Six friends on a lovely 20th reunion vacation - what could go wrong? There are secrets upon secrets to be revealed in this domestic drama culminating in an explosive conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Ellie Kovic and her husband Safet go to a villa for a reunion with their friends but instead of a happy reunion dark secrets are revealed as they fight for their lives.
This was a twisty mystery that had me on the edge of my seat.
Thanks NetGalley and Bookouture for this eARC that will be released September 6, 2024!

This book was full of drama, lies, secrets and deceit it was a fantastic book which I read in one sitting I couldn’t put it down. Most of the characters were not very likeable which I found I enjoyed so much. Every time I thought I had worked out what was going on bam another twist. This was a great summer holiday thriller which I will be recommending to everyone. Fantastic thriller thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

Thank you for the ARC.

This was an extremely messy friend-group/family drama full of unlikeable characters, each with awful secrets and lies. I enjoyed reading about people I would thoroughly dislike in real life. However, they were all so terrible that I wonder how they even managed to stay together all these years and why they agreed to this reunion event.

I didn't like the writing style. It was very clunky and about halfway through I started to highlight phrases that pulled me out of the immersion. This and the missed opportunities to add depth to the characters and the setting are why it only ended up being about a 3 star read for me.

This review is also on Goodreads and Storygraph.

This is a book that once I picked up, it totally consumed me. I ended up reading it in one evening as I was so absorbed by what was in front of me and I had to see how everything was going to end… An absolute must-read!

Hence the title, this book is about a reunion of six friends at a beautiful villa in France. Many of them had not seen each other for twenty years, and it was quickly revealed that there was lots of drama and secrets under the surface.

In the best way, I think it is always impressive when an author can write characters that truly annoy me. Leah Mercer did just that with several of the main characters in this book (particularly Vannie and Harry). The entire plot oozed with revelations and lies finally brought to light. There were not any lulls in the story and it moved right along, which I appreciated. I guessed some of the plot twists but others caught me by surprise. Leah Mercer does a fantastic job of depicting complex dynamics and personalities in a fairly short book.

The only reason I did not rate this higher is because the plot and conflict itself were not particularly compelling to me, personally. But overall, it is a fast-paced and easy read, so if you are in the market for a mystery that will keep you on your toes, you'll enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC.

This book was full of twists and it felt like a domino effect of one after the other! Everyone is hiding some sort of secret and once it starts to come out, everything falls apart! What was meant to be a fun reunion for a group of friends ends up with 2 trapped in a cellar during a storm and everyone else trying to get them out while hiding more secrets. This was a great page turner and I was glued. A lot of powerful messages here and a great story!

This was a real page turner!! So many secrets and lies. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book

Started and finished this in one day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in a holiday villa, the author introduces the reader to friends from university meeting up 20 years on, at the same villa they were last all together.

The events of the past have shaped the lives of those staying at the villa and it doesn’t take long for the guests to become aware that there may be tension and danger ahead.

Good writing, particularly the start which I found gripping. The characters are both likeable and detestable where the author wanted them to be. I enjoyed the plot and found it an interesting twist on a thriller and it certainly kept my attention.

Would recommend this as a good holiday read and for those who enjoy a thriller . Good pace and I enjoyed the ending.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Six friends- or are they- on a vacation in France finally spill secrets they've been holding for 20 years. And two of them must cope with being locked in a flooded wine cellar. The plot line isn't new but Mercer has created some nicely icky people. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read for travel or the beach.

The Summer Reunion is a great book! Lots going on with so many secrets from all the characters, I really enjoyed it. Especially the suspense aspect! It definitely kept me guessing what was going to happen.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Summer Reunion’ written by Leah Mercer in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

‘The Summer Reunion’ tells of a group of six friends who arrange to meet up at the villa in France where twenty years ago they celebrated the end of their university education. Initially they appear to be close friends having a long-overdue reunion but the longer two of their party stay locked in the rapidly flooding wine cellar the more secrets and lies are discovered and the jealousy and disloyalty threatens to implode their relationships.

This is an involving dramatic thriller that’s kept my interest in the characters and the reasons behind two of them being trapped in the wine cellar. With a raging storm limiting what they can do and most of the characters having their own agendas, of the six I felt that Ellie was the only one I could trust to tell the truth although she too had her own secret. This has been a relatively quick read that I finished in a day and although maybe not my favourite by Ms Mercer it’s a well-written suspenseful thriller that’ll have you guessing right up to the final chapter.

This psychological thriller has so many twists and turns that kept me engaged until the very end. The suspense and anticipation leading up to the big reveal kept me at the edge of my seat.

The characters weren’t very likeable but the unraveling and the big secret finally coming out was actually fun to read, who doesn’t enjoy some friend and family drama right?

3.75 ★

Thank you Leah Mercer, Bookouture & NetGalley for an e-ARC copy.

#TheSummerReunion #NetGalley

A group of college friends gather for a long weekend in France for a reunion 2o years after they took the same trip for graduation. On the surface they seem to have been close friends and classmates but as the story moves on told from the varying perspectives of the female roommates we learn of simmering feuds. jealousy and anger among the group. Although there are two sets of couples among the group, it becomes increasingly obvious there are signs of anger, secrets and even infidelity. As storm thrashes the country side, two people are locked into a underground wine cellar. As the storm rages outside, we see the how those on the outside begin to unravel as long hidden secrets begin to come to light and dangerous plans are laid.

This was a great thriller and was a quick read! It would be perfect to read lounging around the pool.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Summer Reunion will definitely have readers hooked and ready to keep reading even after you tell yourself, "This is my last chapter tonight." This is a story of a group of very complicated friends with lots of secrets, lies and misinformation between them. Just when you think you have someone figured out, you're proven wrong and left wondering, WHAT THE HECK!! While I was absolutely intruded with the plot and story line, I personally had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and didn't really ever develop that attachment to any of them that I look for in a book. I would put this book on your list if you're a fan of suspense thrillers that will keep you guessing!

Six friends on holiday, reuniting after years apart and trying to rekindle the friendships of old. It will be a weekend of reminiscing, fun and laughter as the friends and their families reconnect. But it’s also a weekend of secrets, some they thought were long buried. With a raging storm, they are cut off from the rest of the village but with the wine flowing, will the secrets stay hidden? It’s a great psychological thriller with some good twists thrown in. The plot moves at pace and keeps you entertained to the end. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Summer Reunion by Leah Mercer due to be published September 6, 2024.
Old friends reunite at a beautiful villa in France for a weekend away. All of them, it seems, have secrets they are keeping. A huge storm sets in, people are locked in cellars, and others are missing – not the beautiful weekend they all imagined. But are they safe from outsiders and each other?
So many secrets, lies, and twists in this one it was hard to keep up. Seems like every friend, husband, wife, daughter, sister, had secrets that they were hiding from someone. It was wonderful to see how it played out in the end – kept me enthralled and on the edge of my seat!
A great thriller from Leah Mercer!
#NetGalley #LeahMercer #Bookouture #TheSummerReunion

My first book by Leah Mercer and what a read it was….. 5 star rating!!

Ellie decides to invite her old university friends for a summer weekend reunion in a villa they rented 20 years prior when celebrating finishing university. Ellie is now married to Safet who she met while at university, and they have a 14 year old daughter, Victoria and their soon to be adopted son, 9 year old Ahmed. Jules and Harry arrive, who were also dating at university and are also now married, with Harry’s twin girls, who were a product of Harry having an affair, and Jules is desperately trying to parent her two stubborn 15 year old step daughters. Lastly Vannie arrives with her girlfriend Nicola who she met recently. Despite their old friend, Frederick, telling Ellie he wouldn’t be able to make it, he also turns up, much to Jules’s dismay, as the last time they saw each other was when he hot footed it out of her bed on the last night of the university finishing celebration without a single word or backward glance. On the face of it everyone is excited to catch up with each other and see how their lives have turned out, but when a storm hits the villa on the second day of the reunion, and then Ahmed goes missing, things dramatically change in the villa, and it isn’t just the weather that is volatile. When Ellie, Frederick and Jules go searching for Ahmed, Frederick and Jules find themselves locked into the villa’s wine cellar and Ellie and Vannie are desperate to find the key as the torrential rain has caused floods and water off the nearby fields is pouring into the cellar where Frederick and Jules are trapped. Whilst this is all going on Jules and Harrys daughter, Ivy, turns up to the villa with a huge secret of her own and is also frantic to get her mum out of danger. As the storm shows no sign of abating and the water level in the cellar continues to rise, every person at the villa seems to have secrets and lies which are starting to unravel. Will Jules and Frederick be able to be saved? And if so, with everything finally out in the open, everyone will be leading dramatically different lives to what they were when they arrived at the villa for the reunion.

This was such a good read. I have to admit that the beginning was a little slow, but I understand it was scene setting and it didn’t take long for me to be hooked. I can honestly say I didn’t really like any of the characters, two were particularly abhorrent, however this dislike didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the storyline. I loved the different point of views, and I stayed up way too late on a good few nights as I was finding it difficult to put the book down!

Overall, a fantastic, twisted web of lies and deceit and wholly deserving of a 5 star rating. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers and look forward to seeing what Leah Mercer writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Leah Mercer and Bookouture for my advanced reading copy. Out 6th September 2024.

When Ellie plans a small reunion with some of her college friends and their families, everyone thinks the weekend will be just what they need - some relaxing time away from the stresses of their every day lives, relationships, and work. But the villa where the friends return to is the same place where life changing lies and secrets were buried 20 years ago. And some will do whatever it takes to make sure their secrets don't come to light.

At first, everything is fine, a little tension here and there, but then Frederick appears, throwing fuel on the fire because some people don't want him there. He has recently discovered some shocking news and he needs to sort it out, but the one person who can help him clarify the situation, Jules, wants nothing to do with him. Jules' best friend Vannie, who has been like a sister to Jules, has also been keeping secrets and is trying to figure out how to keep them from coming to light, knowing the truth will destroy everything.

When a storm hits and Jules and Frederick are trapped in an underground wine cellar, the race is on to free them - while someone would rather they stay locked inside and drown as the storm water begins filling the cellar.

How far will the guests go to keep their secrets from coming out? With a tangled web of lies, deceit, and blackmail, this was a fun summer read. Some of the plot was predictable but other times I was surprised. The characters were developed well and the writing made me feel badly for some and hate others.

Overall it was an enjoyable read.

I received and ARC copy of The Summer Reunion in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to Bookouture for access to this ARC. #TheSummerReunion #NetGalley