A Midsummer's Nightmare

Synopsis (Goodreads): Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorced 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.

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I love Kody Keplinger. FACT.

I love her not only because she's one of the SWEETEST authors EVER (She allowed me to bombard her with fangirl love a couple of weeks ago at an author event) , but because she's not afraid to take risks and write the sort of books that other YA authors would shy away from. You know...the kind that bring up real teenage issues. Like...well...sex.

With A Midsummer's Nightmare, Keplinger wastes absolutely NO time in getting things started. We begin with a questionable hook-up and shiz hits the fan shortly after. Guys, I LOVE it when shiz hits the fan!! Our main protagonist, Whitney, is introduced to her father's shiny new family and she's left to pick up the pieces of a very imperfect life. While it was incredibly heartbreaking to see Whitley struggle with the idea of her father moving on and leaving his old life (including her) behind, I loved watching those relationships develop.  

Whitley's future stepsister, for example, was a gem, but the real charmer was Nathan (Oh, Nathan!) who won me over with his geeky and incredibly charming personality. He's not the typical bad-boy I fall for (*cough* Adrian Ivashkov *cough*) but he's innocent, patient, kind AND let's face it, the kind of boyfriend I hope for in real life. 

Swoon worthy? OH Yeah!

But cute boys and character development aside, this wasn't your typical, one-dimensional novel. There were layers and layers of issues that Whitley dealt with honestly and realistically. Keplinger should be praised for the way she handles topics like divorce, sex and self-esteem. She has a way of making it empowering...if that makes any sense.  Don't get me wrong, these characters are usually flawed and a little messed up, but they rise above it because they're strong enough to admit that they're flawed!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it takes a HELL of an author to pull this off and Keplinger does it wonderfully. 

Ms. Keplinger, I'll be there for your next book and the one after that! You're a young and spectacular talent that can't be missed!

**HUGE thank you to Faye at Little, Brown for the Advanced Reader's Copy**