Blog Tour – Review: An Endless Summer by C.J. Duggan

Posted July 14, 2013 by Emma in Blog / 7 Comments

Today, I’m part of the An Endless Summer by YA Bound Book Tours. I’m really glad to be part of this tour and this post. My stop is a Review of both The Boys of Summer & An Endless Summer, I’m excited about this post by reading such brilliant Summer Reads and Contemporaries over the past month. I hope y’all enjoy it. But first here is a little more about this book…

An Endless Summer (Summer #2)
by C.J. Duggan
Release Date: 07/17/13
Buy: Amazon 

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

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.

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.


Review

As far a summer reads, series and YA Contemporaries go, these are the bomb. Yes I just said ‘the bomb’. They are exceptional and to be honest with you I didn’t know what to expect from the sequel after living my reading life to the full in The Boys of Summer

Summer in Onslow, 4 years later has seen some drastic changes especially for those of Amy Henderson. When she was just 16 she drowned after being saved by none other than Sean Murphy. After that incident she was sent to the city to attend a Girls Boarding School, leaving behind her only home she ever really cared about. Now 19 torn between Uni and a Gap Year, Amy travels back down her home and comfort; the Onslow Hotel. Yet what awaits her hardly resembles anything of the good ol’ times… derelict, its essence destroyed, overgrown… The Onslow Hotel has gone to pop. Now its Amy’s turn to take on the Henderson tradition and with a little help from the Onslow Boys, she will try to return it to it Summer Glory…

We first meet Amy Henderson in The Boys of Summer as the ‘dishwasher girl’. At first I ultimately disliked her with her cold looks towards Tess, but from experience, I’ve learnt to get to know her in this book than my initial reaction to her were we only saw a glimpse of a part of her persona. I can tell that Amy is muddle-cuddled by her parents after moving to the city that she just needs a moment of clarification, a way to find her own journey through her most favourite part of growing up. The Onslow Hotel was her escape and her heritage and as the latest generation of Henderson’s, its also a way to give herself some courage and inspiration to step up and show her parents that she can DO IT! The Onslow refurbishment was her moments glory as well as the hotel itself.

As I mentioned before I had the hots for both Toby and Sean Murphy and it was by my greatest enjoyment that Sean returned to aid Amy as, and I quote “a knight in shining armor”. Sean was both hilarious, buff and an almighty talented builder and construction worker… you can imagine to just stare at him from a distance while he flexes his muscle while doing work… *sighs*. Sean returned to for a beer and become Amy’s second in command and also a spark from a distance. They have both been through things when Amy was known a ‘Chook’ but now she wants to prove to him that she isn’t that little girl that the Onslow Boys all know her to be. Sean doesn’t play games and you can see that from his indiscretions developing throughout the whole book.

An Endless Summer is a tremendous sequel to becoming one of the most compelling and bitter-sweet summer romance contemplates ever… This review is only a spark of what I felt throughout the book and I have to say. With the return of Onslow Boys, Toby, Tess, Adam and Ellie I can only hope their is one final reunion will be epic…

Rating: 5

The Boys of Summer (Summer #1)
by C.J. Duggan
Release Date – December 12th 2012
Pages – 321
Purchase – Amazon for $0.99

Since last year I have been meaning to read this book for ages and to say that this tour came at the right time was just epic. I mean The Boys of Summer is the perfect summer read. It begins with “Tic Tac Tess” aka a rough year in high school from a rough break up with her former boyfriend Scott. But the summer couldn’t come any sooner. Taking a job with her best friends at Onslow Hotel had a whole new look to Tess’s Summer Plans…. Operation ‘Onslow Boys’  One particular boy Toby Morrison. Bare in mind I kind of liked all of the Onslow Boys especially Sean Murphy which eagerly lead me to the sequel An Endless Summer… Personally this plotline was nothing short of unique but its originality still intrigued me from the beginning. Its a typical, cliched summer read that will leave your toes curled and a huge love struck smile at the end.

In a Australian Summer of the 1990s Tess hasn’t had the easiest of rides at school with the embarrassing nicknames to the various pranks surrounding her former relationships. But she isn’t alone with the comfort of her friends Adam and Ellie she couldn’t wait for her summer to arrive. Tess in a way has a personal connection towards me with her self-consciousness, quiet, and shy persona that I just couldn’t tear myself away from, that and the additional summer influence of the boys! Preparing for her summer job as a waitress, the needs and tasks of her job doesn’t come easy  not when the certain likes of Toby Morrison becomes her next conquest at the Onslow Hotel. She has been in love with him since she was a freshmen when he was a senior… She has simultaneously passed by through his life for a while… A test of Courage is this novels greatest weapon.

Toby Morrison wasn’t the only Onslow boy that I fell for but he was the more the obvious choice of my widest dreams! Toby currently was with Angela, a girl that we all learn to hate by her neediness, whining and complaining by being on the arm of a popular jock. This oddly reminds me of Ryan Stone in Dare You To, rather going for the dark, broody, handsome bad guy. I’ve now come to a decision that I prefer a classic cliched jock with a beautiful body for any romance contemporaries. Together, Tess and Toby go through some rough patches but its clear that the summer fling between has many more prospects for the future.

C.J. Duggan, creates a fun, flirty, humorous summer read that can take your sit-back-and-relax novels to a whole new level. Don’t you just wish that your summer could resemble anything like that… I know I do.

Rating: 4.5


About the Author

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.

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1 Signed paperback copy of either The Boys of Summer or An Endless Summer (INT) and 5 ebook copies of The Boys of Summer or An Endless Summer (INT).

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7 responses to “Blog Tour – Review: An Endless Summer by C.J. Duggan

  1. Wow, this series sounds amazing! They sound like the perfect summer reads 🙂 I love humorous books. I'll definitely pick this book up when I'm in a mood for a light read. Great review, as always!

  2. I've been looking forward to Endless Summer after falling in love with the first book in the series, The Boys of Summer. I'm so happy to see that you enjoyed it too and even given it 5 stars! Woah. Now, I'm really excited to get my hands on it. Lovely review, Emma!

  3. I really didn't enjoy the first book. I mean it was okay but nothing more than that. But it's because for me, as I somehow can't connect with these NA books. I'm glad you enjoy them though. Great reviews 🙂

  4. I know Jasprit has really enjoyed this series, and after reading your raving reviews, I guess I should really pick this series up. It sounds like a perfect beach series. Wonderful reviews, Emma. 🙂

  5. I'm glad that you thoroughly enjoyed both books Emma, I think I had a hard time with Amy's character and how she wouldn't make up her mind about Sean and that's what let me down with this book. Otherwise I loved having the Onslow Boys back! Wonderful review Emma! 🙂

  6. So excited to read these Emma! I won the Boys of Summer a little while back and I can't wait to actually get to it. I've heard such good things and you obviously agree. I'm so glad the sequel is strong, I always worry about picking up a second book in a series I love, thinking it won't be as amazing, but that clearly isn't the case here. Fabulous reviews!

  7. I'm really glad to see you enjoyed An Endless Summer! I really liked the first book and have been looking forward to giving the sequel a try. I had no idea it was about Amy Henderson, though! I can't remember much about her character, other than the fact that I didn't like her, but I'm happy to see that it worked out for you. Brilliant reviews, Emma. 🙂