Review: Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale

Title: Last Summer

Author: Kerry Lonsdale

Published: July 2019, Lake Union Publishing

Format: ARC Paperback, 302 pages

Source: Publisher via Little Bird Publicity

Summary: 

From the Amazon
Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Everything
series comes a new novel of love, lies, and deceit.

Lifestyle
journalist Ella Skye remembers every celebrity she interviewed, every
politician she charmed between the sheets, and every socialite who eyed
her with envy. The chance meeting with her husband, Damien; their rapid
free fall into love; and their low-key, intimate wedding are all locked
in her memory. But what she can’t remember is the tragic car accident
that ripped her unborn child from her. Ella can’t even recall being
pregnant.

Hoping to find the memories of a lost pregnancy that’s
left her husband devastated and their home empty, Ella begins delving
into her past when she’s assigned an exclusive story about Nathan
Donovan, a retired celebrity adventurer who seems to know more about her
than she does him. To unravel the mystery of her selective memory loss,
Ella follows Nathan from the snowcapped Sierra Nevada to the frozen
slopes of southeast Alaska. There she discovers the people she trusts
most aren’t the only ones keeping secrets from her—she’s hiding them
from herself. Ella quickly learns that some truths are best left
forgotten.

My thoughts: Kerry Lonsdale is back with a stand-alone that will keep you hooked from start to finish. I have loved her previous books, including her Everything series, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to read this new book and I definitely was not disappointed.

I love books that delve into memory issues – there’s just something so intriguing about it and let me tell you, this one definitely plays with your mind and your emotions as you wonder just what happened to Ella. It pulls you right into the story and doesn’t let up. I love that there’s this underlying sense that not all is as it seems. This book is filled with secrets and lies and you become desperate to know just what is ultimately driving these characters.

This is an emotionally driven, psychological drama that drips with suspense and tension. I love that the characters are deeply flawed and relatable. I also loved that my opinions of the characters changed throughout the book. I was all over the place with how I felt about Ella, Damian, and Nathan. But to me, that just enhances my reading experience.

This book is steamy and intense. It gets dark and disturbing, but it’s so good. It’s a bit of a departure from Kerry’s previous books, but I definitely think it worked – and I’d love to see more of this kind of writing from her. It was a great, addictive read and I cannot wait to see what comes next from her. Do you have this book on your summer reading list?