My Summer Darlings

By: May Cobb

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Amy Gordon, Nan McNamara, Kristen DiMercurio

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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 acclaimed 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.

©2022 May Cobb (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"My Summer Darlings is addicting, twisted, and a whole lot of fun. It’s a steamy thriller that goes down with a bite, like a cold margarita on a hot day. A perfect summer read." (Simone St. James, New York Times best-selling author of The Sun Down Motel)

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.

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.

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.

Really Hard Read

The story line was slow but okay. It was the voices and the extreme accents that made it difficult for me to finish. Kitty’s slang was overdone and explicit scenes were nauseating. Both hers and Cindy’s voices were made to sound old (or older) than they seemed.

Fun book

I really like the story esp being from Dallas and growing up in east Texas. I thought the females accent was pretty good but the males accent was so off putting. But overall fun book to listen too

5 Star story pairs with 2 Star Narration

A good story, kept me interested the entire time, good twists, but TERRIBLE, I repeat…TERRIBLE narration. Not that the narrators were terrible themselves, they were fine & I like them, but an awful match for 2 of the 4 characters. Kitty & Cynthia sounded like they were in their 60’s not “turning forty” as outlined in the description. Their voices made me envision “the Golden Girls” more than a modern day healthy & active 40 yr old. Will’s narration is comically awful, to the point his voice sounds cartoonishly evil. He sounded like Count Dracula! Multiple times throughout the story, his voice stole my attention from the story and I had to repeat. I would recommend reading this book over listening to it.

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!

Good story but awful narrating

I really loved the story and listened in 2 days but the narration was pretty bad. 2 of the 3 women sounded way older than their characters and Will sounded like Dracula. I would recommend reading this book verse listening.