Another fabulous read by Leah Mercer! This one is FULL of secrets. Friends, vacation, and secrets…3 of my favorite things included in one book. There are tons of twists and so much drama. This one is definitely a page turner!


Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC in exchange for my review.

Set in a villa in France, six friends reunite in the exact location after twenty years. How much had they changed?

This book had plenty of twists, ulterior motives, and drama. I was glued to the virtual pages.

I love Leah Mercer's writing style and have read many of her books. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Friends go on a Summer reunion to the same villa they were at 20 years ago. The secrets and lies that unfolded back then are being brought to light this Summer. This was a page turner and kept me wanting more through the whole book! As things started to unravel I thought the drama couldn’t get any worse for these friends but I was so wrong. I definitely recommend reading this one!! This book has family and friend drama with twist you will never see coming. Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Summer Reunion.

A solid 3 star read, more of a family drama than a thriller.
A lot of characters to keep track but kept my interest.

This is an exciting and engrossing read, about a group of college friends who get together for a reunion at a winery. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for starters you might get stuck in a cellar with the one person whom you don't want to see at this reunion, who shows up as an unexpected (and, to you, decidedly unwelcome) guest!

For another thing, that long-delayed clearing of the air may result in the throwing up some even more unwelcome possibilities for you to face when it comes to the people whom you consider your nearest and dearest...

Leah Mercer delivers a compelling take on a somewhat familiar trope, effortlessly holding the reader's interest. Check this one out if you enjoy a good thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this book, with my honest review below.

The Summer Reunion transports you to a winery as the setting of a college reunion for close friends - but naturally everyone is hiding some secrets, and the appearance of a long lost friend who wasn’t expected is going to blow up some of the oldest ones. The tension of course sucks you in right away given this book isn’t shy about layering in some ominous undertones from the jump. My takeaways were that I’d most definitely carry a grudge if I find out one of my closest friends did to me what one did to her bestie.

All that said, with a great setting to work with Leah Mercer takes full advantage of the close quarters and tensions and develops her characters so that readers have intense dislikes for many while others remain a mystery. When she expertly adds in urgency with two characters trapped, some of the more subtle story lines come to the forefront and the mysteries take a turn for life and death.

I enjoyed every minute of this, including some red herrings that were thrown in. While I did wish some of the story lines weren’t thrown in as towards the end they took away from the main mystery, they all did leave me thoroughly engaged and I feel other thriller lovers will also find themselves equally absorbed by this book.

Wow! This book starts slow and deliberate as we meet each character heading for their twentieth university reunion and I could not help but wonder where this story was actually heading.
THEN--Suddenly I felt as if I was on a zip line!
The plot thickened and the drama became intense!
The twists and turns are incredible and there is never a dull moment as I read quickly to see how this was all going to play out.
If you enjoy psychological, hair raising novels, then this is definitely a must read! You will love it!

Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Bookouture for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.

The more I read thrillers about friends from high school or college getting together years later, the more I am convinced that going to a reunion is a terrible idea. Too many old secrets that should have been left where they belong, in the past. However, when six college friends plan a reunion, each person’s luggage must not have had any room left for clothes. Every one of those suitcases was packed with so many secrets and lies.
Ellie and Saret were college sweethearts who married and have 2 children. But Ellie’s secret might break up their happy family. Jules and Harry were also a couple, but she settled for marrying him when someone else abandoned her. Frederick shows up, and Ellie is the only one happy to see him. Vannie does not have a partner from college. What she has though are manipulative secrets and lies. If they are exposed, let us just say that she might become someone who is loathed by all.
A terrible storm, two people locked in a cellar with water pouring in, and enough red herrings to make me think that everyone was guilty of something. A page turner, as I tried to figure out who did what before the author reveals.

First off, I think the cover is misleading. I expected this nice beach vacation with a lot of sun and that is not what happened. None of these characters is very likeable. They are all hiding secrets from each other; some even want to kill the others. They were selfish as teenagers and they are still selfish to this day. Also very naïve that none of these things came out before?? Plus, why is everyone so obsessed with Jules!?!? These people are not friends. They will throw anyone, even their spouse and children under the bus. The book was good. It def held my attention. I just didn't find anyone real believable or anything.

I was absolutely glued to this book. Heart pounding, constantly guessing who did what. The twists and turns were crazy! I had to know what happened.

This was an absolutely rollicking rollercoaster of a read - so much so that I devoured it within a day! I absolutely love the concept of novels about groups of friends who are probably still friends but more like acquaintances (or are just friends simply because as someone says in the book, University makes bonds for life). Chuck in a villa in France - bubbling with secrets from a trip 20 some years previous and you’ve got a corker of a novel.

Leah Mercer is one of my favourite authors, I love her books and she writes so well! This was an endlessly fascinating novel with so many different strands to it and characters that, honestly, weren’t the best (as in the best people) but it was still addictive and enjoyable.

This was such a good novel and I think it’s going to be a huge, huge hit. Leah Mercer never lets you down and is always a fab read.

This book is filled with twists and turns into the very end. It definitely an easy, easy fun summary! It is essentially a locked in mystery with flashback to the college days. Quickly, we learned that nothing is as it seems for the characters and one cannot guess what their true motivations are. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

Well written drama and a decent storyline.
A huge cast of characters which i found a little daunting to start with.
Great read for the beach.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Ellie organises a reunion at a villa with five friends she hasn't seen since university 20 years ago. As long-kept secrets are revealed, relationships are tested.

I didn't like any of the characters as they were spineless and/or had evil intentions, and it was odd that they would agree to a reunion when none of them seemed to like each other. However, I did enjoy the drama, secret spilling and the ending.

Quick summer read. A great book to read at the beach with plenty of twists and turns. Looking forward to more by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, Bookouture and Leah Mercer for this ARC.

I finished this book in one sitting, I have mixed feelings, it was good yet some parts were so unbelievable that I had to question what I was reading. The book kept my interest because each character had a secret and I had to know what their secrets were or I probably would have given up on it.

Let's talk about the characters, they were each annoying from the adults to the children. Well there was one child, Ahmed who had a reason to behave the way that he did and the others are typical teenagers. The adults on the other hand were just plain selfish! Each had their own secret with their own selfish motive. I mean I know we all have secrets and a reason for them, but this was a group of selfish people and their secrets had a negative negative impact on other's lives. Vannie and Henry were just evil people in my opinion, Jules was too dependent on Vannie and clueless as can be. A woman is coming to tell me that my husband got her pregnant, I would not be offering to give her child support, I would be demanding a DNA test! Ellie just seemed to be an insecure and jealous person and her poor husband, Safet was caught up in this mess. I think he may have been the only character that I somewhat liked.

That covers my thoughts on the characters, now let's talk plot. Interesting plot idea but too much going on and as i stated it, a lot of this book was so unbelievable. Interesting but unbelievable. There were parts that just made no sense and I would have given up if I wasn't so nosey and wanted to know what the secrets were.

This book is exactly why I don’t like school reunions things are never the same if you all meet up years later and trying to recreate old college holidays that you are seeing through rose tinted glasses is never going to work. In this book that’s what they are trying to do but all of these old friends are keeping secrets that no one expects and when an unexpected and unwanted guest arrives the truth about a lie so big it’s unforgivable could be about to spill out and destroy lies. This will keep you on the edge of your seat and is a great read for by the pool on your holidays.

This was a great thriller, full of drama.

It took me a little bit to get into it simply because there was a lot of characters all at once so for me personally it was hard to keep track of who was who.

Once I got into it I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
This is my first book I have read by Leah Mercer and will definitely be checking more out from them

I love this author’s thrillers; they’re extremely well-written with brilliant plots. I’m always gripped to the very last page.

A Uni friendship group goes to a villa in France for a weekend, but it’s not the first time they’ve been there. They were all there 20 years ago when they had a short break to mark the end of their studies. Ellie arranges the reunion trip and she’s there with her husband, Safet, and children, Victoria and Ahmed. Jules and her husband Harry have a daughter back home but Harry’s twin daughters from a fling are with them. Vannie has her girlfriend of 6 months, Nicola, with her and the only one missing is Frederick. There was mystery surrounding Frederick’s sudden departure from the first French holiday.

The weekend gets off to a good start but then they’re all surprised, especially Jules, when Frederick turns up. He goes with Jules to fetch some wine from an outside wine cellar but the door shuts behind them and it seems to be locked. This marks the start of the various secrets coming to light, and it seems as though none of the group can really trust each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Wow this one is a real-page turner, which will make your heart race. The SECRETS, DRAMA, and ULTERIOR motives will keep you thoroughly entertained.

When six friends get together for a reunion, drama unfolds. They have returned to a French villa. A couple who once had a thing get trapped in a wine cellar. Was this intentional or something more sinister? What secrets come out between the friends. Along with couples their children are part of the reunion.
Ellie and Safet have a daughter Victoria (14) and Ahmend (11) who was adopted from Syria. Jules and Harry have 15-year-old twins and another daughter Ivy. Another couple is Vannie and Nicola. Frederick shops up even though in never RSVP. Tension as he has his own secrets with one of the friends. All of these couples have secrets and this holiday will be one no one will forget.