My Summer Darlings

De: May Cobb

Narrado por: Karissa Vacker, Amy Gordon, Nan McNamara, Kristen DiMercurio

As seen on the TODAY show as “a perfect beach read.”

Three lifelong friends plus a dangerous, sexy new stranger in town add up to a scorching summer of manipulation, obsession, and murder, from the bestselling author of The Hunting Wives.

A woman in the forest thinks she’s going to die.
I know he’s coming back for me.

Jen Hansen, Kittie Spears, and Cynthia Nichols have been friends since childhood. They are now approaching forty and their lives have changed, but their insular East Texas town has not. They stay sane by drinking wine in the afternoons, dishing about other women in the neighborhood, and bonding over the heartache of their own encroaching middle age and raising ungrateful teens.

Then Will Harding comes to town, moving into one of the neighborhood’s grandest homes. Mysterious and charming, he seems like the answer to each woman’s prayers. He’s a source of fascination for Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia, but none of them are ready for the way Will disrupts their lives.

As Will grows closer with each of the women, their fascination twists into obsession, threatening their friendships and their families. When he abruptly pulls away, each woman scrambles to discover the source of his affection. But what they’ll uncover is far more sinister and deadly than any of them could have ever imagined.

Good book , narration could be better

Two of the main characters’ voices did not match the ages and it threw me off throughout the book.

A little predictable

I lived the beginning of the book, it held a lot of potential and foreshadowed the plot very well. However, I think that after the climax things started getting predictable and textbook.

I also didn’t love the accent used for Will lol other than that the book was okay.

Great Story. Poor Voice Choices.

The story was great, but the voices all sounds older than the characters. I liked their voices; they just didn’t match the characters.

When the neighbor is HOT...(slightly spoilery)

Listen to this for the mystery but stay for the friends. May Cobb wrote these women so vividly! I laughed and shook my head at them. They are not bad people but life has put them in particular boxes and when things don't go their way they go to extremes. The drama is dialed up past 11 with them and their friendship, all of them stirred up by a man who is a temptation for one wife, attractive but suspicious to another wife and a golden boy who puts stars in the eyes of one divorcee. MY SUMMER DARLINGS is worth your time. Pop the cork on a good wine and get comfortable with this book.

Fascinating journey into a terrible man’s mind

I thought it was going to end up ok At the end but definitely goes darker than anticipated. Not a light summer read.

Loved it.

This was such a fantastic book. The characters were all well developed. I think any woman reading this book will relate to one of the main characters and will likely have friends that are similar to some of the other characters. It’s thought-provoking in many ways, and the storyline keeps you guessing. It was very suspenseful. I highly recommend it.

Conflicted but disappointed

I’m 80+ pages in and the story is pretty fun and a page-turner. However, I can’t stand Will’s voice. It keeps pulling me out of the story and grating on my nerves. I plan to return this audiobook and finish reading the book via a hard copy.

The suspense

Books is slow! Kind of dragged on. Didn’t pick up until the very end. Characters are also not very likeable and need to be developed more.

3.5 stars rounded down, for narration

I listened to the audiobook and honestly, this one didn’t really get going until the last hour or so. Up until then, it was mostly three supposed best friends obsessing over the new guy in the neighborhood who, by the way, gaslights them all. Only one of them is single, so why are we doing this?

The story felt meh overall, especially compared to The Hunting Wives and The Hollywood Assistant, which I loved. Those had energy and intrigue. This one just … didn’t. 😔

As for the audio, Karissa Vacker voicing Jane was the standout. She nailed it and actually sounded the right age. The narrators for Kitty and Cynthia, on the other hand, sounded like they were collecting social security checks, not navigating suburban drama in their late 30s. It was distracting.

Not May Cobb’s strongest. Hoping the next one has a little more bite.

Summer Darlings Review

I love May Cobb, like a lot, but this one wasn't my favorite. I like the suspense, but I felt like I could see a lot of it coming. Either way, I do like her work and would continue to listen to more of it!