Samantha Chase has a talent for reminding us to remember the emotions we can so easily forget. Sunkissed Days blends a few life lessons into what looks to be an emotional series. For Mallory and Jake a teenage crush could lead to an adult fantasy, if life doesn't get in the way of their happy ending. From heart tingles to heart ache, Chase takes emotions through some serious growing pains with this couple.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

It took me a while to get into this one, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I wound up loving it. i requested this one from Netgalley when I was looking for some cute fluffy fun books. I didn't even realise it was the third book in a series. But I think it worked perfectly well, and nothing was really confusing and I didn't feel like I was missing anything from not having read the others in the series. 

The main character, Kat, comes across at first as a shallow, selfish teen obsessed with boys, fashion and makeup. Nothing particularly new there. After being caught in a somewhat compromising position with her older sister's ex boyfriend her parents ship her off to her quirky aunt who lives on an island somewhere just off Sweden. 

Kat is not thrilled about having to spend her summer away from her friends, Aunt Frieda is described as a bit of a hippy, and the island she lives on is remote with (gasp!) no cell phone reception and very little electricity in where they live. At first Kat is mortified. There are hardly any other kids her age there, other than one dreamy boy she keeps hearing about. She does make sort of friends with a slightly younger girl, Nanna, who she at first dismisses as weird and her geeky brother. 

Kat's personality was grating. She got on my nerves and I was very close to DNFing. But I stuck with it, and glad I did because as the novel goes on Kat's character development is incredible. She shows tremendous growth as she warms to the very different life style and gets to be herself without having to worry about what anyone thinks of her. She loosens up and enjoys herself. It is an absolute delight to read about her adventures on the island.

When the boy she heard about, Leo, finally makes an appearance, he's a nature loving sporty type guy. They get to know each other. Everything is going along great...until Leo's girlfriend shows up. She's pretty perfect and athletic. So Kat is devastated. Off hand she's heard about some sort of adventure race the islanders do and Leo has told her about training for it. She's been doing some swimming and stuff but never really been into the idea of the race. Until the girlfriend, Peeta, makes some snarky comments about her. And guess what? Kat wants to get into this race!

She has always lived in the shadow of her star athletic sister Britta who wins all sorts of awards for this type of stuff. As she trains for the race, it becomes more about proving to herself that she can do this...even if she fails. She even gets one of her friends to come along and be her race partner. She wants to prove to herself she is just as capable as any. 

Its a light fluffy book that is very funny, but has some deep moments as well with wonderful depth to the characters who started of as vain and silly. By the end I loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for approving my request to view this title.

Publication Date: 23rd October 2013

Publisher: Kellan Publishing

ISBN: 978-1493567683

Source: Review copy received by author

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis:

Dawn Summers is dying. It’s 1853 and as the seventeen year old continues to fade away she has visions of the father she never knew, urging her to fight for her life. In the small village of Fandova the only medical care is in the form of the mysterious Dr. Moralus who has a known penchant for bloodletting. Thomas, Dawn's fiancé, is warned against inviting his intervention, but feels he has no choice, he pleads with the doctor to save Dawn’s life…whatever it takes. Whatever it ‘takes’ has some consequences neither of them expected. Now, it’s a hunt to the death, with both Dawn and Thomas determined to win.

Review:

 This is a slightly different take on the traditional vampire tale, and has some cleverly written scenes and one twist, in particular, that I didn't forsee. That said, I found most of the characters rather uninspiring. There were bits I really liked and bits I didn't, hence my middle of the road rating. I'd like to read more by the author and hope to enjoy them.

For an exciting and romantic adventure check out Sunkissed by Carys Jones!