A Picture Perfect Summer by Jessica Booth Review
If you are looking for the perfect summer read full of raw emotion and summer vibes, look no further. A Picture Perfect Summer by Jessica Booth is exactly what you need!
Synopsis:
We meet Jacob in Jessica’s first book, A Match Made in Autumn. He is the reporter covering the fall festival and is Rhett’s best friend. Jacob has been a part of Rhett’s life forever, spending time with the whole family, including Katie, Rhett’s little sister. Jacob is a hard worker who has been taking care of his father through his aging and dementia. With a new magazine starting up in town, the newspaper for which he works has decided to get a little creative. Jacob is assigned to cover the North Louisiana festivals throughout the summer, traveling to each one with a photographer, to create the perfect summer series for the paper.
Katie Herbert is the definition of a hot mess. She has no idea what she wants to do for a living, is still residing with her parents, and is a little lost (aren't we all?). When her brother Rhett gets her a part time summer gig as a photographer, Katie couldn’t be more excited. That is until she realizes that she will be working with Jacob, her lifetime crush.
Together they travel to different festivals, capturing the chaos during each trip. No matter what, something seems to go wrong, but that just makes for even better articles. But all of this time together is starting to feel intimate. While they are being forced to work together, the sparks that have always been watered down by their surroundings start to fly, and they are not so sure they can stay away from each other.
Review:
Jessica did it again, another amazing novel. This book had me actually laughing out loud throughout the whole thing and wishing it didn’t have to end. I loved both Jacob and Katie’s character growth throughout this novel. They had challenging choices to make at the end, that I do not think they could have made at the beginning of the book. There were heavy moments… especially around parent loss and dementia. I had actual tears in my eyes. It was an absolutely beautiful ending to go with a beautiful book.
Read this novel if you love:
-Best friends brother
-Forced Proximity
-Small Town
-Friends to Lovers
-Spice
-One Bed
The raw emotion that was delivered throughout this novel made it one of my favorite reads of 2023. After a year of friendship, I was able to meet Jessica Booth in person last week! She is truly an amazing human with the biggest heart. I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her novels and her writing process!
Q- When you were writing your first novel, A Match Made in Autumn, did you already know that you would write a second novel about Katie and Jacob?
Not in the beginning. When I started AMMIA, my goal was just to write one whole, entire book. But as the story developed, so did my affection for Katie and Jacob. I'd say about halfway into writing AMMIA, I knew Katie and Jacob would get their own book.
Q- Which of your two novels has been your favorite to write?
That's like asking a mom to pick her favorite kid--not possible! I will say that when writing my first book, I was kind of feeling my way through how to do it. And then I got schooled on character development and visceral writing by my editor. Everything I learned while writing my first book made writing my second book much easier.
Q- How long did it take you to write both of your novels?
I've learned that I'm a freakishly fast writer (it's my coping mechanism for the hard things in life). For both of my books, my first draft took me three to four months each to write. And then editing took me another additional six to eight weeks.
Q- Out of all of your characters you have written, who is your favorite and why?
I love Aunt Margie. She's a side character in both books who I based largely on my own godmother. She's wise, spunky, confident, and takes no prisoners. But under all her gruff bravado, she has a heart of gold. She's the mentor figure we all want in our lives.
Q- Will you continue to write books in the series? I would love to see Winter and Spring represented!
Yes! The plan is to do a four book series. I've started character development for book three already and I can't wait to start plotting it and building the outline.
I can’t wait to read your next book Jessica!!! THANK YOU FOR WRITING AMAZING NOVELS!
Comments