SUMMER GIRLS......2 UNLIKELY OPPOSITE GIRLS FALL INTO SUMMER LOVE.....(****)

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan  (2025)

    All the familiar tropes and settings surround this basic, sweetly rendered sapphic YA romance..

    Such as:.....the beach town dominated by wealthy one-percenters and populated by the year 'round working class families whose kids work service jobs for the town's elite uppercrust.
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     Our loving couple - 'Trust fund heiress and popular teen influencer Birdie Gordon. Once her best friend when they were toddlers is hard working lifeguard/waitress Cass Adler, whose father works to find affordable housing for town residents pushed out by Birdie's dad, a real estate wheeler-dealer for the wealthy. (And oddly enough, Cass's dad also toils for Mr. Gordon at the same time, managing his properties.)

     Birdie, in in a rage about her cheating boyfriend (also a careless trust fun baby), crashes her expensive car. Of course it all goes viral, so Birdie's dad enlists Cass to supervise Birdie for the summer as a combination babysitter- camp counselor. Spoiled Birdie and salt-of-the-earth-no-nonsense Cass clash as expected but they've been nursing lifelong crushes on each other since their toddler-hood. Cass humanizes Birdie into the caring, heart-of-gold person she was all along and Birdie's fundamental sweetness causes Cass to lower her defences. .

     Anyone care to guess what happens next? Anybody? Yes, head-over-heels romance finally blooms, but the girls bring a host of pre-conceived attitudes toward each other that often sours their cute and ultra-adorable moments together. Will it all work out in the end?

     Once again, anybody care to guess? No need to all raise your  hands in unison........

     With a storyline this well-trod, everything depends on how much you like the girls and how much you love it when they're together. And in this area, author Jennifer Dugan excels. You can't help falling for Birdie and Cass as they fall hard for each other and the book leaves you warm and fuzzy inside just the way it should.

     Light and refreshing as a cool drink on any summer night. 4 stars (****)