Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale

     What drew me to this was the cover. As a self-proclaimed "foodie," when I saw this cover I knew it would contains elements I really liked: romance, food, and an interesting story on how the two came together. And let me tell you, that's exactly what I got.

"This was what I loved about summer, the free pass to be totally lazy and do things only if we wanted to do them."

3%

     Babe's number one rule is to never fall for a summer boy. It hasn't been hard to stick to that rule. She's happy with her best friends Penny and Chad, her lighthouse house, and the community of Oar Rest. But then comes Levi, the new guy who turns up and starts challenging all the answers Babe thought she already had.

"You can't always count on having a second chance. Sometimes you just get the one roll of the dice."

17%

     The number one best thing about this book is the setting. Period. Point blank. Everytime I picked up this book I was transported to Oar's Rest. And the best part about it was the homey feeling it gave me. I'm from Galveston, Texas, where I went to the beach most of my young life and we did many of the activities mentioned in this book. It reminded me so much of home! The fresh seafood, the salt smell in the air.... Just everything. I'm not sure if Lillie Vale is from Maine, but this place was either well-researched or just about real experiences.

"Life wasn't meant to be preserved in amber."

17%

       The food in this book was also enough to make me wish for them all. (Especially the chowder and tea shortbreads!!! And I don't even like tea....) In other words, do not read this book on an empty stomach. It will make you hungry and when you can't have what they have, you will get mad like me.

"Sometimes its easier to be the real you when you're with strangers."

23%

     As for the writing style, I enjoyed it for the most part, but there were sometimes it felt a bit jumpy. I believe it could have been the fact that I read an e-ARC, but I'm not sure. It just seemed that it jumped in certain spaces without a cut in the scenes. It was a bit confusing and at times I found I had to go back and re-read certain parts that I fly right over.

"Beginnings could be scary, and there was always a chance that the ending wouldn't be pretty, but the middle was what made it all worth it."

58%

     Lastly the characters. I liked Babe and most of her friends and all the community. But I'm not sure why Penny and Chad just rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't like the way they treated her and acted towards her the whole of the book. Penny seemed like a POS friend and Chad too for just going along to make her happy. I found myself secretly telling Babe to let them go. that Lucy and Lorcan were way better friends anyways.

"Summer's good for a lot of things, but the real test is what comes next."

98%

       This book was a surprise for me. Although it has all the things I love in a book, it wasn't high on my radar until I heard it was a summer loving story. Pair that with everything else and I knew I had to read it. This book is for all those waiting on the perfect beachy reads and the perfect beachy weather.