HOW MY SUMMER WENT UP IN FLAMES

When she can’t seem to stop trying to contact ex-boyfriend Joey even after a temporary restraining order, Rosie’s parents decide to send her on a road trip from New Jersey to Arizona with three guys.

Matty, the neighbor kid who is a year younger than Rosie and practically a member of the family, has been planning the trip with buddy Spencer, whose brother Logan wants to take his car to college. The hope is that Rosie will learn to control her impulsive nature along the way and show some maturity and thoughtfulness. The result is not particularly suspenseful or surprising. The country tunes that make up the book’s soundtrack also indicate the stops along the way: Luray Caverns, Dollywood, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry and Graceland. The story revs up a bit at an all-ages nightclub near Dallas, and then they move on to the Grand Canyon. A love triangle among Rosie, Logan, the hot older brother, and Matty, the boy next door, adds a level of trite, as does Avery, the incredibly rich, dedicated-to-humanity girl whom Logan wants to stop and see. Is that two love triangles? At any rate, Rosie gradually learns to think of someone besides herself and to see her ex more realistically.

Country hokum with a playlist to match.