“The tide was coming in and soon and the footprints would disappear, just like my former life, she thought. She had stood at the crest of the rocks looking out at the great expanse of sparkling blue water. “Free. Free to be me,” she had said into the cool ocean breeze which tossed her blonde hair across her face as she stretched her slender arms toward the sky.”
– an excerpt from the book
ARPress is honored to publish Summer’s End by Kathryn B. Hull. This book is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the ARPress website.
Life has a strange habit of changing its tone without warning. One minute it hums softly in the background, steady and familiar. The next, it shifts key. Something breaks. Something ends. Something begins again, whether we’re ready or not. We walk forward carrying yesterday in one hand and tomorrow in the other, trying to keep our balance on the thin line called now. That quiet tension, between what was and what must be, sits at the heart of Summer’s End. It’s a story about more than loss or mystery. It’s about the moment when comfort fades, when the season of “before” closes, and when a person is forced to step into a new version of themselves, uncertain, trembling a little, but still moving forward anyway.
As a music composer and author of children’s books and this novel, Kathryn B. Hull is a member of ASCAP and SCBWI. She is a State and Nationally Certified teacher of music with an active piano studio in La Quinta, California, having taught music in both elementary school and college. She is a member of MTNA and CAPMT, having served on their boards for a number of years. She promotes the arts and music education through her work with numerous community organizations. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in music and minor in English. She is listed in Who’s Who of American Women among several others. She is the recipient of two Lifetime Achievement Awards.
There’s something kind of charming about picking up a book that doesn’t try to be trendy or flashy. No neon buzzwords. No “this will change your life” energy. Just a story that quietly pulls you in and lets the characters do the heavy lifting. That’s exactly what Summer’s End by Kathryn B. Hull manages to do.
The story opens with what should have been an ordinary moment: Jeanne taking a peaceful beach walk on the last day of summer. Instead, she finds a body wedged in the rocks. Worse, it’s her husband. That single moment flips everything upside down. What starts as a quiet coastal scene quickly turns into something heavier, darker, and impossible to ignore.
Hull drops readers straight into Jeanne’s emotional chaos. Jeanne isn’t written like a dramatic, fearless thriller heroine. She’s rattled. Vulnerable. Trying to stay upright while her entire life quietly collapses and rearranges itself. That’s what makes her believable. Rather than relying on constant shock moments, the tension grows through conversations, small revelations, and the persistent feeling that this death doesn’t quite add up.
Then there’s Jonathan Crown, the attorney who becomes wrapped up in Jeanne’s situation almost by accident. Their dynamic doesn’t feel forced or overly romanticized. It’s awkward in spots. Careful. Real. Two people navigating grief, uncertainty, and complicated circumstances without pretending they have it all figured out.
Hull’s writing style keeps things grounded. She doesn’t dress the story up with overly fancy language. Scenes are easy to visualize. Dialogue sounds like something people would actually say. The pacing moves steadily, enough momentum to keep pages turning, but with room to breathe when emotions hit harder.
You can also tell the author did her homework. Police procedures and legal details are woven in smoothly, adding credibility without turning the book into a technical lecture. It feels informed, not overwhelming. There’s care in the way the details are handled, but the heart of the story always stays centered on the characters.
What really stands out is that Summer’s End isn’t only about solving a mystery. It’s about rebuilding. Jeanne is dealing with grief, independence, and that strange in-between phase where your old life is gone but the new one hasn’t fully formed yet. That emotional thread runs quietly through the story and gives it more depth than you might expect.
This isn’t a book trying to compete with loud, action-packed thrillers. It doesn’t need to. It’s the kind of story you’d bring to the beach, or settle into on a quiet evening. You keep reading because you want answers, but also because you’ve grown attached to the people involved.
That might be the best compliment to give Kathryn B. Hull. She doesn’t just hand readers a mystery. She creates characters worth following, even when the answers start to hurt a little.
If emotional suspense with a personal, human edge sounds like your thing, Summer’s End deserves a spot on your reading list. Calm on the surface. Restless underneath. Just like the waves that set the whole story in motion.
Summer’s End: A Novel by Kathryn B. Hull is now available for purchase via the ARPress Bookstore.