This book is much closer to a mystery with suspenseful and psychological aspects than a thriller, and that is an important distinction to me, because it wasn’t what I was expecting and I was let down.

The pacing of this book was incredibly uneven. It caused me, as a reader, to be extremely bored for the first half of this book. By the time I got to the second half and things started to ramp up I was already pretty much done with this book. I had pretty much lost interest in this tale of toxic friendships and not-quite-plausible secrets and lies.

The story may be entertaining enough to another reader for a better review, but I just couldn’t get totally on board.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review. As per personal policy this review will not be posted on any bookseller or social media site due to its 3 star or lower rating.

I don't really know why I didn't have high expectations for this one, but let me tell you that I was pleasantly surprised by a few details; I also liked the attraction between Tansy and Zach. Why the average rating? Well, because it still wasn't the book for me, it was slow; the reveal from the past wasn't that impressive. We already knew there was a death in the past, but the how felt anticlimactic. I wasn't caught off guard by any twists and the ending wasn't fulfilling at all.

It would have been good to delve more into Selene’s psyche and her manipulations. But none of the characters were that developed.

The epilogue left a lot to desire, this coming from someone that always wants more.

All the thrillers that I have been reading lately have been really generic and this one is no exception. I couldn't care less what was going on, reading it was just like going through the motions. Nothing particularly interesting or exciting.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Jody Gehrman for the copy of this book. All views are my own.*

Unfortunately I found this book to be a bit far fetched in places which affected my rating. The book moves at a very slow pace and I didnt feel a real connection with the characters.

In my opinion it had some unnecessary details, but overall it was a good thriller that made want to continue reading until the end.

Thank you for the e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This book, the story, the characters - I don’t know if I should say “like mother, like daughter” or be happy that one of the characters escaped an abusive relationship. But I can say one thing for sure, this made me think and I like a good thoughtful thriller. I’d say Summer we buried is a quick to read that is dramatic like a woman’s fiction and fast paced like a suspenseful thriller. I felt every character in this book other than Tansy was a bit unreliable and -in the end- I was right!! It is an intriguing and enigmatic story.

I haven’t read from this author before, but I really enjoyed the character development and the story progression, it makes me want to check out her backlist titles!

Thank you Crooked Lane books via Netgalley for the reader’s copy.

A psychological thriller a bit of a slow start.
Tansy was 18 years old when she became best friends with Selene. Selene was tough girl with street smarts and Tansy really liked that. Their friendship was later put through the test and ended with a murder cover up. Tansy and Selene meet again twenty years later, Selene has a daughter attending the same college that Tansy works at which Selene wants Tansy back in her life and keeps insisting that her daughter’s boyfriend is abusing her and she wants her help. Will Tansy fall for Selenes antics?
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

Selene is about as toxic as they come. This was an entertaining book that kept my interest throughout. I found it interesting to look into the grey area of vigilante justice but some elements are a little far fetched. I found Tansy to be quite weak willed. Selene isn't exactly subtle about her manipulative behaviour and despite Tansy being a well educated, sensible woman she is dragged into the family drama. Zack, Jupiter, Tim and all the other characters are a little two-dimensional for my liking. I suspect that some of the plot was meant to be seen as a twist but for me it was all a little too obvious. Worth a read though

EXCERPT: Her neck muscles tense. 'This is non-negotiable. You're doing it.'

'Or what?' I can't keep the goading note from my voice. She thinks I'm still eighteen years old, in awe of her. Well, I'm not. She doesn't hold all the cards anymore, and I'm not the insecure little girl I was when she learned to push me around.

She leans back, suddenly calm. Her throat relaxes, the taut wires smoothing to a gentle curve. 'I'm this close to bringing us both down, Tansy.'

We stare at one another, her eyes shining with a dare.

I put my wine on the table. 'What are you saying?'

'I'll go to the cops if I have to.' She tightens her grip on her glass, knuckles going white. 'I'll tell them everything.'

My pulse skyrockets again. I shake my head, like I can negate what she just said. 'You wouldn't do that. You would lose everything, more than-'

'I have nothing to lose.' She spits the words out with such venom, I flinch. With an impatient toss, she throws back the rest of her wine. 'And a woman with nothing to lose is the most dangerous thing in the world.'

ABOUT 'THE SUMMER WE BURIED': Twenty years ago, Tansy was drawn to Selene’s hard edges, her grit, and her knack for survival. Since then, the confused tangle of guilt about covering up a murder shattered their friendship, and even now, at thirty-eight, Tansy has never come to terms with what happened that night.

But now, Selene is back, demanding her old friend repay her. Selene’s daughter, Jupiter, attends the college where Tansy works as a guidance counselor. Selene is convinced that Jupiter’s boyfriend, Colton, is abusive, and wants Tansy to intervene. As she is drawn back into the intensity of Selene’s world, Tansy discovers the ugly truth about Colton. But Tansy suspects there’s far more to the story, and now she’ll finally have to confront Selene once and for all.

MY THOUGHTS: A slow burn mystery that becomes more action based in the latter stages.

I liked, but didn't love, The Summer we Buried by Jody Gehrman. This is a story of a mother/daughter relationship, friendship and secrets. There are lots of secrets that worm their way out of the woodwork in this novel. I didn't always find them particularly believable.

Selene is one of those people best admired from afar. Get pulled into her orbit and you'll get burned. Having said that she did save Tansy from a terrible situation, resulting in a secret that must be kept. But now Selene is back in Tansy's life making demands and issuing threats. Emotionally unstable doesn't even begin to describe Selene's personality.

I really liked Jupiter's character, although there could be a bit more of her mother in her than is initially apparent.

Tansy? *sigh* I just don't know what to think about Tansy. I wanted to like her, but . . .

I think the romance was inevitable, but the sex scene felt like it had been transported from some teenage bodice ripper and adds nothing good to the plot.

The Summer we Buried is a quick and easy read. It's dramatic, and it probably would have made close to 4 stars except for two stupid errors. (view spoiler) I suggest that if you intend reading The Summer we Buried, you skip my spoiler until after you've read the book.

⭐⭐⭐

#TheSummerWeBuried #NetGalley

I: @jodygehrman @crookedlanebooks

T: @jodygehrman @crookedlanebks

#contemporaryfiction #crime #familydrama #mystery #romance

THE AUTHOR: Jody Gehrman is a native of Northern California, where she can be found writing, teaching, reading, or obsessing over her three cats most days. She is also the author of eleven novels and numerous award-winning plays. She is a professor of Communication at Mendocino College.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Crooked Lane Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Summer We Buried by Jody Gehrman for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

The Summer We Buried is available in hardcover, Kindle and audiobook formats.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

I loved this book. It definitely didn’t go the way I expected AT ALL. Each character was so well written and I loved how they all went together.

A bit of a slow burn. I like my thrillers to be a little bit more fast paced. I know the devil is in the details but perhaps this one had way too much? It was more character than plot driven. It wasn't much of a thriller as I expected. It was an okay read for me.

This book was weird. It came across more as a romance than a thriller. It is filled with descriptions of unnecessary things. Yes, we all know nachos have hot cheese. Thanks for that insight into the story. It revolves around a person hiding from a past action she didn’t even do. It was all over the place.

I just couldn't get into this mystery/thriller. Neither the characters or the story were able to grab my interest. I kept hoping the story would get better but not even the tragic circumstances of that 'summer we buried' could keep me into it. Ended up DNF'ing at 40%. Perhaps this is just a book you need to be in the mood for. It was too dark for my tastes. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review an advance copy.

CW: rape

A multi-published author of different genres, Jody Gehrman’s latest standalone suspense thriller is The Summer We Buried. A college counsellor has a surprise visit from an old friend who demands her owed favour is repaid. Tansy and Selene were best friends twenty years ago, but a shared tragedy caused them to go their separate ways. Tansy is drawn back into Selene’s manipulative behaviour, and drama ensues but now others are placed in danger. An enjoyable psychological tale with slow burning tension, mounting intensity and interesting character dynamics. Omitting the ’year later’ chapter with its shmaltzy sentiment would have made it even better, but nonetheless a three-and-a-half-star rating. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given, without bias.

Tansy has had a couple decades to ruminate over what happened one summer and how her friend Selene saved her. Then Selene shows up and asks a favor, thereby pulling Tansy back in to her twisted web. Really what this book teaches the reader is that no matter how bad something looks, face up to it when it happens because it is going to be a lot worse 20 years down the line. Isn't hindsight great? I liked how the characters pushed and pulled each other and how the webs got tighter and tighter. I will admit to expecting at lease one more big twist than we got, but in hindsight (ha! ha!) I think that was for the best. The plot itself was a bit farfetched but perhaps not to the complete point of unbelievability. It stayed this side of the line and kept the reader guessing.

Non stop thriller action! Serena approach’s her old friend Tansy, to help her daughter. Tansy and Serena have not spoken in years and Tansy does not really trust Serena. What sounds like a simple request from a caring mother turns into much more.

This story is told from Tansy’s POV and has several main characters. You quickly find out who is good and bad but learn the why as the story goes on. There is a lot going on in this book but it’s not hard to keep up. I loved the suspense and not knowing what was going to happen.

I wasn’t a fan of this book. It felt like there wasn’t enough meat to the story, and the scenes that were meant to be climactic had no buildup. I think the plot had a lot of potential, but the execution of the story as a whole just didn’t live up to the hype. I personally wouldn’t recommend this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4587007579

Synopsis:
Twenty years ago, Tansy and Selene were best friends; however a gruesome incident, their friendship broke apart.
Now, years later, Tansy is working as a college guidance counselor. Selene blows back into her life, blackmailing Tansy into intervening with Selene’s daughter Jupiter relationship, convinced her boyfriend is abusive.

Review:
This is a slow burn suspense novel, with a love story on the side, told from the point of view of Tansy. The plot was a bit predictable, but I still wanted to listen to what happened next, and was surprised by the ending. The characters were flawed but each had characteristics that were likable. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audiobook ARC of the latest mystery by Jody Gehrman - 4 stars!

Tansy and Selene were great friends twenty years ago, but guilt about an incident that happened then caused Tansy to sever the friendship. But now Selene is back and is telling Tansy that she owes her for covering up what happened all those years ago. Selene is worried about her daughter, Jupiter, and her current relationship. Tansy is a guidance counselor at the school Jupiter attends and Selene wants Tansy to break them up. But getting involved with the Rathbone family again will cause Tansy to relive all those memories.

This was a good character study of people dealing with abuse, trauma and mental illness. You really felt for these characters, the situations they were in, and what they would do for those they care about. That's not to say that those situations were handled the right way, but you can definitely understand the motivating factors. An entertaining mystery that was wonderfully narrated by Emily Ellet.

This was more a character driven, slow burn of a story than the page turning thriller I expected. I enjoyed the first half of the book more as we got to meet the characters with the tension hanging around them. As the story progressed it picked up some romance and family relationship elements and lost much of that tension. If you enjoy romance then this may work well for you, it's not my thing, esp in thrillers.

Overall, not bad just not for me. I felt the ending was a bit unrealistic although it matched the events of the rest of the story so not unexpected.