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An Ocean State Novel #2
Wolves of Summer
Not yet published
Expected 3 Nov 26Win a free print copy of this book!
9 days and 06:34:44
20 copies available
U.S. only
A girl goes missing in a Rhode Island beach community, leaving everyone to wonder: Is there a monster among us? From the bestselling author of Her One Regret.
July 1979: The people of Bonnet Shores are shaken to their core when local twelve-year-old Christina Grove doesn’t come home one night. Christina’s older sister, Maddie, takes the disappearance especially hard and blames herself for sending her little sister alone through the woods on her bike.
Everyone shows up to help find the missing girl: from Bonnet Beach Club royalty to working-class neighbors who pick up donuts and coffee for the search parties. Maddie has suspicions of her own that lead her to take ever more dangerous risks despite her mother’s fears of losing a second daughter. Meanwhile, another local, Cricket Kelly, decides to investigate the unsavory characters of Bonnet in an attempt to both find Christina and come to terms with her own teenage trauma. The Groves’ neighbor, twenty-one-year-old criminal justice student Diana González, is just getting her start working part-time at the Narragansett Police Department and jumps in to help with Christina’s case. Diana knows there’s more to Bonnet than carefree nights of flashlight tag and bonfires up in the dunes, and she suspects an ugly reality: Someone who pitched in to help with the search for Christina is likely responsible for her disappearance.
A riveting story about lost childhood, female friendship, trauma, and redemption, the second Ocean State Novel takes a hard look at violence against women and girls in a beach town where the wolves are always circling.
July 1979: The people of Bonnet Shores are shaken to their core when local twelve-year-old Christina Grove doesn’t come home one night. Christina’s older sister, Maddie, takes the disappearance especially hard and blames herself for sending her little sister alone through the woods on her bike.
Everyone shows up to help find the missing girl: from Bonnet Beach Club royalty to working-class neighbors who pick up donuts and coffee for the search parties. Maddie has suspicions of her own that lead her to take ever more dangerous risks despite her mother’s fears of losing a second daughter. Meanwhile, another local, Cricket Kelly, decides to investigate the unsavory characters of Bonnet in an attempt to both find Christina and come to terms with her own teenage trauma. The Groves’ neighbor, twenty-one-year-old criminal justice student Diana González, is just getting her start working part-time at the Narragansett Police Department and jumps in to help with Christina’s case. Diana knows there’s more to Bonnet than carefree nights of flashlight tag and bonfires up in the dunes, and she suspects an ugly reality: Someone who pitched in to help with the search for Christina is likely responsible for her disappearance.
A riveting story about lost childhood, female friendship, trauma, and redemption, the second Ocean State Novel takes a hard look at violence against women and girls in a beach town where the wolves are always circling.
496 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication November 3, 2026
About the author
Donna Freitas
31 books688 followersDonna Freitas is the author of The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano, Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention, and many other novels and nonfiction books for adults, children, and young adults. Her latest YA novel is a rom-com that takes place in her favorite city, Barcelona: Stefi and the Spanish Prince. She has been featured on NPR and The Today Show, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The LA Times, among many other places. Donna currently serves on the faculty at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s MFA program. She also lives half the year in Barcelona where she loves partaking of its many bakeries and delicious restaurants galore. Learn more about Donna at www.donnafreitas.com and on Substack: https://donnafreitas.substack.com.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The cost of being a woman? Or "barely legal". "Jailbait"? As a woman I know these burdens all too well.
I honestly see Wolves Of Summer being one of the top reads of 2026. I work at a library and I constantly see the books with long wait lines, and I see this being added to it.
Based in the 70s you are following multiple POVs that center around a couple of things.
1. The Summer of break ins
2. The Summer a little girl goes missing
Are they connected? What happens in a beach community when girls are no longer girls anymore but considered women?
This is a very deep book and shouldn't be taken lightly. It covers an all too common issue that has always happened and will continue to happen.
Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
I honestly see Wolves Of Summer being one of the top reads of 2026. I work at a library and I constantly see the books with long wait lines, and I see this being added to it.
Based in the 70s you are following multiple POVs that center around a couple of things.
1. The Summer of break ins
2. The Summer a little girl goes missing
Are they connected? What happens in a beach community when girls are no longer girls anymore but considered women?
This is a very deep book and shouldn't be taken lightly. It covers an all too common issue that has always happened and will continue to happen.
Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Wolves of Summer - 4⭐
When a young girl goes missing, her bustling ocean community comes together to help search before time runs out.
Huge thank you to Edelweiss and Soho Press for the opportunity to read and review in advance of publication in exchange for my honest review.
This one wasn't quite what I was expecting but not in a bad way.
I was anticipating a bit more of a crime procedural while on the hunt for a missing girl but instead, it's more of a scathing commentary on the predatory behavior in men.
At times uncomfortable, the author peels back the layers in this idyllic community to expose the ways in which the men in power take advantage of young girls.
As a novel, it's good, albeit a bit loose with the plot and character development but it does pack a powerful punch and gets it's point across.
When a young girl goes missing, her bustling ocean community comes together to help search before time runs out.
Huge thank you to Edelweiss and Soho Press for the opportunity to read and review in advance of publication in exchange for my honest review.
This one wasn't quite what I was expecting but not in a bad way.
I was anticipating a bit more of a crime procedural while on the hunt for a missing girl but instead, it's more of a scathing commentary on the predatory behavior in men.
At times uncomfortable, the author peels back the layers in this idyllic community to expose the ways in which the men in power take advantage of young girls.
As a novel, it's good, albeit a bit loose with the plot and character development but it does pack a powerful punch and gets it's point across.
September 12, 2026
this reminded me a little of “the god of the woods”, but i liked this book WAY more🫢
the last 1/3 of the book was incredible, i wanna talk about the ending so badly but i can’t ughhhh
the last 1/3 of the book was incredible, i wanna talk about the ending so badly but i can’t ughhhh
October 9, 2026
This was a dark read and I loved it! It begins with notes from the author. Apparently, she grew up in an area similar to the one that this story is set in. Her notes gave the story a more realistic feel to me. The setting was fantastic! A quiet beach town in Rhode Island. The timeframe was perfect! It is set in the 70's. As a child in the 70's myself, I really enjoyed the nostalgia factor. Even the strong theme of misogyny back then was familiar. I remember men acting the ways that some of the men in this story act. Brought back a few not so fond memories so I could sadly relate. Definitely before the me-too movement. The main story centers a 13-year-old girl who goes missing one summer. The whole town shows up to search for her, possibly including someone who is not there out of concern for the child. We learn that the little happy town of Bonnet Shores hides a dark underbelly of secrets. We hear from several POV's as more and more layers are peeled away. I had a hard time putting this one down and am excited to read more from Donna Freitas!
Thank you to #NetGalley, Donna Freitas and Soho Press | Soho Crime for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Donna Freitas and Soho Press | Soho Crime for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I am not typically a fan of mysteries, but I’m glad I gave this one a chance. A young girl goes missing and a community comes together to try to find her.
Overall, this book is not quite what I expected. I assumed the main theme would be solving the mystery of locating the missing girl. But instead, it focuses much on the predators that could be living amongst us in our communities. I appreciate that this book uses very minimal language, and while at times it discusses unpleasant situations, it is not horribly gruesome. I’m thankful for the opportunity to read this prereleased book!
Overall, this book is not quite what I expected. I assumed the main theme would be solving the mystery of locating the missing girl. But instead, it focuses much on the predators that could be living amongst us in our communities. I appreciate that this book uses very minimal language, and while at times it discusses unpleasant situations, it is not horribly gruesome. I’m thankful for the opportunity to read this prereleased book!
August 2, 2026
A young girl disappears one night in an idyllic beach town in Rhode Island. All the residents, all classes, work together as a community to find her. This book takes place in the 1970’s and jumps from past to present and is told through multiple viewpoints. I felt uncomfortable in many parts and just had to know what happened to Christina and what her fate would be.
This book is about women and the victimization of women. How young girls are vulnerable and easily manipulated and abused even without realizing it. It’s not an easy read.
I related to multiple women and have gone through my fair share of abuse in the form of being followed home by a strange man to having my older boss stand too close and say inappropriate things to me as a 16 year old. I have had men say too many inappropriate things. Things I thought maybe I brought on myself. This book picked at old painful scars. I live in a time now where women speak out against crimes against women, but like many of the women in this book their tales were left unsaid. They were left with guilt and shame. They weren’t taken seriously 50 years ago.
I think the sign of a good book is one that makes you feel whether it’s good or uncomfortable and unnerving. This was well written and an important work of fiction that is based on things that happened and still happen to women from all walks of life. Thank you Netgalley.
This book is about women and the victimization of women. How young girls are vulnerable and easily manipulated and abused even without realizing it. It’s not an easy read.
I related to multiple women and have gone through my fair share of abuse in the form of being followed home by a strange man to having my older boss stand too close and say inappropriate things to me as a 16 year old. I have had men say too many inappropriate things. Things I thought maybe I brought on myself. This book picked at old painful scars. I live in a time now where women speak out against crimes against women, but like many of the women in this book their tales were left unsaid. They were left with guilt and shame. They weren’t taken seriously 50 years ago.
I think the sign of a good book is one that makes you feel whether it’s good or uncomfortable and unnerving. This was well written and an important work of fiction that is based on things that happened and still happen to women from all walks of life. Thank you Netgalley.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews