Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale - OPTIONAL

Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale, 324 pages. Swoon Reads (Macmillan), 2019.           $18

Language: R (37 swears, 8 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13 (Underage drinking, use of drugs, talk of sex); Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Babe Vogel is excited for the perfect summer with her two best friends Penny and Chad. Disaster strikes when Chad and Penny break-up leaving Babe to comfort both her friends. Chad kisses Babe one night while they were talking, sending all three friendships into a downward spiral. Babe is just trying to figure out how to repair her friendships when she meets Levi Keller. Levi is in Oars Rest, Maine for the summer art program. Babe has always promised herself she would never fall for a summer boy. However, the more time she spends with Levi the more she realizes she can keep her promise to herself.        

This is Vale's first novel and does have all the elements to be a great summer romance novel, however I a felt like it fell a little short. There is a love triangle between Babe, her ex girlfriend, and the new boy Levi, leaving the reader feeling confused on where her true feelings and allegiance really are. You know Babe is bisexual, but she never admits it until almost the end of the novel, so at times her thoughts are hard to follow. She will be thinking of her ex-girlfriend and then the next paragraph she is thinking about Levi. You really have to pay attention to the jumps in her thoughts.  Overall Vale has some beautiful passages that help enhance the book.       

Teresa, Library Teacher