I’m obsessed with Mateo Della Penna! I loved this one from the start then I was a little mad then I was loving it again! The story was so cute and I loved the donut shop setting. The end was amazing! I love the diversity and how Anita incorporated different LGBTQIA+ characters. I don’t know what else to say other than definitely check this one out!

Oh my god. This book is PERFECTION! One of the best queer YA romances I think I've ever read? Anita Kelly is one of my favorite romance authors and they have really struck gold with this one. It has major Heartstopper vibes–super cute, charming, poignant and Penny & Mateo are adorable together. I absolutely loved it.

This follows an enemies-to-lovers-with-a-misunderstanding trope, but its deftly done. Penny is a smart, ambitious, extreme over-thinker with a face full of freckles. Mateo is a cool queer artist with pink and purple hair. They end up working together at Delicious Donuts for the summer and become friends and then more. The Donut shop is a fun setting with Oregon and Main Street as its background, and the found family is wonderful.

Penny has anxiety and wants to fix everything and solve all the world's problems, but is afraid to ask for help. Mateo’s family doesn’t fully accept them as non-binary and that they want to go to art school and their confidence suffers. These things end up causing conflict but it’s written with such care that I think people with this kind of anxiety will feel seen. Penny is also figuring out her queer identity and Mateo helps her, while in return she helps Mateo gain confidence as an artist. They are a perfect fit together!

– THINGS I LOVED: –
• Creative chapter titles showing summer job savings
• Penny's moms
• The ideas to save Delicious Donuts
• Mention of Heartstopper leaves
• Their first date & throwing packaged condiments
• Penny categorizing Mateo's different smiles
• The Speech about weirdos

Anita's writing really is magical. It grabs you and then sweeps you along and you can’t put the book down. I always find something to relate to in their stories, even if it’s not 100% exactly like me. The amount of emotion and feeling is so well done, they are a true talent. I would recommend this to anyone who has teen kids who love to read, and who may be figuring out their own identity. Or if you're an adult who loves YA (like me). This one reminds me a bit of Love & Other Disasters or Something Wild & Wonderful just in how heartfelt the story is and if you liked those you will love this one.

•• Thanks to NetGalley & Quill Tree Books for the ARC ••

I am calling it now - this will be the YA book of the summer!

Penny Dexter just landed a part-time summer job at Delicious Donuts to help save for college. The only problem? Their rival Mateo della Penna, who is most certainly not Penny’s friend, also started working at Delicious Donuts. Penny plans to keep her head down and save for her college fund, but life (and her job) forces her to interact with Mateo. Except, Mateo isn’t as bad as she thought and is willing to help Penny on her quest to save Delicious Donuts. As the summer progresses, Penny and Mateo forge a new relationship that slowly leads to something more.

Thank you to Anita Kelly for writing this book! I really enjoyed the story, the characters, the writing, really just everything! It was so refreshing to read a young adult novel where the characters felt like teenagers. It was very much coming of age, but also very raw, emotional, and full of heart.

I appreciated the vulnerability in Penny’s character, especially as she grappled with her anxieties about her family, college, high school, and the future. I loved how open her family was about mental health and encouraging they were to her as she learned to navigate her panic attacks. Additionally, I think a lot of young (and older) folks will find resonate with Mateo’s character and struggles with helping their family understand their identity.

I am so glad I get to experience a world where books like this exist! Catch this one out in July!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the eARC! Donut Summer follows Penny at her summer job at the town’s local donut shop. After finding out the owner is planning on selling, Penny makes it her mission to save the shop. Along the way, she deals with her anxiety and a crush on her coworker Mateo.

This novel is so heartfelt, funny, and moving with wonderful characters and important queer representation. Penny and Mateo both felt so authentic. We always need more nonbinary characters and Mateo is unique in that they express themself in some traditionally feminine ways rather than the more masculine ways that tend to dominate nonbinary representation in our society.

The depiction of Penny’s anxiety disorder felt so true to life and it was wonderful to watch her learn how to cope with it, with the help of her therapist and grounding exercises.

Donut Summer perfectly captures what it’s like to be a queer teen, a confused teen, a teen with a crush. I’ve been feeling more and more lately like young adult books are spoon feeding their readers information but this novel trusts teenaged (and older!) readers’ intelligence.

I was truly giggling, twirling my hair, kicking my feet over Penny and Mateo’s romance. Sometimes all I can think in a young adult novel is that they’re too immature to pursue a relationship but I was rooting for these two from the very first page.

I was genuinely sad when Donut Summer was over, immediately pre-ordering a physical copy for my collection. I can’t wait to see what Anita Kelly writes next! They’re truly one of the best romance writers out there.

This was a super sweet and hopeful book. The entire cast of characters were likable and relatable in some way. The author did a great job including diversity and a strong sense of perseverance. The love story between Penny and Mateo was slow-burn and incredibly wholesome. Plus, it’s set in a donut shop, which adds to the sweet atmosphere. Penny shows great strength and determination in both her personal life and in trying to save the donut shop. For a YA book, this shows a nice level of depth.

Before I get into my review of “Donut Summer”, I’d like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for the eARC!

Oh my gosh, I have so many thoughts on this book. Donut Summer was nothing but a blast. This book had me giggling and crying at the same time.

The characters in this book were so relatable it was almost painful. The young teenage fear of what you’re going to do after high school, figuring out if you’re going to leave your hometown or not, what school you want to go to and more.

I related to Penny the most, her anxiety was very similar to mine when I was her age.

I’m a firm believer that anything Anita Kelly writes turns to gold, and I’m still upholding that belief after reading Donut Summer.

This book was easily a six-star read and I never wanted it to end.

For Anita Kelly's young adult debut they have adapted their signature queer romance novel for younger audience. I will say this: it's not for adults. It is YA written with teens in mind. It reads on the younger side. That's the point.

It also reads too young for me and I'm in my mid twenties but it reminds me of the kind of things I would have read at that age.

The most poignant part of this story is less the main romance but the inner familial conflict of the main character. Whereas people find her annoying I always take the side of a young teen stuck in unsolvable familial situation that is usually the fault of the parents and where you are asked to suck it up or figure it out yourself. It's not fair. It's not fair that some kids have it easy and you don't. Penny is a way better person than me in many ways. Parents force you to grow up faster because of their choices. I liked the resolution of this conflict but it still makes me a little mad

This book was so sweet it made me cry from joy. I would do anything for these characters they were so amazing. I loved Penny’s first person perspective. It was very conversational, and necessary to understand her since she spent so much time wrapped up in her thoughts. I related so hard to Penny’s struggles with anxiety, and I appreciated the progress she made through therapy during the book. I also loved how understanding and supportive Mateo was, or at least tried to be. Honestly they were such a sweet, caring person and was amazing with Penny. I loved the two of them together. They had great chemistry from the start, even when they thought they hated each other. And once they got over their misunderstanding they were the cutest couple, with Penny lifting Mateo up while Mateo helped ground Penny. I do wish it had been dual pov to get Mateo’s thoughts. I also wish there had been a bit more progress with Penny’s family and that situation. But the ending was so hopeful and sweet, and overall I truly loved this book.

I absolutely ADORED this YA summer romance between two high school teens working at their small Oregon town donut shop.

Penny cares about everything so much and has anxiety which was SO well written in this book!! She also regrets how things with coworker Mateo went down in the past.

The more time Penny and Mateo spend over the summer trying to help save the donut shop, the more they realize they both still have strong feelings for each other.

This was a sweet summery and oh so REAL and relatable story that doesn’t shy away from tougher topics like Mateo’s complicated relationship with their father refusing to accept or acknowledge their pronouns and constantly misgendering them.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

I requested this ARC for review because it's Anita Kelly and I love their Nashville and Moonlighter books. And because it's a queer YA romance. And donuts.

Penny is an over achiever 16 year old with anxiety and six-year-old triplet siblings whom she has to babysit a lot. And an enemy/rival/she doesn't know why they hate her so much, named Mateo - who is the other new summer hire at the donut shop.

Turns out, they both are dealing with the sort of "hate" that's actually fear of being rejected and as they get to know each other, they start to figure that out.

I honestly would have liked to have some from Mateo 's pov as they negotiate their pronouns, pink and purple hair, their dad's insistence on "manly" things, and being one of a very few people of color in their small Oregon Town.

I swore I wasn't going to use any donut jokes in this review, but really, the whole story is sweet. It's sweet and it's hopeful and it's a little fluffy, but a lot serious about finding your place while recognizing that these are children who aren't done becoming (are we ever?) who they will be as adults.

It's a piece of hope and light and love.

You know, if you would have asked me a couple years ago about YA books, I would have said they weren’t for me. But I’ve read quite a few since then, and I stand corrected. This new book by Anita Kelly is yet another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ YA read for me!

Penny and Mateo had some miscommunication the previous year but they need to work together at their summer jobs at Delicious Donuts and try to save it from a larger entity taking over. They are also discovering who they are as people and working through some difficult things in their home lives.

Great main and secondary characters. Cute. Funny. Thought-provoking. Emotional. Did I cry for the last four chapters? Yes. But it was a good cry. One of those cries where you just felt better in the end. Like you really just needed a good cry.

Thanks to HarperCollins and Quill Tree Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Donut Summer to come out July 29, 2025.

There were a lot of parts of this I liked but I just didn't enjoy the experience of reading it and couldn't wait for it to be over. I did like the way that the issues of gender and sexuality were discussed but it still felt realistic for teens. I also liked that Penny's mental health issues felt accurate and that she was in therapy. However her issues plus her personality just made her insufferable and I didn't care about her at all. She was so annoying that I was actually rooting against them being together and didn't want a happy ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.