Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC in return for my honest review.

This was a great book that kept me intrigued throughout. It was a new author to me and I was not left disappointed. She did fantastic with the development of characters, the storyline was great and the drama/twists were fantastic.

I would recommend this book and author. Look forward to reading more of her work soon.

This is my second book by S.E Lynes and this one also didn't disappoint I have a few more on my tbr by this author so I shall be bumping them up to be read sooner

You open the door to greet your old college friend Coco. She looks as beautiful as you remember until she sees your husband behind you and her faces shows horror. Your husband appears panicked also, but both pretend everything is fine.
I loved how Coco is such a monster behind a pretty facade, and how she so easily manipulates everything and everyone around her. Kate seems to be a pushover but you find out she's smarter than you think. Overall this was a great twisty read and kept me intrigued until the very end. I loved it and I definitely recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

We always want what we can't have, but be careful what you wish for..

Kate and Jeff are finally taking a holiday alone. Their baby bird is about to leave the nest, and Kate wants to work on their relationship. He's always consumed with work and she's always alone and feeling needy. She knows the first step is probably working on herself.

All of that goes out the window though, when she sees Coco Moss. You'd think it was a celebrity to hear Kate talking about her but Coco is just the cool girl from uni. She and Jeff both always wished they were in that crowd and looked at them with starry eyes.

Kate can't resist inviting Coco back to their villa to surprise Jeff and to show Coco how successful they are, but when Coco and Jeff lock eyes, Kate knows some sort of current is flowing between them. They say there isn't, but Kate will descend as far into madness as she needs to get to the truth.

This wine-soaked, tense domestic drama was very character-driven. They're built very cleverly and I enjoyed hearing from all sides as it is narrated by Kate, Jeff, and Coco. A perfect holiday read if you're up for a bit of thrill!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

If ever there's a cautionary tale which reinforces the saying "Be careful what you wish for" this would be it. With husband Jeff ploughing all his efforts into his career, and wife Kate setting up her own business in catering which she started from home while their daughter was growing up, their marriage has very much taken a backseat over the years. Kate is hoping a fortnight away at the villa they own in Spain will be the chance to press the reset button and get their relationship back on track. The prologue of this book tells us that Kate's hopes probably aren't going to be fulfilled, but which of the women featured in the book will prove to be the one running barefoot down the road remains to be seen.

The setting for this book is stunning, and the photographs featured on the author's social media pages recently really helped me set the scene in my head. The beaches, bars, and cafes are a perfect backdrop for Kate's planned holiday. Then as she strolls along the beach one day, Kate can't quite believe who she's seeing: one of the most popular students in her year group at Leeds University, the sassy Coco Moss, sitting with her family at a bar. Kate always craved to be part of Coco's clique of friends back in the day - maybe she can make that a reality now she and Jeff have a far more desirable lifestyle than they did back in Leeds?

Personally, I wanted to shake Kate as she tried her best to impress Coco. She seemed to revert back to a silly teenager trying to impress the cool kids at school - and Jeff wasn't much better either. Coco represents everything I dislike in people who seem to think they are better than others. They just make me prickle! We quickly see from the chapters written from Coco and Jeff's points of view that there are many layers to be peeled away in order to get to the truth of just who Coco Moss is, and how she coasts through life. I was silently screaming at Kate that she really would be better off in blissful ignorance and not getting involved, but that wouldn't make for the gritty story we are left with once the bomb goes off and all three of them are left picking up the pieces.

Was I happy with the ending? Hell, no! I was not impressed with where everyone ended up but I do love that the author has made me so mad! I'm genuinely looking forward to reading people's opinions on this book and how things pan out for the various characters. This could be an interesting choice for book clubs with its selection of moral dilemmas to discuss.

The people closest to you know exactly what you're trying to hide.

The hostess: Kate wants this holiday to be different. It's the first time in years it's just been her and her husband. A chance to walk along the beach, eat ice cream together in the bright Spanish sun, remind each other of why they fell in love. And what better way to start than inviting their glamorous university acquaintance Coco for a drink at their clifftop villa, with it's pristine pool.

The host: Jeff doesn't know why Kate's making such a big deal about their surprise visitor. But if it makes her happy, that's fine. He wants her to be happy. He'll never tell her what he did to ensure it....

The guest: when Coco steps from the dusty street into the cool tiled hall, she has an idea what she's about to see. As Jeff comes down the stairs, he freezes in horror.

One innocent invitation could cost everything.

So the best thing about this book was the location. It's summer, there's sun, a beach and a pool. Nothing like the cooling and relaxing sensation of water immersion. Everything else was blah.

I really don't know where to start with this review. I have read several Susie Lynes' thrillers and admittedly she IS a bit of a hit or miss author for me. But some have been so good while others are either average or a bit of a snorefest. My biggest issue with her books unfortunately is the slow pace she so often begins with. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time I spent the first 25% wanting to throttle Kate who at 53 years old should be long past the idolisation of someone who was a popular girl at university. She spent most of the time either gawking at her or trying to emulate everything about her when she wasn't stalking her. I wanted to leave her to her flights of fancy and go dive into the infinity pool I could just see myself in or dip my toes in the sandy surf of the beach. I just love water!

Basically, Kate and Jeff were love's young dream from their university days and Coco Moss was the popular girl who broke the rules and pushed the boundaries and did her own thing. She'd dye her hair pink and when others followed, she's swap to electric blue and then when they did the same, she'd go orange or bald or whatever. Coco Moss didn't care what others thought of her. And now three decades later, Kate has seen the still stunning Coco lounging beachside now with a couple of teenage children in tow. Kate abandons all other plans she and Jeff may have had and thus spends the afternoon gazing at her, studying her and her clothes then pops into town to purchase the very same outfit so she didn't look like the frump she actually was. She was so stoked at running to Coco and then inviting her to drinks at their villa, she couldn't see beyond that.

So when Coco walks into their villa the following evening she stops dead, a look of abject horror on her face. Kate turns and follows her gaze...where she sees Jeff descending the stairs, a similar expression on his face also. What's going on here that she's not getting?

But try as she might, Kate cannot get Jeff to reveal the truth about his and Coco's mirrored reactions of shock and horror at seeing the other after all these years. So what secrets are they hiding?

Quite honestly, by that stage I didn't much care. All they were doing was getting blindingly drunk and reminiscing about university days with no truth coming to light. And honestly, all three of them either made my skin crawl or I just loathed. No one was likeable and I didn't care what happened to them. I did, however, skip to the final three or four chapters to see how it ended and if any big reveal was to come. Yeah, it kind of did...but it didn't rock my world or make any huge difference. So therefore I don't feel as if I missed out on anything.

Overall, THE SUMMER HOLIDAY just didn't do it for me and I really hate leaving negative reviews. But unfortunately we can't like every book we read.

I would like to thank #SELynes, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheSummerHoliday in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

EXCERPT: People like me can't afford to not have options. We need a parachute, and we need to keep that parachute strapped to our backs at all times. There is no way, no way, I would do what Kate has done - put all my eggs in one basket, even a good solid basket like you. Seriously, I want to shake your wife by the shoulders and say, darling, you had time, you had so much time to find something and someone else just in case, but all you did was feel sorry for yourself and - and this is the worst - wait. All this waiting. And for what? For your husband to want to spend time with you? To change? To love you? And now, you're so miserable and lonely, probably desperate to leave, but you have no one to jump ship with and no life raft in the water. But I have - someone to jump ship with, I mean.
You, (name removed), are my emergency dinghy.

ABOUT 'THE SUMMER HOLIDAY': One loving couple. One surprise guest. One week to destroy everything…

When the doorbell rings, I take one last look round the villa. The nuts and olives are in bowls; the white wine is chilling in the fridge; everything is ready for my old college friend, the guest I’m dying to impress.

When I open the door, Coco steps from the dusty street into the cool tiled hall, as effortlessly beautiful as ever. But then her face freezes in horror, her mouth falling open. I turn to see my husband Jeff behind me, his eyes wide, his cheeks pale.

After a moment, they both smile, pretending nothing happened at all. But I know what I saw.

This holiday was meant to rescue my marriage, not ruin it.

But the connection between my friend and my husband isn’t what I thought.

All three of us have something to lose, and something to fight for.

And when the truth comes out, not all of us will survive…

MY THOUGHTS: I find it really difficult to believe that a fifty-something year old woman could still be in awe of someone she admired, but whom ignored her, at University all these years later. And this was a major stumbling block for me. Kate craves Coco's attention. She's like an over-eager pup, jumping up on Coco wanting to be patted. To make things worse, Kate is a whinger, and her whining about all the things she lacks in her very privileged life takes up a good portion of this book. She is an insecure whinger, and the other two main characters, her husband Jeff and Coco Moss, are equally as unlikable, each in their own way.

Okay, so ignoring the unlikable characters and the amount of time spent on Kate's whining, the actual storyline is okay. It's not great, but it's okay.

The major twist didn't surprise me at all, although a couple of the more minor ones did.

I know Ms Lynes is capable of writing a gripping read but, for me, she missed the mark with The Summer Holiday. This was an average read, just.

⭐⭐.5

#TheSummerHoliday #NetGalley

I: selynesauthor @bookouture

T: @SELynesAuthor @Bookouture

#contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama #psychologicaldrama

THE AUTHOR: After graduating from Leeds University, S E Lynes lived in London before moving to Aberdeen to be with her husband. In Aberdeen, she worked as a Radio Producer at the BBC before moving with her husband and two young children to Rome, where she lived for five years. There, she began to write while her children attended nursery. After the birth of her third child and upon her return to the UK, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University. She combines writing with teaching at Richmond Adult Community College and bringing up her three children in Teddington, Middlesex.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Summer Holiday by S.E. Lynes for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions

I was super excited to read The Summer Holiday as I love the previous book by S.E Lynes so much. This one fell a bit flat for me I think because I just did not like any of the characters. They all seemed a bit shallow and honestly just overall unlikeable! The story was good though and I enjoyed the description of the location of their holiday.

This was so freaking weird. Like um wtf did I just read. I loved it. I loved it so much. You know how I love to hate bad husbands? Well this guy takes the cake. He is the worst of the worst.
Were you ever obsessed with anyone in college? I have never been obsessed with anyone in this way but I suppose it is common. At first I was like "ugh look at this loser trying to attract the attention of someone they went to school with". Like one guy from my sociology class is a sports star now and literally good for him but I am not about to go out of my way to talk to him now. He wasn't even good at sociology.
So Kate is obsessed with this woman and she invites her home after dropping information about her money and property.
It gets more and more insane up until the end.
I want more of these.

Another fantastic read from S E Lynes.
This was very addictive reading and although I don’t think it’s the authors best, it was very good.

This latest psychological suspense thriller from Susie Lynes is a slow burner that turns into a bonfire in the second half of the book.
Kate, and Jeff her lawyer husband go to Spain to their holiday villa, the first without their teenage daughter, and meet Coco Moss, an old acquaintance from uni days. There is a strange tension that Kate notices when Jeff sets eyes on Coco and she is determined to get to the bottom of whatever it is.
Told from three different points of view it has a well drawn cast of characters that you will love to hate, lots of OMG moments and enough twists to keep you guessing.
Highly recommended!

📚📖 BOOK REVIEW 📖📚

📖 Book - The Summer Holiday
✍️ Author - S.E. Lynes
📕 Publisher - Bookoture
🗓 Publication Date - 9th May 2023

Jeff and Kate have been together since Uni. They have a good life, a daughter, everything they need … 🤔♥️Then they bump into their Uni ‘friend. Called Coco. Coco Seems to have a better memory for remembering how things were back then … are their things that she wants to tell Kate? Will Jeff and Kate be reminded of things they know - and of course things they don’t !!


https://www.instagram.com/Bookstagramshaz

Kate and Jeff have been together since Uni, but after drifting apart over the last few years, Kate is hoping that their first kid-free holiday will help to get them back on track. When Kate is out shopping in the local town and sees the popular girl she was desperate to be accepted by at Uni. Coco is still as glamourous as ever and Kate can't resist chatting to her. It turns out they are staying close to each other and Kate invites her to their villa for drinks. What she was not expecting was both Coco and Jeff's reactions when they meet later and when Kate starts to dig deeper into why are they acting so weird with each other, she uncovers much more than she was expecting.

This was a bit of a slow-burn to start, but soon kicked off into a twisty tale that kept me reading to find out what was going on! Using different character narratives and a then and now timeline it is well-rounded and unravels at a great pace.

This was a really slow build domestic psychological thriller and when I started it I thought there was nothing much of surprise going to happen! Silly me. So well written it grabs you and drags you slowly and silently into the book and before you know it you’ve finished it. Character driven and the three main characters were so well fleshed. Kate, mum and business owner who has put her life on hold for her family and is downtrodden and virtually ignored by Jeff, her self-made wealthy husband who is a workaholic and total narcissist and Coco, beautiful, smart, cool in the face of exposure but this front is hiding her true self.

Briefly, Kate and Jeff have been married since university but they have drifted apart and Kate is hoping that their first holiday alone for many years is going to repair their relationship. But then she sees Coco. The most popular girl at university and Kate always wanted to be acknowledged by her. After introducing herself she invites Coco back to her home but when Jeff and Coco see each other Kate starts to get suspicious. What are they hiding from her?

There were so many twists and turns in this book I was completely wrong footed more than once. Don’t expect a fast paced action read, do expect a clever well paced twisted book full of secrets and with a shock ending. An enjoyable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and S E Lynes for my ARC of 'The Summer Holiday' in return for an honest review. I have read S E Lynes before and this one did not disappoint.

Kate and Jeff are on holiday in the Spanish villa they own. It is their first holiday without their daughter and Kate wants it to rekindle the relationship between them.

Kate meets and old college 'friend' who she idolised during those days and invites her back to the villa, without telling her husband who she has invited.

This is where the problems begin and as we follow the twists and turns it is clear that there are many secrets between all three of them.

Excellent read and highly recommended.

A slow start that builds to a brilliant end.
Jeff and Kate have, on the surface at least, it all.
Jeff the successful lawyer, Kate has her own business and their daughter Lou is about to fly the nest.
With a second beautiful home in Spain and everything one could wish for, they are living the dream.
Or are they? What about happiness?
When a face from the past appears unexpectedly their lives dramatically implode like they could never believe.
Told from different points of view and in two timelines this excellent thriller delivers some amazing twists

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Publication date: May 9, 2023

The Summer Holiday is my second book by S E Lynes and I really enjoyed it! This is a domestic psychological thriller storyline told from multiple POV.

Kate and her husband Jeff are on their yearly holiday to their vacation house in Spain. This is the first time they have been away without their now teen daughter who is spending the holidays with a friend.

Kate has always been there for Jeff. Long nights alone while he finishes law school, even longer nights when he became a lawyer and always feeling like she is just on the outside of what could be a really good marriage. Hoping to reconnect over their holiday, Kate plans to spend as much quality time with Jeff as possible.

While shopping in town Kate runs into Coco Moss, the glamorous popular girl from University. Everyone wanted to either be Coco or be in her circle. On a whim she invites her for drinks and can’t wait to see her husbands reaction when she brings home Coco Moss.

The reaction from both Jeff and Coco is not what Kate expects. In fact, they both look downright terrified to see each other. Kate can’t figure it out, they barely knew each other. As Kate digs deeper into the past, she’s beginning to discover that Coco Moss is not as wonderful and glamorous as she once thought and her husband is not the man she thought she married.

This book was fairly fast paced and kept me interested throughout. There was a surprising twist towards the end that I would have liked to learn more about but overall this is a 4 star read for me.

#NetGalley #thesummerholiday #selynes

My second S.E. Lynes book and it did not disappoint! I'll never forget The Ex, which I read in August 2022 (fave for that month!) and I was keen to read more of S.E. Lynes' work following it.

This is a domestic thriller, in which Kate and her lawyer husband go on a holiday, the first without their now teen daughter, and Kate's looking forward to getting back in touch. But then, the popular girl from college is there and it is a disaster. People all have their secrets but some are worse than others.

I was engrossed very early on and could not put this down (well, besides when commitments required). I was impressed that for a pretty common theme amongst domestic thrillers, the author put what I considered to be a very original storyline to it and some fab twists.

I loved the changing POVs and how you could not only easily identify who it is.. yay for POV headings, but could tell exactly who it would be even if there were no headings because of the well developed characters. Amazing!

There was one thing at the end of this that I wish I knew a bit more about how it was closed out but that's probably a me thing 😁.

I would definitely recommend this one if you enjoy domestic thrillers, with loads of suspense and twists, and a bit of emotion.

S.E. Lynes might quickly become an auto-buy author for me. Love it when you find an author who works for you. 2/2!

Publication date: 9 May 2023.

⚠️ Check TWs online ⚠️

Thanks to @netgalley , the author and @bookouture for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Summer Holiday by S.E. Lynes is a psych thriller that takes a minute to get going, but then ends up quite satisfying. And a lot happens in between.
Kate is in a marriage that she feels might be uneven, but she’s made it work for years. She and Jeff don’t seem to be very evenly matched, but (as with any couple) they probably have their reasons.
Too bad the reasons aren’t the same for both of them.
While on vacation in Spain (because Jeff provides), they run into Coco Moss – a person Kate was enamored with in college. And someone who Jeff may or may not have ties to…somehow.
Trying really hard not to drop any spoilers.
Suffice to say that Coco Moss might just be the undoing of all of them. (I like the way the author has Coco doing “confessionals.” It breaks up the style and is effective in the overall plot
There are secrets galore in this book – everybody has them. Some are just worse than others. And some of them are just plain horrible. Poor Kate.
The book takes a while to get going. We get a lot of how Kate feels inadequate, how she tries to compensate (for what?), and how she wishes she could be…well, more like Coco.
Until she finds out some info that throws all of her perspectives into disarray.
There are a few characters who don’t figure much in the plot – they just seem to be window dressing. But late in the game there are still a few more secrets revealed which make everything more plausible.
And there’s that lovely last-minute twist I’ve come to love in a psych thriller.
S.E. Lynes is at the top of my list of psych thriller authors and The Summer Holiday is one of the best.

For more reviews like this, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks.

Another great story from one of my favourite authors. Lots of twists to keep the reader gripped. I did want to give Kate a shake though ! This book is written in such a lovely way that I was into the story straight away. Loved it !!!! Five stars from me