Review Detail

What a sweet read! Spencer and the Younger Girl by Michelle MacQueen is the third book in her series Gulf City High, and my favorite of the series so far. I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I say that last book? Well, yes I did, but y’all it’s so good. Each book in this series tops the last! In this installment of the standalone series, we meet Spencer Lee, Damien’s older and estranged brother. Spencer comes home because his brother needs him. What he doesn’t expect is Hadley Gibson.

Hadley was introduced in the series during Jesse and the Ice Princess as Charlotte’s best friend. I adore Hadley! She is sassy and unapologetic about who she is. She knows she’s beautiful and that her looks attract people. However her outgoing personality tends to push people away. That is all except her closest friends. She would do anything for them, and you have to love her for that. As their senior year is coming to a close, Hadley feels more and more invisible at school. She wants to leave a mark and decides to do that with an epic senior prank: goats in the school. The only thing is she has to convince the underclassman Damien Lee to let her borrow his goats. As you can guess, Hadley’s prank goes awry and she winds up caught. Her grandfather makes a deal with the Lees that while Hadley is suspended from school, she’ll work on their ranch. Now she’s stuck spending Spring Break working with the handsome, if not a little bit of a jerk, elder brother.

Spencer Lee stole my heart from the first page. This is a broken man who was forced to grow up too soon. I identified with him on more levels than I’m willing to admit. He left home the day of graduation and never looked back. Heartbreak drove him away, and now family is bringing him home. His baby brother needs him, and it isn’t until his mother, shocked by the sight of him, opens the door that Spencer realizes how much he needs them. His time away didn’t heal the open wound he left with. If anything, it allowed it to fester. Now he is home with the family he left and it’s time to confront his demons.

Overall, I loved Spencer and the Younger Girl. The chemistry is sweet with a hint of steam. Hadley and Spencer are both lost souls looking for their place in the world. Their banter and Hadley’s confidence are refreshing in a YA novel. If you enjoy YA contemporary, I highly recommend this sweet, mostly clean, romance.