Review - - The Summer That Changed Everything

The Summer That Changed Everything

by Brenda Novak

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

 

She returned to prove her father's innocence, but there's no telling what she'll find…

It's been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair saw her father. Fifteen long years since she sat in a courtroom and watched him sentenced to life in prison. He murdered three victims—all people she knew—which ruined her life at just seventeen. But now she’s back in Virginia to talk to him, wondering if there’s more to the story of what happened that fateful night.

An old flame, Ford Wagner, makes his own return to North Hampton Beach, fleeing a marriage that seems destined for divorce. He’s wary of Lucy and her digging into the past, but the more time they spend together, the closer they get and the more he finds himself reconsidering the truth behind the death of their mutual friend that summer. Problem is, there are plenty of those in this small coastal town who would prefer things stay quiet…

PJ's Thoughts:

This is one of my favorite Brenda Novak books that I've read in the past few years. It is so well crafted, pulling me into the story and holding me in its grip through a series of twists and turns that I did not see coming. It kept me up reading way too late because I had to know how it would all turn out. 

I love a good mystery and this one was so tightly woven that I had no idea what would happen until the final reveal. Novak outdid herself. Just when I thought I had it figured out she threw in an unexpected twist that sent me careening in a totally different direction. I was thoroughly absorbed in every page, trying to decide where she would take the story next. I love when an author accomplishes that!

The romantic part of the story is no less complicated with Ford and Lucy reuniting after their teenage relationship crashed and burned. There's tension and mistrust (understandable, considering what happened after her father was arrested) but Novak handles it with a deft hand. Their actions in present day feel authentic and their slowly unfolding relationship, with its peaks and valleys, real and organic. 

If you're looking for a well-crafted romantic suspense novel with a cross-class, second-chance romance, a tightly-woven mystery, a hostile community, unexpected twists, and a hard-won happy ending, add The Summer That Changed Everything to your summer reading list. I highly recommend it.