Meet Me at Midnight

Description: Sidney and Asher should have clicked. Two star swimmers forced to spend their summers on a lake together sounds like the perfect match. But, it's the same every year -- in between cookouts and boat rides and family-imposed bonfires, Sidney and Asher spend the dog days of summer finding the ultimate ways to prank each other. And now, after their senior year, they're determined to make it the most epic summer yet. But, their plans are thrown in sudden jeopardy when their feud causes their families to be kicked out of their beloved lake houses. Once in their new accommodations, Sidney expects the prank war to continue as usual. But then she gets a note -- Meet me at midnight. And Asher has a proposition for her: join forces for one last summer of epic pranks, against a shared enemy -- the woman who kicked them out. Their truce should make things simpler, but six years of tormenting one another isn't so easy to ignore. Kind of like the undeniable attraction growing between them.

Review: Sidney and Asher have a lot in common and are set up to be friends: their parents are good friends, they are both on swim teams, and they spend summers together at neighboring lake houses. Sidney and Asher are instead something close to enemies after years creating and receiving outlandish pranks. Now they are spending their last summer before heading off to college and in this pivotal summer a prank gets them kicked out of their vacation houses. They are forced to share close quarters in one cottage and to declare a truce while they plot against the woman who had them evicted. Joining forces propels them into a closer relationship, and maybe romance? 

  Meet Me at Midnight is an enjoyable quintessential beach read. The first half of the book, in my opinion, is the strongest where we witness the often hilarious pranks Sidney and Asher create and execute. Both characters are well rounded and likable in their dual points of view. Their relationship from enemies to tentative friends and their fragile romance builds slowly. The second half of the book lost its steam by the constant on-again and off-again romance. Some readers may delight in the "will they or won't they" aspect of the book but I found it tedious and repetitive. Readers looking for complete escapism and low stakes will enjoy this book. 

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language and scenes of underage drinking. 

If you like this book try: Just a Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe by Sarah Mlynowski