Review: Camp Payback (Camp Boyfriend #2) by J.K. Rock

Camp Payback by J.K. Rock
Published: April 2014, Spencer Hill Press, 304 pages

Description: Alex has big plans for camp this year, starting with making it the best summer ever. Having fun and breaking some rules will get her the payback she wants against her parents and her ex-boyfriend. Because of his disgusting texts, she's headed to a super strict all-girls school in the fall. Then she meets Javier and revenge doesn't seem nearly as important as getting to know the troubled loner determined to keep a low profile at camp. But Alex's trouble-magnet personality and Javier's need to stay in the background don't mix nearly as well as their irresistible chemistry. With her home life eroding under her feet and her last year of summer camp speeding to a close, Alex wants to make her mark on the world and squeeze every bit of fun out of her time with Javier. Too bad her old plans for revenge turn back on her just in time to ruin everything. Will she lose Javier too?

My Review: I love this series for a couple of reasons: I love how each book focuses on a different character and helps the reader understand that person more; I love the relationships (friends, crushes, families) that are shown; and I always wanted to go to a summer camp and I feel like I'm at one--even though it's vicarious.

In Camp Payback, we see camp and life through the eyes of Alex and newcomer, Javier. They are so similar in ways, yet so different in others. Alex is somewhat famous because of her parents and their famous blog. She's almost rebellious and that interferes with her potential. She has so much to offer the world. I loved watching Alex drop the act and delve deep within herself to find who she really is and what she really wants. Her relationships with others seem so complicated--especially with new bunk mate Yasmine and ex-boyfriend Vijay. Not to mention Javier.

Javier has been raised in foster homes. He feels responsible for everything that life has handed him and has a hard time controlling his temper. He is working really hard to change the direction of his life and has been given a second chance. He just can't mess things up or he'll end up in the last place he wants to go.

The way Alex and Javier meet was shocking and the chemistry that follows is unexpected--it all starts with a payback. It's a battle to fight the sparks, among other things, to get to where they want...and need...to be.

Content: moderate language; some fighting; moderate kissing (a couple of make-out scenes), but it stays clean.

**I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

 

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About the Authors:
J. K. Rock is the pseudonym for YA writing partners - and sisters-in-law - Joanne & Karen Rock. After years of comparing notes on their favorites books and films, often dreaming up new endings to suit them, they decided to write their own stories. Their first Young Adult book, CAMP BOYFRIEND, is part of a three-book series. CAMP PAYBACK will be an April 2014 release, and CAMP FORGET-ME-NOT arrives in Fall 2014. Visit the Camp Boyfriend website at http://campboyfriend.net to learn more about the free novellas they are offering readers prior to each full length book. Individually, Joanne Rock is an award winning Harlequin author published in 26 countries and translated into 20 languages. Karen Rock writes critically acclaimed stories for Harlequin Heartwarming including her latest, HIS HOMETOWN GIRL.