Riley + Sam by Ashley Schaller is a sweet innocent Christian YA romance book.  Riley Anderson thinks her summer is gonna be pretty chill. She’ll work on some digital art commissions and just relax. Two things shake those plans up. 1) her little cousin Lou-lou is spending the summer with them (not terrible, Lou-lou’s great, but now Riley has some babysitting responsibility on her plate). 2) Sam Hong is back. Sam was Riley’s childhood best friend and neighbor. Once he got famous and he went on tour he left and never looked back. Until now. Now Riley’s got a challenging summer ahead of her because she promised herself she would be one girl who would not fall for Sammy Hong.

Audience

Teen Girls

Genre

Christian YA Romance, Contemporary YA Fiction

Author

Ashley Schaller

Riley’s little cousin Lou-lou starts out hating Sam because she remembers how sad Riley was when he left. But Sam quickly wins her over with his sweet charm. Soon the three of them have made a Summer bucket list. Sam’s sick of the spotlight and he wants to experience normal things (like going through the drive-thru), like a normal person. Riley and Lou-lou decide they’ll make that happen for him with some clever (or maybe not so clever) disguises.

A few of my favorite things…

• The friends-to-more story
• Sam helping Riley process grief (her mom died while he was gone)
• Lou-lou. She’s so sassy, funny, and adorable. I love when stories have little kids as some of their main characters!
• Sarge, the lovable golden retriever.
• Riley’s faith. She models “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) well. She also encourages Sam to turn back to the Lord, and use spotlight to bring glory to Him. There’s a part where she describes grace well.
• “Celebrity sick of the spotlight” is one of my favorite storylines.
• The humor. I was laughing out loud a lot! Whether it was at a situation, Lou-lou’s attitude or Riley’s inner thoughts.
• Sweet family relationships. Riley is really close to her dad. They often drink tea together in the evenings. She’s also good friends with her older sister. You don’t often see good family relationships like that in stories!
• Coffee. Here are some golden quotes: “I swear you barely qualify as a person in the morning [before coffee.” “Am I a mess? Yes. But a happy, coffee-loving one.”
• Riley’s dream of being a mom. So often girls don’t feel the freedom to say that. They think instead that they have to have a big career plan.
• A really horrible date that Riley goes on. It’s humorously described, but poor Riley learns her lesson. She doesn’t need to go on a date with just any guy who asks.

Know that…

• Sam sleeps in the same tent as Riley and Lou-lou. Nothing happens. Nothing’s romantic or sexual about it. But in real life, that wouldn’t be a good idea.
• There’s lots of times that Riley thinks about kissing. But it doesn’t actually happen except maybe once at the very end.
• My book friend, Lindsey, has a more thorough content review over on her blog. You can read it here.

Perfect for…

Any teen girl looking for a sweet, innocent summer romance!

Amazon

If you’re looking for other clean Christian contemporary books, check out mine. You can find more information about my Dawn Chandler series here.

Notes: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I’m also an Amazon Affiliate, so I receive a commission on anything purchased through links I share.