Open Road Summer

February 3, 2014
Reagan and Dee have been friends since they were young, and although their lives are very different, they’re still close at 17. Dee, known to her fans as Lilah, is a country music star with a “squeaky-clean” reputation. Reagan may get good grades, but she dresses like a bad girl, drinks, and has an arm in a cast from a confrontation with the boyfriend she met while doing community service. When Dee needs support after splitting with her longtime boyfriend, she invites Reagan on tour; that’s where Reagan meets Matt, a former teen sensation who is Dee’s opening act. The two plot strands—the stresses of Dee’s love life, celebrity, and tabloid travails vs. Reagan’s struggle to accept her past and shape her future—aren’t always equally effective; for one thing, it’s hard to believe a photo of a kiss (in which Dee appears to be, but isn’t actually, topless) would be so shocking in today’s Miley Cyrus world. Nevertheless, Reagan’s tough, wised-up voice and her burgeoning romance with Matt are the engines that keep Lord’s engaging debut moving along. Ages 12–up. Agent: Taylor Martindale, Full Circle Literary.

March 1, 2014
Reagan joins her best friend Delilah's summer concert tour to escape some poor decisions and break some bad habits, finding romance and complication instead. When Reagan finds herself attracted to soulful musician Matt, romance seems inevitable--but the record company has hired him to pose as Delilah's wholesome boyfriend. Reagan and Matt are both good-hearted characters suffering from emotional wounds. A victim of dating violence (described dramatically but not graphically in flashback), Reagan finds curbing her reckless impulses surprisingly difficult. Matt is reeling from his mother's death and struggling to define himself as a person and artist after the demise of his famous band. Luckily, both have the classic supportive friend in Delilah, who shores them up emotionally and encourages their romance--even as she struggles with the pressures of her increasing fame. These characters are predictable, and the happily-ever-after ending is really never in doubt, but romance fans will undoubtedly still enjoy the developing relationships. Lord also deserves credit for plausibly explaining the lack of adult supervision: Their chaperone, Delilah's 26-year-old aunt, is distracted by her involvement with a new tour boyfriend. Even without adult supervision, Reagan and Matt's physical relationship is passionate but, refreshingly, restrained. Lord successfully adapts classic elements of adult romance novels into a love story gentle enough for younger readers. (Romance. 12-18)

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