I’m not sure if I really classify this one as a romance, though it does have a “happy ever after,” the romance seems to be a secondary (or even tertiary) plot point. That being said, this is a fun read and I loved the atmosphere of Pippi Beach.

Lily does not seem like a happy person most of the time. She is overly concerned with her mother’s shenanigans (as well as her younger sister’s), and keeping her out of trouble. She is incredibly old for her age, with the only real teen aspect to her personality being her indecision about her future.

Because the story is told from Lily’s POV, we don’t get a lot of insight into Dorian, aside from Lily’s impressions of him. Initially, and for most of the story, Lily’s believes Dorian to be a jerk and assumes the worst intentions in everything. This does slowly change over the course of the story, but they are at odds more than they aren’t. And Dorian isn’t even in a lot of the book.

There is lots of drama with Lily’s family and friends, most of them making terrible choices. But there is some character growth as well, not only Lily’s, but her mother’s as well.

I liked the backdrop of the movie set through the Melbourne portion of the book (in the second half of the book), but was not as enthused by the Los Angeles portion (about mid-way). My favorite parts of the story all took place at Pippi Beach.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC for review consideration though NetGalley, on behalf of the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.