The Summer of Perfect Mistakes — Cynthia St. Aubin

An achingly authentic, emotional summer romance about learning to color outside the lines.

You can't have the breakthrough without the breakdown…

No one in Spring Valley recognizes Lark Hockney anymore. They only remember who she used to be. Homecoming queen. Valedictorian. And one half of Spring Valley High's golden couple. But Lark knows that her once-perfect life wasn't really perfect. Hell, it wasn't even her. And in one evening, she lost it…and that perfect girl is gone forever.

Now Lark's trying to put the fragile pieces back together, with no idea of where to start. She's only a faint sketch of the person she was, with blurry, tentative lines -- and under the constant scrutiny of her overbearing parents. The only bright spot in her life is a community art class taught by Nick Hoffman, the esoteric and unreasonably hot guy from high school. And he's not interested in a “perfect” Lark at all…

Suddenly Lark's world is taking shape and the colors are growing more vibrant, from afternoon margaritas with Southern-fried divorcées to late-night apple pie with chocolate ice cream and an increasingly spicy situationship with Nick.

But what she's found comes with a “best before summer's end” expiration date. And Lark doesn't know if she can ever truly let go of aiming for perfect…