Kirkus
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After blending into the background for too long, a teenage girl spends a summer finding herself—and possibly her first love…or two. Amelia Madden and Kat Barlowe are inseparable. Kat’s athletic, magnetic, and “thrives on being the star of the show”; Amelia lingers on the edges, loves the ocean, and dreams of being a shark biologist. The summer before junior year, everything changes: Kat leaves Cape Cod for upstate New York and a prep school with an elite tennis program. She promptly drops out of touch, leaving Amelia lonely—until she starts working with golden boy Myles Ford at seafood restaurant Pearl’s. Kat and Amelia, who shared a crush on Myles, once vowed that he was off-limits, but with Kat gone, the pact feels increasingly theoretical. Myles is attentive—offering Amelia rides home, hanging out with her at bonfire parties on the beach, and being a steady, reassuring presence. And then there’s Gregory McLoughlin, the lanky new kid in town who flirts with Amelia—and has never met Kat. The two share an obsession with music, and his confidence draws Amelia in. As she navigates divided loyalties, romantic longing, and the ache of changing friendship, the novel captures the uncertainty that comes with growing up. The writing is engaging, the characters are lovable, and the descriptions of beachy romance evoke pleasant nostalgia. Main characters are cued white. A sweet, heartfelt summer romance.(Romance. 12-18) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.