Summer Crush by Six de los Reyes, Tara Frejas, and Jay E. Tria
1:48 PMWe've had teasers for this anthology for months and I know many of us had been fiddling, waiting for that go-signal to pre-order/one-click. In true pasabog fashion, the authors wowed us with the cover on April 8 and the next day, the book was live on Amazon. Well done, ladies. *applause*
Summary:
When life, love, and rock and roll come together on the sandy beaches of La Union for music festival Summer Crush, expect nothing less than the crashing of lips, bodies, and waves against the shore, against each other, and against your soul.
Allow these three tales of love to take you away for an unforgettable weekend.
Ana’s life as a corporate warrior, graduate student, and girlfriend to indie rock band boy Miki starts to spin out of control, and she wonders if it is love that has to give. (You Only Need Reminding, Jay E. Tria)
Newly reinstated EG Project roadie Filipina Legaspi flies with her band back to the Philippines for Summer Crush, unaware of the emotional waves that engulf her when she sets foot in the beaches of San Juan, La Union. (Almost There, Tara Frejas)
Rhys has three problems: Arabella, the theme song with the Trainguy, and singing live for the first time—and now also on that list is Isaiah, sea-sweet Mango Rum kisses, and long overdue decisions she’s intent on avoiding. (Ocean Eyes, Six de los Reyes)
Ocean Eyes
Rhys and Isaiah are not my favorites. Their story is complicated and I am not even sure I understand their reasons, but I was too interested and invested on whether they would end up together that I've read their story first. I'm thankful I've read Just For The Record only a couple of months back though, so I didn't have to wait long for my closure.
Rhys and Isaiah are friends (with benefits before) but the lady is now spoken for by Ryan. I don't condone cheating, but for this case, I was rooting for Rhysiah. I'm not even sure I feel sorry for Ryan and I feel weird about that exception. I attribute this to Six's well-crafted characters. That even when what they stand for was against my moral values, I wanted them happy and together.
With Summer Crush, we see Rhys trying to hold back her feelings for Isaiah.
They decided not to use each other for sex anymore, but feelings have clearly developed and now, Isaiah is getting impatient in the friendzone. His lines when he was asking Rhys to choose him made me shed tears. Isaiah seems to be a cool guy, so when he was laying his heart for Rhys to take, his vulnerability broke me.
I've said on Twitter that Gabriel and Fi's story is special to me, coz Scandalized is the first book I have reviewed here. <3
Gabriel and Fi are now officially together, but they're keeping it hush-hush. Fi is at Summer Crush with EG Project and she should be working, but Gabriel Oppa crossed the oceans to spend time with her. And that made Jo Yihwan act up.
Fi liked Yihwan for so long, but now that she's spoken for, he just had to confess his feelings. UGH. Yihwan having a tantrum fit was annoying. I mean Fi, was pining for him for so long, and he was too self-absorbed to not see her. Sure, he exerted some effort to stay in touch with Fi after all the hullabaloo that happened in Scandalized, but I guess he's just too late now. I've picked sides already. Haha. I appreciate that he didn't cause trouble for Fi though and that he channeled his frustration into a song.
On the other hand, Gabe is such a dreamboat and we are saved. All throughout the story, he remained patient and caring and although I advocate for the abolishment of the finesse, demure, busilak stereotype of Filipinas, I love how Gabe respects Fi's decision not to have sex yet. This story is chaste and if you're reading the book in the right sequence, this offers a ~reprieve after the hotness of Miki and Ana and before you dive into the sexual tension of Rhys and Isaiah. Don't get me wrong though, Gabe does deliver you'll constantly have heart eyes while reading this. Hello, who won't when he's always looking like GQ model? (also, read: white bath towel) SWOON LEVEL: 100000000. Grabe ka Tara Frejas, ang taas na ng standards namin dahil sa'yo.
The Pinoyness of this story, while featuring Korean characters, was just too damn funny. Gabe's addiction to Shok-noot (choc-nut) and Minchan's to shi-nigang are just lol-worthy. And the story of women asking Gabe for photos with him because he looks like a celebrity? GOLD. I remember my previous boss who had ladies at Boracay ask him for a picture coz they thought he was Bruce Willis. We Pinoys do love our celebrities, sure.
Almost There was a story of closure, of letting go of someone because you want them to be happy even if it's not with you. It's about being selfless enough to let your partner work out issues from the past. Thank you, Tara. I loved this so much.
Overall
Summer Crush is a stand-alone, but I've read all the recommended reading for this - Songs to Get Over You (and the whole playlist series), Scandalized, Feels Like Summer, and Just For The Record - and I believe that made this more enjoyable for me. You get the full experience when you read all those other books, and you'll be awestruck at how these three authors made their universes collide. You'll appreciate all the cameos and the inside jokes more. They've put so much work into making their characters believable that sometimes I forget they don't really exist.
I'm looking forward to other works by these three ladies - together or otherwise. I'd willingly subject myself to the craziness that is Summer Crush again if there will be another book that features different characters. Just thinking about it is making me smile already even when it took me such long, tedious hours to process all my feelings. I'm not sure I even processed all of them yet but I just have to end this (for now). pislabrakenrol, mga bes.
You may grab a copy of Summer Crush through these links:
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