Madison Meeks – Editor-in-Chief

mvm7037@psu.edu

Summer, love, and a friendly game of assassins. These three things tie together one of, in my opinion, the best summer beach reads. I happened to stumble upon this book one day while searching through my Kindle app looking for something to read. What got me intrigued was the description of the book, which stated, “A romance novel inspired by the songs of Taylor Swift.” As a Swiftie, that sentence sealed the deal for me. 

The novel follows Meredith, who has returned to Martha’s Vineyard for the first time since the death of her sister Claire. Meredith is there with her family to celebrate her cousin’s wedding. But once Meredith starts to get closer to one of the groomsmen, Witt, she is in for the ride of her life. So the book takes place over a week, which is something that I loved about the book. Most of the books that I have read take place over months or even years. However having the plot take place over a week makes the book even easier to read.

During the week of the wedding, we see Meredith and Witt fall for each other. I love summer romance, especially romance where people fall in love at a wedding. So the characters throughout the book play a game of assassins. For people who do not know, Assassin is a game where you try to get your target out by shooting them with a water gun. Meredith’s family decides to play the game in honor of her late sister, Claria. 

I loved the story that led up to Witt and Meredith being together. They meet the fairy on the way to the vineyard, and Meredith punches him because he scared her. At the start of the novel, the reader finds out that her longtime boyfriend dumped her two weeks before the wedding. I cannot even explain how much I hate Meredith’s ex. He dumps her out of nowhere, tells her that he will go with her to the wedding, and she tells him she does not want him there. Then he proceeds to harass her the entire time. He keeps calling her and texting her. Dude, leave this poor girl alone. She just lost her sister; she does not need you to keep texting and calling her. 

The dynamic between Meredith and Witt is something out of a fairy tale. Even though they just met, they did everything they could to protect each other so that they could win for Claria. She talks a lot about her sister to Witt throughout the novel, not realizing that he had met her months before she died. Meredith gets mad about this, and I mean, I would be too, because you let the girl go on and on about her sister and did not bother to try and tell her that you knew her. 

The best part of the book is the game of assassins, especially when they are doing wedding events, and the aunt has to tell everyone not to try and shoot each other at the events. The novel has as much humor as it does romance, which is something I appreciate in a romance novel. 

Overall, I would give this book four out of five stars. I seriously recommend this book to anyone trying to find a beach-read romance book for the summer.