Hi there! I’m so excited to share a review and giveaway in support of a new, diverse YA romance from Gerardo Delgadillo. SUMMERLYPSE is a rollicking adventure, with a Texan boy losing his heart, and finding it all over again. In Mexico.

Be sure to enter to win a $20 GC below.

About the book:

After his crush rejects him, seventeen-year-old Colton catches a plane to Mexico, hoping to forget all about girls. But a night out at a dance club crowded with long legs in miniskirts doesn’t help, especially when he meets the club’s beautiful DJ, Alex.

In awe of her mixing skills, Colton finds it hard to believe Alex is deaf. As they bond, she asks him to help her win a DJ contest behind her rich, estranged father’s back.

Colton’s not a wimp or anything, but millionaires with armed bodyguards are not his ideal vacation buddies. The only problem—if he helps her, he may fly back home in a body bag.

ADVANCED PRAISE
“Packed with unexpected twists and South-of-the-Border danger, Summerlypse grabbed my attention from the first enticing page. With a quirky writing style that offers both depth and entertainment, Summerlypse is an original, diverse story that will delight anyone looking for a unique spin on teen relationships.” –Anna L. Davis, Author of Open Source (Enhancement Series)

“SUMMERLYPSE by Gerardo Delgadillo is a great young adult story about two unlikely friends who team up hoping to win a summer DJ contest in Mexico. This book has a well-defined cast of complex characters with a thoughtful focus on the hearing-impaired. An entertaining read!” ~ K.S. Jones, award-winning author of Shadow of the Hawk

“SUMMERLYPSE is a great read.  The characters are real and well crafted, and the story kept me interested to the end.  I liked it. I recommend it.” — Rickard B DeMille, author ofTweet Revenge, Hellfire, Defending Daniel

My Review:
This is a very sweet YA contemporary romance that has an interesting and positive Hispanic setting and characterization.

It’s the end of junior year and Colton finally works up the nerve to ask out his crush, Miranda, only to learn that she’s not interested. At all. He’s crushed, and looking to lick his wounds, which is how he ends up on a flight to Mexico with his best friend, Martin–to stay with Abuelita for two weeks. Colton’s a blonde, blue-eyed lanky kid, who catches the eye of many a senorita, but he finds a real spark with DJ Alex, cousin to Martin’s girlfriend.

Alejandria isn’t like the girls Colton normally finds attractive. She’s thin, and petite, and dresses much like hoodie-wearing Colton, but he’s drawn to her. When he finds out that she was injured in a kidnapping gone wrong, which resulted in her deafness, he’s even more intrigued. Knowing that Alex’s father has tons of money scares Colton, especially when Alex’s bodyguards take him to meet her dad. See, Alex hates her father, his wealth, and lifestyle; she’s cut him out long ago, and won’t even accept his money to get cochlear implant surgery. Colton can help her win the Summerlypse DJ competition, and the prize money will get Alex the surgery–no help from her detested father needed.

It’s not simple. It’s, like, the opposite of simple, in fact. Colton’s drawn in to a world he can barely fathom, with gun-toting bodyguards, a threatening father, constant risk to reveal all his secrets, and one DJ that turns his volume to eleven. I liked Colton, though I sometimes felt as if his voice was muddled into that of a person who wasn’t a native English speaker. I loved how he embraced all of this strange and wondrous Mexican experience, having botched conversations in Spanish, braving the treacherous streets on foot and by car or bus. Looking for his happiness, even if it means turning down the many texts and emails from suddenly interested Miranda. Alex is The One, he’s maybe 80% sure, and he’s willing to do ANYTHING for her, which was absolutely charming. I loved that he attempted to mend the fracture between Alex and her father, even as her dad’s interference was a constant problem.

This is a fairly clean read, with minor language issues, and some underage alcohol use. The setting wasn’t quite fleshed out enough for me, though I appreciated the wide range of locales. Mexico is a big place; I wanted to know where we actually spent our time. The Summerlypse competition was cool, and I liked how Colton threw himself in head-first, to help out a virtual stranger. Their instant connection had all the thrills of infatuation, and was very sweet to experience. Expect a bit of kissing, and nothing more. While I liked Colton’s adventure a lot, I did struggle to connect to him, a bit–mostly due to his internal voice. He’s almost too fast and rambling, in his brain. That said, I loved the diversity of characters, and this cool peek at a teen’s eye in Mexico.

Interested? You can find SUMMERLYPSE on Goodreads, and it’s currently only $.99 on Amazon through Aug 14th.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Gerardo Delgadillo lives in the Dallas metropolitan area with his wife and children and dogs and cats and the occasional rabbit. Originally from San Francisco and raised in Mexico, he loves to write about contemporary teens in distress in English and Español. So no magic, dragons, or unicorns.

Gerardo’s fun facts:
– At the tender age of sixteen, when giant lizards ruled the world, Gerardo was a DJ–turntables and all.
– Cloud computing is his area of expertise–just don’t ask him what cloud computing means.
– He loves football, the one played with the feet by footballers, La Liga from Spain being the best.

About his novels:
– His writing must be emotional, or else…
– He believes in the Oxford comma, but the Oxford comma doesn’t believe in him.
– Loves first person present tense POV.

Catch up with Gerardo on his website, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram.