Review: Hitch a ride with Chris and Tammy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2014
I am an unrepentant, unabashed fan of YA and NA lit.Being a fan, however, does not equate to being an apologist. I am tired of the glut of paranormal YA found these days, and there is a trend in NA to have an older guy sexually into (no pun intended) a younger woman.So when something like C.J. Duggan's Summer Series comes along, I all but do jumpy claps.The third in the series, That One Summer focuses on Chris Henderson, one of the Onslow Boys we first met in The Boys of Summer and somewhat reconnected with in An Endless Summer. I say "somewhat" because Chris was presented as a very tightly controlled, inscrutable character. Could we connect with him? At all?I should have known, given how well Duggan told the stories of fellow Onslow Boys Toby and Sean, that connecting with Chris Henderson would be no problem whatsoever.The female part of the equation is Tammy, best friend of Amy, the heroine of An Endless Summer. (Don't get confused - I promise you it all fits and makes sense). Amy is with Sean now, which leaves Tammy happy for her bestie but feeling a little out of sorts. When a celebratory camping trip is proposed to ring in the millennium, Tammy reluctantly agrees to go.The only reason she says yes is because she is intrigued by Chris.The two are thrown together for the trek, and the more she gets to know him, the more Tammy realizes that she is falling for Chris. But what does he think? He's appears very difficult to read, although Tammy soon realizes that Chris is a "what you see is what you get" kind of man. As she points out, he is a good guy.Of course, there will be roadblocks, and in this case, they tend to be caused by Tammy's self-doubt. She thinks she is unexceptional and unmemorable, totally forgettable and easily overlooked. But Chris is drawn to her. He likes her quiet intelligence, her mystery. She is a part of the Onslow group, but she's also apart from it.I enjoyed the characters immensely. I admit that Tess and Toby (from Book #1, The Boys of Summer) are my favorite couple so far, but Chris and Tammy are a close second. These are not people who lived charmed lives; they have struggles that feel real and realistic. They are people you know, people you went to school with, people with whom you work.Their romantic situations aren't drummed up for cheesy payoff, either. Chris knows that Tammy needs to break out of her comfort zone, so he presents her with opportunities to do so, also realizing that he will break out of his rather closed off life as well. Chris is someone who needs control; although he works in the restaurant and hospitality industry - or perhaps because of it - he requires his life to move at a pace that he can predict and keep orderly. He is a man, after all, whose idea of a good time is to refurbish an old van.Yet he is also a man of fire and passion, and he sees those qualities in Tammy. In fact, he sees them before she does, just as she sees in him a man whose strength and compassion makes him their group's ballast. They see themselves reflected in each other, and that sense of having found something true and solid is a powerful feeling for them.As unforced as Chris and Tammy's relationship develops, there is, unfortunately, a subplot that feels extremely manipulative and artificial. Worse, it involves my Toby. Nothing about it feels genuine or true to the characters involved, and that blights an otherwise fine outing.There are some sexy times, but nothing terribly explicit. Duggan imposes a "fade to black" direction before the headboard rockin' begins, but you do get to enjoy some pretty hot foreplay.You don't need to have read the first two books, but it helps to know the characters involved. If this is the first one you pick up, don't let that stop you from checking out its predecessors, if for no other reason than to get to know Tess and Toby, and Amy and Sean. And Ellie and Adam and Stan and Ringer.One side note: it was entertaining, as an American reader, to see what summer break is like for Australians. It made me wonder what celebrating Christmas over summer vacation would be like, and I think I might enjoy it!