My new "best book"

I have a bit of a confession to make... I am a 37 year old woman who LOVES teenage romance novels.

When I was young, I read a book titled P.S. I LOVE YOU, I can't remember the author. It was the best book I had ever read. I read it over and over until the paperback pages were curled and falling apart.

I dreamed about the scenes that played like a movie in my mind every night for months! I imagined myself tentatively making my way down the basement steps to that first boy/girl party - like she did in the book. I wanted that book to be about me!

I loved the simplicity of that book - girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, girls dreams of that untouchable boy from afar, boy (on the last page) confesses his love for girl.

I lost that beloved book in a move, and I have never been able to locate a copy again - though I have tried and tried over the years. (you'd be surprised at how many books are titled P.S. I love you)

Well, I have found a new P.S. I love you!! It is simple - only took about 4 hours to read - and wonderful!!

It is the kind of book that sucked me in right from the start.

It is the kind of book that made me sad when I hit the half way mark because I knew it would end soon.

It is the kind of book that made me clutch it to my chest after I finished reading the last line.

It is the kind of book that made me look up the author and send her an email of appreciation!! (REALLY - What kind of a nerd am I, to do that? ! GAG!)

I am going to read it again this afternoon, and maybe again tomorrow.

It is titled

THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY

by Jenny Han

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along. Thank you Jenny Han, I am sorry Cam Cameron, I love you both - Jeremiah and Conrad.