Tish Cohen is the author of five previous novels, including The Truth About Delilah Blue. Her latest release, The Summer We Lost Her, is an exquisitely constructed, emotionally rich look at a family in crisis and the ways in which spouses Elise and Matt navigate the unimaginable.

Elise is a devoted wife to Matt and mother to Gracie, but she is also chasing an Olympic dream. With her beloved horse, Indie, known for his winning combination of enthusiasm and charm, she hopes to qualify to compete in the dressage event. Wearing white gloves and tails, dressage riders navigate their steeds through precise routines, some of which are set to music. The sport is not just technically exacting. It's expensive, requiring a vast financial investment in the ownership, care, and transportation of the horse, training, and endless hours of practice. Elise's life is a constant balancing act -- training, competitions, travel, and spending time with her family all compete for her time and attention. It wasn't always that way. After a devastating accident while she was pregnant with Gracie, Elise did not get back on a horse for three years and it was only through an intervention in which Matt participated that she resumed training. But Elise carries a substantial amount of guilt -- about a few things, not the least of which are promises made to Gracie she has had to break and milestones she has missed.

Matt has been understanding and supportive (emotionally and financially), but the strain of being a single parent much of the time is taking a toll on him, as well as the marriage and Gracie, and has gotten to be too much for Matt. Elise's ambitions have impacted his own career as an attorney. Now he's been offered a partnership with his law firm after toiling as an associate for eleven years -- because he has been thus far to devote the hours to his practice required in order to advance. Matt has made a decision and plans to announce it to Elise . . . as soon as she returns home for a much-needed break with the family.

As Elise finally arrives home and the family embarks on a summer break at the lakefront cabin Matt inherited from his grandfather in beautiful Lake Placid. Just like Matt, Elise is at a crossroads and needs to talk with Matt about the family's future and whether it can accommodate both of their dreams. From the outset, Cohen establishes that there are no villains in her story. Matt and Elise love each other, their child, and the family they have formed deeply. But both are painfully aware that the stresses of their competing needs have pushed them to the brink of breaking. And something or someone will have to give in order to find resolution.

Cohen quickly endears the Sorenson family to readers. Through a highly effective third-person narrative, she takes readers into Matt and Elise's internal struggles and evaluations of their priorities, limitations, and willingness to compromise or even sacrifice in order to keep their family intact, Through flashbacks, Cohen reveals their history as a couple, as well as with Matt's late grandfather, a man who showed a different side of himself to Elise than to Matt. Matt always believed the man was a pillar of the close-knit community of Lake Placid -- a generous benefactor to those in need, if a shrew businessman and investor who amassed a large and highly marketable parcel of land upon which the old cabin that needs significant improvements sits. But there may have been much more to him and his business transactions that Matt ever imagined.

And then the unthinkable happens. On what should be a happy morning, Gracie vanishes without a trace. As the frantic search for her unfolds, Matt and Elise respond to the crisis quite differently. Cohen appropriately accelerates the narrative's pace, and credibly portrays the myriad emotions the parents experience, wavering from utter to despair to unsparing determination to never give up looking for their girl. For good measure, Cohen includes a romantic complication in the form of Matt's high school girlfriend, now permanently residing next door, as well as a mystery surrounding the true motivation and machinations of Matt's grandfather.

The Summer We Lost Her is a believable exploration of the real stresses associated with wanting to "have it all" -- career, marriage, family -- and the not-so-subtle ways in which the resultant challenges impact men and women differently. Cohen makes readers first-hand observers of Matt and Elise's inner turmoil and reveals the excruciatingly painful journey of losing a child in what may be the cruelest way imaginable. How does a parent come to terms with the disappearance of a child and, perhaps, never learning what happened to him/her?

The Summer We Lost Her is, at times, heartbreaking, but always compulsively readable and thoroughly engrossing. Cohen challenges readers to ponder their own capacity for resiliency and to withstand stressors they encounter in their own lives, as well as how they would react under similar circumstances. Cohen's compassion for her characters is evident from start to finish as she takes each of them to the outer limit of their capacity to cope . . . and then a bit further. She also imbues the story with hope and provides a believable and emotionally satisfying conclusion to her tautly-crafted tale.

I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. This author was new to me and I was not let down. It was a great story and very well written. The characters were easy to relate to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to everyone!!

This book definitely was a difficult read as a mother, but that didn't keep me from enjoying it. The first quarter of the book is a slow burn, but after Grace's abduction I hard time putting it down. While aspects of this book left me cringing, I found it completely enjoyable. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a domestic drama with a mystery thrown in.

What I loved about this book:

~This book has multiple talking points that would make it an amazing book club pick. The domestic drama aspect of it will be very relatable to many readers who have been/are married.

~Elise is a highly successful, working mother to Grace. While it's very common for women to be a major part of the work force today, there are still certain judgements they deal with daily. Elise's reactions to those situations are realistic and I really enjoyed her character.

~ I thought the topic of forgiveness and redemption was a great aspect of this book. When we hold onto grudges the person we hurt most is ourselves.

What kept me from giving this book 5⭐?

~ While I don't have an issue reading a slow burn, this book never really seemed to pick up pace for me. While I definitely feel like this book is worth the read, I thought the slow pace of the book needed to be mentioned. Also, because Elise was a working mother she was unfairly blamed for what went wrong. This was a bit offputting and took away from some of my enjoyment.

This book brings to life every parent's worst nightmare - losing a child. A day after finishing this book I'm still horrified by the trauma of what this family went through. The emotions expressed on these pages were raw, tragic, and heartbreaking. I would consider this a must read for anyone with kids - but especially for anyone that has started to take things for granted.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

This book was a little bit of a slow read for me. I loved the in depth character development and how that aided in understanding the relationship dynamics in the book. At the same time, I feel some of this “slowed “ down the pace of the book. It took a bit long to get to, what I think, was one of the major plot points.

The Summer We Lost Her promises emotional investment but instead delivers unlikeable characters without any depth.
Matt and Elise Sorenson head to the Adirondacks to sell a family home. This will be their first time for quality time in quite a while. Elise is competing in dressage with her eyes on Rio Olympics. Matt is a lawyer who mainly raises their daughter while Elise is off training and competing. Elise decides without Matt that their daughter will attend day came while they work on the house causing tension as the balance of power shifts when she returns from her latest competition. Their idyllic summer shifts when Gracie doesn’t come home from camp and the Sorensons must deal with every parent’s worst nightmare.
The book struggles. The plot doesn’t actually happen until about half way through. You spend the majority of the time getting to know the highly unlikable Elise and her husband. As the story goes on, Matt isn’t perfect either but you mostly feel for him and Gracie. For example, Elise rags her daughter about sucking her thumb but never pauses to understand the under lying psychological cause of the behavior (to be fair the author ignores this as well). I honestly didn’t care about her Olympic aspirations and wanted her to fail.
The publisher suggests this book to fans of Jodie Piccoult; I wouldn’t suggest it. The story is never really deep. The looks into the characters past don’t add much to the overall story. Tish Cohen writes Matt’s experiences with his grandfather and Elise’s love for Dressage without really getting to the bottom of the desire of the characters. Cohen presents Elise as poor with a troubled youth but Elise has natural talent and a coach who gives her everything she needs so I could not empathize with her at all. Matt’s past built up to what would be the twist (it’s not a twist really, just a surprise) but it wasn’t shocking especially from Matt’s recollections of the past. The author fails to truly delve into the idea that Elise wants her daughter to be perfect to erase her own mistakes. There was every opportunity in these instances to delve deep into the characters but the author only ever scratches their depths. There is no true heart there like in Piccoult’s novels. The end is too tidy and unemotional like the rest of the book.
The Summer We Lost Her has the bones to be a great story, but the author stops herself from truly diving into these characters and her situations. The best 100 ages are when the daughter is gone because that story is exciting and there is emotional tension, but whenever Gracie is with her parents, everything falls flat.

The Summer We Lost Her by Tish Cohen is mostly a domestic drama story with the couple in question dealing with their marital issues. However, later on in the story there is a bit of a mystery added to it when their disabled daughter goes missing at a bus stop.

Matt and Elise Sorenson are the epitome of opposites attracting and the relationship working for them. Matt is an attorney in Manhattan who is on the verge of partnership with his firm while Elise is an equestrian who is a competitive dressage rider who has her eye on finally qualifying for the Olympics.

When Elise again misses another event and disappoints their daughter due to staying with her horse Matt really begins to question their marriage. For years Matt’s been the on making the sacrifices and even their daughter’s disability comes from an accident on a horse so some time away in the Adirondacks to sell some property is the time this couple needs to evaluate their marriage.

The Summer We Lost Her was a really slow burn when it came to pacing which for someone like myself that prefers faster took a lot of patience not to give up on. The drama had plenty of ups and downs with both partners showing their faults. The second half add even more with a bit of mystery although even that was mostly fuel for more drama. In the end I found this one to be an OK read leaving me to rate it at 3 1/2 stars.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Summer We Lost Her by @tishcohen is part mystery part family drama that follows Elise, who competitively rides horses and is aiming for the Olympics and her husband Matt, who takes care of their daughter, Gracie, who has Cerebral Palsy. When the family takes a trip up to Lake Placid to sell Matt’s grandfather’s house and Gracie goes missing, Elise and Matt’s marriage will be tested.

I enjoyed this book, but I found it hard to like either Elise or Matt. While I respected Elise’s desire to chase her dreams and her determination, I didn’t like that it came at the expense of her daughter. I think it portrays the wrong message that you have to choose between your dreams and your child, and that’s not true. I also grew frustrated by Matt as a character too and was hoping through the whole book that Matt and Elise would develop better communication with each other, because honestly it sucked haha. Lastly, because I have CP myself, I wanted there to be more of a story focused on Gracie and her disability. Personally, I think I would have related to the story a whole lot more if there had been more depth on Gracie’s disability and the way it can impact a marriage, a family as a whole, and the person with the disability. I still enjoyed this one, and it was a good read, especially for those who crave a slow burn as opposed to a fast-paced thriller.

Thank you @netgalley and @gallerybooks for my free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Couldn’t put this book down. Was hooked right away. I like the way it switches back and forth between the husband and wife’s point of view. Several plot twists that kept me hooked until the last page.

Maybe it’s because I’m a horse lover, but I was immediately drawn to the character of Elise and her determination to work as hard as necessary in order to qualify for the Olympic team in dressage. I could feel the pain of the tough decisions she has to make along the way and really didn’t fault her for giving it her all. To come within inches of your dream makes it incredibly difficult to walk away, especially such an incredible dream. Ask any Olympian.

That’s why I, as a mother, didn’t judge her for any of her actions. Initially, I did want her to tell Matt something about his grandfather, Nate, but as the story progressed I admired Elise even more for protecting Matt from that horrible truth. I also understood the decision by the author to keep this hidden from Matt. I can’t say what this secret is, as the reader needs to find this out in just the right place in the story.

As I read the book, I came to appreciate more and more the way the author wove the backstory of the characters in and out of the main plot line. There is a fine art to this ability to give a little, then give a little bit more, and I applaud Cohen for mastering that art so exquisitely.

Through it all – the upheavals in the marriage as cracks appeared and secrets tumbled out, the horrifying days of not knowing what happened to Gracie, the pain inflicted on the parents as the days march on with no word of Gracie, I loved this story. And I loved Matt and Elise and Gracie.

The Summer we Lost Her was my first Tish Cohen book, and I have become an instant fan. This book was well written with a very unexpected storyline. The characters were well developed and quite relatable. While read The Summer We Lost Her the author Tish Cohen easily transported you into the summer living of the famous Adirondacks and Lake Placid region. This book is a must read for your summer reading list.

I love family dramas and mysteries, so this was perfect for me! A really good story with great characters that kept me reading!

Matt and Elise's daughter Gracie disappears and the upheaval and mystery may be the undoing of them and their marriage.

While I appreciate being sent a copy of this novel to try, I was never able to become involved in it.
Every new page I turned, I waited for something to happen and nothing really did.
I am glad that this book is receiving good reviews because I think for some, it will be a perfect thriller for the summer. For me, it was a near miss.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was a light page-turner and kept my attention throughout the story. I’m not usually one gravitate towards thriller/suspense books but this one held my interest. I really felt for the mom, Elise, in this story. She is heavily criticized by many around her and it doesn’t seem she does much wrong. She shoulders much of the blame for unrelated problems in her life... because she’s a woman? Because she doesn’t fulfill society’s expectation of womanhood and motherhood?

Also her husbands a douche. If there’s a sequel I hope she leaves his selfish ass. How dare you feel resentment towards someone who never asked anything of you? You get what you ask for when you don’t communicate how you’re feeling or the success in your life and expect the other person to just “know” what you are giving up... ugh he was an infuriating spoiled brat.

Thanks to Net Galley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well written novel that focuses on the mystery of a missing child while dealing with the concept of marriage under stress and strain. The story is about Matt, a lawyer from New York City, and Elise, a champion equestrian in dressage. Elise is very driven and passionate about her riding and she is gone for long periods of time, leaving Matt to be the primary care giver for their daughter, Gracie. The Sorenson family are heading to their family home in Lake Placid, to get things cleaned up for a sale of the land and home where Matt was raised. Living next door is the woman who was Matt's first love, as well as her young son. Through twists of circumstance, Elisa arrives late and the strain in this marriage is apparent from the start. When their daughter Gracie disappears, the strain increases and the reader gets to see how this marriage will weather the storm and if Gracie will be found. There are a lot of other issues/ideas that are woven in this novel, and they all fit together well. One of them is that of what we are willing to give up and sacrifice for those we love in our lives. I was very interested in the book and I will admit I wasn't exactly sure what happened to Gracie. I recommend this if you are looking for a thriller. I know some of the reviews I read people mentioned having a hard time connecting to the characters but I didn't feel that was a big problem. I will be looking forward to the next novel by Tish Cohen. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was one of the books I have been looking forward to reading this summer and it was not disappointing. It is definitely a fantastic choice for a relaxing, summer read... while I was not a fan of Matt I did find that both parents brought a lot to the story and I enjoyed the way it unraveled.

I enjoyed this domestic drama mystery. We see the hardships of balancing work, family, and passions. Then Matt and Elise's only child Gracie is kidnapped and we see the additional strain that puts on their life and relationship as they try to cope with that trauma while also trying to find their daughter. One thing I liked about this book is that it's not like some recent bestsellers which seem to be all about people who might look good on the outside but are rotten on the inside. In this story, the people all seem to be decent human beings who may be flawed and sometimes make bad decisions, but they are relatable and mostly likeable.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free e-ARC of this book for review.

The Summer We Lost Her is the latest novel from author Tish Cohen. Part mystery and part exploration of a family in crisis, it's a book that's sure to evoke big feelings in its readers.

The past several years have been a whirlwind for Matt and Elise Sorenson. Matt is a lawyer, on the verge of making partner at a prestigious law firm, and Elise is a competitive dressage rider with dreams of one day representing the United States in the Olympic Games. As a result of her hectic training schedule, Elise spends months at a time away from home, leaving Matt with most of the day-to-day responsibilities of caring for their eight-year-old daughter Gracie who has cerebral palsy as a result of a riding accident late in Elise's pregnancy. Most of the time, Matt doesn't mind doing the bulk of the parenting, but there are times when he wishes his wife was more of a regular part of Gracie's life.

Now though, the three of them are spending two weeks in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains, readying the lake front cabin that has been in Matt's family for years to be put on the market. Under normal circumstances, Matt would never sell this piece of his family history, but Gracie's medical care and Elise's training expenses have put a definite strain on the family budget, making it necessary to put the cabin up for sale. As he and Elise work to sort through the family possessions stored at the cabin, they are forced to come to terms with the deep fissures that have slowly begun appearing in their relationship.

Then, on a sunny summer morning while waiting for the bus to take her to a local day camp, Gracie goes missing, plunging Matt and Elise into a web of fear and resentment beyond their deepest imaginings. Forced to face the distinct possibility of never seeing their daughter again, the couple grapples with emotions they haven't been able to face until this terrible moment in time, calling into question everything they thought they knew about themselves and each other.

You might think this is just one more in a long line of books about missing children, but The Summer We Lost Her is so much more than that. A lot of attention is paid to Gracie's disappearance, but not necessarily in the ways one might expect. For example, we're given very little insight into the investigation itself. Instead, Ms. Cohen focuses on the effect of losing a beloved child on a couple who once thought they were living their dream. We're given a bird's-eye-view of their crumbling marriage, their uncertainties about their careers, and the extreme self-loathing each of them subjects themselves to. How could they have failed to protect the one person they love most in the world? Neither is able to understand how this tragedy could have befallen them, and so they go through the following days in a fog of deep fear and confusion.

I loved the way the author was able to insert herself directly into the hearts and minds of her characters. Both Elise and Matt are complicated people who have made their fair share of mistakes, and Ms. Cohen did a fantastic job making me fall in love with them both in spite of the things they did wrong. There were facets to their personalities I found difficult to accept, but those added to their humanity, making them feel like real people rather than cardboard cut-outs, and that counts for a lot.

If you're looking for a novel that's twisty and suspenseful, this won't be the book for you, as it’s more of an introspective story than a fast-paced mystery, relying on the growth of the characters to move the plot forward. I loved it, but I know this kind of novel won't appeal to all readers since the mystery does take a backseat to the relationship between Matt and Elise. Still, if you enjoy books with the power to make you think about what's really important in life, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of The Summer We Lost Her, a novel that's sure to remain with you long after the final page has been turned.

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