Open Road Summer

By Emery Lord

Sarah Dessen gets a road trip twist in Emery Lord's debut novel, a summer story of love and true friendship.

"A fabulously entertaining story of friendship, healing, and love." --Elizabeth Eulberg, author
of Better Off Friends and Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O'Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah's 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts.

But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.

A fresh voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord's gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Jun 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781408898697

Emery Lord

Emery Lord is the author of Open Road Summer, The Start of Me and You, and When We Collided. She lives in a pink row house in Cincinnati, with a husband, two rescue dogs, and a closet full of impractical shoes. www.emerylord.com Twitter: @emerylord

Reviews for Open Road Summer

[brandileigh2003 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read Open Road summer because it sounds like a great book for summer, and even though it is just now spring in US, I am longing for the warmer days, and it sounded like this book would be perfect. I was hoping for a good mixture of light and heavy, friendship and romance, and the wonderful cover for the book also drew my attention. You got a sense of the characters pretty quickly in Open Road Summer, Reaghan has been in some trouble, and made some bad choices, and Dee with stage name Lilah is the shy inside sweet girl that fame hasn't changed yet. They balance each other out, and while they have a long standing friendship, we clearly see how it plays out for them. The support and how they are just there together is wonderful to read about. I loved the focus on their friendship, how they are there for each other no matter what and they can transition from deep and meaningful to hilarious like zipping one in a suitcase in seconds flat. I am a hit or miss with roadtrip stories, as well as stories with the musician as main character or romance interest, but the combos in this one worked out for me and avoided some of the cliches and troupes that usually can turn me against them. Matt is the romantic interest, and I felt the attraction and chemistry between him and Reaghan right away. I think he found it refreshing that she told it like it was and was more interested in her friendship with Dee than being a fangirl over him. Matt is a genuine good guy, and he's funny, takes Reaghan's sarcasm and the walls she has built up around herself to keep from being hurt again. At first they have to keep everything secret because Matt and Lilah are "dating" in the eyes of the public and paparazzi because they twisted a picture and it was taking down Lilah's clean and wholesome image, and a relationship could make that from taking over publicity. It gives an interesting look into the life of a celebrity, how their lives can be twisted and as a consumer it is just easy to believe what we are fed. It also shows the fragility at times of life in general, how one seemingly inconsequential choice can make such huge waves, but also the strength of human spirit to overcome what keeps being thrown at us. Matt and Reaghan both have some hard things in the past and it is nice to see them finally let down some walls and let each other in. Matt and Dee have this sibling type relationship, they tease each other, are comfortable with one another, and they manage to use their long time friendship to help bolster the impression of their relationship to the media. But it is hurting Reaghan knowing that her and Matt share something. But she struggles a lot with the effect it would have on her friendship and the perception of her best friend, and I so appreciate that this is a huge thing for her, and she has learned from her past and is trying to make better choices and decisions. It was good to know that Dee has her own love interest at home, and that thread makes the story even more layered. Even though Dee and Jimmy had broken up because he thought it was better for her career, we see that Dee has held onto her deep feeling for him, and she loves that he saw her before she became a star and was an awkward and gangly girl instead of poised and together country singer. The ending was well done. It wrapped things up well for the characters but it still kept a realistic ending. There were hopes and dreams yet to be fulfilled but that is life for a teen. I like that it gave a glimpse of what could be for the characters but also wrapping up the themes and threads from this one. This turned out to be just the read I needed, a great balance of light with emotions, and a warm summer read. Bottom Line: Open Road Summer manages the perfect blending of light and fun, flirty to serious romance, strength and beauty of friendship and all that I hoped it would be.

[sunset_x_cocktail · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Nashville fangirl in me had a blast reading this book. I've become quite hooked on country music since I started watching and a YA book with a country music theme became a must have.

A most enjoyable light read. With some angsty drama stuff. Self proclaimed party girl Reagan is trying to pull herself together after an incident which left her arm in a cast, so road tripping with her BFF squeaky clean teen country music star Lilah Montgomery on her cross country tour sounds like a perfect way to spend the sum me.

I loved Reagan and Lilah (Dee to her closest friends). Their relationship was wonderful (though not without little drama sparks). There's a few paparazzi scandles popping up whilst on the tour, people trying to tear dowwn squeaky clean Dee. I loved how Reagan stood by her friend and did her best to help with diffusing the situations.

Then hottie friend of Dee's another country star (formally boy band, in a kind of Jonas brothers type act, now the brothers have grown up and moved on trying to reinvent himself) the charming Matt joins the tour as Dee's support act. He and Reagan have to try and deal with each other and their growing attractions to each other. I loved Matt. Matt was a charmer from the start, and a totally swoon worth book boyfriend (at least for me).

Usually song lyrics working their way into books, even original ones, irritate me, but the song lyrics worked into this particular story worked exceptionally well (could just be the budding country fan in me) but I felt they did a great job of managing to portray things the characters couldn't quite bring themselves to say out loud in some case.

It was fun to read, though there were certain aspects of Reagan's personality that did grate on my nerves quite a bit. She makes no secret of her wild past. Yet when any other girl (who isn't her squeaky clean BFF) comes into the picture (girls in clubs, bars, other girls at school) they're all described as obvious in dressing in tight clothes, attention seeking and basic slut shaming. Yet Reagan herself wears tight fitting clothes and does the similar things. Okay, she's trying to calm down and nicely flawed, but the slut shaming and unnecessary girl dislike was what really knocked it down from a five star read for me.

It wrapped up well. It did get kind of over dramatic and angsty towards the end, but concluded in a good believable way. While there were something things about it that annoyed me, it was still a very enjoyable, entertaining read.

Crosses off a square for my Summer Bingo challenge - Road Trip!

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rising country star seventeen-year-old Lilah (Dee) Montgomery is on her summer tour and takes her best friend, bad-girl Reagan O’Neill with her. Reagan, coming off bad relationships, has resolved to reform beginning this summer. When the tabloids print a photo of Lilah and her ex-boyfriend with hints of her pregnancy, her good-girl image is tarnished. Her publicist signs Matt Finch as an opening act, replacing the local area talents, hoping to divert media attention with speculation that Lilah and Matt are a couple. Matt, in a brother band, the Finch Four, several years earlier, is currently under the radar. His good looks and squeaky clean image are enough to start new rumors. The only problem: no matter how much Reagan tries not to, she’s falling for Matt and vice versa. Can she have a relationship with a ‘good’ guy? If the media finds out, how will that impact Lilah?Open Road Summer, Lord’s debut novel, is truly fun ‘chick-lit’. Lilah, Reagan and Matt are characters readers will immediately like. Lilah’s pain at leaving her ex-boyfriend, who let her go to follow her dream, will pain readers. Reagan’s uncertainty about life and love will resonate with teenage girls, whether ‘good girls’ or ‘bad girls’. Readers will want Matt’s and Reagan’s relationship to thrive. Lord also provides a realistic look at the lengths paparazzi and the media will go to invade a star’s privacy. Since Open Road Summer is due out in April, this reviewer recommends it as a well written beach read.

[mariannelee_0902 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What first intrigued me about this book was the fact that it featured a strong female friendship. I was so excited to see a contemporary not based completely on romance! And, for the most part, I got my wish. Reagan and Delilah are the best of friends; ones who support each other through thick and thin, even when one or both of them may be wrong. They had this special connection that just seemed to fly off the pages. When Matt Finch comes into the scene, I was afraid that a weird love triangle would come out of it, but I’m happy that it wasn’t the case at all! Matt was such a joy! Very swoony and charming and just all around great. The romance between him and Reagan was adorable. Reagan on her own was a kind of self-destructive and a bit… naive so liking her took some work. Heck, I think I started to like her by the end of the book. But that’s okay, because seeing her evolve throughout the book was worth it. There’s an absolutely wonderful summer atmosphere going on. It’s full of tour buses, concerts, heat, and country music. I loved everything about it. I know a lot of bloggers have been saying it, but it's true, it felt sort of like a Taylor Swift concert tour. I loved the way the book ended, it was funny, swoony, and happy all around. It really brough summer to life. This is definitely a book you'll want to have on your summer books list. It has a powerful friendship, swoony romance, and goofy moments all around. The music aspect is really well though out, and entertaining as well.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Amazing coming of age story featuring friendship, romance, and humor. I loved every minute of this book and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great beach read this summer!Opening Sentence: The fans scream for her, but they don’t really know the girl on the magazine covers— the girl with the guitar and the easy smile.The Review:Reagan O’Neil needs to make some changes in her life. She just recently broke up with her loser boyfriend and decided that she needed a change of scenery. Summer just started and Reagan’s country superstar best friend, Lilah Montgomery (or better known as Dee), is starting her cross country music tour and Reagan is going to go with her. Its’ just the distraction she needs to get her life back together and she gets to spend the summer with her best friend. Then comes along, Matt Finch, the young heartthrob that is going to be the opening act for Dee.Reagan has promised herself a drama-free summer and with Matt around that is becoming more and more difficult. He is too charming for his own good, but at the same time he is a good person. Reagan has made some very poor decisions when it comes to the guys she dated and she’s not sure she is a good match for someone like Matt. But with the help of her best friend, she comes to realize that taking risks for love is always worth it, even if you get burned in the end.Reagan is my type of girl. She is beautiful, confidant, snarky, and always has a comeback on the tip of her tongue. But she is also insecure, dramatic, and makes some really dumb decisions. Her flaws made her more realistic and her good qualities made her likable, so she was a very well rounded character that was easy to love. Also, one of the things I liked the most about her was how loyal she was. She has been best friends with Dee for most of her life and even though their friendship has had some rough patches they are always there for each other no matter what. Reagan has also had a rough few years and has made some pretty poor decisions that lead to pretty severe consequences, I love that she owns up to the fact that shes not perfect and has made mistakes. She is trying to change her ways and make herself a better person which made me respect her. I instantly connected with Reagan and my adoration for her just grew throughout the story.Matt was a total heartthrob that was easy to swoon over. He hasn’t had the easiest life, but I loved that he still has such a positive outlook on life. He became famous at a young age which is never an easy thing to deal with, but I felt that he was a genuine person that was just so likable. I also loved that no matter what Reagan threw at him he was always willing to throw it right back at her. He was never fazed by her abrupt attitude and every time she tried to push him away he always stayed constant. They had awesome chemistry but they also were really compatible. Matt was such a wonderful character that makes you feel all gooey inside which is exactly what a love interest should do.Open Road Summer is the perfect beach read. One of my favorite things was that the romance was not the main driving force of the plot. I actually thought that Reagan and Dee’s friendship was a much more significant part of the story and I really liked that. Getting to see a friendship that is more important then your current fling made the story much more realistic. Now don’t get me wrong, I love good romance stories, but its also nice to see such a great friendship story done so well. Also, that’s not to say that the romance wasn’t great because it was perfect! The pacing was spot on and from the very first page I was completely hooked. The ending was amazing and I loved how realistic it was. This is the first book I have read by Lord, but her writing is phenomenal and I will be picking up anything else she writes. I would highly recommend this to anyone that is looking for a great contemporary romance full of heart, love, and friendship.Notable Scene:“Yes!” Dee’s voice is hard to understand through her honking and the suitcase’s insulated sides. “This is going to happen.”She tugs at the zipper, leaving an open space at the top. I poke my head out the top to see Dee, doubled over in laughter. Maybe it’s funny because we’re so tired, so overwhelmed and desperate to laugh. But no matter the reason, I laugh so hard that it feels like a muscle spasm in my stomach. I couldn’t stop if my life depended on it. Dee’s all-out raucous laugh reminds me of being eleven again, of sleepovers where we woke her mom up with our giggling. Girls, Mrs. Montgomery would say, it’s time to quiet down and go to sleep, even though she seemed to be hiding a smile of her own.“Get my camera, get my camera,” I say. Dee retrieves my camera from my bag, holding it with shaking hands. She steadies herself, taking a picture that I hope won’t be blurry.I’m jolted by a rhythmic knock at the door, and Dee nearly drops my camera in surprise. I’m still too slaphappy to panic about my beloved camera’s well-being. For some reason, the chance that the hotel staff will see me zipped into a suitcase is even funnier to us. Dee unzips the suitcase enough that I can wriggle an arm free, and I keep tugging at it as she runs to answer the door. On her tiptoes, Dee peers out the peephole and then throws the door open with full body enthusiasm.The guy at the door looks a bit older than us, with light brown hair that curls slightly at his ears. If this is a hotel concierge, he’s the hottest one ever. Like, of all time. And here I sit, a barefoot jackass in an empty suitcase. I bolt up, ?uf?ng my hair before he can see me.FTC Advisory: Walker Childrens/Bloomsbury provided me with a copy of Open Road Summer. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[margaraawr-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

“I think it's the bravest thing in the world - to run straight at love, even knowing how badly you could get hurt.”

*siiiiiiigh* Even though this book has so many flaws, I still liked it. I am a sucker for roadtrips because the rush in anticipating what's next is exciting. Exhilarating, even. I feel strangely energized like change is a very welcome thing.

What I liked:

1. The friendship

I love books with strong female friendships where there is no trying to pull each other down. I love it when they share inside jokes, when the other one is also thinking what the other is thinking. What Reagan and Dee have isn't fake. Sure, they fight over some petty things but that's natural, right? That means they care.

2. The songs

Yeah dude, I know. Some of them are overly cheesy that I have to roll my eyes. But some of them gave me chills so that's saying something.

“Oh, you know I'm only human;
I bend and fall and break
You cut me and I bleed
I'm a mess for you to make
So forget the words and give me deeds
My heart was yours to take.”

3. The love interest

Well, of course I love Matt. He's what the fuss is all about! I like him because of his confidence and sarcasm. (Seriously, that's just the part where he and Reagan are alike.) He's charming when he wants to be but he's hurting when you dig deeper past his cockiness.

What I didn't like:

1. The main character

Gaah, this girl. I swear she's the most infuriating person in the planet. Okay, I understand. She had a lot of baggage of she went through difficult times but it's just not right to drag everybody down with your misery.

2. Slut-shaming

"These girls have no self-respect, and even if they couldn't see me, I make a face of disgust."

SERIOUSLY?! This was just disappointing. How can Reagan think that these girls wearing provacative/sexy dresses have no self-respect when she's wearing those things, too? Ugh.

3. Ending

I don't know. I just don't like it. It was not really explained well and very much open-ended. I don't like open-ended books, thank you very much. It is just annoying when I read a book, focused my time on it,just to see it ended nowhere.

Overall, a good contemporary romance and a perfect summer read but this has flaws I can't overlook. I won't rate this one star since I enjoyed this one to some extent. I am certain that this won't be the last book that I'll read from this author, though.