Review: Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt

Title:		Sometimes It Happens
Author:		Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher:		Simon & Schuster
Imprint:		Simon Pulse
Pub. Date:		07/12/2011
ISBN:		9781442413146
Pages:		256

On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Sebastian dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction--and one night, into a passionate kiss. 


The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Sebastian, and Noah all in one place. Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think...




(Summary and cover via Goodreads)

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The story of this book is told through a series of flashbacks, all leading up to the first day of school. The summer starts out with Hannah discovering her boyfriend kissing another girl at a party. Things soon go from bad to worse as Hannah's best friend Ava tells her she's leaving town all summer to go be a camp counselor. However, Ava leaves her boyfriend Noah in charge of taking care of Hannah. With Noah's help Hannah soon has a new job, a new friend, and a new perspective on life. When Hannah makes a huge mistake, will she ruin everything?

I actually enjoyed this book, which kind of surprised me. I'm not usually a huge romance fan, but this book was fun and fast-paced. From the cover I thought it was going to be serious and angsty, but it was actually the opposite. I felt like the relationships were fairly realistic and not too rushed. Mistakes were made and owned up to. It was shown that there are always multiple sides to stories, and sometimes the only thing we can control is our actions. However, the book was never preachy.

It really did feel like a summer book. In the end, you could sense not only the change of some relationships but also the change into a new school year and new phase of life even. I think a lot of people, both young and older adults, will be able to feel for the different characters. This book kept me interested until the very end, and I had a great time reading it.

Galley provided by publisher for review.