Summertime already?

"Last Summer" by Kerry Lonsdale - ❤❤❤❤

YOU GUYS.  One of my favorite authors, Kerry Lonsdale, was nice enough to let me have an ARC of her upcoming release, “Last Summer”.  I cannot even tell you how excited this made me, as I have read (and loved) all of Kerry’s other books.  If you haven’t read them, please go do so immediately.  I’ll wait.  And since we are still in the full swing of winter doldrums, this steamy beach read is a welcome distraction from the temperatures.  The fact that a personalized, signed postcard was included really added to my excitement.  Kerry is so nice, and that makes me like her books even more.  

Last Summer is a hard book to categorize.  There’s a mystery element, a romance component, and a whole lot of fun.  The story begins with Ella waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there, and her husband Damien refuses to tell her anything about the car accident that put her there or the events in their life leading up to it.  Since Ella writes for a prominent magazine, she’s assigned an exclusive to cover a reclusive adventurer who previously had his own wilderness reality shows and is something of a celebrity.  According to her boss, she had started the story the previous summer, but it was pulled at the last minute.  Ella has no memory of this, nor any notes or transcripts from that time. 

Hoping Nathan (the burly outdoors guy) will help her regain some of her memories, she accepts the story and tries to delve deeper with him.  Since he was unaware of her memory loss, they have to start at square one.  Nathan has recently lost his wife and young son, one to estrangement and one to death.  He is struggling with his own issues, but it quickly becomes clear to Ella that something happened between them the summer before.  She follows him to Alaska for answers, for her article, and for closure.  However, a lot of what seems to be one way is actually the other.  Kerry played a lot with perception in this one, and I really liked that.  

The fun thing about this book is it has multiple twists.  Just when you think you have things figured out, you’re thrown for another loop and you’re left grasping for real answers.  Who is telling the truth?  Who is covering up the past for their own benefit?  Who does Ella really love?  How did she find herself in this situation?

Pre-order the book now, and on July 9 you will find out for yourself! The book will also be free to read on Kindle Unlimited, but believe me when I tell you that Kerry's books are worth paying for and owning.

Also, be prepared for the very last sentence to leave you stunned, a little shaken, and incredibly curious as to whether this will remain a standalone novel.

Deep waters

Into the River by Mark Brandi - ❤❤❤

I have read a lot of buzz about Mark Brandi’s debut novel, Wimmera, but have not had the chance to read it yet.  However, being a fan of Australian crime and drama writers such as Liane Moriarty and Jane Harper, I was excited when Legend Press offered me the chance to read Mark Brandi’s upcoming crime fiction, Into the River. I don’t often read synopses of books, and therefore did not read this one before diving in.  After I was finished, I went back online and found some, because I was so shaken by the subject matter and found it wasn’t really touched upon. 

Ben and Fab are just typical young boys, fishing and pilfering beers and talking about girls.  Something as simple and everyday as a silky stocking can arouse Ben to the point of public embarrassment, so it’s immediately clear that this story is as much about coming to age as it is about the mystery.  The book opens on one of the neighborhood girls hanging herself from her family’s clothesline, so I was instantly drawn into that mystery.  The family soon moved away, and a new tenant named Ronnie took their place.  As soon as Ronnie appeared on the scene, my skin was tingling with a sick warning sensation.  The way Brandi writes is so languorous and immersive that it drew me in immediately (even though I have to admit that, as an American, I had to look up quite a few slang terms and words I hadn’t encountered before).  The story builds slowly, but pleasurably slow, taking us on a journey of friendship and boyhood into the future, when they’re grown and a body is found in the river and the real mystery begins. 

The writing was so much more focused on the characters than the mystery itself, and I enjoyed how Brandi took seemingly minute details about a person and spun them into a complete picture, almost so you felt as if you knew the characters yourself.  At times, I was so scared I felt my heart pounding.  He masterfully built the uneasy feeling and fear of what might be happening, or about to happen, to the point where I was at the edge of my seat as a reader. 

It’s hard to say you “enjoy” a book about tough subject matters, but I did thoroughly enjoy the writing style.  And, as with T. Greenwood’s Rust & Stardust, the feelings it evoked were well worth the discomfort.  Maybe the discomfort even adds to the all-consuming experience of getting lost in a book.

Thank you again, Legend Press and Mark Brandi, for allowing me to read #IntoTheRiver before release.  Please visit the other great bloggers who participated in this blog tour!