Review: He's With Me by Tamara Summers

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Scholastic (Point)

Spoilers?: No.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Just in time for summer comes the perfect beach read! Humor and romance abound in this fresh, fun take on summer love.

Lexie has always had a crush on Jake, her brother Colin's best friend. But she knows Jake thinks of her like a sister, and has never made a move. But when beautiful alpha girl Bree McKennis sets her sights on Jake, he has to come up with a plan to turn her down...without incurring the wrath of the most popular girl in school. That's when Colin comes up with the plan: Lexie can pretend to be Jake's girlfriend. But Lexie has never had a real boyfriend, let alone a pretend one! Can she manage to convince Jake that they're meant to be...and avoid getting killed by Bree McKennis?

Review:

This book was… pretty much average to me. I’ve read some of Summers’ other books, and both were perhaps better than this one. Although, I read them both a while ago, so maybe I’m blurry on that.

This book, and others like it, tend to be lighthearted, fluffy, girly, romance-centered, no heavy plot, very fast to read (I read it in less than a day). Somewhat stereotypical. They’re like adult romances, only for little girls. You know, no sex, no grown-up problems, nothing real serious. Which, sometimes is alright, or what you’re looking for. And I used to read them all the time, but I think I prefer the more adult ones now. Which, really, shouldn’t have surprised me.

This book was about Lexie, who is crushing on her twin brothers friend Jake. For some reason, everyone likes him, because he’s so cute and whatever, even though he hangs out with Lexie and her brother, who no one seems to really care for. Anyway, Lexie and Jake end up going to the same camp over the summer, taking Tennis lessons and playing pool volleyball. And then the popular girl from their school starts liking Jake, and a boy at the camp starts liking Lexie.

The book was enjoyable, for the most part. It wasn’t bad. It was just very light, nothing heavy, pretty stereotypical, very predictable. It started with no surprise and ended with no surprise. One thing that bothered me, is that it seemed like it could have ended so much earlier. I've read one-shots online, one chapter long, with this type of storyline that were much shorter. It didn't seem dragged on, there was just more story where there didn't need to be. More of the characters not thinking the other one liked them, or didn't like them enough, when there didn't need to be. 

I didn’t feel too much for the characters, although I could have. The relationships that formed could have been really good, been done really well, but were too light and easy, with not much under the surface. Lexie and Sally could have been really close, and I love twin sibling relationships, and this one wasn't done badly... There just wasn't much there, when there could have been.

I still have a bit of a soft spot for these type of younger chick-flicky books, but will probably read more of the adult ones. So, yea. Just alright, mostly.