An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick for June
A June 2025 Book of the Month Selection
A Town & Country Best New Romance Novel

"The Summer We Ran is a perfectly nostalgic story of love, loss, and secrets that refuse to stay buried. It's exactly what I hope for in a summertime read."
-Annabel Monaghan, author of Same Time Next Summer

Does your past define your destiny? Told through multiple perspectives, rich with emotion and immersive dual timelines, The Summer We Ran weaves together a story of lost love, devastating secrets, shocking sabotage, and the painstaking decision two people must make in order to fulfill the futures they each desire.

In the summer of 1996, Tess Murphy's mom gave her two rules to abide by: keep quiet and stay out of trouble. Her mother landed a new job as a cook at an affluent Virginia estate and didn't want anything to risk the opportunity, least of all her outspoken teenage daughter. What no one saw coming was Tess falling deeply in love with the boy next door, high-society Grant Alexander.

Over a few wondrous and heat-filled months, Tess and Grant's love blooms so ferociously it feels utterly impossible that anything can keep them apart, until tragedy strikes.

Now, more than two decades after their epic teenage romance, Tess and Grant are both running for governor of Virginia, and secrets from that summer threaten to shatter their families, their political futures, and the memory of the first love that shaped their lives.

Audrey Ingram is the author of The River Runs South and The Group Trip. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and Georgetown University Law Center, and she practiced law in Washington, D.C., for fifteen years. When not writing, she can be found digging in her garden or hiking the Blue Ridge mountains. An Alabama native, Audrey currently lives in Virginia with her husband and three children.