Title: Camp Boyfriend
Series: Camp Boyfriend (Book 1)
Author: J.K. Rock
Published: July 2, 2013
Pages: 324 pages
Format: eBook
Source: Gift
Purchase: Amazon
Summary (Goodreads):
The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.
They said it couldn’t be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren’s nerves and she can’t wait to return to summer camp where she’s valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she’s broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn’t even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.
But Matt isn’t giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn’t really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she’s more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren’s friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she’s changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?
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Camp Boyfriend had been on my TBR pile ever since I received it as a gift from the author a little over a year ago. I didn’t mean to forget about it, but it somehow got buried until now, I had the chance to dive into this fun & cute story set in the amazing outdoors.
This book was a light read for me and it served its purpose of making me forget about everything else going on around me. I liked it. The setting was awesome (who doesn’t enjoy summer camps?), it had funny banter between the characters, and it housed two sweet boys vying for the heart of the main character, Lauren.
Lauren was a good main character, but I can’t say that I loved her. I barely tolerated her. She was way too indecisive in the romantic department and the love triangle she created was childish and immature. However, I have to give it to her that she does try giving other people a chance to enter her life, unlike her very closed-off “friends”. I didn’t really like them.
But even if a few things were a bit childish for my taste, I liked that Camp Boyfriend was also a story about growing up, of getting to know yourself and accepting that you can change over time. That change is okay. It teaches that people may surprise you, who they are on the surface may be just a side of many sides and you just have to pay attention or look harder. It was really nice of the authors to emphasize this in their story, and although I didn’t agree on many points with Lauren in how she overlooks the amazing qualities of the people surrounding her, I liked that they made her struggle a lot so she could open her eyes.
I’m not really sure if I’m going to continue with the series. I liked this book, but since the next one is going to be about one of Lauren’s friends (I think), I can’t say I’m too thrilled about it. I’ll have to think about it, but In any case, it’s a good thing I already own the sequel, Camp Payback. At least the title sounds fun. 🙂
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