Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Review: The Boys of Summer by Sarah Madison

The Boys of Summer by Sarah Madison
Self-Published
Novel: 193pgs
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Working for a California-based film production company, David McIntyre is the go-to man for matching the right location to the right project for the right price. On an extended trip to Hawaii, he hires Sutton’s Air Service to cart him all around to some of the most exotic locations in the South Pacific. During one of those trips, a freak tropical storm forces them to make a crash landing, leaving both men stranded without a radio and with very little in the way of food and water. Rick Sutton’s injuries make it imperative that they be rescued soon, and David finds himself calling on all his professional skills to keep both of them alive.

It takes a vivid dream about WW2 however, to make David realize that he has real feelings for Rick—more than just his natural concern that both of them get out of this mess alive. But putting his heart on the line might be the greatest risk David has ever taken—does he have the courage to make it before time runs out on both of them? 


Review
The Boys of Summer offers up a great mix of history intertwined with that of the present for David and Sutton. I was pulled in from the get go and got lost in these characters story and the setting.

David is good at his job for finding the right location to film for production companies. When he has his camera in hand he just knows what works and what won't do, plus there is a lot of traveling to be had visiting the most beautiful of places. This time he's in Hawaii and needs an aircraft service to get aerial views. With the service comes Rick Sutton, a man David has a slight crush on but appreciated his skill with the plane and pointing out prime location. Against Sutton suggestion of calling it quits, they end up in a storm and David is regretting not listening to Sutton. The storm is bad and from where their sitting it looks like the plane will go down. Good thing Rick is a fantastic pilot and they crash land and both men are intact, well...Rick is sorta intact.

With barely any food and with Rick badly injured their abandoned island isn't exactly paradise. But they've got to survive and wait out for help no matter how dire the situation seems. The men come across and old army base ravished by time but rich with history and provide a little hope. The place is deserted and old but it does provide shelter and fresh water (well sorta freshish). When Rick's injuries start to take toll it’s up to David to keep him alive and he's beginning to lose hope. I guess being surrounded by old war items started to affect David because he has this vivid dream, titled the Interlude.

Truthfully, that Interlude aka the Vivid Dream is my fave in the entire book. Without it this book would have just been another read for me, but the dream that David has absolutely wrecked me. Just thinking about it right now makes me all teary eyed and I just wanna go change the words and make them happy. That dream is woven into the story so wonderfully that you forget that it’s just a dream (a beautiful hit you right in the feels dream). It also the "aha" moment for David when he realizes that his feelings are no longer in the crush faze and he has real feeling for Rick. Whether he can act on those feelings is all up to on whether they survive the island.

I enjoyed reading this one, not in love with it but I did really like it. David and Sutton were enjoyable characters and I most especially loved them in the Interlude. What I least enjoyed is the ending which felt very abrupt and a little crazy. I'm just trying to understand how Rick can just up and leave his life and why David would even ask that of him in such a way. I found him a selfish, childish and disliked his approach. Other than that a good read that I liked very much and will look for more from Sarah Madison.

4 Pants Off

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