Friday Favorites: Chasing June by Shannon Crane Camp

Friday Favorites is a weekly meme hosted here, that spotlights a favorite author, book, series, publisher, cover, blog, etc. Basically whatever bookish thing that you love, recommend, and want to tell others about. Just pick one and link up to my post each Friday to share. You can use the graphic I used above, the other one here, or your own.

I've been reading a lot of books for the Whitney Awards. You'll be seeing a bunch of reviews posted this weekend for that. Among those, I found this favorite:

Chasing June

(June #2)
by Shannen Crane Camp

LDS Contemporary YA
Paperback, 322 Pages
December 14th 2013 by Sugar Coated Press

Summary

June Laurie has it all—a budding career on the hit crime drama Forensic Faculty, a supportive and perfect boyfriend in her best friend Joseph Cleveland, and hopes of transferring her acting skills to the stage at college. But in a series of plot twists as dramatic as any Hollywood storyline, June's dreams dim with a heavy dose of grown-up reality. Once she starts school at BYU, June's days become filled with classes and the new challenge of dealing with jealous theatre majors who seem determined to give her the cold shoulder. Her happy plans for a future with "the one" take a turn, too, when Joseph dumps her to focus on preparing for his two-year LDS mission. Casting directors and the siren call of stardom beckon her back to California, while an old co-star appears on the scene to confuse things even more. Caught up in the drama of life—the type that has more intrigue, subplots, and unexpected romance than a murder mystery game—June starts to wonder if maybe her life's script might end with a grand finale she never saw coming.

  

My Review

I have been meaning to read this series for some time. I've seen really positive reviews and frankly the covers and summaries all sound really cute. So, I was glad that Chasing June was nominated for a Whitney Award so that it gave me the excuse to read it. :)

Chasing June is full of humor, friendship, quirky characters, love, and tough choices. I loved how the story read, the voice of June, that things aren't all nicely settled in the end. Of course that last one has made me rather anxious for the next book, but it was a good thing because life is normally not full of easy choices. Sometimes there are choices that are both good, so how do you decide which path to take?

I loved these characters! June is so unique, but she is also facing a new experience in going off to college and being away from home. Sure, she has her best friend with her, but he's also her ex-boyfriend and things just don't go exactly as she had planned. She has to figure out who she is without him and to deal with him spending time with someone else. There are other decisions too, pretty tough ones that she has to make. 

I did like Joseph, although I didn't like that he was a little clueless and a jerk to June in some places. He did mostly redeem himself in the end and I'm sure he will do so even more in the next book. I also loved her co-star! Really, such a good guy. I can already tell I'm going to be torn between these to guys in June's life. June's friends and roommates are all fabulous! They brought so much humor and character to the story. Even now some of the parts with them make me smile.

This was just such a sweet, but heartfelt story about growing up, leaving home, and trying to make decisions on your own about who you will be while still trying to hold on to the ones you love. I'd definitely recommend Chasing June to those who enjoy LDS Romance and Contemporary YA.

Content: Clean
Source: Purchased

Do you have a favorite to share?