The Summer I Turned Pretty | Marie Lamba, author

Hi folks!

I just discovered that my contemporary young adult novel Over My Head is now listed as a #19 top seller in the multiculti category on Amazon!!! I’m especially honored because it’s just a few slots below Born Confused, another title that features Indian-American characters, and a book that I really love.

To celebrate, I’m putting my Over My Head ebooks on sale for just 99 cents. But, like summer, this won’t go on forever, so snag your copy while you can. For purchase links, just go here. (Note that this price change was just listed…Smashwords already shows it, the other sites will have the 99 cent price up in the next few hours or so…)

In Over My Head, high school senior Sang Jumnal puts her heart on the line for college-aged lifeguard Cameron. Is he the love of her life? Or a player out to stomp on her heart?

If you like The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, and novels by Sarah Dessen, then you’ll love Over My Head, with its summertime vibe and realistic, heartfelt conflicts. My novel features the Jumnal’s, a funny mixed Italian/Indian American family that appeals to fans of Bend it Like Beckham and Born Confused.

Here’s what Clean Romance Reviews said about Over My Head in their recent review: “Rarely have I encountered an author skilled enough to really get inside a sixteen-year-old mind and pull the reader along with them. All the crazy emotions, lack of focus, lack of maturity while trying to be an adult, and insecurities of wanting to fall in love… a good read, full of fun characters and twists.”

So check it out, and let a little summer shine into your dreary winter day!

Happy reads,

Marie

***UPDATE: If you like The Summer I Turned Pretty and other titles by Jenny Han, and novels by Sarah Dessen, then you’ll love my new novel Over My Head, with its summertime vibe and realistic, heartfelt conflicts. You can find out more about Over My Head by clicking here!***

REVIEW: First of all, I’m a definite Jenny Han fan. I adored her novel Shug, and you can read my review of that here. And I also really loved her book The Summer I Turned Pretty, which I highly recommend. Best of all, Jenny is a nice person. I got to meet and hang out with her a bit last year when Aaron’s Books in Lititz, PA held its first children’s lit festival and Jenny and I were both featured authors.

It’s not Summer without You (Simon & Schuster, 2010) is the sequel to The Summer I Turned Pretty. It definitely stands on its own. Han does a brilliant job of portraying the confusing sorrow of loss and what it does to relationships. Her clear prose captures the sweetness of childhood gone by and of regrets in the making. Warning: bring your tissue box. You will be crying a bit.

In the hands of another author, the events in this book – a loss of a mother to cancer, plus the lost dream of really loving the boy you have wanted most of your life – would be maudlin, depressing, bleak. But Han creates a book filled with sunshine summer moments, and hope and the promise of the future.

So pick it up, pick up your tissue, and experience this novel. The characters end up with no regrets, and neither will you!