Small Town Hearts

I ended up DNFing this about 50 pages from the end lol. the writing was beautiful and I really liked the atmosphere of this book and the bi rep. I loved the descriptions of the town and all the food! but I also found the writing to be SUPER repetitive - Babe just constantly kept saying the same things about her friendship with Penny & Chad and Levi being a ~~summer boy~ and just ended up being super boring. also I don't understand how all these characters seem to be financially independent and living on there own at 17/18??
50 pages from the end I just realized I really didn't care and didn't feel pressed to finish this at all. I can see myself maybe picking this up again in the summer when I want a light summer-y read.

~Review first appeared on The Bent Bookworm!~ 5/5 stars for an adorable, realistic summer romance! I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. But I was intrigued by the synopsis, being a small-town girl at heart myself, and while I've only visited Maine once it was gorgeous and picturesque and I would love to go back.“The cardinal rule of every beach town is that locals do not get involved with tourists. They always leave.”Babe is a bisexual baking barista (try saying that five times fast) who is struggling to let go and move on as her life – and her best friends – change around her. Her two bests friends are going on to college, and she's not. Her choice, but she wants everyone she's grown up with to stay the same right along with her. But is she really staying the same?I absolutely loved the way Babe stuck to her guns about NOT going to college and staying in her home town. I think sometimes in all the narratives (and real life experiences) of people leaving home and never looking back, that we forget there are people who love their towns and what to stay there, build a life for themselves in the same place they grew up. On the other hand, I was glad that Babe realized she wasn't entirely staying the same, she was growing and changing as a person too – even if she stayed in the same physical place.Levi and Babe were adorable together. Even though their relationship is a little insta-y, it wasn't insta-LOVE and I appreciated that. After all, insta-LIKE is pretty common and has a large variety of endings, haha. They had chemistry, but the author steered away from things like heavenly boy-sweat and sparks flying from the touches of fingertips. Thank you. I also loved that they both knew, pretty much from the start, that their relationship (whatever it was at the time) might not be permanent, and they were okay with that.Babe's issues with Elodie, her ex-girlfriend, were difficult to read about. Elodie is not out, and Babe has been for years, so that really threw a painful wrench into their relationship. After their breakup, Babe eventually – after a lot of tears and pain – moves on. When Elodie comes back to town after a year at college, Babe didn't crumble. She had realized how much Elodie hurt her and how much she was a selfish person, and wasn't going to let her do it again.She was deflecting, trying to unload the responsibility of her decisions on me.Having let people do this to me more times than I can count, I actually teared up that Babe found the strength within herself to call Elodie out on it. YES. Because it is damn difficult.Also I desperately wanted some of Babe's baking confections. OMG. I was EXTREMELY disappointed that there were not recipes for these...I mean, come on! That's just cruel. Maybe someone will be inspired to come up with some? Because I know I'm not that talented...just page me if it happens. Kthx.Highly recommend for a breezy summer read that still has some substance. I loved it and am very excited to see what debut author Lillie Vale comes out with next!Many thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy in exchange for an honest review!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram