Review, Excerpt & Giveaway for Last Wish of Summer

Synopsis: 

As the sun prepares to rise on the last day of summer, three friends find themselves totally

unprepared for the events that are about to take place around them. For Tanya it is a chance to

find peace three years after losing her parents in an auto accident. Deciding she simply can’t

continue blaming God for her loss, she places a heartfelt poem in a bottle and throws it into

the sea on the eve of her birthday, granting her birthday wish to whoever finds it.

Early the next morning, her best friend Anton and his buddy Johnno find the bottle washed

up on the shore and set about putting it to the test. When Johnno falls for the new waitress at

the café where Tanya works, it stirs up feelings of jealousy in Tanya. Surely Johnno couldn’t

be the man that God had in mind for her? Suddenly, strange wishes are beginning to come

true, but is it all a coincidence? Or is God about to change people’s lives for the better?

Welcome to Kings Beach, where the forecast for the last day of summer promises to be hot,

hot, hot, with a definite change in the air.

Excerpt:

Johnno grabbed the bottle and turned it upside down. The letter caught in its neck. Then with a bit of prying using his car key, he was able to gently pull the letter from the bottle and let it fall onto the table. It lay there wrapped only with a small hair ribbon tied in the centre. Anton reached across to untie it as Johnno stood the now empty bottle back in the centre of the table.

“Well here goes.” Anton said as he uncurled the two pages and held them up for his friend to see.

The pages were cream in color, decorated with a border of flowers entwined along the edge of each page in black ink. At the top of the first page before the letter began, was a small turquoise colored love heart someone had painted, again in what appeared to be nail polish. It left a slightly oily stain around the edges which only added to the letter’s charm. Around them, the air filled with the scent of women’s perfume that wafted up from the page. With their curiosity now firmly aroused, Anton and Johnno huddled in closely and began to read.

To whoever finds this,

If I’ve washed up on your distant shore,

From a land far over the sea.

Please tread carefully on the morning sand,

And know you’ve set me free.

Wrapped in my mother’s ribbon,

This letter is but a token.

A plead to let her see the world,

From a young heart torn and broken.

A turquoise heart that was my Aunt,

Left footprints in the sand.

Her magic just a memory,

You now hold in your hand.

So I light a candle for my Dad,

But this gift I give to you.

He always told me to make a wish,

So today may all yours come true.

It’s time to live, to find true love.

Before the winter’s scorn.

Somewhere it’s always summer,

May my true love’s arms be warm.

P.S. Please return me to the sea at sunset.

My Thoughts:

This book is a very clean read that anyone who likes contemporary would enjoy.  I liked that all the characters had different beliefs.  I appreciated that Tanya was a Christian and not afraid to let that be known.  She did get on my nerves a little.  I think it was because she came off as a little prissy.  The name of her dog annoyed me to no end.  I loved Anton & Johnno!  They cracked my up.  They all seemed to grow and develop quite well through out the story.  I could see this movie on the Hall Mark Channel or on Lifetime.  The chaos that ensues as the characters try to make sense of the sudden granted wishes is hilarious!  One thing this book brought to my attention was the way we throw the word wish around.  I can't imagine the consequences that would result if I got what I wished for every time I said "I wish...".  By the end, the story was a complex tapestry perfectly woven bringing everything together.  This book is a fantastic read for the beach or a lazy Sunday afternoon.  

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*

About the Author:

Phillip Overton’s writing has been compared to none other than Nicholas Sparks (http://

www.readerviews.com/ReviewOvertonAWalkBeforeSunrise.html), and his latest novel Last

Wish of Summer offers readers the perfect book to spend a summer’s day reading at the

beach. In a book that reminds us to be careful what we wish for, it manages to weave the

wholesome, virginal qualities of the main character Tanya with her band of misfit friends

in their pursuit of being able to reason why a washed up message in a bottle is somehow

granting their every wish come true. Often in a manner that is both coincidental and strangely

bizarre.

Just as a movie adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel will appeal to people of all ages, so too

will this story that follows the adventures of a group of twenty-something’s on the last day

of summer. The book not only manages to cut through any pre-conceived ideas we hold on

morals, body-image and social status, but delights in helping us discover what may already be

right under our nose to begin with.

Website

http://sbpra.com/phillipoverton/

Twitter: @phillipoverton

Links to Buy (currently paperback only)

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

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