Another fun Wibbroka that had me smiling almost the whole time. I enjoyed seeing some past characters' cameos as well as getting to know these new characters. The friendships, old and new, are the crux and full of complexity. I quite liked this one!

Never vacation with your ex by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegmund broka is a ya contemporary novel that I have been looking forward to reading since they announced the book & cover! Before I begin my review I want to say thank u to Penguin Teen for sending me an e-arc of this book! It was a perfect summertime read for me!
This book had so many tropes that I loved and those are: Close quarters, friends to lovers one bed trope, grumpy sunshine and so many more!
This follows our main character kaylee who is a volleyball star coming right after her mother! So every year for Kaylee and her family they always go on vacation with their next door neighbor's and then this summer they go to cali and Kaylee falls in love with the next door neighbor boy! It was such a fun fast and easy pace read and I cannot wait to read more from these two authors! 4/5 Stars

Kaylee doesn't do long term relationships and a recent regret is breaking her best friend's heart. But she has moved on and why can't he? Their annual summer duo family vacation to California is on the horizon and Kaylee is surprised that it's still happening. Her mission is to get Dean over her so they can go back to the friendship she enjoyed in the first place. Meanwhile, Dean sees it as an opportunity to get back together.
Kaylee is not an extremely likeable character right off the bat. She's driven and selfish, motivated to keep things light and focus on her love for volleyball. She has big shoes to fill and a serious relationship doesn't fit.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.
Why it wasn't a five star:
The setting and overall family dynamics worked for me but the romance didn't. I liked how driven and earnest Dean was at the beginning but the love triangle aspect made my belief in his loyalty and affection wither. After finishing the read, I'm still not sure if it was out of a need to make Kaylee jealous or if his affections were really so easily swayed. Either way, it needed further development for me.

Thank you so much @PenguinTeen for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 04 Apr 2023)

SYNOPSIS | Kaylee plans to follow in her olympic gold medalists mothers footsteps & play professional volleyball but she is under a lot of pressure to do so & she also holds herself to a near impossible standard. She has vacationed with Deans family every year so when they split up (after a 2 month relationship) it makes their next annual vacation very awkward.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the focus on pursuing professional sports as a career
- the idea of a family & friends annual vacation

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- a distinct lack of chemistry between Kaylee & Dean (I don't really understand why they are even friends let alone bf/gf other than proximity)
- the relationship suffered because there was such a heavy focus on Kaylee's internal struggles
- Kaylee was quite insufferable & she made a lot of outright bad decisions
- what is wrong with the adults in this story?!

“I could be the heartbroken one. I’ve just taught myself not to be.”

What was the last book you read and what did you rate it?

Thank you @penguinteen for my gifted copy of NEVER VACATION WITH YOUR EX by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemind-Broka!

Book Review ✏️

Read if you like:
🔖 Sports romance
🔖 Second chance Romance
🔖 Forgetting Sarah Marshall
🔖 Beach reads

While I’m not longer a teen myself, I do like picking up a YA contemporary from time to time to read a different perspective. And wow! After reading Never Vacation with Your Ex, I can say I’m so glad I grew up without social media. The pressure teens are under today is unbelievable. High school was hard enough with bullying, mean girls, acne, and awful fashion choices without it being plastered all over the internet. I’m glad my teenage years were not commemorated on the internet. Sometimes some embarrassing Facebook posts from memories pops up, but thankfully influencers weren’t a thing in 2007.

I can already see some readers finding Kaylee unlikeable. I like imperfect protagonists. They are real. They are relatable. Her struggle to be vulnerable really spoke to me.

I grew up in a household where we didn’t discuss our feelings. I remember some weekends my mom staying in her room all day because she was mad at us. Then the next day we would be best friends again. My husband has taught me to open up and to talk through disagreements.

Another plot point I thought was important was Kaylee learning to come out of her mother’s shadow. I feel like a lot of girls struggle with this. I know I did. I felt like a shadow of my mother’s beauty.

#PenguinTeenPartner

Kaylee is a seventeen year old volleyball star with everything about her life (including her social media posts) very structured and planned out. Her one break a year is her family vacation to Malibu. Each year she and her parents go with another family: a tradition her parents and their best friends started before they had kids. The problem? That family is Kaylee’s ex’s family. Kaylee and Dean have to figure out how to get along and Kaylee is determined to help Dean get over her. But in the process, she is reminded of all the reasons she fell in love with him in the first place.

This was such a fun summer teen romance! I always love the stories and characters Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka create, and this book was no different. I appreciated the theme of how perfectly curated lives don’t always mean happy lives and thought that was a good message for any teens reading this book. I thought the family dynamics were an interesting layer to add to the already dramatic situation of teenage relationships.

Thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This was a great first read to kick off the warmer weather and start of summer (almost). It was light and a quick read. There were moments where I felt were forced but overall it was a good story. I enjoyed that the parents were friends and how it showed their hardships in friendship. Overall I give this book 4 out of 5 stars and will be recommending it to my students . Thank you netgalley and publisher for the advanced read.

I enjoyed the story. The main character was someone I wanted to root for. There were some portions I skipped reading because they were overly exposition-heavy. That said, our character struggles with anxiety, and spiraling is very real, so it wasn't out of character for it to happen.

Second chance romance is difficult. This set-up was quite believable, which was refreshing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

A super cute young adult romance. Kaylee is balancing school, sports, and budding romances in her young adult life. As a junior in high school, she has many decisions to make and learns and grows through each one.

Never Vacation with Your Ex by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka is a cute summer read about second chances. I loved the Malibu vacation backdrop and the volleyball star main character, and this one also contains thoughtful discussions about women in sports. Fans of the exes to lovers trope, as well as books about childhood best friends, will enjoy this one.

For Kaylee, the annual summer vacation her family spends with the Freeman-Yus is a break from the pressure of being a volleyball star. However, after dating their son Dean and breaking up with him, this summer is about to be incredibly awkward. To try and salvage their vacation, Kaylee comes up with a plan to help Dean get over her, but as the summer progresses, she realizes that she might not be as over him as she thought.

❀ INTERESTING MAIN CHARACTER

Kaylee is an interesting main character, and while I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of her actions, I appreciated her internal conflict. As a volleyball player whose mother was also a volleyball champion, Kaylee feels like she’s living in her shadow. Throughout the book, she experiences a lot of pressure, and I empathized with her tendency to consider others’ expectations in everything she does. For me personally, however, the romance fell flat as there was so much back and forth between Dean and Kaylee that it got repetitive. It was difficult for me to connect with either of them, and I wished they had a bit more chemistry.

❀ THOUGHT-PROVOKING COMMENTARY

What I especially enjoyed about this book is the commentary on the experiences of young athletes. Kaylee and other characters in the book feel a lot of pressure to be the best and balance school with sports, and there are also discussions about the ways uniforms, especially for volleyball, influence body image for women. These conversations add another layer of depth to this beach read, and I appreciated the authors including them.

❀ A CUTE SECOND-CHANCE ROMANCE

Never Vacation with Your Ex by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka is a cute second chance romance that is perfect for the summer. I enjoyed the Malibu vacation premise and the discussions about some of the challenges women face in sports. This is a great read for your beach bag.

What a great start to summer reading!

"Never Vacation with Your Ex" immediately put me into summer mode.

I am now officially ready for the hot sun, beach trips, baseball games, sandals and bon-fires. Bring on the summer.

This was the cutest little young adult story. It's a book that you can pick up to simply enjoy. It's a very sweet and light read. This second-chance, friends-to-lovers, forced proximity romance was very adorable. I thought the romance between, spoiler alert, Dean and Kaylee was the love that we all wanted when we were in high school. Don't tell me you never dreamed of having the swoon-worthy love story where the best guy friend admits his love for you and you end up spending the rest of high school basking in the glow of young love?

Dean and Kaylee had that love story on lock but before the summer starts she breaks it off with Dean but the universe is totally not having it. The pair are "forced" into the annual family vacation to California where they will be spending three months in painfully close proximity. Once Jordan's arrive at the vacation home tension are already running high and Kaylee is already feeling exhausted from the pressure of making vacation perfect outside of her ex sleeping in a room right down the hall for three months. Kaylee comes up with the brilliant idea to not only smooth the waters in California but to help Dean get over her to coach him on her methods of living life freely and independently following a separation.

Surprise...surprise...the vacation and experiment teach Dean and Kaylee that they love each other deeply. Hot rebounds, hobbies and the sandy beaches of California couldn't keep them apart.

I really enjoyed this book. The romance was very sweet. I liked that Dean and Kaylee got their happy ending but I think my favorite part of this whole story was the volleyball.

I NEED MORE VOLLEYBALL STORIES. Why couldn't think book been about Kaylee's volleyball career in high school leading to her grasping a difficult decision of either becoming a professional or compete competitively collegiately plus navigating the pressures of being in the shadow of her mother's professional beach volleyball career. I would have adored that.

Reading about Kaylee and her relationship with volleyball gave me so much nostalgia...and honestly gave me the hankering to go outside and pepper. I totally understood the pressures she felt trying to juggle her academics, practice, workout routine and trying to appear perfect. It's difficult being an athlete at any level. It's mentally and physically exhausting but being a part of a team and playing the sport you love makes it all worth it.

I appreciated that by the end of her summer vacation, Kaylee got her man (Yas queen) but got the more important self-confidence and understanding that no one is perfect. She finally stepped out of her mother's shadow and decided to make her own route on her path to becoming a professional volleyball player. I liked that she learned to let daily pressures wash away and fully enjoy not only the sport she loves but the moment that she is living in.

Emily Wibberley's "Never Vacation with Your Ex" was a great start to summer reading. I highly recommend this sweet romance if you want to feel all the beachy vibes. It will instantly transport you to help you imagine the warmth of the waves, the sand between your toes and the whooshing of the waves.

Thank you Penguin Teen for a copy of Never Vacation with Your Ex. This sweet YA story is out now! Don't forget to support Emily Wibberley and your favorite book publishers by not only purchasing their books but following them on all social platforms.

3.5/5 Stars

17-year-old Kaylee Jordan is an up-and-coming volleyball star who just broke up with her best friend turned boyfriend Dean. He hasn't spoken to her since the breakup, but now their families are going on their annual 3-week trip to California together. Can things get any more awkward?

I'm a sucker for a good second chance romance, make it also a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to- reluctant friends-to-lovers and I am in. I found Kaylee to be a tad annoying, especially when she was denying her feelings toward Dean in the first place. I guess I don't fully understand why she chose to break up with him if she never stopped having feelings. I think I just found her to be extremely selfish and self-absorbed and I felt no sympathy towards her. What I did like about the story was the exploration of family expectations as well as the need to be perfect. I think this is where I actually related to Kaylee and understood her emotions. I was also a competitive athlete for the majority of my life and was always striving for perfection in the shadow of my father's success in the same sport. I honestly would have rather had a whole story about Kaylee's struggle with that rather then the romance.

Another sweet and charming read by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka!

I've loved their books from the minute I first read Always Never Yours. Never Vacation with Your Ex is another great addition to their list of young adult contemporary romance books. It was lighthearted while also full of nuance. I loved the sweet romance and the connection that grew between Kaylee and Dean. The family dynamics were fun and I loved the summer vacation setting.

I can't wait for what comes next in their young adult contemporary journey!

Quick Stats
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

I don’t know why the reviews of this book are so low—I loved it. I loved Wibbroka. They simply cannot write a bad book, in my opinion. Honestly, I think their reviews for their YA books have been lower since they started writing adult, because their adult readers are reading their YA books and finding them “too YA”. Because yes, this book is solidly YA. The teenage characters act like teenagers, so if that’s not your cup of tea, you should probably pass on this one.
The premise of this book is tons of fun. Perfectionist Kaylee is forced to go on a family vacation with her childhood best friend—and recent ex boyfriend—Dean, and she decides in order to make the trip less awkward, she needs to help him get over her. Cue shenanigans. Admittedly, there are some logistical questions in there, but while reading the book I wasn’t too caught up in them. I felt like I was just along for the ride. I was having fun, because I think that’s what this book is, at its core: fun. It does touch on more emotional topics. Breakups, of course, but also family, social media spotlights, perfectionism, and more. It definitely has a deeper undercurrent that kept me emotionally invested in the story and characters, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s an emotionally driven story.
Like always, Wibbroka gives us a little cameo of the previous books characters. I loved seeing a bit of Siena and Patrick, and I can’t wait to see Dean and Kaylee in the next book. If you’re looking to pick up your first Wibbroka YA, this is as good a place to start as any—as long as you remember it is in fact YA.
I really enjoyed this book, and I think it’s a must read for any YA contemporary lover—especially if you enjoy the second chance romance trope.

I am a big fan of Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka's books so I am super glad that I got the opportunity to read this one. I enjoyed this book a lot. It dealt with some interesting topics. I loved the characters, and I liked how the plot was never fully went the way I expected it to go. Overall an interesting and cute read that I very much enjoyed.

This was the perfect teenage rom com! I requested this cutie because a bunch of my students started requesting romances for their free read books, and this perfectly fit the bill. I can't wait to grab a copy for my classroom library. The perfect mic of drama and fun for my high schoolers!

Hands-down, the best romance I’ve read all year! Another Wibbroka success (obviously). This book had me laughing so hard I was on the floor crying way too many times to admit— I’m looking at you, hide and seek— and at the same time made me want to punch all of the characters equally… but in the best way. Kaylee and Dean are more than just exes, they’re former best friends. Their families are practically family.

The part of this that made me love it even more was the subtle LGBT aspect to the book, put in there as to not make it a “big deal” as other authors would.

Definitely give this a read, it’s one that you won’t want to put down!

I received a free copy of this book as a bookseller from Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka, Viking Books for Young Readers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I adored the story, the world building was amazing. I love meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it. The writing was also really nice. I couldn't put the book down and I can't wait for others to read and enjoy this story as well.

I’m such a sucker for this duo’s books. And a YA book involving volleyball makes it even better. I loved the both main characters so much

In Never Vacation with Your Ex, we follow Kaylee and Dean, two high schoolers that vacation with their parents every year at the same house in Malibu. Kaylee and Dean grew up together, but one summer, Dean and Kaylee fall for each other. They end up dating (for two months.) They tell each other that they love each other, and then Kaylee breaks up with Dean the next day.

Fast forward, time for their three week vacation. What will this be like? Kaylee makes it her plan for Dean to fall out of love with her. In the process of trying to be the best volleyball player, and gain confidence, she tries to help her best friend become her best friend again and then get over her. Will she succeed?

This was.... a slow burn. There is a lot of back and forth of Kaylee and Dean over the three weeks. I don't think I love a second (or third?) chance romance. It felt like the communication just kept circling over and over. Which, they are teenagers, so it makes sense. I think that just looking back at "teen love," second chances aren't always the best? So, though these two were best friends, it was just not my vibe. I think high school me, would've liked it!

It's a coming of age, second chance, with best friends to lovers, and the character development that some may love.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!