Rainbows and Raindrops by Kelley Lynn & Jenny S. Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher:  CookieLynn Publishing
Published Date: April 18, 2016

Buy Link:  https://amzn.com/1530954851

Blurb: Before… They are the Musketeers–one for all and all for Rain, or however that saying goes.

Now that Rain’s sixteen, freedom is at her fingertips. Cliff jumping at the lake. Rain’s first tattoo. Spence finally asking her out. With her friends by her side, there’s no reason Rain can’t be happy in a world that constantly tries to extinguish her addictive, carefree spirit.

After… It’s just Rain. No misfits and no Musketeers.

Until Rain pulls up to her new summer job and discovers the two people she’s been hiding from–Spence and Landon– are her new cabin mates. Landon’s determined to help Rain overcome her guilt and remember what once was. As they become closer, he awakens a part of her soul she never thought she’d feel again.

Making Rain wonder if, despite all the mistakes she’s made, it’s worth trying to get back to the girl she used to be.

This is book recommended by one of my favorite authors (Cassie Mae), and when she posted the pre-buy option on the book I one-clicked, because well…I trust her. And she didn’t steer me wrong.

What I Loved: From the onset, I could tell I was going to love this book. Rainbow was such a fun, bright, outgoing and charismatic character, but she had a thirst of adventure and danger, a natural thrill seeker. Perhaps it was because she trying to live up to her name, or perhaps she would have always been that way – but she was a force to be reckoned with, she’s even bright in her clothing and hair color choices. Her three best friends, all boys, are probably all just a little in love with her while at the same time have no idea what to do with her.

When tragedy strikes (come-on, not a spoiler, you can tell from the blurb!) Rain changes too. She is dark and depressed. I think the take-away from her transformation is the fact that she feels guilty and responsible, and turns in on herself, shutting her friends and the world out.

The friendship between the characters is one that I think everyone wishes they had, or reminds them of one that they did or do have. Friends how love each other, and get into trouble with each other and are just basically a single unit. Reading the first couple chapters, I smiled madly at the group and their bond. I love how this bond plays out and grows into something else as the story continues to move forward.

Not So Much: I mentioned that I loved Rainbows character, but I will say she was as little bit cliché in her outward appearance. I think if Rain was dark and depressed as she was written to be, her clothes would not have been all black and thought out, but just thrown together in a mismatch array and a hair color that had faded, washed out and with noticeable roots.  However I loved the imagery so I didn’t let it affect me too much.

I’m always wanting some kind of redeeming factor for bad parents, and I wished the same for Rainbow and her dad. But no, he was a drunk slob who barely served a purpose in the story at all.

The Verdict: This is not my favorite read of the year, but I really did enjoy it. I really would love to see more people get their hands on this book! While it’s dealt out in extremes, there is just enough happiness and excitement to balance out the sad. This is important to me, because I don’t typically seek out books that are overly sad. This is a good YA book, mostly clean.

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