Books like 'Hope and Other Punchlines'
Readers who enjoyed Hope and Other Punchlines by Julie Buxbaum also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance realistic historical-fiction friendship grief coming-of-age season-summer high-school family
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Die hundert Jahre von Lenni und Margot: Roman. »Bezaubernd und zu Tränen rührend.« (Elle) by Marianne Cronin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsLife is short - no one knows that better than 17 year-old Lenni Petterssen. On the Terminal ward, the nurses are offering their condolences already, but Lenni still has plenty of living to do.For a start, she has questions about her fate she needs answers to, and stories yet to uncover... -
![Don't Cry Over Spilled MILF by Willow Aster, Laura Pavlov]()
Don't Cry Over Spilled MILF by Willow Aster, Laura Pavlov
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings𝐀 𝐡𝐨𝐭, 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐩, 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐧. 𝐆𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐍𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝.SusannahI make my living writing romance.I prefer my heroes to remain fictional... -
![The Chronicles of Audy: 21 by Orizuka]()
The Chronicles of Audy: 21 by Orizuka
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHai. Namaku Audy. Umurku masih 22 tahun. Hidupku tadinya biasa-biasa saja, sampai aku memutuskan untuk bekerja di rumah 4R. Aku sempat berhenti, tapi mereka berhasil membujukku untuk kembali setelah memberiku titel baru: "bagian dari keluarga". Di saat aku merasa semakin akrab dengan mereka, pada suatu siang, salah seorang dari mereka mengungkapkan perasaannya kepadaku... -
![The Year of Chasing Dreams by Lurlene McDaniel]()
The Year of Chasing Dreams by Lurlene McDaniel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Readers will swoon over this story of love despite impossible odds."--Romantic TimesFrom the author of Don't Die, My Love comes this young adult novel that intertwines a family saga with a grand love story. This novel stands alone or can be read as the companion to The Year of Luminous Love and Wishes and Dreams. For fans of Sarah Dessen's The Moon and More and Ann Brashares's Forever in Blue... -
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![Carter's Unfocused, One-Track Mind by Brent Crawford]()
Carter's Unfocused, One-Track Mind by Brent Crawford
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAfter an eventful freshman year and disastrous summer, fifteen-year-old Will Carter returns to Merrian High none the wiser. His sophomore year will present a host of new problems: the return of Scary Terry from juvie, the pregnant presence of Amber Lee, friends-with-benefits negotiations with Abby, prom night expectations, and the ever-constant harassment from his boys... -
![What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume]()
What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsYou know all those movies where teenagers have, like, THE SUMMER OF THEIR LIVES?This summer is probably not going to be that.Source: Everything that's happened since yesterday ... The last thing sixteen-year-old Maisie Martin thought she'd be doing this summer is entering a beauty pageant.Not when she's spent most of her life hiding her body from everyone... -
![Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck]()
Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe future is anything but certain in this alternately funny and heartbreaking contemporary story about food trucks, festivals, and first loves.It's easy to look at high school senior Oscar Olsson and think: lost. He hates school, struggles to read, and wants nothing to do with college. But Oscar is anything but lost---he knows exactly what he wants and exactly how to get it... -
![Between Two Skies by Joanne O'Sullivan]()
Between Two Skies by Joanne O'Sullivan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHurricane Katrina sets a teenage girl adrift. But a new life and the promise of love emerges in this rich, highly readable debut.Bayou Perdu, a tiny fishing town way, way down in Louisiana, is home to sixteen-year-old Evangeline Riley. She has her best friends, Kendra and Danielle; her wise, beloved Mamere; and back-to-back titles in the under-sixteen fishing rodeo...Categorized as:
historical-fiction realistic family high-school friendship coming-of-age drama grief -
![Perfectly Parvin by Olivia Abtahi]()
Perfectly Parvin by Olivia Abtahi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFourteen-year-old Iranian-American Parvin Mohammadi sets out to win the ultimate date to homecoming in this heartfelt and outright hilarious debut.Parvin Mohammadi has just been dumped--only days after receiving official girlfriend status. Not only is she heartbroken, she's humiliated. Enter high school heartthrob Matty Fumero, who just might be the smoking-hot cure to all her boy problems... -
![Surviving High School by M. Doty]()
Surviving High School by M. Doty
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat's the secret to surviving your freshman year of high school? Emily Kessler thinks she has it all figured out. She eats, sleeps and trains for competitive swimming. All she has to do is keep her grades high and swim times short -- short enough to live up to her sister Sara's. But walking the crowded maze of unfamiliar high school hallways is like diving headfirst into shark-infested waters... -
![Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens]()
Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Hazel Clarke is no stranger to heartbreaks, and being sent to live with a father she’s never met is the latest in a string of them. Even the beauty of eastern Australia isn’t enough to take her mind off her mother and the life she had to leave behind in England... -
![Access Denied: And Other Eighth Grade Error Messages by Denise Vega]()
Access Denied: And Other Eighth Grade Error Messages by Denise Vega
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsComputer whiz Erin Swift is ready to start eighth grade. The Year of Humiliating Events (aka, seventh grade) is behind her and she's ready to rule the school. But eight grade comes with its own set of problems for Erin to navigate, including her first boyfriend, her first break-up, and the fact that her mom has been treating her more like an eight year old than an eighth grader... -
![Noah Goes Nuclear by Simon James Green]()
Noah Goes Nuclear by Simon James Green
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNoah Grimes is back, in a new, original short story!Noah is v excited: his class have been shipped off to a hotel in the Lake District to study a nearby Nuclear Power Station! On arrival, all Noah wants to do is settle in to his crisp hotel sheets and get proper rest, but his conniving secret half-brother Eric Smith has other plans... -
![The Order of the Poison Oak by Brent Hartinger]()
The Order of the Poison Oak by Brent Hartinger
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRussel Middlebrook needs to get away. It's tough being sixteen and out at your high school. So being a summer camp counselor sounds like the perfect solution -- but Russel has no idea how crazy this summer will be. Rowdy ten-year-old burn survivors, Indian legends, moonlit skinny dipping, and passionate summer romance are just the beginning . . -
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![The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder]()
The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLauren has a secret. Colby has a problem. But when they find each other, everything falls into place. Lauren is the new girl in town with a dark secret. Colby is the football hero with a dream of something more. In alternating chapters, they come together, fall apart, and build something stronger than either of them thought possible--something to truly believe in... -
![Living with Jackie Chan by Jo Knowles]()
Living with Jackie Chan by Jo Knowles
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter fathering a baby, a teenager moves in with his karate-loving uncle and tries to come to terms with his guilt — and find a way to forgive. This isn’t how Josh expected to spend senior year. He thought he’d be hanging out with his best friends, Dave and Caleb, driving around, partying, just like always... -
![Carter's Big Break by Brent Crawford]()
Carter's Big Break by Brent Crawford
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter surviving freshman year (just barely), Carter is craving his summer break. Unfortunately, when he and his girlfriend, Abby, part ways, it looks as though summer just might break him. Things start to look up when he's unexpectedly cast in an independent film opposite the world's biggest tween sensation, Hilary Idaho. With Hollywood knocking on his door, Carter gets a taste of the good life... -
![We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis]()
We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPart Coming-Out Story.Part falling-in-love story.Part falling-apart story.Harvey's dads are splitting up. It's been on the cards for a while, but it's still sudden. Woken-by-his-father-to-catch-a-red-eye sudden. Now he's restarting His Life In A New City, Living Above A Cafe With The Extended Greek Family He Barely Knows.Sotiris is a rising star... -
![Two Moons In August by Martha Brooks]()
Two Moons In August by Martha Brooks
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere were two moons last August: one almost full at the beginning when Mom was alive and our lives were normal - and then a full cheater moon at the end, that looked down so beautifully on the world when everything was awful and changed and never would be the same again". A year after her mother's death, 16-year-old Sidonie spends sleepless nights playing cards with her cat, Bogey...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship grief high-school historical-fiction realistic season-summer -
![The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan]()
The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIN MY FAMILY, when anyone rides the wave of their emotions, we say they're chucking a birkett. When the emotion drives out all common sense, we say they're chucking a big one. The telltale signs are: flaming cheeks, shortness of breath, bulging eyes, and a prolonged illogical outburst... -
![Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake]()
Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Just let it go.”That’s what everyone keeps telling Hadley St. Clair after she learns that her father cheated on her mother. But Hadley doesn’t want to let it go. She wants to be angry and she wants everyone in her life—her dad most of all—to leave her alone.Sam Bennett and his family have had their share of drama too... -
![Forever Changed by Tiffany King]()
Forever Changed by Tiffany King
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKassandra Cole has it all—a stable home with great parents, popularity and all the friends she could ever need. She is used to a lifestyle where everything comes easy to her, from good grades to being captain of the cheerleading squad.Her entire world is shaken to the core when a fatal accident takes her father, causing Kassandra to re-examine the course her life was on... -
![Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell]()
Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRebecca Blue is a rebel with an attitude whose life is changed by a chance encounter with a soon-to-be dead girl. Rebel (as she’s known) decides to complete the dead girl’s bucket list to prove that choice, not chance, controls her fate. In doing so, she unexpectedly opens her mind and heart to a world she once dismissed—a world of friendships, family, and faith... -
![Boys Like You by Juliana Stone]()
Boys Like You by Juliana Stone
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIF If I hadn't fallen asleep. If I hadn't gotten behind the wheel. If I hadn't made a mistake. For Monroe Blackwell, one small mistake has torn her family apart--leaving her empty and broken. There's a hole in her heart that nothing can fill. That no one can fill. And a summer in Louisiana with her grandma isn't going to change that.. -
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![Little Big Love by Katy Regan]()
Little Big Love by Katy Regan
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne of Real Simple's Best Books of 2018About a Boy meets Parenthood in this smart, big-hearted love story about a family for whom everything changed one night, a decade ago, and the young boy who unites them all.Ten-year-old Zac Hutchinson collects facts: octopuses have three hearts, Usain Bolt is the fastest man on earth... -
![Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods]()
Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"Whether or not you believe in fate or reading the stars, if you believe in happiness and love to laugh, read Summer of Supernovas."--Jay Asher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why Fans of Jennifer E. Smith and Jenny Han will fall in love with this heartfelt and humor-laced debut following one zodiac-obsessed teen as she struggles to find the guy of her cosmic dreams... -
![A Shot at Normal by Marisa Reichardt]()
A Shot at Normal by Marisa Reichardt
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDr. Villapando told me to get a good attorney. He wasn't serious. But I am. I'm going to sue my parents.Juniper Jade's parents are hippies. They didn’t attend the first Woodstock, but they were there for the second one. The Jade family lives an all-organic homeschool lifestyle that means no plastics, no cell phones, and no vaccines... -
![Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza]()
Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBestselling author of All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven calls emerging talent Shivaun Plozza’s charming and romantic second YA novel, Tin Heart, “from cover to cover swoon-worthy, moving, deep, and funny”!When Marlowe gets a heart transplant and a second chance at life, all she wants to do is to thank her donor’s family. Maybe then she can move on... -
![If Birds Fly Back by Carlie Sorosiak]()
If Birds Fly Back by Carlie Sorosiak
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLinny has been fascinated by disappearances, ever since her sister Grace ran away in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.Sebastian can tell you how many galaxies there are, and knows how much plutonium weighs. But the one thing he can’t figure out is the identity of his birth father... -
![Rock On by Denise Vega]()
Rock On by Denise Vega
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOri Taylor is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the Band To Be Named Later, a garage band he started with his friends. After years of being known only as the kid brother of sports star Del, Ori is looking forward to stepping out of his older brother's shadow, learning to perform in public, and rocking the Battle of the Bands contest... -
![Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin]()
Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA tragicomic story of bad dates, bad news, bad performances, and one girl's determination to find the funny in high school from the author of Denton Little's Deathdate .Winnie Friedman has been waiting for the world to catch on to what she already she's hilarious.It might be a long wait, though. After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself... -
![Between You, Me, and the Honeybees by Amelia Diane Coombs]()
Between You, Me, and the Honeybees by Amelia Diane Coombs
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis novel follows a teen girl during her California summer of beekeeping, secrets, and stolen kisses.Josie Hazeldine has just graduated from high school, and she’s ready for a summer full of sunshine, beekeeping, and…lying to her mom.Josie’s mom couldn’t be more proud of her daughter going to college, something she never got to do... -
![10 Things I Hate About Prom by Elle Gonzalez Rose]()
10 Things I Hate About Prom by Elle Gonzalez Rose
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA fun, fresh contemporary rom-com that covers all the ways in which prom is overrated, and the biggest ways to sabotage your lovable best friend’s promposals to the school’s most popular girl.The best things in life come in pairs. Peanut butter has jelly, Taylor has Selena, and Ivelisse Santos has Joaquin Romero. They are not only next-door neighbors; they’re platonic soulmates... -
![Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin]()
Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTeen rocker Ritchie Sudden is pretty sure his life has just jumped the shark. Except he hates being called a teen, his band doesn't play rock, and "jumping the shark" is yet another dumb cliché. Part of Ritchie wants to drop everything and walk away. Especially the part that's serving ninety days in a juvenile detention center... -
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![The Edge of Summer by Erica George]()
The Edge of Summer by Erica George
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson will be swept away by this big-hearted novel about one girl navigating first loss and first love during her summer on Cape Cod.Saving the whales has been Coriander Cabot and her best friend Ella’s dream since elementary school... -
![Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It by Kerry Winfrey]()
Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It by Kerry Winfrey
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJolie's a lot of things, but she knows that pretty isn't one of them. She has mandibular prognathism, which is the medical term for underbite. Chewing is a pain, headaches are a common occurrence, and she’s never been kissed. She’s months out from having a procedure to correct her underbite, and she cannot wait to be fixed... -
![Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton]()
Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLove blossoms by the lake in this sweet summer romance, in the tradition of Seventeeth Summer and Sixteenth Summer.Chelsea isn’t looking forward to her summer at the lake. It’s the first time her family has been there since her grandmother died, and she can’t break out of her funk. But her summer takes a turn for the better when she meets a boy who works in the bookstore... -
![Other Words For Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal]()
Other Words For Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen an unexpected inheritance enables Ari to transfer to an elite Manhattan prep school, she makes a wealthy new friend, Leigh. Leigh introduces Ari to the glamorous side of New York—and to her gorgeous cousin, Blake. Ari doesn't think she stands a chance, but amazingly, Blake asks her out. As their romance heats up, they find themselves involved in an intense, consuming relationship...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship high-school historical-fiction realistic urban -
![Geek Magnet by Kieran Scott]()
Geek Magnet by Kieran Scott
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMean Girls meets High School Musical from the author of I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader! Everyone loves KJ Miller, especially the geeks. She's pretty, smart, and super nice to everyone, which has made her the geek pied piper of Washington High. If only Cameron, the star of the basketball team, would follow her around and worship her the way her dorky entourage does... -
![Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley, Heather Hepler]()
Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley, Heather Hepler
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCalliope (or Cal as she calls herself ) wants nothing more than to stay put, to stop traveling cross-country with her mother, sleeping in a tent, abandoning all belongings whenever they pull up stakes. Eliot misses the happy times he left behind when his father decided to open a camp for kids looking to lose weight and find Jesus... -
![Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell]()
Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBig-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly... -
![Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin]()
Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThere are two sides to every summer. When seventeen-year-old Rory McShane steps off the bus in East Hampton, it's as if she's entered another universe, one populated by impossibly beautiful people wearing pressed khakis and driving expensive cars. She's signed on to be a summer errand girl for the Rules -- a wealthy family with an enormous beachfront mansion... -
![10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston]()
10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe new story focuses on two different teens from the large Italian-American family of the first novel. When they swap phones—and life challenges—in the party-circuit run-up to high-school graduation, disastrous but transformative consequences unfold. Publication is set for spring 2021... -
![Breaking Rank by Kristen D. Randle]()
Breaking Rank by Kristen D. Randle
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Casey Willardson is assigned to tutor Thomas Fairbairn also known as Baby she approaches her task with great trepidation. Baby is a member of the Clan, a mysterious group of young men who do not talk to outsiders or participate in school. Baby and Casey's relationship is awkward at first, but soon they turn to each other... -
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![Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley]()
Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSometimes a good-bye is just the beginning.When Emily Carson’s parents die in a plane crash, she’s left with nothing but her mother’s last words scrawled in lipstick on a tray table: Emily, please forgive me.Now it’s fall and Emily moves to New York City, where she attracts the attention of two very different boys: the cute, popular Owen, and her quirky chemistry partner, Anthony... -
![Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian]()
Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPortrait of the artist as a young girl, from new teen writer Siobhan VivianEmily is ready for a change. She's been in the same town with the same friends for a long time...and none of them really understand her art. But when she goes to Philadelphia for a summer art institute, she suddenly finds like-minded people. One in particular, Fiona, intrigues and challenges her... -
![Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin]()
Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin
Rated: 3.77 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsKelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change... -
![Sunkissed by Kasie West]()
Sunkissed by Kasie West
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsBetrayed by her best friend and dragged off to a remote family camp, seventeen-year-old Avery's dreams of a perfect summer seem over until a whirlwind romance leads to an unexpected journey of self-discovery... -
![Holier Than Thou by Laura Buzo]()
Holier Than Thou by Laura Buzo
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratings'What do you want, Hol?' Abby looks into my eyes. 'I ... I want to know that I'm using my powers for good and -' 'You want to make a dead man proud.' 'Whoa!''You want to put bandages over severed arteries that really need to be sewn shut. You want the moral high ground.'Holly Yarkov has a boyfriend who is a gift from the universe. She has a job that fulfils her even as it wears her down... -
![The Lake Effect by Erin McCahan]()
The Lake Effect by Erin McCahan
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s the summer after his senior year, and Briggs Henry is out the door. He’s leaving behind his ex-girlfriend and his parents’ money troubles for Lake Michigan and its miles of sandy beaches, working a summer job as a personal assistant, and living in a gorgeous Victorian on the shore. It’s the kind of house Briggs plans to buy his parents one day when he’s a multi-millionaire...
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