I loved this so desperately. The messy love triangle, the changing from both the past to present, while making sure we're always moving forward. So well done, the romance was believable and honest and I just had such a fun time! Will definitely be recommending to friends!

A Grease-inspired LGBTQ+ teen romance. Summer Lovin' had me a blast

Lara has crushed on the school football star Chase or all of high school. So why when he flirts with her at the start of the new school year is she not 100% blissed out? Her mind keeps going back over her perfect summer where she met and got close to a girl named Jasmine. Things get even more bizarre and confused when Jasmine herself starts up as a student at school.

Lara is torn by her previous attraction to Chase and the "ideal high school relationship" that time with him offers and her undeniable connection with Jasmine. The problem is, Jasmine seems to be giving her the cold shoulder now.

This was a fun read. I liked the Grease inspiration and the plot of a high school girl coming to terms with her own sexuality. It was a fun summer YA read with a message.

What to listen to while reading...
Cool for the Summer by Demi Lovato
I kissed a Girl by Katy Perry
Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun
Tongue Tied by Grouplove
Something in the Way You Move by Ellie Goulding

This was a sweet YA novel that almost feels like a very loose re-telling of Grease, with the whole "summer fling transfers to my school" plot. The story alternates between two timelines - the previous summer and the current school year - and is fast-paced enough that I read it in one sitting. I especially loved how realistic the story felt and how Lara slowly comes to terms with her bisexuality as that is not something usually represented in YA fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't read many contemporary YA romances, but the fact that this is a BI YA romance is what caught my attention. Cool for the Summer is utterly adorable, deftly handling what it means to be a teenage girl navigating the confusion surrounding her bisexuality. This is the kind of book I probably needed as a teenager, and I'm glad to have read it now.

The title comes from Demi Lovato's song which makes an appearance in the book, and I think it suits the theme of the book so well. I am also just a sucker for song title books. Cool for the Summer also felt a little like a classic summer teen movie, with a lot of nods to Grease. The connections Lara had with both Chase and Jasmine were real and believable, and as a reader, I didn't know which one she'd end up choosing in the end. Lara's forever crush Chase finally notices here the summer after Jasmine, and I loved the reflection Lara has when making her decision in the end. It felt so true, heartbreaking, and exhilarating all at once. I think the only thing that stuck out to me was the one who wasn't chosen's reaction once Lara made her decision. It felt like an easy acceptance, but in reality, I don't know if Lara would be let off the hook that easily or without more indepth explanation. Not that the person needed the explanation because it's ultimately Lara's choice, but for the reader it might have brought more closure and understanding.

Overall, this is a super cute book and one I wished I had when I was younger. If you're looking for a cute summery YA romance to read, definitely look into this one.

Need a summer read?

This book gave me all the high school summer vibes and since I haven't been to high school in about 3 years, it just brings it all back! This book is all about new. New beginnings, new discoveries, new feelings. All the joyous new that comes with growing up, and what fun it was to read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

Holy fucking CUTENESS alert!

This sapphic, Grease inspired, YA book warmed my cold little heart and left me grinning like a goddamn idiot.

Lara has had heart eyes 😍 for Chad in what feels like forever! And at the start of Senior year, he’s like, actually talking to her, and flirting with her, and asking her out! Football games and attending parties on his arm is all she’s ever wanted.

But Jasmine is here now. In her school, in her town. What is she doing here?! Why did she transfer? As much as Lara is asking herself these questions, she’s also remembering all the “summer loving” she and Jasmine shared. What is a gal to do?! Does she want to be with Chase? Or does she want to be with Jasmine?

Listen, love triangle and your typical miscommunication-in-YA always-being-a-trope aside, I had so much fun reading this one!

There was LGBTQIA+ rep, it was sex-positive, it was coming-of-age, coming out, and coming into your own true self. It was funny, and hopeful, and made me squeal in delight.

Add this to your summer reading list, my friends! It’s cute as hell and super fun! 😎💜

Thank you @wednesdaybooks & @netgalley for the eARC!

COOL FOR THE SUMMER is out NOW!

This was fun and flirty and overall a good time! Not my favorite YA contemporary, but I really think this will be great for some of the teenagers I know.

Good book to learn about sexuality, love and friendship. I loved the bisexual representation. The book was enjoyable but it wasn't 100%

Cool for the Summer was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I was all for the bisexual representation it included! Going into this, I was expecting something along the lines of Perfect on Paper, which I read earlier this year, but Cool for the Summer was much more summery.

Cool for the Summer follows Lara, who’s had a crush on Chase Harding; the star football player who’s tall, strong, sweet, and finally reciprocating her feelings. Everything seems to be going great until her summer fling, Jasmine turns up at her school for senior year and shakes things up.

I’m not typically a fan of the love triangle trope, but it really worked for this book. Here, it’s more of the main character evaluating what she wants in a relationship and really thinking about who she sees herself with more, rather than the love interests fighting over her in every scene. Lara was also such an easy character to root for. She’s confident, driven, and acts like a typical teenager (something that is rare in YA for some reason.) Jasmine was a great love interest, and I was so invested in the “will they won’t they” throughout the whole book. The lingering looks and longing glances were absolutely swoon worthy.

Overall, I loved Cool for the Summer so much!! It’s a perfect read for the summer (duh), and a great book to pick up for pride!

Not going to lie, I was really nervous going into this because bisexuality is SO stigmatized and often portrayed negatively but this was really well done!

The confusion that the main character had about her sexuality and her struggle with labels was very realistic.

Despite not being a huge fan of pop culture references, I especially liked how the title of the book was a defining moment of the story.

I did find that some moments were over-explained and the dialogue occasionally felt forced and unnatural.

Overall, this was super enjoyable to read and I look forward to reading more by this author!

Lara has been obsessed with Chase for most of her life. He is the star of the football field and well liked by everyone. After an unforgettable summer for Lara, Chase finally notices her. She seems to have everything she has always wanted. But the reason for that unforgettable summer a girl named Jasmine has transferred to her school. Lara can't stop thinking about the summer and can't help wondering if everything that happened between her and Jasmine was just a summer fling that no longer translates. As her and Chase grow closer she still feels the pull towards Jasmine that brings up only more questions that answers.

This story was everything I want in a YA book. They often feel too slow or boring because they are clearly not written for me. But this was just perfect. I was intrigued the entire time and the time jumps between now and then were never confusing. Lara is a complicated character who feels real and the inner dialogue you have from her helps to further the story along. I will highly suggest this book to any teens looking for a summer read.

The book seemed drawn out and to go very slow until the final 1/5,
I love that the teens were confused about their feelings, while the adults all knew and were accepting.

As a long-time fan of Dahlia Adler’s, I’ve been super-excited for Cool For The Summer and was thrilled when it was made available on NetGalley to ‘Read Now’ - thanks, Wednesday Books! In this YA contemporary, high school senior Lara has finally been noticed by long-time crush Chase Harding. But even as he’s flirting with her, her world gets turned upside down when Jasmine - the girl she just spent a perfect summer with - suddenly appears at her school. As ever, Dahlia Adler captures the pressure of her main character’s life perfectly - fitting in with friends, the pangs of love, and finding out who she is. I loved Lara, Jasmine, and their friends and family; all of the characters felt wonderfully alive. (It’s also the first f/f YA romance between two Jewish girls I’ve read, and I really enjoyed seeing the different ways Lara, who’s Ashkenazi, and Jasmine, who’s Sephardi, related to their faith.)

This is a great read for fans of Grease, which it’s inspired by, and lovers of YA contemporary authors like Becky Albertalli and Sophie Gonzales.

Que história incrível!!! Eu adorei cada segundo dessa leitura e só quero que esse livro seja traduzido pro meu país, eu preciso disso!!

This was a really cute and short contemporary that was heartfelt and funny. I really wish I had this book when I was a teenager. Lara is pretty much who I was in high school and I too was extremely confused about my sexuality for a long time. The way Adler pinpointed exactly how confusing this experience is felt real. It made me cry when Lara was speaking about how she felt to her mother; it really struck a cord with me. I really appreciated how the "romance" was split between two main characters (the "then" during the summer before and the "now" at school) and I usually always love one love interest over another, but here I genuinely enjoyed both of them - even though it was obvious who was endgame. There were definitely some cringe-worthy writing and some of the characters were a little annoying, but I think that is just the way YA contemporary is and maybe I have just grown out of it, so I did find myself sometimes rolling my eyes. Still, I think this book is really really important for young queer women and it means a lot to have read an experience so similar to mine.

I really enjoyed the nod to Grease in this book. Larissa's summer fling (Jasmine) who she thought she'd never see again, shows up in the halls of her high school. All on the same day that the boy (Chase) she's been crushing on for forever finally notices her and shows her some attention. Larissa now has to figure out her feelings for both Jasmine and Chase and what she really wants.

The back and forth between Now and Then (also an amazing movie), really added substance and depth to the book. It let you get inside Larissa's head a bit more. I liked going on the journey of self discovery with her. I think that's something that everyone goes through and it was very relatable. I also liked how over the summer she was able to become her own person and not hide in the shadow of her more popular friend like she seemed to at school. That being said, I liked the friendships she made in the summer and her friends from school. They each helped more the story along.

This was a fun quick read that had a great summer setting on the Outer Banks in NC.

i was so excited for this book but was sorely disappointed. i should have know i would dislike this based on how long i was taking to finish it.

lara was one of those characters who tries too hard to be dimensional, and it was not working. she has eyes for only one boy, chase, whom i also did not like, and one girl, jasmine, who kind of saved the story for me. lara jumps back and forth between them, which was intriguing at first but eventually became annoying.

however, i did like lara's questioning & character arc. her confusion, internal struggle and self-discovery is sure to resonate among queer readers.

what really ruined any chance of me truly enjoying the book, though, was the way things were worded and written. (the 'nonbinary' joke, the way lara describes chase in a sexual way, how every new character's ethnicity was told in their introduction.) there were also stereotypes, ones i did not feel comfortable reading.

however, i did like lara's questioning & character arc. her confusion, internal struggle and self-discovery is sure to resonate among queer readers.

overall, cool for the summer is a fun, quick book that might resonate with readers, but did not work out for me.

Cool for the Summer is the YA/New Adult book I wish I'd had as a teenager. This book is such a quick read because you absolutely will not want to put it down. Exploring sexual identity through relationships, balancing school and popularity, and doing it in dual narratives, Adler manages to perfectly capture that awkward and challenging time during adolescents.


5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I was nervous going into Cool for the Summer, but the book exceeded my very high expectations. It is everything I could have hoped for in a Jewish LGBTQ+ book, especially one centered on finding yourself and growing up. Although this story is very personal to me, I would without a doubt recommend it regardless of how I related to it or not. The characters and dynamics were vital in making this novel work, and Dahlia Adler crafted them beautifully. The narrative was concise, making the story way more powerful. Cool for the Summer is an authentic tale about navigating complex relationships and messy situations, growing stronger from them. I highly recommend reading this book—it is fun, exciting, and a fantastic read, especially as we head into the summer.

You can read an in-depth review here! http://www.regalreads.com/2021/05/13/book-review-cool-for-the-summer-by-dahlia-adler/

Unfortunately, due to some familial circumstances out of my control, I was unable to read and review this title before its release date. However, it was still one of my most anticipated YA contemporary romances of the year, so I picked up a finished copy and read through it so I could give some basic thoughts.

Overall, this book is full of fun, teens being teens, and so many cliches. All in all, a solid YA contemporary romance. I was hesitant going in after hearing about a love triangle, but Adler handled it so incredibly well that I was rooting for any and all combinations to be end-game. It's queer, it's messy, and it's absolutely a joy to read. It took a bit for me to get into at first, I read the first two chapters and had to come back and read them again at a later date, but I'm really glad I gave it a chance. Perfect summer read for those who love the YA genre.