Mates, Dates, and Sizzling Summers

Mates, Dates #12

by Cathy Hopkins

“I reckon that’s the last we’ve seen of Ollie Axford,” I said. “I wouldn’t be so sure, TJ,” said Nesta. “I bet he calls and asks you out.” “Nah, he looks like a player. You know the type. Too much of a twinkle in his eye to be trusted.” “A bit like Luke then?” said Lucy.

Boys are like buses for TJ. No sign of one for ages and then two come along at the same time! First there’s charmer Ollie Axford. And just when TJ has decided that he could be the one, old flame Luke De Biasi tells her that he wants to rekindle their romance.

TJ is torn between the boys, and unhappy that it makes her look like a two-timer. But it all seems unimportant when someone close to her is taken seriously ill. More than ever, TJ needs a clear head and the support of her friends as she faces the most important summer of her life.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary, Teen, Childrens

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the last book in the series. For some reason, TJ is still totally in love with Luke, the asshat who cheated on her best friend. WTF? This whole angle is something I never understood and Hopkins couldn't make me. Actually, she didn't really try to explain why she still liked him. But TJ is dating the dreamy Ollie Axeford, who's a bit of a player, but, to his credit, is always straight up honest about it and doesn't lie to her. TJ's dad has a stroke and the family goes down to... Devon? Cornwall? I can't remember. Anyway, there she meets up with some of the Truth or Dare characters in a really obvious attempt to bring readers over to her new series. The ending really dissapointed me, because it seemed really out-of-character for TJ and it ended the series on an off note.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book. It's my favourite from the series and I can't even say how cute it is. I feel like laughing, crying and facepalming xD
TJ is probably my favourite girl from all of them and Im so happy that this last book is from her point of view.
All this drama ends and gosh I love the ending! Finally. 😂❤

[Ling Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about friendships and love relationships between teenagers. TJ is a teenage girl who is struggling with a love relationship between two guys, Ollie Axford and Luke. She loves both of them. But as time goes by she found out that she loved Ollie more than Luke...She than found out that Luke is the best. Through her struggles, her friends were around to help her and give her advices. To find out what made TJ choose Luke as a boyfriend at last, read the book.
I like how the character's age and my age are related. I can see what's going on in the real world and the world inside the book. I was able to make connections with the book to the real world.

[Katlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very clearly aged out of this series, and as such I am not keeping it. Hopefully it will go to a preteen who will enjoy it as much as I used to! I found it got rather repetitive after a while and the constant switching of guys was annoying to keep track of. And it felt like each book was trying to teach me a lesson... Which I did not like. 2.5/5 for this book. 3/5 for the series in general.

[Alison the Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read and remembered loving all the other books in this series. They were all funny, and I'm a sucker for Brit chick lit as a genre. However, this last one was boring and sappy. I think she should have let the series keep going til the girls reached university because it would made more sense to end it then.

[Feytje]

Very funny, I didn't enjoy it as much as the other books. But I still would recommend this book to teenage girls (mostly girls). I found that I could really relate to these girls in the series (this was the last part) and that sometimes really made me feel better. It just tells you that you're not the only one going to stuff.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series, though I think some of the things that happened to the girls where a little unrealistic.
All in all, I enjoyed them but am kinda happy there done (it seemed they went on forever and ever lol) so I can move on to more books.

[Veronica Widya · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice story!!
friends forever and lol all the time! lmao!

[Alexandra Davidescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the book "Mates, Dates, and Sizzling Summers" by Kathy Hopkins, I realized that it is a very interesting book that is made for anyone who loves drama. This book follows a girl named TJ throughout her summer, starting with her father having a stroke, and ending with her finding a boyfriend. Reading this book, I enjoyed ow it was very well written, as well as this, I also liked how I was always on the edge of my seat. I will say that there were some parts in the book that are definitely for older readers (ages 12+). I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading excited "drama" books, and doesn't mind reading about romance. Overall, I was very pleased with this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

[Lauren Zell-Huxley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these books when I was younger. I’ve definitely matured, and not sure I’d enjoy them too much now. But great for younger readers, say about 11-14? Silly and fun but you get to love the main characters

[Katie Heptinstall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure at first if I would enjoy this book. I felt a bit old for it, but as I continued to read it it took me straight back to my teenage years and those days of discussing crushes with friends who were the most important people in your lives

[Sofie Amalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ha! Jeg er færdig med serien! (mangler så lige tre ekstrabøger, men hovedserien er klaret!)

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are probably a good series for teenage girls

[Alberte · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

[𝒮]

Read it when I was a kid. I liked it then, probably wouldn't like it now😅

[Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

TJ is a girl with three really, really good friends, but no boyfriend since she broke things off with Luke last winter. But now Ollie comes along. Suave, good-looking, sophisticated Ollie. All of a sudden though, Luke comes back into the picture! And TJ’s family faces a crises of the most major magnitude, just as TJ is trying to decide what to do about the two boys!! TJ’s friends can only do so much, but they support her in every way that they can.
Key Issues:
Friendship, family, courage, standing up for yourself.
Major Characters:
TJ: a teenage girl with three good friends, a loving family (even though her parents are older, and her Dad is always grumpy) and several people inside her head-like Goody Two-Shoes (the Good Daughter) and Awesome-Arm Annie, the Female wrestler(the sports player, who is assertive)- and Noola the Alien Girl who drools and babbles whenever TJ meets a cute boy. There are other Sub-Personalities too.
Lucy, Izzy and Nesta: TJ’s best friends and supporters in all things. Each girl has a different area of expertise, but they all stand together through thick and thin.
Mum and Dad: TJ’s parents. They are older than most of the parents her friends have (seventyish and sixty), and they’re both doctors, a hospital consultant and a GP- so TJ thinks that they’re old fossils who couldn’t possibly understand teenagers today, but they have a fairly good relationship with their daughter anyway.
Ollie Axford: Ollie is the son of Rock and Roll star Zac Axford, and he wants to get to know TJ better—but maybe too much better!
Luke De Biasi: Luke was Nesta’s boyfriend when he met TJ, he just forgot to break up with her before they started seeing each other! The ensuing mess almost cost TJ one of her best friends, so even though she thought Luke might be ‘the One’ TJ called it off. But now he wants to pick up again where they left off, and TJ must be honest—the spark is still there for her too.
Paul: TJ’s older brother, who comes to help the family out in their troubles.

Important information: This book is the last in a series, but it is fun to read on its own. You might get confused though—it’s set in London, which makes the slang mean different things sometimes!

[Amanda Yeargin]

I read Mates, Dates, and Sizzling Summers as an IR book. This book is about TJ's love life. She winds up falling head over heels about Ollie Axford who she met at the dance. She starts going out with him, and also remaking her room. But then Luke De Baisi shows up. She's shocked because TJ thought he was her soulmate but all she got was a two timer and almost lost Nesta. Who will she choose.
I have a text-to-world connection. This connects to the world because she probably isn't the only one who struggles in their love life. Some may even fall for a celebrity. Also someone may appear from their past. It can be hard it's not like i know but it could. This can happen in the world.
I gave this book *****stars. I gave this book 5 stars becuase it was juicy. It had really great details because TJ had a hard time choosing. It really explained how someone who could be a jerk but still questioned in a girl's mind. As always i recommend this book to someone who as read an likes this series

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collective Review

I first read a couple of these books in 2006. I had a long bus trip and grabbed a couple of the series from a local bookstore. I had no idea they were part of a huge series. Over the years I had forgotten the names of the books but every now and then would try to find them. I finally found them this year from a Goodreads list. Yay!

I really enjoyed this series. I think the main reason is because the books were released in 2001 and the girls are 14. I was 13 in 2001 so can connect with a lot of the pop culture aspects mentioned throughout the series. Even though the series is based in England I still feel a sense of nostalgia while reading it.

I really love the girls and their friendship. I never had a close knit group of friends like this when I was younger so I liked reading about it. They are a bit too boy crazy for my liking but I really did love this series.

[Kai Yi · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is going back to the point of view of TJ and this book is going to be the last of the series "mates and dates". TJ is finally having he choice of choosing who she loves the best. having the hardest time choosing will she risk her life of being dump or go against her friend. ollie the hot playboy or luke the one that says "i love the best"? will she give up something old for something new. or continue to let faith decides. confusion take over her, she needs a friend that can truly understands her, but who can she really trust. she runs down to another place and meet some other cool friends from another series by the same author.

teens makes many choices each day and that is what all this series is about.

[Suki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book of the series and i am really sad but i hope i will find more books like that! this book talks about TJ and she is stuck between 2 boys and someone that is close to her gets sick. so what should she do? This brings a message to everyone is people around you really cares about you and they have supported you so it is not worth it to choose a guy that you dont really like( those play boys) than a person you know for so long!

[Mintti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suomeksi Frendejä, kundeja ja ******* - luin koko 12-kirjaisen sarjan töissä kahvi- ja ruokatauoilla, nyt on urakka loppu! :) Ihan kivaa, kevyttä nuorisolaiskirjallisuutta, hömppää, johon oli joka kirjaan laitettu myös vähän vakavampaa juonikuviota ja elämän syvällisempiäkin pohdiskeluja. JOka kirjassa oli vuoronperään yksi neljästä kaveruksesta kertojaminänä ja tarinat vaihtelivat poikaystävähuolista maailmaparannukseen.

[Katrina Knittle · Rating 2 out of 5]

THis book is mainly about friendship and love relationships between teenagers. It was an interesting book in the series. It is a book series that I think a lot of teenagers could relate to at some point. A cute little read.

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would def read the whole series!!! Its really good, you literally can't out it down!!!! But i think the best is Cathy Hoopkin's " Teen Queens and Has-Beens". Its just perfect.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F HOP md bk. 12

[Sol]

last book i read from the series.

[Janne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny! I can relate to every character in the story. Each character has their own love story. But more than that, it is about family, school problems, friendship, everything about life.

[Tabitha Munyaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wouldn't have chose ollie he is too himself!!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice ending to the series.

[Grace Sargeant]

Great book.

[Angela]

they were british. they had friends. they could do whatever they wanted within teen-limits. this series was an escape for an overprotected 11 year old me.