Book Blitz: Camp Boyfriend (Camp Boyfriend #1) by JK Rock

Okay so I know you have already heard all about Camp Boyfriend when I was part of the blog tour, but when I heard about this book blitz, I just had to sign up. Because I really enjoyed Camp Boyfriend and that’s why I am going to share my review with you again and some info on where to buy and find both Camp Boyfriend and Camp Kis (Camp Boyfriend #0.5), an excerpt and ofcourse there is an awesome giveaway at the buttom of this post.

Camp Boyfriend (Camp Boyfriend #1)
by JK Rock

Blurb from Goodreads: The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.

They said it couldn’t be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren’s nerves and she can’t wait to return to summer camp where she’s valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she’s broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn’t even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.

But Matt isn’t giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn’t really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she’s more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren’s friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she’s changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?

My Review:
When I first heard about Camp Boyfriend I doubted I wanted to read it. While it sounded good, the blurb also made it obvious there would be a love triangle and I don’t like love triangles in books. After reading Camp Kiss I changed my mind and I decided I had to read Camp Boyfriend. Since then I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Camp Boyfriend and when my paperback copy finally arrived I finished my current read and started reading Camp Boyfriend that same day, because I just had to read this book and I couldn’t wait!

I am so glad I picked up this book, I have to say I absolutely love the camp setting and I am so sad I never had the chance to go to camp, because it sounds like an awesome experience and I love being outside surrounded by nature. This book is full of emotions, it is fast paced, original and with a lot of teenage angst and drama. And I really enjoyed all of it. There is so much more to the story and characters than I thought at first. I was totally team Seth starting this book and couldn’t wait till they would get together again and I couldn’t understand why Lauren had Matt as a boyfriend, but then after reading a lot I actually started to doubt who was the best boy for Lauren. The ending does wrap it all up nicely and I kept quessing who Lauren would end up with and the authors kept me quessing till the last chapter.

The story sometimes has a bit too much drama and sometimes I just wanted everyone to be friends and wished they stopped making such a big deal out of it, but the again being a teenager really is like that. This book remembered me about my own teenage years and while I love reading about teenagers at the same time I am really glad I am not a teenager anymore. There is a lot of time that Lauren tries to figure out her feeling, but that also means there aren’t as many sweet romance scenes as I expected. Also some of her friend’s actions surprised, both in a good and a bad way, although I did like the way the book ended. This book is not only about romance, it is also about self discovery and friendship.

The characters are another things that really made this book. I really liked Lauren, she is a great character and while she had some big problems in this book and lost herself for a while, at the end I think she is excatly where she is supposed to be. I also liked all the side characters, I felt like they really came to live and each had their own personality. I really liked Emily and there is a great scene with her at the end, but also some of the other side character seriously surprised me. I really liked getting to know Lauren and her camp friends.

To conclude: I really enjoyed Camp Boyfriend, I finished it in a day, because I just couldn’t stop reading and wanted to know what would happen next. Sometimes there was a bit too much drama for my taste, but I really did enjoy the story. Also I liked the fact that it wasn’t only about romance, but also about self discovery and friendship. I wish I could go to camp and experience camp for myself, but as that isn’t possible I am really glad I got to experience camp through the awesome writing of JK Rock. I can’t wait to read the next books in this series!

You can add Camp Boyfriend to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can buy Camp Boyfriend here:
– Amazon US
– Amazon UK
– B&N
– Kobo
– The Bookdepository

And there is also a prequel named Camp Kiss (Camp Boyfriend #0.5)
You can add this book to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can download it for free on the publishers website

Excerpt:
“Can I ask you a question?” I’d been dying to ask him this for years, but the old me had been too afraid.
    “Shoot.” He wrapped his arms around his knees and locked a hand around his other wrist.
    I gathered my courage. “Why did you want to break up every year after camp?”
    In the quiet that followed, I traced the white stitching on the embroidery that outlined Madison’s initial.
    When Seth finally answered, his voice was low.
    “It’s easier to end things on good terms than risk something going wrong during the school year.”
    “Why assume the worst?” I’d never given him reason to doubt me.
    “I saw what my dad went through after my mom left us.” He reached for a stick to shove the logs around in the dusty fireplace as I marveled that he’d finally admitted what I’d suspected.  When Seth’s mom abandoned him, she’d left a huge hole. No wonder he had trust issues. Still, we could have worked through that if he’d given me a chance. Opened up to me like this before.
“I always figured I’d wait to get serious with anyone until I was… really sure,” he continued.
    “And you were never sure of me?”
    His crooked grin made a surprise appearance, but his tone was dry. “I was hoping this would be the year we’d be ready to take that step.”
    Something inside me collapsed. My chest felt so tight that for a minute I couldn’t breathe. We’d been so close to developing something amazing.
    “Instead, I showed up with someone else.”
    Outside, the wind rubbed tree limbs against the cabin, making a squeaking scrape.
“It wasn’t just that.” He put the stick down and looked at me. Really looked me. “You showed up as someone else. Someone I didn’t recognize with a new look, clothes, interests.”
I opened my mouth to protest but stayed silent when I followed his gaze to my trendy sneakers.
“I didn’t know who you were anymore,” Seth went on. “Since when did you prefer dancing to stargazing, tanning to pursuing your Aerospace Scholar dreams? That wasn’t the Lauren I knew. Loved.”
 I flinched. Who knew a verb tense could cut as deep as a knife? Seth no longer loved me because I’d changed.
How ironic that I’d come back to camp to get back to the things I’d loved, especially Seth. But Matt had stopped that chance and, suddenly, I was glad he had. What was so wrong with liking dance and astronomy? Cheering and the science club? The popular and the outsider cliques? The problem was, I hadn’t realized I could do both, be both. If I’d gone back to Seth, I would never have learned that.
I looked over at my drying wedge sandals by the fireplace. They were awesome, even if they had slowed us down. And yeah, I was the girl who worried about weather-induced hair frizz.
So maybe I had changed. And Seth had a point about letting my dreams lapse. But why couldn’t he see through the make-up and clothes to the person who still thrilled at the site of a meteor shower and drew constellations on her notebook covers?
I laid back, tired of justifying myself. “That girl’s gone, Seth. I’m different now.”
Seth stretched beside me. His amber eyes searched mine in the shadows between us, a wistful smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
    “It’s not a bad thing,” he agreed, his fingers toying with my curls. “I just miss the old you sometimes.”
    I closed my eyes and enjoyed his touch, knowing it wasn’t going any further. After all, he cared about someone else, someone I’d never be again.
“Sometimes…” I edged a little closer to ease the empty ache inside. “…so do I.”    

About the authors:
J. K. Rock is the pseudonym for YA writing partners – and sisters-in-law – Joanne & Karen Rock. Although they started out sharing an annual shopping trip, they ended up discussing their favorite films and books, joining the same book club  and talking about writing… a lot. Their debut novel, Camp Boyfriend, is the first in a three-book series that was plotted during family pool parties. Their creative partnership is unique in that they enjoy passing a book back and forth, each adding a chapter and fine-tuning the chapter before. Years of friendship has yielded a shared voice and vision for their work that makes writing a pleasure. To learn more about their writing as J.K. Rock, visit http://jkrock.net

You can find JK Rock here:
– Website
– Joanne’s Twitter
– Karen’s Twitter
– Facebook

And now more about the giveaway!

3 winners will each win a 10$ amazon gift card. And one winner will win the Grand Prize!
The Grand prize includes: Signed copies Amanda Ink’s SUN, Jennifer Armentrout writing as J. Lynn’s FRIGID and JK Rock’s CAMP BOYFRIEND. Also included, advance sneak peek copy Laurie Halse Anderson’s THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY and Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian’s FIRE WITH FIRE, plus an “I <3 my Camp Boyfriend" tee shirt, friendship bracelets,  'I <3 Camp' temporary tattoos, and a bookmark with the download code for CAMP KISS.

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