[Review] Camp Boyfriend by J.K. Rock

J.K. Rock
Camp Boyfriend
[contemporary YA]

You can buy it here:
Camp Boyfriend (Amazon paperback)
Camp Boyfriend (Amazon eBook)

FTC: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Summary: (via Netgalley)
The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.

They said it couldn't be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren's nerves and she can't wait to return to summer camp where she's valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she's broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn't even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.

But Matt isn't giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn't really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she's more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren's friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she's changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?

My thoughts:
It has been a long time since I last had the energy to review a book, with the baby and all (he doesn't sleep much during the day, so there's hardly any reading time for me anyway). However, I finished Camp Boyfriend this afternoon and knew I couldn't continue the series without writing a review first. Let's see if I can still manage to write a review then.

The cast in this adorable young adult novel is made up of a wide variety of characters. There are (among others) jocks, cheerleaders, queen bees, nerds - and sometimes, characters are really part of more than one of those groups. Lauren's main difficulty in this book is trying to figure out who she really is after spending the majority of her life as a major nerd, who was just transformed into a popular girl by her mother upon a move her family made. Returning to the camp, she thinks she will be back to her old self, however, things do not go as planned.

J.K. Rock's writing captured me from the start and is so easygoing, it did not take me long to finish the book in a few short sittings. By the way, J.K. Rock is actually a writing team, Joanne and Karen Rock. Joanne RockIndividually, they are be known to readers of romance novels for their Harlequin novels. The Camp Boyfriend series is their first aray into the young adult section, and I believe they did a good job capturing the voice of teenagers and the way they perceive the world.

I had not read the prequel novella, Camp Kiss before I read Camp Boyfriend, because I was not aware of it. I do not feel it hindered my understanding of the cast and how they interacted. Nonetheless, I want to read it soon, to see how the relationship between Lauren and Seth initially developped.

Rating:
4/5