Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

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Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?

Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.

I’m very amused by the whimsical title which gives you an idea of how the story is going to go. The set up works very quickly where Gemma gets dumped and is then sent off to spend the summer in the Hamptons. Okay, it takes a few pages but get my meaning.

While the Hamptons may provide a much needed escape from her current predicament, she’s also quite apprehensive about returning to the scene of the crime where she betrayed a then best friend, Hallie when they were only eleven years old. It’s not known immediately what she did but I did like that the protagonist wasn’t a goody-goody and had some things she needed to figure out.

Gemma seizes upon a very convenient mixed-identity moment i.e. her best friend ‘s name, Sophie written on her Starbucks cup, to pretend to be someone else so that she can get close to and befriend Hallie and make amends. Naturally, things aren’t quite THAT easy and there are plenty of times where Gemma could either be outed or wind up in problematic situations. Her feelings for Josh only confuse matters so she has to tread lightly.

I have to say I was quite jittery reading this. The whole secret identity thing never turns out well and as a reader, you’re always anticipating events ahead of the actual story. I had my own suspicions less than halfway through the book which were validated in the end.  I did feel it was slightly predictable but by the end the tone had changed drastically and can best be surmised as “OH. IT. IS. ON!” 

Stay tuned – I think the next book is going to get bumpy!

~ Bel