One wonderful thing about the book community is the recommendations for books you might not have picked up otherwise. One of my former co-workers put Summertime Punchline on my radar because her friend wrote it (and she wanted to claim the ARC if the store got it, which we didn’t). This friend also gave me the heads up that Betty Corrello would be making a book tour stop in my area, so I had to read it and go for the interview, obviously.

Summertime Punchline [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is about a standup comedian named Del. She just got into a big comedy festival that’s known for launching careers, so we meet her the day after she quit her job to focus on preparing for it. However, when she stops by her boyfriend’s house, Del finds him in the act of cheating on her… with her horrible roommate.

With nowhere else to go, she borrows a friend’s car and heads back to her New Jersey hometown for a reset. Things get a little complicated when Del finds that the only place she can practice her set is at a bar now owned by her high school bully/crush. Somehow, he’s better looking than he was as a kid. It’s toooootally fine. Del is completely okay.

This story is mostly told in the present, but we do get several flashbacks to Del and Eddie as teenagers. They bicker and banter and have moments that fall apart, only for them to have to address them and deal with the fallout in the present timeline. They’ve both lived a lot of life since high school, and now they have to adjust their perception of each other to the current version… while also going through some ridiculousness together.

I mean, the twist on the only one bed trope in this book is unique and hilarious, but somehow, also sweet.

Overall, I enjoyed Summertime Punchline and recommend it for people looking to read a debut author’s work. I loved getting a female comic as a main character, especially one written by someone who lived that life. It felt much more realistic than other similar characters, so I definitely appreciated it. My main issue is that the reconcilliation happens so fast, I almost missed it. I wanted Eddie to grovel a bit more, but also, Del could use some time groveling as well. Also, I feel like I missed some of the jokes because I haven’t been to the Jersey shore, so I didn’t quite catch all the references.