Thank you to Berkley and Net Galley for my advanced reader copy of My Summer Darlings!

Holy wow hold on while I pick my jaw up from the floor. In the wonderful May Cobb’s latest page-turner, she combines sizzling romance with heart-pounding tension.

In My Summer Darlings, a handsome stranger moves into a small East Texas Town, wreaking havoc on three women’s lives. Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia love to drink Pinot Grigio and gossip about their neighbors. They grew up together in the same small town where they now live. When Will snakes his way into their lives, he pits the women against one another, lying and seducing each one.

This one was absolutely gripping! It is 75% romance/drama and 25% thriller. If you enjoy Colleen Hoover or Lauren Weisberger, and are looking for a steamy summer read, this is for you. Bring it to the beach with a glass of chilled wine and prepare for a wild ride!

Hmm… I can hear: choo choo sound of disappointment train: oh boy somebody cut this noise! I truly wanted to love this book more! Especially after reading Hunting Wives and getting quick glimpse of promising blurb gives me Desperate Housewives meet Real housewives of Atlanta vibes, I was intrigued to jump into this!

Pros: I loved any kind of craziness, extremity, absurdism, darkness, over sarcasm: so second half of the book was somewhat okay for me in the beginning. But in a sudden, things have gotten too far! It even passed my crazy stuff endurance limit!

Pros: at least Jen: cheated by scumbag Felix, trying to start a new life, raising her teenage boy with help of parents is tolerable character from the beginning. Yes, her obsession about Will is still over exaggerating but it can make sense. But I cannot say the same for those fancy bitchy friends of hers who look for adventure, chasing a guy for thrill, suffering from extreme selfishness!

Both Cynthia who is worst version of Sex and City’s Miranda, pouring her sex fantasies to her journal and Kitty with emphasized cleavage and shitty spoiled daughter were inspiringly despicable and adoringly punchable characters I like to scream at their faces to go to hell!

Yes: the plot is tempting and attention taking. Three suburban friends: Jen: divorced, other two are richer and married, targeting the new guy Will Harding to seduce who got looks of Bradley Copper meets Zach Efron. I understand the reasoning why Jen chases over that guy but I still don’t understand why those other women are so competitive to drool over him. But somewhat I understand their motivations and focus on the mystery parts.

Well: the conjecture and development were a little derailed and I couldn’t empathize with any of the characters including Will!

It was still entertaining, fast popcorn read! I can never say it made me bored but I enjoyed the first book of the author a little more. Hunting Wives’ heroines we’re also despicable but at least story’s development and conclusion were more promising!

So I decided to give three neither I hated nor I loved it stars!

I’m still interested to read new works of the author but unfortunately this time, this book was not a hit for me!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Jen, Kittie and Cynthia have been friends since they were young. Jen recently moved back to her hometown after her divorce. She is excited to meet the new handsome neighbor Will and is thrilled when he seems to be interested in her. The friends meet by the pool drinking wine and giving advice to Jen. What starts off as a light hearted romance soon becomes more sinister when a few chapters tell of a mysterious person who is alone, hurt and afraid they are going to die. Who is the mysterious person and who has done this to them? And are Kittie and Cynthia as good friends to Jen as they claim?

Desperate Housewives revamped.
Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia are childhood friends who live in an East Texas town. Jen is recently divorced. Kittie and Cynthia are married, but that doesn't stop them ALL from lusting after their new neighbor Will.
It started out slowly, then got steamy, then weird at the end. There's really no explanation as to why Will does what he does. It's a lot of sex and wine drinking.
Similar to The Hunting Wives, although I liked that one better.

I read May Cobb's last book, so I was thrilled to get approved for this one. I began reading immediately and practically couldn't stop until I was finished. First, some pros: I really liked the character of Jen, even if she seemed a little obsessive over Will too soon. I was rooting for her. (And proud that she essentially became the hero in the end). Next, I really enjoyed having multiple narrators, so you could understand each character and make opinions based on more than just conjecture...what I didn't like, however, was pretty much every other character. Will was awful, Kittie was self serving, Cynthia was willing to walk away from her child for a man she didnt really know.... they were just gross. I didn't feel that they took anything away from the book or its plot, but I just wished, from time to time, that I had someone else in the book I was hoping to see succeed.

A great follow up to Hunting Wives. This book is an incredibly steamy great story about three friends in a close knit community. I absolutely enjoyed it and highly recommend it.