I see to be a summer romance roll with my YA reads lately. Today I'm featuring Jolene Perry's Night Sky. I was offered a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. If you would like to follow the Night Sky blog tour, please click here.

Description (from publisher): After losing Sarah, the friend he’s loved, to some other guy, Jameson meets Sky. Her Native American roots, fluid movements, and need for brutal honesty become addictive fast. This is good. Jameson needs distraction – his dad leaves for another woman, his mom’s walking around like a zombie, and Sarah’s new boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her.
   As he spends time with Sky and learns about her village, her totems, and her friends with drums - she's way more than distraction. Jameson's falling for her fast. But Sky’s need for honesty somehow doesn’t extend to her life story – and Jameson just may need more than his new girl to keep him distracted from the disaster of his senior year.

Review: Unlike most contemporary YA romance books that I've picked up, Night Sky is from a male's point of view. Jameson is in his senior year of high school. At a school dance, he discovers Sarah, his best friend/secret crush for many years, with her new boyfriend. Heartbroken and wallowing with the constant "why didn't I tell her?" thought on repeat in his head, Jameson runs into a Native American beauty named Sky who turns his world upside down.
  Jameson is your ordinary male teen. He tends to keep his feelings and thoughts to himself, but his outlook changes the more time he spends with Sky. He becomes more open and honest. Perry does a good job in developing an authentic male voice, but I would have liked to get to know him on a deeper level, especially when his parent's relationship is in turmoil. I was really surprised to see how little we see of Jameson's parents since the family does seem close.
   For me the most interesting character in Night Sky is Sky. Sky is the complete opposite of Jameson. She is blunt and constantly tells him that honesty is most important aspect to their 'relationship.' Sky refuses to be Jameson's replacement/distraction due to his conflicted feelings over Sarah and is forced to come to terms with his feelings. Behind her austere front, which I found at first refreshing, Sky was doing the exact things she accused of Jameson of doing: using him as a way to escape from her troubles and never really come clean about her own past until their relationship progressed from acquaintances to friendship to love. We are only given tidbits of what happened, but not the whole story. When Sky's secret was revealed, I like Jameson was shocked and felt betrayed, angry. I had hoped Jame's emotions would be more developed and explained, but thing were patched up a bit too easily and quickly for me.
  Night Sky is a really quick read. I enjoyed watching Jameson and Sky's relationship grow. I would have liked to know more about Sky's cultural roots. Perhaps if we got to see some of the important clan members in the story, the plot twist would have a bit more of a punch which would have added depth to the story. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the book and would recommend the book to those who enjoy contemporary YA romance.  

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: There is an allusion to sex, abuse, and some language. Recommended for strong Grade 8 readers and up.

If you like this book try: Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles, Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt