This book is really great. I really loved being with Larissa as she learned more about herself, not only her bisexuality but so much of herself beyond that. It was just really lovely.

this was one of my favourite reads from April!! i absolutely flew through this and adored every single page! from the jewish characters (protagonist and the sapphic love interest!!) and the bisexual representation to the switching timeline that flicked between the past summer and present day autumn; not to mention the absolutely lovely romance arcs (I adored both of them for very different reasons) and the true rollercoaster that having a crush can feel like.

possibly the greatest part was that, even though it deals with Lara feeling drawn to two people at once, it wasn’t a love triangle book at all! Each of the love interests were given time and page space to develop on their own and it meant that, even though I was rooting for the f/f pairing to get their act together, I truly enjoyed reading both romance arcs.

Cool for the Summer captured my heart in all the best ways and I loved every page (quick mention to the side characters too because they’re all brilliant! not a single cardboard cut out here😍)

if you haven’t preordered a copy then I absolutely recommend you to do so because it’s 100% worth the hype (and will be cooler for much longer than just the summer🌈)

This was a really cute, coming of age read about self discovery and love. I absolutely adored the exploration of identity and learning to love yourself throughout.
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While this story is set during high school, I did feel a little too old for the angsty teenage drama at times. However, I don’t feel any of that took away from the important topics in this story.

Enjoyable book overall, with great characters and their story of discovering sexuality and a love triangle that touches many points of a good friendship and especially the inner monologue and obstacles that life throws in their way at that age.
I found it a bit hard to keep up with everything as it’s told in then and now chapters but sometimes I felt like I’m actually reading the same time period and had to go back and check if I’m right or wrong.
Nevertheless it’s a story that many will enjoy.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

This book was a lot of fun! I honestly did not want to put it down because of how invested I was in the story. Cool for the Summer follows high schooler Larissa who finally got the boy of her dreams, Chase, after years of pining. But now that's she's got the guy, she can't stop thinking about the girl she met over the summer.

I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book and both love interests had fun banter with Lara and lots of lovable qualities to them. The main character also works in a bookstore/cafe which was so much fun to read about. I do, however, wish the love triangle was a bit more convincing. While I really liked both love interests, I feel like one relationship was way more convincing than the other and so it did not feel very high stakes. I also thought a lot of elements in this book were super cheesy and they took me out of the story. Overall, I really did enjoy this book despite its flaws and I recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining young adult contemporary to read in the summer!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc to review.

Note to publisher: My review will be posted to my Goodreads and Youtube channel by the end of May 2021. I am aiming for a post date of 5/18/21.
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/126363193-mer-reads
- Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/merreads

I enjoyed this book. There were times where it dragged because I couldn’t believe how long Larissa misinterpreted Jasmine’s actions. All it would have taken was a conversation on the very first day. Before everything happened. But the payoff was great. The love, the acceptance and the emotional intelligence displayed by supporting characters was amazing. Sometimes the time jumps were a little jumpy but I hope the “now” and “then” line breaks are more noticeable in the finished copy of this book. Great job! I’ll be checking out more of this authors work.

This is a go to summer recommendation. It was so delightful. I loved the bi representation in the story. I loved the self discovery story and finding your identity elements. Seriously delightful.

I loved how the story was unfolding and the even the lack of communication really worked well.

*I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*
There's nothing technically wrong with this book, it just wasn't for me. The chemistry between the main character and her love interest was solid and the resolution of the tension was really great. But I don't love when a story relies on unresolved romantic tension as the main driver of the plot. Add in the fact that this book focuses on a popular girl who's biggest problem is that two of her crushes like her and I was deeply uninterested. It's something I've slowly realized over the last year and should have thought about before requesting this book. But I think this book would be great for someone who wants a slow burn with plenty of high school drama. I'm just not that reader anymore. :(

I was drawn in by the absolutely perfect cover (sidetone: it actually looks like the MCs, plus I love the super bi color scheme) and stayed for the summer lovin’. This book is a mish-mash of the eponymous Demi Lovato song and Grease, so basically the perfect summer read.

“What am I?
It’s one summer.
You can’t change into a different person over a summer.”


Spending the summer on the Outer Banks tagging along with her mom’s job as an assistant to a rich executive seems like it might be a bit boring – until Lara meets Jasmine, the boss’s daughter. Jasmine’s nothing like Lara’s friends back home, but over the course of the summer, they become closer than they expected. But after her summer with Jasmine, things are… different. For one thing, the guy she’s had a crush on forever, Chase, has finally noticed her. It’s even more unexpected when Lara catches a glimpse of Jasmine on the first day of senior year, but she’s suddenly aloof. Lara has everything she’s ever dreamed of. So why isn’t she happy?

“How do you tell your closest friends, when you only have one year left before you all head off in new directions, that they don’t know you as well as they think?
How do you have that conversation when it means facing that you didn’t know yourself as well as you thought you did?”


The book is told from Lara’s first person POV, which flips back and forth between “now” – starting at the first day of senior year – and “then” – starting with Lara’s arrival in the Outer Banks. Lara has had a crush a Chase, quarterback on the football team and shoo-in for Homecoming King, for as long as she can remember. The fact that he wants to spend time with her is exciting but she can’t stop thinking about why Jasmine’s being so cold to her. Lara’s confusion is so visceral – and reminded me so much of myself – that parts of the book were tough reading. It’s not that she doesn’t know that people can be queer, as she has queer and nonbinary frie nds, but that for those people they’ve always known they weren’t straight. How she comes to grips with her own sexuality is really the core of the book. It’s messy and hard and real, and I loved it.

“Jasmine was the one who inspired my haircut, who gave me the bravery for my piercing. Jasmine is the one who took me all over the Outer Banks, showed me how to find beauty in places I didn’t see it, including—cheesy as it was—myself. Jasmine was the one who showed me the real fun was never in following the crowd, and that sometimes the best things were the scary and the unexpected.”


I was a little worried at first that Jasmine would be too “poor little rich girl.” Sure, she’s privileged and flush with cash, but she understands that Lara’s not and does her best to discreetly include her. What I loved most about the two of them was how they push each other to try new things, to realize how freeing it is to be themselves instead of following along with the crowd. Sure, Jasmine’s the catalyst for the change in Lara, but she’s also the reason why Lara has the confidence to follow through.

“But there’s more to being friends than being needed. You don’t need to, like, provide a service, okay? Well, other than eyeliner application. I’m really reliant on that.”


Of course, there’s also all of the usual teenage drama, including some popular girl clique stuff. Shannon’s the queen bee of their social circle, and Lara has always gone along in her wake. The other girls – Kiki and Gia – have their own things, whether it’s investigating crimes for their podcast or cheerleading, but besides Lara’s job at a bookstore, she’s content to tag along with whatever they’re doing. She’s used to looking to her friends for their approval of everything, from hair style to clothes to makeup, so the thought that they might treat her differently because she’s bi is terrifying. Even worse, she’s worried about how her Russian mother will react. They’re super close, and her mother has always been supportive of her, but she’s worried it’s a step too far.

I’m not a big fan of love triangles – I hate it when characters string two folks along because they can’t make up their minds – but I was OK with this one. For one thing, Lara spends a long time being oblivious that she’s even in a love triangle, but once she gets it, she understands the emotional damage she’s caused and can cause to the other people and does the best to own up to it. I don’t think it’s much of any kind of spoiler, honestly, to say that the book makes it clear from the beginning who she’s going to end up with.

Overall, if you like queer messy characters and quite a bit of summer lovin’, I think you’ll have a blast with this book!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "Cool for the Summer" by Dahlia Adler. I absolutely adored this story. I loved it so much that I finished it in one sitting. What a great story of exploration and finding out who you really are. Everyone deserves to be proud of who they are and and not feel ashamed about it. The writing style was fun and engaging. One of my favorite reads of the year and a new favorite book to add to my favorites list!

When I heard that this author I love on social media was releasing a YA sapphic romance with Jewish characters, I knew I wanted to read it. The cover completely cinched the deal! This was my first time reading Dahlia Adler but I will definitely be checking out her anthologies and her backlist novels.

When Lara returns to high school after a summer in the Outer Banks with her mom, she carries herself with new confidence. She has crushed on Chase forever and he finally seems to return her feelings. Now, Lara is dating the guy she has always wanted but after the summer she spent with Jasmine, she begins to question whether this relationship is really right for her. This is compounded by Jasmine becoming a student at her school. This element brought major Grease vibes, though I know it was not actually Grease-inspired.

I found this book very readable, it kept my interest when I was struggling to read other books. The time jumps between past and present kept the pace moving and also served well to demonstrate the evolution of the characters. As a Jewish reader, I adored that Lara and Jasmine each provided different Jewish representation. I could not relate to the popularity of the main character Lara and it threw me a bit - it was not grating as I imagine it could have been but it still created a gap in my ability to put myself into her perspective, when she was otherwise very relatable. Her friendship with her friend Sharon is a great example of where I could not quite understand the dynamic. The Chase storyline gave me angst but worked out in a way I really appreciated. Lara's romance writing aspirations and reading habits were great fun to read as a devoted romance fan.

Queer books have been bringing me back into YA. This book talks about sexual activities happening, and a bit of a sexual awakening. The bisexual rep and questioning was a huge element of this story, and I appreciated the inclusion of an on-page aroace supporting character.

Overall, I can't say the book blew me away but I definitely enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it. I would recommend it to readers interested in a main character discovering her bisexuality, grappling with it on her own, and ultimately sharing with her support system.

CW: underage alcohol consumption, parental divorce, biphobia

This is a fun read full of great characters and bisexual representation that's refreshingly free of trauma. It's also a fresh take on the Grease story (thankfully). I'll be recommending it to my students for the bi rep and as an example of a (queer) retelling that's not a fairytale. The perfect read for a school break.

Thanks to St Martin's Press Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC of Cool for the Summer.
As a high school teacher, I like reading YA every once in a while in part to have book recommendations for my students (even though I teach math!) and also to remind me what it's like being a teenager :)
Cool for the Summer was a really fun read - I enjoyed reading about Larissa and her character's development and growth through both vignettes from the start of her senior year of high school and from the summer before, staying in the Outer Banks due to her mom's job. What do you do when the star quarterback you've been pining over for years falls for you - and then you're not sure it's what you want?
It comes out Tuesday, and I recommend this quick read!

This book was awesome! Lara has had a crush on one guy for over three years in high school: Chase Harding. He is her dream guy and is perfect in every way. He is tall, kind, hot and plays football. And now, he is talking to her and definitely flirting. When they get together, its like a dream come true for Lara. However, she can't stop thinking about the girl she spent her summer with, who now goes to her school. Lara has everything: the perfect boyfriend, a cool job and a close friend group. But now, Jasmine is ruining everything starting by not leaving Lara's mind.
I really fell in love with this book. It alternates between "now" and the summer before. The first time is happened, I was confused, but that was probably just the ebook format. I actually loved the way it did that. I got to know Lara in two different settings with two groups of friends. It was really a cool way to write this story. Besides that, I literally can't say one bad thing about this book. I loved that is was filled with humor. It had me laughing out loud on many occasions. The characters were well written and beautiful inside and out. I loved every singleton of them. I also loved the ending; it was the perfect way to end Lara's story. I think that I personally loved this story so much because I related with the main character a lot. For starters, our humor is similar, and I happen to also be bicurious. If you are struggling with your sexuality as a girl, I think that this books great. It may help you sort out your feelings, and even if it doesn't, it shows you it's okay to take your time, and in the end, everything works out. As if the story wasn't enough, I also admire the cover a lot. I will definitely be buying the physical copy just so I can have the cover on my shelf.
Thanks Dahlia Adler and #NetGalley for the ACR!
TW; alcohol, sex scence

Lara is ready for her senior year. She thinks she knows what to expect until her worlds collide. Chase is flirting with Lara. Yes, that Chase -- star football player and the unreciprocated love of Lara's life for the past three years. Then in walks Jasmine, her summer fling. When she finally has a chance at the guy, why can't she forget the girl from the summer?

"What if what you always wanted isn't what makes you happy?"
Cool for the Summer focuses on Lara's self-discovery and examination of her sexuality. You can feel Lara's longing and confusion as she tries to figure out why what she always wanted isn't making her happy. Lara's journey of self-discovery a beautiful blend of serious, sweet, funny, and tender moments. It's a delightful read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a digital review copy to read and enjoy. This review reflects my honest and unbiased opinion.

i enjoyed this quite a lot and it definitely joined the ranks of books i wish i'd had when i was a teenager. i think it's fresh and the characters feel genuine in their feelings AND in the way they communicate with one another - which, i think, is sometimes difficult to achieve in YA contemporary in particular. the book itself is also self-aware and not afraid to poke fun at its own tropes, which only makes them richer.

as far as the characters go, i thought they were *really* enjoyable! the main character is relatable and i appreciated that dahlia adler treated her with respect and let her discover herself at her own pace and within her own limits. the love interest(s) were quite lovely & the same goes for the MC's friend group. almost everyone goes through some kind of character development.

there are only a couple of things i didn't love that much. one of them is the fact that this novel sometimes felt like a collection of scene glued together, omitting scenes that i would have loved to see, and the other being the result of this: i wanted more out of the MC's mom, i wanted more out of the other characters' backstories... i just sometimes wanted a little more.

3.50 Stars. This was a pretty good read but I didn’t love it like I hoped to. This story had a queer Grease vibe that I was really excited about reading. The premise was good, but there were some obvious issues for me, mostly story choices, that I’m not a fan of when any author uses them. I have a feeling this book might work better for people who don’t share some of my dislikes.

Firstly while I didn’t like all the characters, on an overall scale I thought they were well done. Even some of the secondary characters, that were a little 2D, still each had their own unique voice. I’ve mentioned in other reviews that I’m horrible at remembering names, especially when I’m learning more than one or two new ones at a time. But with this book I had no issues remembering who was who at all. Every character had their own personality and was done well – including the parent characters -.

Speaking of good characters, I was actually surprised how much I liked the character that the main does NOT end up with in the end. This is one of those stories that you read knowing the character is dating the “wrong one” until she can come to her senses and be with whom she is supposed to be. But in this book the “wrong one” actually seemed like a sweet character. Normally authors will have the “wrong one” be a real jerk kind of character but I liked that Alder made them a real possibility so we could understand why the main character was torn.

While Adler did a great job in making the “wrong one” likeable, she bumped into one of my biggest issues on the way. Too much time was spent with the two mains apart and not as a couple or working towards being one. This is a romance and it’s hard to have a romance when the two characters who you expect to get the HEA or HFN, never spend any time together. Not only did they have very little time together as a couple, they spent a lot of the book even physically apart. Too much time was spent with the “wrong one” and the main romance suffered for it.

I know that Adler tried to have more romance time for the mains but her way of showing that was almost entirely with flashbacks. Flashbacks how I hate thee! Yes, I know sometimes they are needed but 90% of the time they just don’t really cut it. In this case, Alder was able to show that the two mains had definite chemistry together, but she was not able to show that they had that a real deep and emotional past connection. It felt more surface level, still getting to know you, not L word kind of romance.

I really like my YA stories to be filled with emotional teenage angst but this one didn’t quite get there. There was angst sure, but it was mostly just due to no communication. No one talks at all, that is until the last quarter of the book. The whole end of the book is the main character having big important conversations with four different people since she never talked to anyone. I think it’s not a surprise that the ending, when communication was finally happening, was my favorite part of the book.

I think this YA book would be more geared towards older teens and adults. It’s not dark or triggering, but sex is definitely talked about. The sex scenes are not really explicit, but they’re not PG either. It’s explicit enough that you know what’s going on if that makes any sense. There is also a good amount of casual teen drinking. I’m not very good at age-ranging books but I thought I should mention this for any librarians who might read this review.

As you can see, this book definitely had some ups and downs for me. I loved the Grease premise and the overall feel of the book. It was very readable with some well-done characters. The problem was that this book also had three book pet-peeves of mine. If you don’t have issues with flashbacks, no communication, and characters not spending much “relationship” time together, then this book might work a lot better for you. I liked Adler’s writing style enough that I would read her again and hopefully that book would be a better personal fit.

Thank you so much, St Martin's Press and Wednesday Books, for the chance to read and review this book.

Throughout her three years of high school, Lara was crushing on Chase Harding, a football star, tall and strong and hot. And when he starts to talk to her, flirting, maybe, this is basically all she ever wanted in her life. But Lara's memory is haunted by the perfect and romantic summer spent with a wonderful girl, Jasmine and when the same Jasmine starts to go to her school, everything is turned upside down. Lara's life is apparently perfect. She has her friends, the boy of her dreams, a job, but why she can't stop thinking about Jasmine?

I loved reading Cool for the summer. The characters are amazingly written and so relatable in their thoughts, fear and desires and the story is sweet, funny and tender. Lara is an amazing main character and I really enjoyed reading her journey of self- discovering, learning who she is and what she wants, about her desires and dreams, her hopes and fears.
It's a book about love and friendship, about being oneself and the author wrote it skillfully, making me feel like I was there with Lara and Jasmine, in their school, remembering their summer and hoping and cheering them on.

I don't know a lot of books with queer Jewish representation. And when I saw this book available for request, I had to hop on it. This was such a cute read about a girl questioning her sexuality as she's torn between the guy of her dreams and the girl she can't forget.

What can I say except ALL THE STARS. THIS BOOK DESERVES ALL THE STARS!

Growing up (I'm 23 by the way), the only Jewish representation I had in books were Night by Elie Wiesel and The Diary of Anne Frank. Now, there are so many more Jewish stories on the market and this is a new one I absolutely LOVED. My initial thoughts when I finished it were quite literally "AHHH THIS BOOK IS SO CUTE AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH OMG!!"

Our main character, Larissa, is starting her senior year off right. She spent the summer away from her friends and has a new look, a newfound confidence, and some new friends. And she's caught the eye of her long time crush Chase Harding. Except, it's not its all cracked up to be, because when her summer fling, Jasmine, walks into school, it rocks Lara's whole world.

Now, I absolutely loved this book. But the one issue I had, and this might have been a formatting issue on the e-ARC, was that it wasn't clear enough between past and present. We would be in the Now, and then a small "Then" would be in between lines and we would jump to the past. It was so hard to notice it at first, I got a little confused, but once I figured out what was going on, I was set.

Lara is a great main character and I loved watching her journey of self discovery. It's not easy to question your sexuality and wonder why you're so hung up on one girl who you had a fling with over the summer, especially when the man of your literal dreams is flirting with you and asks you out. I loved getting glimpses of Lara's summer and how her relationship with Jasmine came to be, especially in comparison to her present situation.

And while I wasn't happy with how Jasmine was acting during the present, by the end I completely understood where she was coming from and it made a lot of sense. Chase is a great love interest too. He's nice, caring, respectful, and ultimately such a sweet guy. I can understand why Lara fell for him so hard and had a crush on him for all that time.

And the Jewish rep was amazing to see! I loved watching Lara at Shabbat dinner with Jasmine's mother. And describing their traditions and food, which I could honestly taste while reading about it. I'm just so glad I read this on Friday night so I can enjoy Shabbat dinner after reading this. This book made me so hungry!

And Lara's friends, while a bit shallow, are also great. Kiki is my hero and I'm so glad Lara has her as a friend. Gia and Shannon weren't great friends in my eyes, but I can see how the group works well together. But on Shannon, I found her a bit toxic. She's kind of manipulative, which Lara acknowledges, and is so self-centered at times. Even at the end, when everything is thrown out in the open, Shannon continues to make everything about herself. I feel bad for her friends.

All in all, the romance in this book was so good! I read this book in the span of about 3 hours, I physically could not put it down. I didn't intend to read a book in one sitting, but that's exactly what I did. This is an instant favorite of mine and I can't wait for everyone to read it!!

I liked the book but I also didn't like it, if that makes sense. I enjoyed some parts, expected more in others and I found unnecessary the over focus given to unimportant details instead of focusing more on Lara and why she wasn't communicating.
I know too well how hard it is to talk about things, even more if said things are having feelings for a girl when you never ever had those. But the realness of this questioning, which I liked and I related to, didn't erase how I felt about the plot, or the lack of. It all seemed too much like "bi girl horny for two people doesn't talk about stuff ends up breaking hearts including hers" trope. It's a personal opinion because I don't like these kinds of characters so I found myself annoyed often.
While there were good elements and the ending was cute, sadly I wasn't really invested in the story like I wanted to be.