Ella Skye, a lifestyle journalist finds herself amidst crisis when she wakes up in a hospital and has forgotten all about her pregnancy. She has selectively forgotten everything about her 5-month long pregnancy and along with it, the memories of one other person- Nathan Donovan.

As she adjusts with this new normal, she gets another opportunity to interview Nathan, a celebrity and an adrenaline junkie with a painful story and a solitary existence. Ella is also nursing an almost broken marriage and a husband who knows more about this past of hers than he is letting her know.

‘Last Summer’ is one of those thrillers you might predict but will want to continue reading. The writing is engaging and Ella (the journalist who would do anything to get her story including getting between the sheets with her client), Nathan (who is trying to find hope and love), and Damian (who just wants to protect his family and raise kids with his beautiful and ambitious wife) are characters you’ll come to either love or hate. Their individual journey as a character develops along with the plot, turning it into an intense and nail-biting read. The mystery unfolds slowly and then all at once, giving us very little time to collect our thoughts. The ending was equally satisfactory, leaving behind an air of dread and mystery. It is also extremely atmospheric, and according to me, perfect for your weekend binge.

This is a twisting story of love, passion, loss, hurt, betrayal and deception.

Just as you think you know where the story is going and start to form your opinions of Ella, Damien & Nathan, Kerry Lonsdale takes it in an unexpected direction right until the very end.

A great book to kick back & relax on a sun lounger with, you will struggle to put it down.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley and the Publishers in return for my honest review.

DECEPTION!

In her latest novel, Kerry Lonsdale writes about a wealthy, power couple who live in San Francisco but also have a flat in London. Each comes from a dysfunctional family. They married quickly after meeting and really didn’t spend much time getting to know one another. Their marriage seems to be based mainly around their sexual relationship. They only discussed having children after they were married. She wants them; he doesn’t. He’s harboring a secret that cost him his first marriage. Deception takes place in their careers so of course it takes place in their marriage. Difficult to tell which came deception came first. Before long marriage/work deception lines have tightly intertwined. Lonsdale adds an element of deeper deception that will surprise you and make you question everything you thought you knew about the couple ... until the conclusion and then you will be STUNNED!

I have read all of Lonsdale’s other novels. This one did not appeal to me as much as it deals more with the absolute depravity of the human heart. I was provided an ARC of this novel by Lake Union Publishers and NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.

**THIS BOOK CON TAINS ADULT LANGUAGE & ADULT SITUATIONS!**

It’s been a while since I read a psych thriller like Last Summer and I enjoyed it. It was devious, a bit steamy and I couldn’t put it down as I was eager to find out what happened to the main characters! A definite pool/beach read!

Thank you so much to Amazon Publishing and Little Bird Publicity for the free copy of this book for my review.

This book held so much potential for me and I was honestly excited to read it. I was a little confused by the cover as I did not read the synopsis before diving in and assumed it was a summer read full of fluff and romance judging by the cover (I know you’re not supposed to do that) but boy was I wrong.

The story follows Ella who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident and discovers that she lost the baby. The only problem is Ella doesn’t remember being pregnant or carrying a child for 21 weeks. Desperate to return to her normal life she takes on a cover story that never went to print the year prior and discovers she doesn’t remember anything about the guy she’s interviewing, Nathan Donovan. She doesn’t understand why she can’t remember her pregnancy or him and starts to try and figure out how the two are connected.

I was having a great time reading this book until about 75% of the way through, even though I really despised Ella’s husband Damien and how he treated her. Reading about how Ella was trying to recover her memories intrigued me and I felt that I really connected to her character and what she was going through. But then I got to the ending of the book and it all was ruined for me.

*SPOILER WARNING*

When it was finally revealed at the ending that Damien was sterile and the baby was actually Nathans I was not really surprised but I had a feeling that was the case since she had an affair with Nathan. The thing that really surprised me was that Damien was perfectly fine with it because he loved Ella so much and it killed him not being able to give Ella a baby.

Then he revealed to Ella that it was planned all along. She had agreed to sleep with Nathan who looked like Damien and they would just pass the baby off as Damien’s. So she purposely took the exclusive story and slept with Nathan only to get pregnant. When she lost the baby, they agreed she would use what she had learned from a neurological doctor that taught her how to repress memories that she didn’t want. Which meant forgetting that she was pregnant, forgetting about the affair with Nathan, and forgetting that Damien was sterile. I assumed, wow, this is the big plot twist and I really didn’t see it coming, I was honestly a little blown away. But I also thought in my head, there are still quite a few pages left so what could really be happening next?

Lo and behold, another plot twist, and this is where the book went south for me. Now all of a sudden it’s revealed that Damien lied to Ella. When Ella slept with Nathan to get pregnant she fell in love with him and after hearing about his dead son, she didn’t think she could deceive him like that. So Damien, not wanting to lose the kid, decides to take matters into his own hands and uses Ella’s “code” to help her forget that she had already cheated on him once with Nathan. But what Damien doesn’t know is that Ella has been in touch with the neurological doctor to help her remember all the memories that she lost, including the ones Damien wants her to forget.

And that is how the book is now getting a sequel that I will probably not be reading.

I hate to admit this, but I almost gave up on this one. It was feeling predictable and cliche, but I am so happy that I stuck with it! I have enjoyed Kerry Lonsdale's previous novels, so I was really excited to receive a copy to read and review. The author does a great job of writing characters you can cheer for and be frustrated with all at the same time. It's not a perfect book, but it's a great story that I would recommend you pick up this summer. If you enjoy it, I'd explore the authors backlist titles as well!

LAST SUMMER by Kerry Lonsdale

I love this author. Her books always blow me away. They take my breathe away and leave me wanting more. Her writing is flawless in my opinion. The stories always pull me in and won’t let go. Even after I finish the book I want more. The edge of my seat feeling. The what is going to happen next. The trust. Honesty and even the lies. It pulls me in totally and it will you also.

Ella and Damien are so in love that it’s almost sickening. Not in a gross or bad way but in the way of complete and true love. Or is it? Are there secrets in there that they are keeping. The met and fell in love rather quickly so do they truly know each other as well as they think?

What would you do to have a baby? What would yo do if you lost said baby? Would you be angry at your spouse for possibly causing you to lose this child. What if you can’t remember it at all. Not anything about being pregnant or what happened to make you lose your baby. You can’t grieve because you have no memories of it at all.

What if you thought you was in love with someone else? What if that person was not who you thought they were? What if your whole life was based on guilt? From losing your parents to losing your best friend. What if you felt that king of guilt. What would you do to forget about it. To make it all go away? Almost anything I would suspect. But then what if your life was based on things that were not honestly true? Then what would you do?

This is one of the best books you will read. It will keep you turning the pages until every question is answered. Until that very last page when you scratch your head and say.... What??? Did I read that right? It’s a great book. I truly loved it from cover to cover. It held my interest all the way. I kept wanting more and more.

The characters are likable. They are well developed and you won’t know who to root for in some areas. It’s one that makes you doubt things you always believed in. Or it did me. The what if’s will come after all the truths are out there for you. When you find out why things happened and who made them happen. You’ll be floored. I sure was. Kerry Lonsdale has another winner here and I can’t wait for her next one.

A 5+ stars.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Lake Union Publishers for the ARC of this wonderful book.

We all have authors we go to for a good story with great characters, that we can count on regardless of what kind of life we are living that day. Kerry Lonsdale is one of mine and she delivers again with LAST SUMMER. This story of Ella, Damien, and Nathan is awesome and shows off Lonsdale’s skills with creating characters you both love and hate. The plot has the twists a suspense should have while never having them seem forced. Just when you say “wow” to yourself, you realize she isn’t done telling the story. I loved every sentence and it was worth my productivity taking a hit since I read it one day!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel and to Kerry for writing it. All opinions are my own.

It was extremely difficult for me to decide upon a rating for Kerry Lonsdale’s Last Summer. It was a book that had me hooked, one I powered through in no time at all, but it was a bit too predictable for my liking. As much as I enjoyed watching everything come together, I worked out almost every detail very early in the story.

I can easily see Last Summer becoming a favourite of fans of suspenseful drama, the kind of books I refer to as domestic thrillers, as it’s a story built upon lies and deceit that slowly come to light. It’s a story filled with uncertainly, we watch as the main character slowly puts the pieces together, which works to explain the drama at the start of the book. It’s a story that plays out the exact way domestic thrillers should, ensuring you’ll be hooked throughout.

The fact I was hooked and enjoying things had me wanting to give this one a four-star rating. I could not put the book down and powered through it in a single sitting. Things happened rapidly and there was plenty of aspects to enjoy, and I adored this fact. As I mentioned at the start of my review, however, I worked everything out far too easily. There was one little surprise at the very end of the story, one thing that took it a step beyond what I’d expected, but otherwise I’d worked it out. It was fun, I enjoyed seeing the way everything came together, but I’d been hoping for more that just the one surprise. This is why I rounded my three-point-five-star rating down.

Despite the predictability, I did have a lot of fun with this one and would recommend it to fans of the genre. It’s certainly a story that hooks you, one that is a lot of fun.

Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale is a mystery wrapped in a love story. From the start you are drawn in.
Ella and Damien mean everything to each other until a tragic accident turns their world upside down. Can two people be so much in love that the past doesn’t matter? Can you love someone so much that you will manipulate them? Is honesty in a relationship important? The are the questions that ran through my mind as I read.
There are many twists and turns throughout the story. I thought I knew what was going on - but I was wrong. I was very surprised by the ending.
The story is so well written you don’t see what’s coming next. The characters and their relationships are so complex that the action of the characters colored the way I reacted.
I highly recommend this book. It has everything, love, mystery and suspense.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #LakeUnionPublishing for approving my request. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

I must admit that I am still a bit uncertain regarding my feelings for this story.
It started off with a heartbreaking chapters and I felt sad for both Elle and Damien. I did read it in one sitting because the writing is good and the story was interesting enough to make me keep reading and finding what's happening next, what happened when everything started. Along with Ella, we found out that some truths are better kept secrets and I understand better why Damien refuses to talk about what happened and why is she blocking her memories.
There are things that I don't agree with like her time spent with Nathan but I think it was necessary for the whole story to add that present moment and angst and twists and turns that once again proved that nobody it's perfect and we all make mistakes and take decisions,not so good on the long run but good for us in the moment or so we think of it.
Both Nathan and Damien are interesting male characters, different in their own as a person and also in their beliefs and what's more important for them in life.
I'll be looking for more books by the author for sure.

Ella wakes up in the hospital after a car accident, 5 days later she remembers nothing about being pregnant and nothing about the accident. The husband, Damien, wouldn’t answer her questions. Her work assignment, Nathan, has his own story to tell about them. There is so much going on, yet it comes together perfectly.

I read this book in a state of shock. There are so many things that made my jaw drop, made me wonder what the characters were thinking, and how the heck would this story end. I’m not sure any of the characters had an idea of how their actions would affect each other. If they did it didn’t seem that they cared. I’m not even sure they knew how their actions would affect themselves. It is scary that all three of the main characters had the potential to become parents and they would be responsible for another person.
Last Summer is a book that I enjoyed, I was intrigued by the suspense of how it would all come together. The characters were tough to relate to, the storyline was easy to read although it was sometimes a little confusing, and the ending left me shaking my head.

Loved it!!!! I have read all of Kerry Lonsdale's books and this is my new favorite. This book had so many twists and turns that I didn't expect. Loved the story, characters and writing style. I have mixed feelings about Ella. While Ella was in Alaska, I realized I pretty much hated her. Then I felt sorry for her. I have no words for Damien, actually I do, but they aren't nice. There were so many secrets. When I finally thought the truth was revealed-- more secrets. Loved every minute of this book. I loved being along for the ride as Ella tried to recovering her missing memories. I feel bad for Nathan. he definitely ended up being one of my favorites along with Andrew.

Definitely recommend the book. Was not expecting the ending but it was brilliant!!! None of the characters were what they seemed. It definitely caught me off guard. Can't wait to read more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Happy Publication Day to Kerry Lonsdale for Last Summer! I’ve read and loved all of Lonsdale’s novels and her latest definitely follows suit. The stories Lonsdale writes always have a good mix of love, intimacy, the intricacies of domestic relationships and a good dose of mystery. Women’s fiction with a bang! There’s always a little excitement. Last Summer does not disappoint! The main character, Ella, wakes up in the hospital after a car accident and suffers from selective memory loss. She doesn’t remember the accident itself, her pregnancy or anything that happened in her life the previous summer. The reader follows Ella on her journey from Nevada to Alaska as she tries to put all of the pieces together and get her memories back. It’s a wild and twisty ride filled with tons of secrets and lies. Highly entertaining! Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing and Lake Union Publishing for sending a complimentary copy of this wonderful summer read my way. Grab your copy today!

Wow. I flew through this book. I picked it up, read the first couple chapters and was intrigued by this story of relationships and memory loss. I almost immediately had slight Dark Matter vibes, in that Ella was missing memories and I was sure something sinister had happened to her. I was right along with Ella wanting to know why her memories were missing and what happened.

My favorite surprise in this book was all the nature. The celebrity Ella is tasked with interviewing is Nathan Donovan, an outdoor enthusiast who is basically Bear Grills. I loved seeing them on hikes, shopping for gear, and planning a trip while working on the interview. The settings for Nathan’s house and work were picture perfect and I welcomed this part of the story. I also really enjoyed how his character was developed, he was easily my favorite part of the whole story.

I appreciated the balance of romance and something like light sci-fi mystery with a hint of suspense. I tore through the pages wanting to know what happened next, and welcomed the twists in the end. I knew something was up from the beginning, but the medium pace kept me interested, looking for clues, and hoping my hunch was right. I’m a fan of romance novels, both rom-com and romantic thrillers, so this was a fun read for me. I definitely need more romantic thrillers in my life after enjoying this one so much.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romantic thrillers that have relatable lead characters. This is an easy, fast paced read that’s perfect for any summer TBR. I think readers would enjoy having this on deck for a beach read, relaxing by the pool, or during vacation travel.

I have been a fan of Kerry Lonsdale writing since the beginning. I have always found her books to be entertaining. Last Summer does not disappoint.

Usually I like to be able to relate with the characters. I could not at all understand how or why Ella or Damien behaved in the way that they did or made the majority of the decisions that they made. I could not relate to them in any way. But with that being said, I did enjoy this book very much. Several times I thought I knew what direction Lonsdale was going and she would pull the rug out from under me. I am not how sure how Lonsdale was able to do that twice to me as a reader.

This was an enjoyable book that I was able to read very quickly and easily. Once again, Lonsdale didn't disappoint.

Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale is an entertaining summer read in which you are drawn into a story about the uncontrollable and rippled effect of lies and deceit.

I admit to being a bit disappointed in the over-used plot of a young woman (in this case, Ella Skye) awakening in a hospital following an accident to find herself with amnesia and a husband (Damien)who seems to be hiding something from her. However, Lonsdale keeps the reader interested with believable characters, well-written dialogues, curiosity about what's really going on, some pretty steamy scenes and an ending that made me feel as if a bomb had just gone off - KA-BOOM!!!!!! Say WHAT!?!?!?!?!

My thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Kerry Lonsdale for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.

What a mindbender!! Kerry Lonsdale has been recommended to me over and over and I have a few of her books in my cloud but I've just not yet pulled the trigger. This book has me wanting to just read nothing else. If Last Summer is anything to go by, I'll have my mind blown over and over again. Yes...it ends on a bit of a cliffy but the story could easily stand on it's own....unless you want to find out "the rest of the story". All I know is everything I thought, everything I guessed, everything I prayed to be true or false...none of it was what I expected or deduced or surmised. I was happily going along thinking one thing, the track veered sharply and I was already shaking my head with what the hell going through my mind...and then bam...off a cliff I went....in what is for me...the best of ways. There is so much I could say but the last thing I want to do is ruin the ride for someone else. The love between Damien and Ella is an absolutely heartbreaking but amazing journey that will have you wondering if you even read what you thought you read. I need so much more Ms. Lonsdale now...

Last Summer is a gripping tale of a woman with selective amnesia and the path she takes to recover her missing memories. And at the crux of it all is what happened last summer.

Ella wakes up in the hospital after a terrible car accident that caused her to miscarriage her son, with no memory of having been pregnant. There is a distance between Ella and her husband, Damien, and she can’t figure out why. He won’t tell her what led to the fight they had the night before her accident, or anything about her pregnancy. He’s devastated by the loss of their son, but Ella can’t figure out why since he didn’t want children.

When Ella gets called on assignment to take another crack at a celeb profile on adventurer Nathan, she jumps at the chance since she spent last summer with him. Why doesn’t she remember any of it? Who is Nathan to her? Why is he so familiar to her? Is Ella better off not remembering what happened last summer?

The story of these three characters was so interesting and unlike anything I’ve read before. Was Ella in love with Nathan? Did Damien know? As the story unfolded, I felt the pain of all three characters. Nathan’s grief over the death of his son and the guilt he carried. Ella for betraying her husband. Damien for losing his wife. Nathan for losing Ella a second time. I found it all fascinating.

So why three stars?? The last 15% was brutal. What was that ending? This story was completely gripping and had me enthralled.... up until the last few chapters. Then I kind of felt a bit disgusted by Ella and Damien’s actions and manipulations and the ending did not sit well with me at all.

Last Summer is definitely an entertaining read, but I can’t say that I was satisfied by the way the story wrapped up. I received an advanced copy via the publisher and NetGalley and voluntarily left a review.

How far would you go to get what you want? Would you go so far as erasing your memories to get what you've dreamed of since being a little girl?

Wow this book is amazing the secrets, lies and betrayal had me gripped since page one. I devoured this book it was fast paced and an excellent read with a storyline that was easy to follow. It all starts with a tragic event of Ella the journalist's car accident where she suffered placental abruption losing her 21 week old son Simon. Ella then suffers amnesia and can't remember anything to do with her pregnancy. She then gets a call from her boss that Nathan Donavan is asking to give her his exclusive interview again but only for Ella. The only problem is Ella can't remember the 5 days they said she interviewed him before and can't find any transcripts on her computer. She decides to go to meet Nathan against her husband's wishes hoping to find the lost memories. Does Ella find the answers she's hoping to find. Will her marriage survive the accident, amnesia and trip to see Nathan. You'll have to pick up the book because that ending holy moly this story is a ride. I am now anxiously awaiting side trip coming out summer 2020. I can't wait to see where Ella, Grace, Damien and Nathan's journey goes next.


I loved Ella as a character. I felt her pain and confusion in everything that happened. At the end i felt heartbreak for Nathan and what he had gone through not once but twice. Damien well he's conniving and conceiving and i really liked how their stories were all connected. I would of loved to see this book told from multiple points of view. However it was an excellent read full of plot twists that i would highly recommend you pick up this summer.

I would like to thank Lake Union Publishing and netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

You can also find my review on my Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/BzooZ8pgNL0/ and goodreads