title: This Never Happened: A Novel
author: Elly Summers
description: Their sister Claire has just killed her abusive husband, and Max Hayes is explaining to his older brother Richard why he has to be the one to tell Claire's lawyer all about their parents--the rigid Jack and the passive Bev. "I could barely swallow," narrator Richard thinks. "I hated this kind of pressure. I'd had enough pressure when I was a kid to last me a lifetime. In high school we'd had to formulate a life's goal for careers class, and mine had been to never feel crushed in a no-win situation again. The way to do that was to take control of my life. Why couldn't Max understand that you can't control your past? Why rake it up? What was the point? Why not remember the good?" What makes this first thriller by E. W. Summers, a Maryland English teacher, so extraordinary is the way she instantly lets us see how badly damaged Richard has been by his childhood and how well he has survived in spite of that damage. Now, to save his sister's life, Richard has to strip away all his carefully constructed layers of protection and view his father for what he really is: an absolutely believable and totally frightening monster.
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  ![As Much As I Ever Could](images/amaiec-front-cover-rgb-with-kirkus-
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  # As Much As I Ever Could
  
  
  ## Book One, The Edisto Summers Series
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Brandy Woods Snow
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [![Sugar Publishing](images/sugah-publishing-
  header-1-1.jpg)](http://www.sugahpublishing.com)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Brandy Woods Snow
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
  distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written
  permission.
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  Sugah Publishing
  
  
  Fountain Inn, SC and Kansas City, MO
  
  
  www.sugahpublishing.com
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  Cover Design © 2020 by JRC Designs/Jena R Collins
  
  
  www.jenarcollins.com
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
  incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names
  are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people,
  living or dead, or to busine