Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

It's the summer before senior year, and Elouise/Lou is determined to make it the best, most epic summer yet. This plan centers on winning over long-time crush Nick. They work together at Magic Castle Playland, a small local amusement park. Nick is one of the diving pirates, but Lou has spent her two years serving as a hot dog outside the food stands. Unfortunately, Nick has a girlfriend, the pretty, nice, literally-plays-Cinderella Jessa. How is a hot dog supposed to compete with that?

Other than her tragic lack of love life, Lou has to face the unfortunate truth that Magic Castle Playland will be closing. The owner has announced it will be the last year. The park she loves, where she grew up, will be torn down and turned into a factory. This is unacceptable, of course, so Lou brings her coworkers together to come up with some fundraising ideas to save the park.

Unfortunately, plans on the love life front don't work out so well. Because she can't get close to Nick, Lou plots to find love for her best friend Seeley. She schemes to get her to go out with fellow ride operator Angie. Unfortunately, things don't work out on that front. Then Eloise comes up with the "bright" idea of pretending to date Seeley. Then she can get close to Nick without making Jessa think she's a threat, she can feel out their relationship, she and Seeley can fake break up, and Nick and Lou can get together.


Thankfully, it's not a case of pretending to be gay to impress the boy. Seeley is a lesbian, Lou is bisexual. This plan is still problematic for a LOT of reasons. Most important and biggest of these reasons being that Seeley is obviously in love with Lou. She just can't see it until it's too late.


The majority of Hot Dog Girl is cute and fun. Lou could be a little annoying, especially when she was too obsessive over Nick and making every little thing between them have to mean something, and when she was being rude to Jessa for no reason. I'm really not sure I actually liked her, to be honest. I will say that I was surprised to have a bisexual main character. I thought it would be the story of Elouise trying to get the boy while her lesbian friend also tried to find love in the background. The story ended up going in a different direction, and I really liked the change from what I expected.

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

“I believe in love at first sight. Fate, the universe, all of it. But not how you’re thinking. I don’t mean it in the our souls were split and you’re my other half forever and ever sort of way. I just think you’re meant to meet some people. I think the universe nudges them into your path.”

Arthur is staying in New York for the summer while interning at his mom's law office. While out getting coffee one day, he runs into the boy of his dreams at the post office. This boy is going to send a package back to his ex-boyfriend, but the postage is more expensive than anticipated. Before they can exchange names, the dream boy is gone. Some might give up at this point, but Arthur knows that the universe brought them together, and the universe will bring them together again.


Meanwhile, dream boy, AKA Ben, is not having the best summer. He has to attend summer school with his ex. Ben's best friend Dylan, who is girl crazy, has a new girl he is seeing. So Ben is feeling both stupid and lonely.


To help Fate along, Arthur decides to post a Missed Connections notice at a coffee shop. Dylan's girlfriend finds the notice and gives it to Ben. Arthur and Ben find each other and everything is perfect! Well, maybe not perfect. They come from very different backgrounds- Ben's family is poor and Arthur's is rich, Arthur will be headed to Yale next year, Ben is in summer school and has no idea what he'll do after graduation, if he graduates. They also have to deal with slightly clashing personalities and end up having to redo their first date a couple times to get it just right.


The worst of it is when the constantly late Ben plans the date of Arthur's dreams but accidentally ruins it with his flakiness. That one hurt. The universe brought them together, but their relationship has a lot of obstacles, biggest of which is what will happen when Arthur leaves the city after the summer.


I really love Becky Albertalli's books, and while I haven't read any Adam Silvera, I definitely have his stuff on my To Read list. So, I was psyched for What If It's Us, and I really enjoyed the story. The characters are a lot of fun, not just Ben and Arthur. It's a really sweet love story, and I'm glad I read it.