Five-minute girlfriend. That's what Jett signs up for when she meets Adrian and his band Arabella at beach music festival Summer Storm. One kiss and the attraction is too electric to ignore, but Jett has no room for love and Adrian is Mr. Relationship who's getting over his recent breakup. The solution? Keep it simple. Keep it casual. For three months (that's the rule about breakups, right?), Jett helps Adrian move on and Adrian shows up on Jett's bed whenever she wants. Then the three months are up and neither of them are in a hurry to be the first to leave. Does Jett walk away from a potential disaster or does she finally let someone into her closely-guarded heart?
I. Loved. This. Book. So much so that ever since I finished it, it's been a little difficult to find another I really want to read.
Jett is a fierce, standoffish scientist-type main character who swears she's just trying to help Adrian get over his breakup. Adrian goes along with it because Jett is awesome and their chemistry is just too much to pass on. But he also can't help but want to clean her house and want more and...maybe she does too? But no, she doesn't do that kind of thing. She doesn't want all the feels. This is just a hook-up thing. She's got some baggage and hurt in her past, and she just doesn't want to think about it. Plus this guy from that past, Ziggy, keeps creeping back in and making her feel like garbage all over again.
Feels Like Summer has everything you want in your New Adult romance. A fake relationship, tenderness, angst, smarts, sass, redemption, clarity. Jett and Adrian also talk about their days, and their lives (sort of, sometimes, eventually), and the things they want out of life. It also has some stuff you didn't know you wanted. Unsatisfying, awkward first sex honestly depicted, followed by the let-me-know-what-you-like-'cos-I-wanna-satisfy-you sex. A rock star love interest who's also a nurse? Also, it's summer in the Philippines. Yes, please.
It also has strong friendships and side characters. Jett has a best internet friend, cool coworkers, and also forms her own friendships with Adrian's bandmates. This isn't a book full of mean girls or pitting girls against one another. Even though Adrian's ex did break his heart in some ways, she's never depicted as some horrible monster or as someone Jett should put down in order to seem better.
Should you read it? Absolutely, 100% yes. Yes. If you love the New Adult genre, you absolutely have to read Feels Like Summer. Is every single sentence and element pure perfection? Maybe not, but the story itself is, and you will not be able to put it down. And then you'll want to curl up in a ball for a little while afterwards because it's over and you don't know what to do with yourself anymore.
5 Stars