Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Summer of Sonny
AUTHOR: I.M. Flippy
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 126 Pages
RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2018
BLURB:
Jay Lauer is content with his life. He’s happy working for his dad at Blue Pine Lake Camp up in the San Bernardino Mountains where he fixes everything that needs fixing, handles logistics, and in his spare time makes stunning works of art at his beloved pottery wheel. He doesn’t need a change or a reason to leave the mountain where he’s comfortable. He certainly doesn’t need a handsome geophysicist from MIT who talks too much to upend everything he thought he wanted. On the bright side, Sonny seems kinda patronizing and dismissive of Jay. So Jay’s in no danger of falling in love…right?
Dr. Sonny Jacobsen has just gained his doctorate in geophysics from MIT. On a whim he decides to teach kids science lessons at Blue Pine for the summer, a well deserved break after a long and intense academic career. He doesn’t expect there to be a gorgeous handyman distracting him. But Jay hardly seems like the academic type, he can barely hold a conversation. So Sonny’s in no danger of falling in love…right?
It’s just as well that Jay and Sonny get the wrong impression of each other. Falling in love would only complicate an otherwise serene summer and they’re in no danger of that…right?
REVIEW:
I.M. Flippy is one of those new authors that you need everyone to become aware of. As usual this author hooked me straight into the story, which was doubly important with this book considering it’s only novella length. Having said that, this is a complete story. Had the author stretched it out just for the sake of making it longer, it would have ruined the pace.
Jay Lauer was such an interesting character. At first I thought he was going to be pretty staright forward, but as the story went on we continued to discover more and more about who he was. About what made Jay tick. Even right at the end, we were still discovering facets of Jay, but what was really great about this was that Jay was kinda discovering them along with us. Jay had a craptastic childhood. He was abandoned as a child and put into care where still, no one wanted him. At fourteen he finally found his home at Blue Pine Lake Camp, and he’s been there ever since. Having a loving family was the only thing Jay wanted as a child, and having found that he was happy to build his whole life around them, but that meant he never considered what else he might want from life beyond being a son, a brother and an uncle. When Sonny signs up to work at Blue Pine for the Summer and Jay falls in love, Jay is forced to actually think about what he wants for his future.
What was great about these characters was the sense of realness about them. Sonny was brilliantly smart but was very conscious of what other people thought of him. He loved the idea of teaching kids for the summer but was embarrassed that his fellow MIT graduates might laugh at him. And Jay suffered from anxiety, but it was never made into a huge drama in the story. In real life so many people have anxiety and they just get on with their lives, just like Jay did in this book.
As always I.M. Flippy’s writing is light on the sex scenes but that’s my preference so I’m not complaining. This author spends more time building the relationship than setting fire to the sheets.
Oh and I forgot to mention that Jay is an artist who creates pottery. So if you’re a fan of that famous scene from Ghost, you’ll love the reenactment included here!
RATING: 
BUY LINK: