A delightful, nostalgic summer romance with a touch of political passion. As someone who enjoys just about any TV drama set in D.C. and appreciates a well-written rom-com, this love story struck the perfect balance between the two for me.

The synopsis of The Summer We Ran asks, does your past define your destiny? While I don't feel that it defines it; it easily can shape and influence it.
This is what we learn meeting Tess and Grant in the summer of 1996. Young love...what is there really to say about it. Some people name it puppy love, something you'll grow out of, you don't know what love is, and it'll never last. But who are we or parents or friends to say a teenage couple doesn't know or feel what love is. If it's been tested, tried, and something they feel down to the soul; who are we to judge or try to end. Meeting adult Tess and Grant, the question is did that love really ever go away.
This is a beautiful story of young love, familial trauma, grief, determination, and the culmination of of everything you've been hoping to never have to reveal or relive. Audrey Ingram's words are well written, beautiful and realistic. The description of happiness is usually easy to describe and feel when reading, but I sometimes fine the emotions of grief and trauma are sometimes hard to convey when reading. Ms. Ingram ignites those emotions easily and with such care, that you feel as though Tess and Grant are in the room with you and they are telling you their story face to face. I can name a Grant or a Tess in my life.
The ending was perfect, because it felt real. The growth both achieved and need was evident from the beginning until the end.
Thank you Zibby Publishing and NetGalley for this grift copy in exchange for my honest opinion; my reviews are my own.

The Summer We Ran
by: Audrey Ingram
Zibby Publishing
Pub Day: 06/03/25

90s summer vibes, dual POV, lovable characters, overall a fun read! Perfect to throw in your beach bag on vacay!

This book was such an emotional and nostalgic ride, full of summer romance, political drama, and small town mystery. The Summer We Ran pulls you in with a forbidden love story set in the summer of 1996. I loved Tess and Grant’s connection, and the dual timelines did a great job of showing how deeply one summer can echo through an entire lifetime. The story explored not just love and loss, but also how the choices we make as teens can shape everything that follows. It’s the kind of book that gives you all the feels. It’s romantic, heartbreaking, and hopeful. I absolutely loved it!

This book captured me from the start! Honestly I was so excited when I was reading the summary to see what this book was about and eager to read it in one sitting. The story is well written and the characters have so much depth you think they’re real. As I was reading I had to remind myself this was fiction and not a memoir since it all seemed so believable. There were so many emotions involved and complex issues such as the characters past and how their future will be affected by this. I didn’t want this book to end and I highly recommend it to readers out there for the perfect summer book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

I loved this literary romance where we have adults acting like adults, a solid plot line with dual timelines, and an overall moral to the story.

This turned into a binge read for me when I just basically inhaled this as I just wanted to see where it was going and what the back story was. There is sadness, tragedy, sorrow, but also overcoming, joy, and satisfaction in being who one truly is.

I need more of these kind of romance books. It's not heavy on the romance, we have a solid family drama with romance interwoven. I enjoyed the sweetness of young love and then the difficulties and complications of old love.

An easy summer read recommendation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for the gifted e-arc of this book.

THE SUMMER WE RAN by Audrey Ingram is a book that you can get totally lost in this summer. It follows Tess and Grant, two teenagers who meet one summer and fall madly in love. In the beginning, the romance is intense and exciting as they find small moments and hidden locations to be together. Ingram showcases young love so well! By the end of the summer, it’s no longer sunshine and rainbows, and the subject matter gets heavier as time goes on. The couple part ways and then come head-to-head two decades later on the campaign trail when they’re both running for the governor of Virginia. The drama and shocking truth quickly unfolds as we learn what really happened that one summer.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Young/first love
- Family drama and dynamics
- Mother/daughter relationships
- Secrets, lies, and betrayal
- Dual POV and timeline
- Virginia setting
- 1990s nostalgia
- Political campaigns
- Emotional reads
- Twists and turns
- Complex characters

This novel is jam-packed, book friends. We get a great mix of romance, drama, and mystery throughout with SO many little twists, turns, and surprises along the way. I couldn’t put it down! Also, it’s rumored to be a Book of the Month selection for June, so I highly recommend adding it to your little blue box. It’s the perfect read for summer! 4/5 stars for THE SUMMER WE RAN! Out June 3rd!

The Summer We Ran is the story of Tess and Grant, two high school kids from completely different walks of life who have a summer romance in 1996 that ends with both of their hearts broken. Jump forward to 2021 and they are running against one another for Virginia Governor. Told in dual timelines, we see their love blossom and then finally learn what tore them apart. This book was written so beautifully and I loved the storyline, but I was frustrated that I never saw content warnings, though I think they were held out because it would technically "spoil" the reason for the split.

Spoiler/content warnings:
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The last 30% of the book consists of a lot of discussion of teen pregnancy, abortion debates and whether the father of the child has any say, adoption and miscarriage. Although this wasn't a trigger for me I could see how it could be extremely upsetting to some readers so I would go into this with caution. Had I known of this content I may have chosen not to read it, but I'm still glad I did. Overall, I would say this falls into women's fiction more than romance, and it was very thought provoking in multiple ways.

Content warnings:
teen pregnancy
abortion/adoption/miscarriage
alcohol and drug abuse (not the teens)
death of a parent
domestic violence
cheating spouse

Tess committed to staying out of her mom’s way with her new high society summer job and to stay out of trouble. It proves difficult when she meets Grant, the boy next door. Now two decade later, they are both running for governor.

I loved how both characters find themselves as opponents in the Virginia governor race. Sounds like a plot for a cutesy rom com right? It’s not. This is much deeper and more emotional. It deals with some pretty heavy topics. Both characters have a past together and you won’t find it all out until the end but it is full of well kept secrets struggling to release themselves.

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t escape him and our secrets. I tell myself it’s only one lie, but when you unwind it, I realize that most of my life is tied up in that lie.”

The Summer We Ran comes out 6/3.

Tess and her mother are on their way to work a very wealthy woman, which could be the big break her mom needs. It might be what Tess needs to help her fulfill her dreams of going to UVA after high school. Tess ends up working for Kay, the next door neighbor and best friend, helping her in her beautiful garden. Kay's son, Grant, is home for the summer.

Teen summer romance, a bit of mystery along the way, told in two timelines - 1996 and 2024 - and I was hooked. However, somewhere in the last 20%, I began to feel the characters and storyline were just a bit too far-fetched for me to buy into this. And the ending was way too sappy for me.

Seeing how popular this book is, I am glad that I read it, but it went beyond believability for me. I did appreciate the twists in the storyline that I didn't see coming!

My thanks to Net Galley and Zibby Publishing for an advanced copy of this e-book.

This is a story that transcends generations—a novel built on an idea and conflict that could take place anywhere, at any time. At its heart is a question: What is the power of one summer?

Two people—deeply connected in just a few short months—must face the reality of love colliding with tradition, class, and ambition. Can young love survive the weight of expectations? Or is it doomed to become just another lost chapter in history?

Years later, Tests and Grant—once lovers, now rivals—stand at the brink of a new battle. No longer bound by romance but by politics, ambition, and the ghosts of their past, they face off for the governorship of Virginia. With the shadow of that long-ago summer looming over both campaigns, how can either hope to win?

Will long-buried secrets be exposed? Will either use the past to their advantage? And how will their families withstand the fallout?

The novel keeps these questions at the heart of its narrative, and the author’s dual-timeline approach masterfully builds the tension, weaving regret and ambition into a compelling slow-burn mystery.

I absolutely loved this story that had all the vibes of a 90s summer, set in an easy to imagine spot that felt very small town but with wealth. So roll out your beach towel, grab your Walkman, mixtapes and your 1995 copy of Seventeen magazine and enjoy this emotional summer read.

Tess’s mom gets her dream job as a cook at a Virginia Estate. Tess is quickly offered a job at the neighboring estate to help the owner with her gardens. Tess’s very knowledgeable about plants and she is looking forward to her summer spent…hands in the dirt soaking up the beautiful scenery. What she was not prepared for was that she would fall in love and have it end tragically. Twenty years later Tess and the boy she fell in love with that summer are running against each other for governor of Virginia and their past quickly catches up to them.

This is a dual timeline/POV book. I loved the 90s timeline… it felt like a memory and pure sunshine. I love a good campaign theme and this was perfection! If you’re looking for a paperback to throw in your beach bag this summer and enjoy a bit of an emotional read. This is a must!

Thank you Zibby Publishing
Releases 6/3

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Tess and Grant’s love story begins in the summer of 1996. It's intense, all-consuming, and heartbreakingly brief. After a passionate romance, the two go their separate ways, their young love ending in silence and regret. Years later, their paths collide again, this time as political rivals in a heated race for governor of Virginia. But when long-buried secrets resurface, their past proves harder to outrun than either expected.

Told through dual timelines, Audrey Ingram’s emotionally layered novel explores loss, ambition, and the enduring power of first love. This is a sweeping, character-driven story about second chances and the consequences that follow us through time, perfect for book clubs.

PUB DATE: June 3, 2025
RATING: 4/5

READ THIS IF YOU:
-love to get lost in a nostalgic summer story
-are in the mood for a dramatic love story
-enjoy emotional reads with political and personal stakes

Audrey Ingram offers another well-plotted well-told story. Tess and Grant have one of those summers that only happen once when we are young (and sometimes only in a novel) - complete immersion in each other, despite being from entirely different worlds. The events of that brief but meaningful summer will impact them both in myriad ways they both recognize and don't recognize until it all comes to ahead when they (improbably) run against each other for the position of Governor of Virginia. Despite the slightly artificial set-up, this is a terrific novel in which to get lost in on a warm summer day. Thank you Zibby Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC.

I couldn't quite understand why either Tess or Grant were interested in politics in the first place, which makes the whole premise harder to buy into for the journey. I do think that delving into the hypocrisy of what a female candidate deals with versus a male one is interesting, and Tess was obviously quite sympathetic, which only made me more curious about her rise in politics given her humble upbringing, and I wish we'd gotten more of that. I don't think that this book needed Grant's POV, and to be quite honest, a Republican politician is never going to be a satisfying potential romantic hero to me, especially in these times, no matter how rotten his childhood was, and especially when women's bodily autonomy is a major plot component.

This book was beautiful.

I loved the alternating story lines between when Tess was a teenager and as a now adult. It made the story come together in the most satisfying way and didn’t give the reader any information until it was the perfect time to do so.

This story was heartbreaking, covering many different types of loss that a person can experience in their lifetime, and how to continue on afterwards.

Even though the story takes place around a governor’s election, I don’t feel like politics invaded the entire story, but there was enough to touch on some important points.

Thank you to Zibby Publishing for an arc copy of this book.

I really loved this one. The Summer We Ran is the story of Tess and Grant, told both in flashback, when they were teenagers, and in the present day, as they are in their mid-40's and, in a somewhat straining credulity coincidence, both running for governor of Virginia. I really, really enjoyed this story of the reverberations of teenage love, and rash decision making, and the way it played out. If I've got any quibbles, I'm just not really sure that Grant ever deserved Tess, and I'm glad that we didn't end with a stereotypical happily-ever-after, as I'm not convinced that they are what each other needs. I'm just not sure how you redeem that kind of toxic masculinity. All in all, though, a very well-written and enjoyable read, and one that I'm sure I will be recommending to thoughtful readers in the coming months.

Tess and Grant thought they had seen the last of each other. This was such a sweet and emotionally driven story of how the past doesn't have to define the future, and that the choices that are made have consequences no one can predict.

This is a great summer read. I loved it and the main characters. I would highly recommend this book for a summer read!

Okay, so I’ll be honest—I’m always a little hesitant going into any novel that touches on politics. It’s such a heavy, emotionally-charged topic that can sometimes overwhelm the rest of the story. But I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Politics were definitely a key part of the story, but they weren’t the WHOLE story—and that balance really worked for me.

What I absolutely loved was the dual timeline and dual POV. It added so much depth and made me even more invested in Grant and Tess. Their sweet summer romance was so well done. It was tender, hopeful, and full of that nostalgic feeling that something big is just around the corner. And then slowly finding out what happened at the end of the summer and in the months after? So satisfying watching the puzzle come together piece by piece.

Also, I’m oddly okay with the fact that it didn’t end with the typical happily ever after. There was something really peaceful about knowing Tess had found contentment in her new life, and seeing Grant step up as a man and a father? Perfection. He didn’t need to be flawless—he just needed to grow, and he did.