Oh. No. This can't be happening. Me and Sean Reed? "Trust Partners" for the entire counselors-in-training program? Sean may have deep blue eyes that make my heart flutter whenever he looks at me, but he's always been a troublemaker. Being thrown together all summer? That is so not going to work. Even if he does have a really, really nice smile.
Rachel Hawthorne, who also writes as Lorraine Heath and Jade Parker, is the daughter of a British beauty (her mother won second place in a beauty contest sponsored by Max Factor® during which she received a kiss from Caesar Romero-who played the Joker on the old Batman TV series) and a Texan who was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the air force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Herts, England, but soon after moved to Texas. Her "dual" nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan. She enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories.
When she received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Texas, she had no idea she had gained a foundation that would help her to create believable characters—characters that are often described as “real people.” She writes for both adult and young adult readers. She received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Americana historicals. Her novels have been recognized with a RITA, Romance Writers of America’s most prestigious award for excellence, a HOLT medallion award honoring outstanding literary fiction, a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, five Texas Gold Awards, the Golden Quill Award, the Rising Star Award as well as other awards and recognitions. Her novels have been selections of the Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Club. Her novels have appeared on bestseller lists, including USA Today, Waldenbooks, and most recently, the New York Times.
With a series titled, First Kisses, readers pretty much know where this story is headed. Haha….But for me it is the fun, flirty, suspense before the kiss that makes it special. Rachel Hawthorne captures that “does-she-like-me-will-he-kiss-me” flutter in your belly perfectly! :D
We meet Jessica (Jess) and Sean at summer camp counselor training week. Woods, camp fires, crafts, hiking, truth or dare games, and rivalries. Can Jess and Sean learn to put past tensions, practical jokes, and hurt feelings aside long enough to truly see each other, work together, and even trust each other?
Ms. Hawthorne creates two strong, likeable characters that will capture your heart with compassion and laughter. Combine Jessica’s competitive nature and Sean’s laid-back, troublemaker history, you get cute, blushing, tug at your heart chemistry with fun mishaps and adventure around the campfire! These two truly light up the pages with sweetness. :)
”We were quiet for a couple of seconds. I was amazed at how loud quiet could sound. And how much I liked looking into Sean’s eyes. And holding his hands.”
Jess and Sean’s tale will warm your heart with a light, fun, flirty romance and wonderful messages about trusting yourself and others. I am still smiling and glowing from the adorableness!
I would recommend this cute, quick read for young readers in a heartbeat. Trust me! ;)
Jess had an amazing summer all lined up. She's finally old enough to be a counselor with all her friends at summer camp. Now, she's just found out that her partner for training week is Sean, her nemesis. Every time she thinks that he's nice, he does something drastic to change her opinion of him. This summer, she won't let herself trust him, no matter how cute he's gotten.
With all the other counselors pairing off, Jess and Sean must find a way to work together. When the group goes out into the forest for a trust walk, each pair has to make their way back to camp by themselves, with one partner blindfolded. Will they make it out of the forest as friends or foes?
TRUST ME is the first book in a new series dealing with first kisses, friendship, and drama. These fun reads are stand alone titles and are perfect for middle school girls. I recommend this series to girls looking for a little romance.
So, don't get me wrong.. I did like this book. Only, was I the only one thinking the ending was a little.. Empty? I was kind of disappointed if I'm honest. Because I may not be entirely sure of what exactly I was expecting but I'm pretty sure that it was something more grin-worthy. 'You know what I'm saying?'
This was exactly the light, fun and stress-relieving read that I needed.
I loved the MC and Sean. The short but sweet plot. What I don't understand is why they've included a picture of a dog on the cover when there's no dog anywhere in the book?
This was a cute (if fairly juvenile) summery romance. It was definitely on the young side as the story takes place the summer before the main character’s freshman year of high school.
The romance was predictable, and there were numerous references to shows no longer on the air (like Fear Factor and Lost) that dated the book somewhat, but it was still cute.
Trust Me is such a great example of young love at its simplest and finest. Trust Me is such a cute and full-of-never-ending-giggles type of book that will give you uttermost butterflies flying inside your dear stomachs and will total make you remember your experience at first love.
And so they claim.
The Summary
Jess is paired up with her total arch-nemesis, Sean Reed for her counselors-in-training camp. Her rivalry started four years ago, when Sean played those nasty tricks on her, cheated and called her nicknames that day on Jess swore that Sean is a total rival. But now they're so-called "partners for life" and must learn to trust each other in order to complete their training. But Sean, dark blue eyes, swoon-worthy Sean, who can resist that? Is their partnership going to work despite their horrible history together?
The Plot
One you would most definitely expect. Typical first crushes, first love, first everything. But there's something about Trust Me that can made me have these never-ending butterflies in your stomach. I have this big goofy grin and wide smile plastered all over my face this whole time. Plus, camps are so exciting and fun! Especially being paired with a boy! Wow. I feel like I'm back to remembering my days on crushing boys all over! Because of Trust Me I remembered the sessions we had before we entered high school, my friends and I were definitely checking out the new guys from other schools and like Liz and Jess we were giving them nicknames too! Oh, the joy!
An excellent example of "opposites attract" and "the more you hate, the more you love" love story! Which makes it so much more sweeter! Rather than those "I-feel-a-sudden-connection-love-at-first-sight" kind of love story. The opposites attract love story proves a challenge and more tension.
The Characters
Jess is such a fun, witty, sarcastic and entertaining character. I love her voice, it's alive and engaging. She has this ability to keep the tension down even when she's face to face with Sean because of her utter sarcasm. And for a fourteen-year-old, she doesn't have that immature personality. I can see myself a lot in her, her determination to win and standout. What can I say? I'm a virgo the perfectionist. One who doesn't back down and always always likes to win. Competitive. And has a definite goal. I like that.
Sean is swoon-worthy Sean, despite being out of my league because he's younger than me. I have to say, Sean is an admirable guy. Perfect example of look beneath the surface. Also, Sean is such a hopeless romantic kind of guy. Which I have to say is definitely romantic, especially for a ten-year-old's mind (which was back then).
Overall
Oh the sweetness of young love just as Sean said. Everything about it so innocent yet so raw also. I totally loved Trust Me because of its simplicity yet it is able to connect with me and really have these butterflies and have plastered smiles on my face throughout the whole reading experience!
P.S. If I'm not mistaken, the nickname "Twinkle Toes" is a nickname that Toph gave Aang in the cartoon, Avatar: The Legend of Aang. I wonder if Miss Hawthrone is a fan of these benders too! Likwise, funny nicknames and name calling present in the book.
Trust is definitely the issue in this book. It makes sense. Though it is too short that I was wishing that it didn't end so abruptly. I was looking for more. I wanna give this 4stars but I was hoping for...more. I can't pinpoint what, though. Mybe the lack of romance between the two leads. I was left hanging though it was pretty clear what happened in the emd.
Nevertheless, this is still a good book that will teach you the real meaning of trust.
This was such a cute story about a girl learning to take life as it comes and to not judge a book (or person) by it's cover. This story was pretty short but it didn't feel too short at all. The characters were all very loveable and fun and it was nice to see them grow through out the story. Definitely a heart warming story about first love, trusting others and giving people the benefit of the doubt.
It was a cute book about how 2 people who can loathe each other and then as they are forced to work together, they realize that have more in common with each other. Quick read.
This book is amazing. At first it has a dull beinning but as the story progresses it becomes harder to put down. Obviously it is written by my favorite author Rachel Hawthorne. So I'm a big fan.
This could have been a really cute story but I was just thrown by the fact that the main characters just turned 14. I guess it is a clean story for 14 year old girls.
I think it captures teens and their antics and their perception of one another just perfectly.
I LOVE Sean.. can totally get why Jess crushed on him.. He reminds me with some of the boys I liked while growing up.. they infuriated me with their apparent thoughtless behaviours.. but when I got to know them on a more personal level.. They turned out to be deeper than I thought and we even remain good friends till this day.
Jessica doesn't trust Sean.. and for a good reason.. and I really like that though she admits she think he is cute, she refuses to have anything with to do with him based on the bad side she sees (not so many girls are that clever to tell the truth.. He cheated to win a game last year and she can't get over that (again some girls actually lose on purpose for a guy.. so u see why I'm impressed with Jess).
I love that Sean doesn't give up and keep trying to win Jessica.. he likes her and he's admant to at least get her to become his friend.. and it pays off.. and all truth is revealed at the end in a such CUTE way that makes u just cheer for these two.
Fun read.. totally relatable.. and CUTE in every possible way
------------------------------------------------------------------ I do realize I wrote CUTE in all capitals more than one.. but couldn't help it.. it was that cute!
Jessica Kane is excited to be a counselor at Camp Lone Star. She’ll get to have authority and hopefully snag herself a male counselor. She thinks everything is going to be great until she sees Sean Reed. Jessica can’t stand him ever since he cheated in the capture the flag competition that the camp has every year and her team had always won until then. She’s gets even madder when she finds out that he’s her trust partner. They are constantly fighting and getting punishment because they don’t trust each other. It’s mostly only Jessica that has the problem. There comes a time when Jessica needs to rely on Sean but can she get over the past and finally trust Sean when she needs to most.
This book is a fluffy read, but I really liked it anyway. For the most part it is predictable, but I was somewhat surprised at what really happened about the capture the flag competition. I liked seeing the interaction between Jess and Sean and seeing how Jess started to trust Sean more. I definitely will be reading the rest of the series. Series like this always give me a little pick me up.
The question is: What don't I love about this book?
It was a quick, straightforward, fun read that I just had to finish off before heading out to work - which means - I'm running low on sleep O_O
But it was worth it!!
Jess has some major trust issues - but who could blame her? Especially when her young heart had has been jumping for Sean recently - a liar and a cheat as well as a prankster when it comes to her.
Whereas Sean is just sweet, fun, laid-back kind of dude - and very loyal - even if that means painting himself black. He is just amazing and I found his maturity (his personality on a hold) very sexy - even if he is just 14yrs old lol.
What I love about this book is that when there's a brief dawning coming on, on the characters - there's no run around the obvious. They jumped right on it and spoke their minds. I found myself grinning at the easy confession (all kinds) and it was sad to see it end really.
But the sweet smile on my lips is telling me am glad there was a happy ending. Trust Me.
Jessica is extremely excited about being a counselor at camp this year, instead of just a camper. In the summer before starting high school, she wants to catch the eye of a gorgeous guy and have more freedom and responsibility. Unfortunately, during the one week counselor training, Jessica is paired with Sean to complete trust exercises. Sean and Jessica have been enemies for years and Jessica can't trust Sean to be serious, to treat her well, or to be honest. But as the week goes on, they both learn new things about each other and themselves and start to see that maybe they can trust each other... This was a cheesy book, but a cute story that was clean and would appeal to middle school readers. The characters were a bit contrived but easy to understand and relate to.
Being in high school, and also being relatively mature with my choice of books, I was surprised that I wasn't annoyed by the pure innocence of the book. It took me back to eighth grade and the amount of curiosity and innocent persona that makes "first kisses" so special. I wouldn't be surprised if I read the rest of the series, for it made me feel that pureness and the anxiety of learning how to grow in not just the sense of becoming who you are meant to be, but also the sense in how to react with others to discover love. 5 stars!
I really liked this book because everything happens over the course of two weeks. Kyle sees Emma always at her worst, first when she has a mud pack over her face, then when she's in sweaty pigtails then after she's been dunked into dunk tank by her brothers. Thing is, she's also been giving him advice as Dear Daisy but neither one of them know who the other is. Its a great beach read :) I started reading this but couldn't stop and so I stayed up through until midnight to finish this book. it was too good to put down.
I really really enjoy all of Rachel hawthornes novels. And while this one was geared toward a younger age range, it was still a fast fun read. I was reminded of Sleepaway Girls while reading it, because it was based on summer camp counseling and what not. Fans of harper teen romances will enjoy this.
oh my, this was the cutest book ever. I loved it alot! Sean was the sweetest. Although, for some reason I imagined them 17 or something, but that's okay. 14 years old is alright. I mean I'm 15..but then again...I've never really had a boyfriend or anything yet, so...Idk, everyone's different I guess.
Oh my, this was the cutest book ever. I loved it a lot! Sean was a sweetheart. Although, for some reason I imagined them 17 or something, but that's okay. 14 years old is alright. I mean I'm 15..but then again...I've never really had a boyfriend or anything yet, so, Idk. I suppose everyone's different(:
oh my, this was the cutest book ever. I loved it a lot! Sean was the sweetest. Although, for some reason I imagined them 17 or something, but that's okay. 14 years old is alright. I mean I'm 15..but then again...I've never really had a boyfriend or anything yet, so...Idk, everyone's different I guess.
Awww that was so cute! A real pain to find this in ebook, any format, but in the end Google Play Books helped me. I can't believe there isn't a kindle format on Amazon or ePub anywhere else I searched. Anyway, this book was really cute and I liked Sean a lot. Disappointed that there wasn't more kissing of Sean and Jess. And the story was really short. But still a good read.
i almost didn't read this bc i thought it was going to be stupid. i hate the cover. it's about a middle school aged girl so i thought it wasn't really going to interest me but it did. it was a very good story line.