Carter has a fairly simple life. She works at her Dad’s cafe during the day and at night she goes stargazing with her two best friends. This summer is going according to plan until Hollywood rolls into town. They’re filming a Christmas movie. In July. The star of this heart-warming holiday flick happens to be teen heartthrob Adam Jakes who is appearing in public for the first time after leaving rehab. Adam’s agent approaches Carter with an offer she can’t refuse. Pretend to be Adam’s girlfriend for the summer and she’ll be paid enough to get rid of her brother’s gambling debts for good. Against her better judgment, Carter accepts.
We all know what’s going to happen, right? Obviously they’re 
going to pretend to date for a while and then actually fall in love. I mean, that’s why we picked this book up in the first place, right? I liked this book a lot. I’ve read a book with a semi-similar plot (see This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith) which is also totally worth a read. The difference between the two books is that Adam is a jerk in the beginning. You can kind of tell that he’s naturally a little conceited. Even if he had never become a movie star, it’s in his nature to be that way while in the other book the movie star is a nice guy right off the bat. Having Adam start out being unpleasant is something that I find a little more realistic. I don’t imagine movie stars just being super nice to everyone all the time. Even if they’re generally a nice person, it has to be annoying to not have a moment of peace when you go out in public.
Other things I liked about this book: I liked Carter’s friends quite a bit even though Chloe had her moments of…insanity. I thought Alien Drake was a great character. I liked that he and Carter had a solid friendship without any romantic attachments. I liked Carter’s parents–I thought they were fun characters if a tad unrealistic. Most of all I like the small details that Ms. Culbertson includes. Carter has this dog named Extra Pickles because her family’s first dog was named Pickles. So when Pickles died, they got a new dog and they named it Extra Pickles. Genius! Maybe this was a detail pulled from real life, but it’s a small thing that makes everything in the book seem more real too.
This was such a fun and easy read. Perfect for summer.
Overall Rating: 5
Violence: Mild
Sexual Content: None (that I remember…)
Language: Mild (if that)
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate. A couple of characters smoke and Adam was sent to rehab for drug possession.
What's She Reading? 