Cricket Thompson has a best friend named Jules Clayton.  They do everything together and this year they are planning to go to Nantucket for summer vacation.  NANTUCKET BLUE by Leila Howland  is their story.  

They spend the day planning  on how it is going to be when they get there as soon as Jules' mother, Nina,  asks Cricket if she wants to join them on their family vacation.   Cricket has never been to Nantucket as her parents are divorced.  Her mother is always working and her dad is busy with his new family.  Anyway, that night they go to a party and before they even get there Jules' mom has died.  She had an aneurism and was found in her hotel room.  Life is never going to be the same for any of them.

Soon after Nina's  wake and funeral everything changes between Cricket and Jules.  Jules tells Cricket that she can't  come on vacation with her family anymore.  Cricket is devastated but understands.  The boy she has been infatuated with since eighth grade, Jay, is going to Nantucket for the summer and Cricket comes up with a plan to go too.  She finds a job on the Internet, babysitting and it comes with a place to stay.  She convinces her mother to let her go and she is excited but once she gets there the job falls through and she is now unemployed and has nowhere to stay.  She doesn't let that get her down and walks into a bed and breakfast to find out that they need a chamber maid and it comes with a room to stay in.  Everything is perfect once again or so she thinks!

At a party a few days later, she sees Jules who is totally being mean to her.   Cricket can't understand why she is acting like that.  She also sees Jay who totally tells her off  for a remark she made to Jules about Jay's older brother.  How could Jules do this to her?  She said what she said in confidence. Did she like Jay? She knows exactly how Cricket feels about Jay and he really likes her too.  Or did. Now what should she do?  The only one who is being nice to her is Jules' brother, Zack.  He has always liked her even though he is two years younger than Cricket.  So Cricket and Zack start to hang out secretly because Cricket knows Jules would be sure angry if she found out. Well, she does.........

NANTUCKET BLUE is such an awesome book.  It was so much more than I thought it would be.  I thought it was going to be a cute summer romance, but soon found out it was all about family, friendship, loss, and tragedy.  I read this book in less than  twenty four hours, I couldn't stop turning the pages.  I had to know what was going to happen with Jules and Cricket   and Zack.  Could any of them move on after Nina's death?  Would Cricket choose Jay or Zack?  Read the book to find out. I'm not telling.........I loved Cricket right from the start and Jules.....I literally wanted to smack her! I hated the way she treated Cricket!  She was just trying to help.  For a debut novel, NANTUCKET BLUE by Leila Howland was just perfect!