Book Review: The Summer of ’98

If you’ve been following my newly embarked writing journey/adventure, you know that one of the writers who inspired me to start writing myself is Tay Marley. Months ago I wrote a book review for her first published book, The QB Bad Boy and Me. I absolutely loved the book. It was so fun to read and I couldn’t stop reading it. It was one of those instances where you can’t stop because you want to know what happens, but you don’t want it to end so you force yourself to stop to draw out the experience.

Following the huge success of The QB Bad Boy and Me, Tay’s second published book is going to be released next month and it is a prequel! The Summer of ’98 follows Leroy and Ellie, Drayton’s parents from the first book, during their whirlwind romance in the summer of 1998.

I was super lucky and received an early e-copy of the book from Tay herself (pinch me!) and just finished it yesterday.

The book is such a quick read and just like with Tay’s other works, you instantly fall in love with the characters. The book follows Leroy and Ellie starting from when they first meet at a college party before summer starts and follows them as their romance blooms during the summer and they fall madly in love. The summer after high school and before college is a big turning point in their lives and add in this once in a lifetime love and it’s crazy and dramatic and shocking and just right.

You don’t have to have read The QB Bad Boy and Me before this – you can still enjoy the love story, but if you have read it then it’s more enjoyable (in my opinion) because you can make connections (I found one easter egg!) and learn more about Drayton’s parents. Leroy, Drayton’s father, is not the most likeable character in The QB Bad Boy and Me, but he is extremely loveable and kind in this book. And once you know what happens to him (from the original book) you can sort of see why he is the way he is and it actually makes me sadder for him knowing what he was like when he was younger.

There’s so much more I could say but I don’t want to spoil it for you or accidentally reveal something from the first book if you haven’t read that yet!

I can’t wait until the book is released on July 21st so I can get a physical copy!

The book is available for pre-order now. You can click on the link earlier in the post or on the photo below.