with live bands, hot meals and cold beers, the Onslow Hotel now lies dark, deserted and depressing. All fond childhood memories of loitering on the hotel stairs and eavesdropping on customers’ colourful conversations are in the distant past.
How had her dad let it come to this?
With the new threat of putting the Onslow up for sale, Amy reluctantly turns to a local tradesman for help: Sean Murphy, the very same Onslow boy who saved her life all those years ago. With his help and that of some old friends, the task is clear: spend the summer building the hotel back up to its former glory or lose it for good.
In an endless summer, Amy soon realises that sometimes in order to save your future, you have to face your past, even if it’s in the form of a smug, gorgeous Onslow boy.
That One Summer (Book 3):
Sean looked out over the lake, squinting against the sunlight. He turned to me, his expression sobering as his eyes flicked over my face in a silent study.
“Come on Amy, I saved you once, I’ll save you again.”
I met his stare unflinchingly. “I don’t need saving.”
A wicked grin formed slowly. “Don’t you?”
After a rebellious summer night that almost claimed her life, Amy Henderson – the Onslow publican’s only daughter – is sent away to suffer a fate far worse than any other punishment:
Boarding School.
Three years on, a now nineteen-year-old Amy returns to Onslow for the summer. What once was a cauldron of activity with live bands, hot meals and cold beers, the Onslow Hotel now lies dark, deserted and depressing. All fond childhood memories of loitering on the hotel stairs and eavesdropping on customers’ colourful conversations are in the distant past.
How had her dad let it come to this?
With the new threat of putting the Onslow up for sale, Amy reluctantly turns to a local tradesman for help: Sean Murphy, the very same Onslow boy who saved her life all those years ago. With his help and that of some old friends, the task is clear: spend the summer building the hotel back up to its former glory or lose it for good.
In an endless summer, Amy soon realises that sometimes in order to save your future, you have to face your past, even if it’s in the form of a smug, gorgeous Onslow boy.
That One Summer (Book 3):
Loving Chris Henderson would be wrong. Diabolically disastrous. I mean, what is there about him to love? He’s moody, bossy, brooding, a control freak, and that’s on a good day … but there was one achingly obvious fact that haunted my every thought, every minute of every day …
He sure could kiss.
As the countdown to the new millennium begins, there is one thing everyone agrees on: no one wants to be in Onslow for New Year’s Eve.
So that can only mean one thing: road trip!
No longer the mousey, invisible, shy girl from years ago, Tammy Maskala is finally making up for all those lost summers. A new year with new friends, which astoundingly includes the bossy boy behind the bar, Chris Henderson.
She likes her new friends (at least most of them), so why does she secretly feel so out of place?
After chickening out on the trip, a last-minute change of heart sees Tammy racing to the Onslow Hotel, fearing she’s missed her chance for a ride. The last thing she expected to meet was a less-than-happy Onslow Boy leaning against his black panel van.
Now the countdown begins to reach the others at Point Shank before the party is over and the new year has begun. Alone in a car with only the infuriating Chris Henderson, Tammy can’t help but feel this is a disastrous start to what could have been a great adventure. But when the awkward road trip takes an unexpected turn, Tammy soon discovers that the way her traitorous heart feels about Chris is the biggest disaster of all.
Fogged up windows, moonlight swimming, bad karaoke and unearthed secrets; after this one summer nothing will ever be the same again.
Purchase: Amazon | B&N / Goodreads
Call me a fan of The Summer series by C.J. Duggan. This is my third tour and third book review. With each new release, I find myself anticipating my next stay with those Onslow Boys and the girls they fall for. I love the fact this series is set in Australia. Reading about the location, the customs, and learning the slang has become a welcome treat. What's especially wonderful about the third book is it doesn't take place only at the Onslow Hotel, That One Summer is a road trip story. Yes! Author C.J. Duggan has a knack for breathing life into her vivid descriptions I admire. Her details invoke a richness and I find myself easily transported to wherever she's written.
The third book belongs to Tammy and Chris. Tammy is Amy's friend and she feels like an outsider. Chris, the always serious one of the Onslow Boys, begins to drop his stern demeanor about Tammy. I've always harbored a secret 'thing' for Chris so watching him change and open up around Tammy is great. He has become a cherished favorite. This group of close friends are together during the Christmas holidays and Amy finds out that Sean and the guys plan on going camping for New Year's. She raises a fuss and Tammy is called on to find a solution. Much to Chris's chagrin, she suggests they vote and the all-boy trip becomes a unisex one. What I didn't realize is that in Australia summer is during New Years. Wow, that's sweet! It sure beats the frigid temperatures of winters in New York with Ryan Seacrest counting down until the ball drops on TV.
I find myself instantly liking Tammy. Nice, kinda tough, independent, but with a touch of vulnerability, indecisive and insecure, she reminded me so much of myself at her age. Placed into a group of longtime friends, even though she knows Amy she didn't see her friend when Amy was sent away to boarding school (the basis for book two) and now she feels like she doesn't belong. Amy includes her in everything which means so does the group. The opening scene was a lot of fun and I loved the way Tammy discovers exactly who she is stuck with in the dark hotel room as the game is played out. C.J. Duggan takes everyday normal things and adds a bit of her writer-ly magic to transform it into something else, something special. That's part of the reason why I love The Summer Series.
What can I say about Chris Henderson? I'm always drawn to the quiet, serious, semi-brooding ones. Chris deals with reality, with the business part of the hotel, he solves problems, devises, creates, handles. He's, well, he's amazing. He tells it like it is, doesn't brag, exaggerate, and around Tammy he begins to come into his own. These two are similar in ways and together they help each other drop their 'shells' and embrace life. That One Summer has its share of conflict and drama and I enjoyed it. Who's next in the series?
Rating: 4
Cover comment:
Works with the others in the series. Maybe it's just me but I do find myself tiring of the romantic girl/guy cover in New Adult.
Book source:
I received a promotional copy from the author in exchange for my honest review during a book review tour.
AUTHOR BIO
C.J. Duggan is an Australian author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia.
The Boys of Summer is Book One in her Mature Young Adult Romance Series.
For more on C.J and ‘The Summer Series’, visit www.cjdugganbooks.com
Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter
GIVEAWAY
Reader Girls are giving one lucky reader (1) ebook copy of The Boys of Summer (book 1) + An Endless Summer (book 2) of the Summer series. Open internationally. Our giveaway ends on January 27th, 2014.
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