A Summer Morning

by Anne Leigh Parrish

34-year-old Timothy Dugan faces a growing list of problems. His girlfriend wants to have a baby, he hates his job, and his mother announces that she and his father, long divorced, plan to remarry. There’s also his growing dependence on alcohol. Just when things start to look up, in the form of a possible new business venture, someone from his past returns with a secret that could ruin everything, and Timothy slides into a slow-motion train wreck from which he might not recover.

300 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2023

About the author

Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish's fourth collection of poetry, THE BANISHED AND THE DEAD, arrives March 10, 2026 from Unsolicited Press. Her ninth novel, A BROKEN WINDOW, published on June 20, 2025 as part of Unsolicited Press's Year of Womxn. Her third poetry collection, DIARY OF A FALSE ASSASSIN, arrived right before Christmas, also from Unsolicited Press. Other Recent titles are THE HEDGEROW, a novel; A SUMMER MORNING, a novel; IF THE SKY WON'T HAVE ME, poems; AN OPEN DOOR, a novel; A WINTER NIGHT, a novel; and THE MOON WON'T BE DARED, a poetry collection. She is the author of eight other books, most notably MAGGIE'S RUSE, and THE AMENDMENT, both novels. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and displays her work at www.laviniastudios.com. She lives among the evergreen trees in the South Sound region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Medium, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Goodreads.

Reviews

[Susan Ballard (subakkabookstuff) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, we follow Timothy Dugan and his relationship with his poet girlfriend, Sam. Their relationship deals with what many thirty-somethings are: hating their jobs, family issues, etc. Sam wants to have a baby, but Timothy isn’t ready, not now, maybe never. And perhaps that’s good, seeing that he can’t seem to control his drinking right now.

This is billed as domestic realism, and I sense that this author leans toward the more simplistic, not getting caught up in the details. Yet, I wanted more description, and the dialogue is very reserved, which left me yearning to get inside these characters' heads.

Now, with that being said, the author did bring out emotion in me as I was so frustrated with Sam and Timothy. I often thought they had to be feeling more than this: their conversations were so stilted, so short; why didn’t they express their true feelings?

Surely, Sam had to have more emotions than she was letting on, especially when a woman from Timothy’s past dropped a huge bombshell on them. I needed them to express themselves, or at least I wanted to know what was making them tick. It’s as if they carried on as usual - until they didn’t.

This is a story of a relationship slowly breaking. The premise hooked me, but I yearned for a deeper, more emotional connection with the characters.

Thank you @mindbuckmediabookpub for a gifted copy.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Review

This was a complex yet engaging narrative that didn’t let go. The author did a remarkable job of crafting a story that felt organic and locked into the realities of what goes into a modern relationship. The engaging atmosphere and the rich tension that builds within these character dynamics will instantly hook readers into the narrative.

To me, it was the blend of deep-seated emotional storytelling with captivating character development that made this story shine so brightly. Rather than shy away from the truths that so many people live through in relationships, the author perfectly highlights the struggles and hardships that can occur in a relationship, and how the outside forces in our lives, from work to past relationships and more, can have an impact on the relationship that matters most to us.

The Verdict

Memorable, heartfelt, and engaging, author Anne Leigh Parrish’s “A Summer Morning” is a must-read genre fiction, romance, and drama novel that is not to be missed. The upcoming book will delve into the detailed struggles of modern relationships, bring about realistic characters readers can latch onto, and bring an emotional end that will stay with readers long after the book ends.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, which did a great job showing the ebbs and flows of the dynamics of our closest personal relationships, as well as the ebbs and flows of the fortitude with which we face our personal struggles. Ms. Parrish is a deeply talented writer, and with this work, I simply wish there was more. For me, it ended at the moment of a primary catalyzing event, and if you’re vested in the characters and story (which presumably the author wants), that’s a tough place to end it. I’m not saying that everything needs to be tied up neatly in a bow, but on the other hand there’s a difference between being open-ended and ending prematurely, and for me, this story fell into the latter category. Additionally, I would have liked to see more in terms of the relationship between Timothy and his son Mark — Mark was barely a blip on the radar, quite thinly sketched, even though the discovery of his existence is supposed to be a driving force in the plot. By contrast, Timothy’s relationship with his business partner Harcourt has far more substance. Yes, I understand that Timothy doesn’t know his son, so there’s no history there, but Mark doesn’t really register as a person in any meaningful way once he does appear. I also didn’t understand the point of the youngest sibling, Foster, who is described as being somber (so presumably there’s something behind that) but who only makes a cursory appearance. Why was his character necessary? Finally, I found some of the description a bit plodding, and the phrasing awkward at points (the latter may be due to typographical errors present in the ARC I read). Were I an editor, I would say to the author, “This is great work so far — keep going!” And I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Unsolicited Press and Mindbuck Media for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
PS I rarely comment on book descriptions, but I feel compelled to do so regarding the descriptions on both NetGalley and Goodreads. The description on NetGalley is a bit misleading, when it says “someone from his past returns with a secret that could ruin everything and Timothy slides into a slow-motion train wreck from which he might not recover.” In my opinion, the so-called “secret” and its aftermath doesn’t quite play out as melodramatically as the description would have you believe. And the description on Goodreads is a blow-by-blow plot synopsis that gives virtually the entire story away. Less is more, folks.