Perfect Summer - Book Review

By Katie Graykowski

Synopsis

High school teacher Summer Ames is trapped in the nightmare morning from hell. Her alarm clock didn’t go off, she accidentally backed over the rosebush her grandfather gave her grandmother right before he accepted defeat against prostate cancer, she’s wearing clothes she picked up off the floor, and when she opens the door to her classroom, the lights from the TV cameras nearly blind her. She’s won Teacher of the Year. But unlike the past winners, she doesn’t get a new car or a Hawaiian vacation or even new school supplies, she wins an over privileged quarterback with a bright smile and questionable intentions.

Clint Grayson is an NFL quarterback in need of a reputation makeover. If he has any hope of landing a hundred million dollar endorsement deal, it will take some pretty impressive PR to clean up his bad boy image. In an attempt to polish his tarnished reputation, Clint agrees to be a high school class mentor.

When these two get together all hell breaks loose and they both learn that all is fair in love and football…and winning is just the beginning.

Review

Clint is a QB for the local NFL team, so you know he’s cocky, arrogant and has an ego the size of Texas. But when a man is surrounded by actresses, supermodels and the rich and famous, what do you expect? He’s also very charming and can lay it on thick until he gets what he wants. But there’s more to him than meets the eye, and he really grows up in this book after spending some time with Summer and her students. He sees how much he has and how little they have, the hardships they face every day, and how grateful they are over the littlest of things. By the end, he’s still cocky and charming, but he’s also very sweet and thoughtful and not afraid to stand up for Summer when she needs it.

Summer’s at-risk students are her entire life, doing anything she can to ensure they don’t go down the road full of gangs and drugs. She fights for them because she knows what it’s like to never have anyone in your corner. She’ll forever be the fat kid that people make fun of, that use her and then throw her away. She’s so used to it that it doesn’t bother her anymore…mostly. She’s a strong, independent and funny woman but she has major self-image issues caused mostly by her mother. Her bastard of an ex-fiance didn’t help matters either. But Clint comes in and slowly fixes the damage that others have caused.

Clint: “And I wanted to nail you.”
Summer: “I know it’s wrong, but that’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me.”

PERFECT SUMMER is a lovely read if you’re after something light-hearted and fun. Summer and Clint are both very likeable and their relationship was cute and heartwarming. As an added bonus, there’s a second love story in this book for Summer’s mother, Lilly. There’s also some good humour laced throughout the book that had me literally chuckling out loud. Two words: El Diablo. He’s only in one scene, but it’s definitely a memorable one.