Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #01) - Rachel van Dyken

Title: Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #01)
Author: Rachel van Dyken
Rating: 3.5 - 4 / 5

Thanks to Social Butterfly PR and NetGalley for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.

Spoiled Princess is what he used to call me.
We were an inferno of hate and passion wound up with a dash of chaos.

For four years I watched him mow my lawn.
For four years I watched my friends make fun of him.
For four years I hated myself for wanting him, but even more for the way I treated him.

And then I had him.
For one night, we put all labels away and I spent the best night of my life in his arms.
Then the next day, with my secret night under lock and key, I looked the other way while my friends shamed him.

But now the jokes on me, because the scrawny lawn boy who I secretly loved from afar is now the director of Hollywoods most exclusive summer camp.

And I'm on his staff.
Now it's his turn to punish me.
His turn to make me pay.
His turn to take his revenge after years of humiliation.

He's no longer a boy you can ridicule.
But a college graduate who can have any woman he wants.
I want him to look at me the way he did that one night we had together, but right now the look in his eyes tells me he's going to enjoy having me under him for two straight months.
I don't know where his hatred ends, his passion begins.
All I know is he wants revenge.
And I'm his lucky target.

So, this is kind of a hard thing for me to do. I don't really like Apple as a company and this book has been published for their iBooks section first. Exclusively. Meaning, us die-hard fans couldn't get our hands on Summer Heat or the others books in the Cruel Summer series. I remember how upset I was over that. It's either Google or Apple these days. Talk about communism. Anyway... That's not the topic here. I'm glad that these days, all Rachel van Dyken books are available on all platforms. So when Summer Heat was up for grabs on NetGalley I one-clicked without giving it a second thought.

And now the second hard part: Since this was originally a story publishes for Apple, I couldn't get the same vibe I usually do when reading Rachel van Dyken's books. And that's not fair to her nor her story, I know that. But I think some of her readers can relate. At first, this didn't feel like her writing at all, then I wondered if the idea for the story had been developed by her only or was a meeting with Apple involved? I was going paranoid, seriously. And then I decided to turn my brain off and just enjoy the story. Because even though I struggled with the first chapter - I had to get into the story first - I loved the idea and how it's a camp story, but not a young adult camp story, but new adult. And there's so much heat and sexyness involved. And second chances, which I usually hate, but of course it's Rachel van Dyken's talent that makes me change my mind about that. Gosh, I love that woman so much.

There's also some Hollywood glitter involved here, talking about dancing and acting and achieving dreams. I liked that very much, to see that characters actually have to work hard in order to get something, making the reader believe in themselves, too. Good job on that!

Back to my fear about working with Apple - you know, the moment I realised this was a typical Rachel book was when there was her humor written on the pages. It's quite unique and something every of her readers is looking forward to when starting a book by her. She's just so funny and I often wonder if these scenes just pop into her head or if she has to plot it out. It's a talent, really. I think that's when my doubts finally started disappearing fully - when I recognized her writing, her sense of humor, just her in every one of the pages of the story, her special mark.

I'm not even talking about the story, I realise. Well, I'm sorry. I think the blurb gives everything away and all I can say is you better read this book! Especially if you're looking for a quick summer read and might be interested in reading a series. I can't wait to devour book two and three, also if it will probably take me some time to finally get them off my to-be-read pile. There's definitely more tears than usual, but I believed Ray for her crying and I believed Marlon to be the perfect guy, as Rachel van Dyken creates them every single day.