Someone Like You (Boys of Summer, #2) in Aussie Readers

Jan 15, 2014 Brenda rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-read, aussie-authors, romance, 2014-release, read-on-kindle

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Blake was manager of the Middle Point pub and Dan McSwaine’s best mate Ryan Blackburn the owner; so the fact that Dan was recovering from a very serious accident and was holed up inside a small shack in Middle Point meant Lizzie was conscious of his presence most of the time. Her original meeting with Dan some months previously had set her heart racing; now, he needed looking after so she agreed to Ryan’s request that she deliver meals to him from the pub.

But Lizzie was shock ...more

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Jan 14, 2014 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-are, provided-by-publisher, aussie-author

I was charmed by Victoria Purman's debut, Nobody But Him, the first in her Boys of Summer trilogy set in a small fictional town on the coastline of South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, and totally adored this second installment, titled Someone Like You.

Those familiar with the first book will remember the frisson of attraction between the best friends of Julia and Ry, Lizzie Blake and Dan McSwaine. Picking up just a short time after Ry and Julia found their happy ending in Someone Like You, we
I was charmed by Victoria Purman's debut, Nobody But Him, the first in her Boys of Summer trilogy set in a small fictional town on the coastline of South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, and totally adored this second installment, titled Someone Like You.

Those familiar with the first book will remember the frisson of attraction between the best friends of Julia and Ry, Lizzie Blake and Dan McSwaine. Picking up just a short time after Ry and Julia found their happy ending in Someone Like You, we learn that Dan, having been involved in a horrific car accident, has become a virtual recluse in Middle Point, struggling with the trauma of his experience. Desperate to provoke Dan into some sort of action, Ry and Julia send Lizzie to his door, ostensibly to deliver dinner from the pub Ry owns and Lizzie manages, but hoping that seeing Lizzie will reignite his interest in the world outside his door. Lizzie, who hasn't laid eyes on Dan since the accident, is shocked to find Dan resembling the Wild Man Of Borneo more closely than the charismatic GQ model she remembers. When he slams the door in her face, Lizzie is willing to respect his desire to be left alone but it isn't in her to give up that easily and Dan needs her help.

Purman creates appealing characters with credible motives for their attitudes and behaviour and I really liked the way in which Lizzie and Dan grow and change in Someone Like You. The romance that develops between the pair builds on their initial attraction in Nobody But Him, but evolves slowly as they struggle with their own problems. While Dan deals with the physical and emotional repercussions of his accident, Lizzie's issues are less obvious, revealed gradually by the author over the course of the novel.
Though the relationship is beset by the usual obstacles plaguing the romance genre, the push and pull builds the romantic tension without turning it into a farce. It's important to me that I believe in the reasons for conflict between the couple, and their chemistry, and Purman achieves this beautifully.

Ry and Julia were more than cameo characters in this novel and it was lovely to see them blissfully happy with one another. I look forward to catching up with Dan and Lizzie in the third book which I'm guessing will focus on Lizzie's brother, Joe, and perhaps Dan's ex, Anna.

I was glad for the opportunity to revisit the beautiful coast of Adelaide and enjoyed losing myself in the romance, drama, humor and heat of Someone Like You. A delightful read, so far this is my favourite romance novel of the year. ...more

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Feb 13, 2014 Kira rated it really liked it

Shelves: keeper, romance, funny, aussie-author, library

Dan is trying to hide from his former life as a result of a life changing accident. His best friend, Ry, lives next door with his fiancé Julia and they have hatched a plan to get him out of his man cave which involves sending Lizzie, Julias BFF, next door with hot food. The sparks that started between Dan and Lizzie before his accident are still there but are they too broken to be able to ignite a flame?

I loved the second instalment of the Boys of Summer series. Lizzie is my favourite character ...more

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Jan 27, 2014 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, australian, arc, aww2014, series, rural-lit

Lizzie Blake isn’t too keen about being roped in to being Meals on Wheels to Dan McSwaine but she can’t really say no to the people that asked her. After all, one is her best friend and the other one is her boss. So she hauls herself up to his beach shack and knocks on his door, offering the best Middle Point pub has to offer. Only to have the door slammed in her face.

Dan has changed since the cocky, gorgeous guy who sauntered into the pub a few months ago with a wink and a smile. There’d been a Lizzie Blake isn’t too keen about being roped in to being Meals on Wheels to Dan McSwaine but she can’t really say no to the people that asked her. After all, one is her best friend and the other one is her boss. So she hauls herself up to his beach shack and knocks on his door, offering the best Middle Point pub has to offer. Only to have the door slammed in her face.

Dan has changed since the cocky, gorgeous guy who sauntered into the pub a few months ago with a wink and a smile. There’d been a glimpse of something between the two of them and Lizzie had been looking forward to exploring that a little more, maybe getting to know Dan. But then his car met a truck on the highway to Adelaide and Dan was severely injured – lucky to even survive. He is holed up now in his shack, looking like the Wild Man of Borneo and letting life go by. And so his best friend and business partner Ry, who happens to be engaged to Lizzie’s best friend Julia and Lizzie’s boss has decided that it’s time to get Dan back into the land of the living. And Lizzie is the perfect person to implement his plan.

Because although Dan has changed, there’s still something of the old Dan there. And there’s definitely a whole lot of the chemistry that sparked between him and Lizzie before, as well. All Dan wants is a bit of peace and quiet and for everyone to leave him alone. But against all odds, he suddenly finds himself realising that maybe, just maybe, that isn’t what he really wants. Maybe what he really wants is blonde haired, blue eyed and determined to drag him back into life again.

Someone Like You is the second in Victoria Purman’s Boys of Summer trilogy, the first being Nobody But Him, the story of Ry and Julia reconnecting after many years. Now it’s the turn of their best friends – in Nobody But Him, readers saw sparks between Dan and Lizzie and I was pretty excited when I found out that the next book would be their story. Dan’s accident was always going to make things more interesting and I was keen to see if this book was going to deliver on the promise constructed in the first novel.

The short answer to that would be yes, it does. Purman eases the characters back from their interaction in the first book by having them not cross paths since. When they do, Lizzie is shocked by the way Dan looks now and his desire to stay reclusive in Julia’s old house. Even though he slams the door in her face, she continues her deliveries, sneaking away before he can see her. When he finally catches her in the act, the two of them discover that the chemistry hasn’t gone anywhere at all.

I loved the glimpses of Dan that I got in Nobody But Him and was glad to see him become such a fully fleshed out character in this book. He’s not the cocky, confident man he once was – the accident has truly shaken him both physically and mentally. He’s having some trouble dealing with it and just wants to hide away from the world. He and Lizzie have a great spark and they bounce off each other so effortlessly. Both of them make a multitude of mistakes in this book – they’re both packing some issues and some of those issues are rather similar. However despite their mistakes and the feeling that sometimes it’s just the wrong time, they still can’t keep away from each other. They keep coming back to each other, keep supporting each other in different way, keep slowly building the grounds of a relationship until it sneaks right up on them that they’ve fallen into one without really communicating it in so many words. They both respect each other, they want more for each other and they understand each other. They can talk about things with each other that they can’t share with others. And of course, the sex is off the charts for both of them.

Lizzie too, is given much greater depths. On the surface she comes across as settled and having no problems but slowly the layers are peeled away from her and the reader gets to know her and why she’s still in Middle Point and the various things she’s gone through when she was very young. She’s much more caring and feels a responsibility in more ways than one towards people, especially Dan. Whereas I would’ve given up after someone slammed a door in my face, she keeps delivering the meals, keeps going making small inroads until she begins to see some real progress with Dan. However things really aren’t easy for them and both of them have to keep adjusting to the setbacks they experience, regathering themselves and then trying to go forward again. It’s a dance that’s been done many times before but it’s very well done here. It’s a fine balance between throwing up romantic conflict and tension and the reader feeling like they’re being jerked around by large numbers of obstacles.

Someone Like You is a great second installment in the trilogy. We’re treated to plenty of Ry and Julia, which will please readers like myself who always like to know how couples are getting on after the end of the book and we’re introduced to the couple who will take center stage for the third book. I’m looking forward to it and seeing how Dan and Lizzie are going as well has how the next couple find their HEA. ...more

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Feb 06, 2014 Ceri rated it really liked it

I am going to start off this review by saying I have not read the first book in this series, 'Nobody But Him' but I found that this book reads fine as a stand alone, and while it may have helped to have some more back story I do not feel as though I was missing any major plot points.
Someone Like You is romance set on the South Australian coast, and Purman captures coastal Australia wonderfully. The beautiful beaches and the laid back lifestyle of Middle Point set the perfect scene for Lizzie an ...more

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Jan 19, 2014 Sheree rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, reviews, romance, aussie-author, read-in-2014

4.5 stars

I fell in love with the small fictional beachside town of Middle Point on the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia after reading the 1st book in Victoria Purman's Boys of Summer trilogy, Nobody But Him. Nobody But Him was Ry and Julia's story and now it's their best friends turn ... I waited with heart-skippy anticipation for Lizzie & Dan's story and what a gorgeous read for the romantic month of February.

Lizzie is one of those women you want as your best friend; loyal, prot ...more

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