Second Chance Summer – A Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Posted August 25, 2013 by Andi in Second Chance Sunday / 0 Comments

Today’s Second Chance Sunday is a book by Kody Keplinger. I’ve been a fan of her since I first read The DUFF many moons ago and it has lessened at all. I’ve read everyone of her books she has released and loved them. A Midsummer’s Nightmare was no different. As we change the calendars to September soon figured this was the perfect time to spotlight this gem.

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Title: A Midsummer’s Nightmare [Amazon]
Author: Kody Keplinger [website]
Publisher: Poppy
Genre: Contemporary
Source/Type: Purchased/Hardcover
Stars: 4 out of 5

Publisher’s Description:
Whitley Johnson’s dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She’s just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée’s son? Whitley’s one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin’ great.

Worse, she totally doesn’t fit in with her dad’s perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn’t even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she’s ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn’t “do” friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn’t her stepbrother…at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

My Thoughts:
It pains me how amazing a writer Keplinger is at such a young age! She has this uncanny ability to tell the teenage prospective like it is. She did it with The DUFF(my fave Keplinger book) and with Shut Out. And yes, she managed to of it again with A Midsummer’s Nightmare. I waited along time to read this one and it was definitely worth the wait. Keplinger did not let me down!

A Midsummer’s Nightmare is about Whitley Johnson, a recent high school graduate that wakes up after a graduation party in bed with a boy she can’t remembers name. Not even bothering with pretenses Whitley chalks up the encounter as a one night stand and heads home to pack so she can spend the summer with her father, a time she has come to cherish since her parents divorced years before. Looking forward to a summer of hanging by the lake with her dad and drinking with him, Whitley is in for a surprise. Her dad has met someone and they have not only moved into a house together and are getting married, but her dad’s fiance has two kids, a young teenaged daughter and GASP, Whitley’s one night stand Nathan. Suddenly Whitley’s relaxing summer isn’t going as planned and soon she has to figure out not only where she fits in with this new family, but where she fits in with her own. And is it really a one night stand when the boy is suddenly living across the hall from you?

I just loved Whitley. She was so lost in the world. Her mother was a PITA that had no clue what end was up and only wanted to bad mouth her dad and her father was a selfish piece of work that used his teenage daughter more as a friend then his kid. No wonder Whitley turned to booze and boys to get some attention. All this girl wanted was someone to notice her, to yell at her, to punish her and her parents just didn’t seem to care. It really was infuriating because Whitley was really awesome! She was funny and charming and really sweet when it came to her soon to be stepsister, and yet her dad essentially wanted nothing to do with her. I mean she was being bullied and he still didn’t care. ARGH!!! I really couldn’t stand him. LOL

Who I could stand was Nathan! Man was that boy just beyond adorable! I loved watching him with Whitley and with Whitley’s new friend Harrison( yes, Harrison from The DUFF!!). He was so funny with both of them there was no way not to love him! He made Whitley be the girl she had buried just by being there for her and not letting her get away with her antics. He was kind and patient and just the complete package. There was a sweetness in him that he brought out for Whitley and it totally made me swoon.

This book was equal parts romance and a coming of age story like Keplinger’s books of the past. Watching these characters grow and transform was purely entertaining and a joy to do. Each page turn was better then that last and at the end I was left with wanting more. Well done Kody! I can’t wait for more from you. You have a fan in this girl for sure!

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