The Summer of First Love

2 hrs. 25 min.

Romance & Prose

Language Russian

Author Samantha Jones

Narrator Rina Aleksandrova

Description

This summer, I came to a village near Kazan with a simple plan: help my grandmother and calmly prepare for the ЕГЭ. But everything went off script.

Mарат or Ильдар?
That’s the real question with an asterisk!

Марат is the perfect option mom approves of: the right, reliable “dear, little son,” whose whole life is mapped out in advance. With him, my mom can already see my future as settled—a wedding, a home, being tied to the family and to its rules.

Ильдар is completely different. The local “laid-back” guy—always with scratches on him, a guitar slung over his shoulder, and a look that makes your heart skip a beat. He knows the forest paths, knows how to show you the dawn sky so you forget everything else, and he lives as if the rules were not made for him—and even then, he takes care of himself less than anyone.

But summer isn’t endless.

And when August comes and it’s time to leave, the choice will be about more than just two guys.

Between my mom and myself. Between “how it’s supposed to be” and “how my heart asks.” Will I be able to hurt my mom to avoid betraying myself?

P.S. And there’s more: beyond the outskirts, there’s an old cemetery that keeps one secret. It seems Ильдар knows about it far more than he’s willing to tell.

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