This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Love is a mixed topic; either you are a believer or not...and perhaps there are certain degrees on each side. Gray areas if you will but Remy Starr, our heroine in This Lullaby is very much a "love is a sham"-kinda person! She is also a just graduated senior on her way to Stanford at the end of summer.
Her mother is preparing for wedding number five when the book opens. Remy keeps the Starr family together while her mother, a Romance Writer(the Barbara Starr), writes and swoons and her brother, Christopher is busy trying to have a regular life.
Remy, finalizing wedding details with the groom, is bumped into by Dexter, a new-in-town musician, looking at well, tires. He repeats their first encounter later that night at Bendo, the local club:

We arrived at the booth in a pack; me, Dexter the musician, and Chloe. I was out of breath, she looked confused but he just slid in next to Jess, offering his hand. "Hi," he said. "I'm with them."
Jess looked at me, but I was too tired to do anything but plop into the booth and suck down a gulp of my beer. "Well," she said, "I'm with them. But I'm not with you. How is that possible?"
"Well," he said, its actually an interesting story." No one said anything for a minute. Finally I groaned and said "God, you guys, now he's going to tell it."
"See," he began leaning back into the booth, "I was at this car dealership today, and I saw this girl..."

Dexter continues to relay exactly how he feels about Remy and how that feeling is so, so grand! Remy's crew of friends giggle and Remy is slumped, embarrassed but this quick repartee between Sarah Dessen's well-structured characters is just what makes her books so fun and readable. This is not an easy love story just as Remy is not an easy character. She's complicated, she's experienced things beyond normal, her world view is a bit skewed but somehow she feels comfortable with long-limbed, shoes-untied bumbling Dexter, once she gives him a chance.

This book is has some wonderful across the spectrum views about love and is very funny-like-laugh-out-loud-funny! I sat by the pool yesterday and read, and I was the only mom, who was reading and laughing at the same time. This is my second Dessen book this summer, I reviewed Someone like you here, and now I've gone and purchased her first one, That Summer to round out Kaylee's collection. I like that Dessen's books appeal to a wide audience, high school through adults. I asked my 14-year-old son if he would read this book...after a long pause, he said sheepishly, "maybe".

Enjoy Sarah Dessen's website/blog here.
Sarah's social networking page is here-Sarah-land.