Library Loot Review: Eight Nights of Flirting

Back in July I read The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds and loved every bit of it. The teen romance, the family mystery, the world building, the relationships in general - it ended up being my first "A" read in romance for the year (which OMG, seriously, so sad).  Anyway, I wanted the next book in the series, Eight Nights of Flirting like right then, but waited until the late October publication date and for a library copy to roll my way, which it did and then...a reading slump hit.  But there was a wait list behind me y'all, so I powered through and while I didn't love this as much as the first book, it's still really good.

Shira Barbanel is a sixteen-year-old girl on a mission. This Hanukkah she's going to finally get a boyfriend, and she's got just the guy in mind - Isaac, an intern at her great-uncle's media company.  Every holiday season the Barbanel family descends on Golden Doors, their home on Nantucket island to spend Hanukkah together, and Isaac has been invited.  It's perfect, except for the minor detail that Shira is the pits at flirting. Hence having never had a boyfriend and having never been kissed.  There's one thing Shira does know though - if you want to get better at something, you need practice, and for this sort of practice she needs a teacher.  Enter stage right, Tyler Nelson. Hopelessly attractive, popular, teen heartthrob/playboy Tyler Nelson.  The boy who laughed at her when she confessed her feelings for him a few years back.  Talk about awkward, but Shira is a on a mission.

Tyler thinks the whole idea is absurd, but he's intrigued and strikes a bargain with Shira.  He teaches her to flirt and she introduces him to her great-uncle.  Tyler also has an eye on an internship.  Anyway, what happens inevitably happens.  These two crazy kids start spending time together, discover they like hanging out with each other, and their respective defensive walls come tumbling down.  But, it's all so complicated in a teenage sort of way.  Tyler is playboy who isn't looking for a serious relationship and Shira has already had her heart stomped on once by this boy, plus she likes Isaac. Right? Yes, yes, she likes Isaac!  Uh, does she?

Much like the first book this one contains layers that add richness to the story once they're peeled back.  Shira is insecure and lacks confidence. She's looking for "her thing" but she's not really great at anything. She played piano for a long time, but gave it up when she realized she'd never been truly great at it. She worked very hard at figure skating but gave it up when she realized she didn't have the talent to move up the competitive ranks. The Barbanels' are successful over-achievers and Shira is...well, not.

Tyler is the handsome, popular boy that everybody likes but nobody really knows. He's confident, he's at ease with people, and he knows how to put people at ease.  But Tyler is like Teflon. He's a deflector. He's charming, but surface.  Slick but not deep.  And nobody knows the real Tyler...until Shira starts chipping away at his shell.

The book opens with Tyler and Shira getting snowed in at Golden Doors, with both of their families delayed due to weather. While bringing down the Hanukkah decorations from the attic they discover a keepsake box filled with "treasures" from an unknown Barbanel relative, and this adds a nice secondary mystery to the romance.  But this set-up was also the slower part of the book for me. It wasn't until the flirting lessons begin in earnest that the story picked up for me (probably 30% in?) and then I inhaled the rest of the story.

While it didn't light my world on fire like the first book, this was still an enjoyable teen romance with a light mystery thrown in for flavor.  The author also brings back many of the secondary characters from the first book (yes, Noah and Abby are back, as are the grandparents) and introduces some new ones (I adored Tyler's moms and Shira's BFF Olivia).  And once again the Nantucket setting shines through.  Reynolds could certainly continue mining stories set in this world, here's hoping she does.

Final Grade = B+