Whether you are at home or cautiously peeking out into the world, it is safe to say that you need books for ESCAPISM from the news. Summer hopefully brings blue skies, warm weather and some outdoor enjoyment. Or, indoor relaxing. Here are thrillers, contemporary and historical fiction, romances and fantasy picks…something for everyone.
The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson – Out Now, Read It Today!
My very favorite of the Summer!
A priceless secret family jewel and a dysfunctional family sage make this book completely captivating. I spent all of last weekend glued to it. It is a contemporary novel with a dose of historical fiction woven in and a touch of mystery. Inspired by the true story of the real, still-missing Florentine Diamond, The Imperfects illuminates the sacrifices we make for family and how sometimes discovering the truth of the past is the only way to better the future.
Beach Read by Emily Henry – Rush to Read!
Perfect escapism read!
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. The only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Everyone will finish a book, and…
This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf – Out and Ready to Read
Gudenkauf never disappoints!
Everyone has a secret they’ll do anything to hide…Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but case ultimately went cold. For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces, and the case is reopened. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on.
The Betrothed by Kiera Cass – Out and Perfect!
You will love Cass’ newest, a glittering royal romance.
When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true. But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.
Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho – June 9th
How can you resist a book billed as Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones’s Diary? You can’t!
At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: She has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore’s hottest clubs. All she has to do is make law partner, and her life will be perfect. Yet when a chance encounter with charming, entrepreneur Eric Deng offers her a glimpse of an exciting, limitless future, Andrea decides to give Mr. Right-for-her-family a chance. Too bad Suresh Aditparan, her office rival and the last man her family would approve of, keeps throwing a wrench in her plans.
The Marriage Game by Sara Desai – June 9th
Summer romance at its best!
Layla Patel returns home to her family where her father offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door. As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he’s forced to share his space with the owner’s beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.
Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle – June 9
Another Belle thriller masterpiece!
When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul; it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned. At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two.
We Came Here To Shine by Susie Orman Schnall – June 16th
I read it in one sitting! Fantastic!
Set during the iconic 1939 New York World’s Fair, two intrepid young women–an aspiring journalist and a down-on-her-luck actress–form an unlikely friendship as they navigate a world of endless possibility, stand down adversity, and find out what they are truly made of during the glorious summer of spectacle and opportunity. When Max and Vivi’s worlds collide, they forge an enduring friendship. One that shows them to be the daring, bold women they are, and one that teaches them to never stop holding on to what matters most, in the most meaningful summer of their lives.
The Last Flight by Julie Clark – June 23rd
Try to put this book down, I dare you. Loved it!
The Last Flight is the story of two women — both alone, both scared — and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives. Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the wealthy scion of a political dynasty, she appears fabulous but behind closed doors, that perfect husband has a temper. He doesn’t know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish. A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire.
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory – June 23rd
Romance perfection!
Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe’s mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar, she discovers that he is the hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Because of Max’s high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly. When they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?
Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams – June 30th
A remarkable novel of both raw suspense and beauty!
In 1947, photographer and war correspondent Janey Everett arrives at a surfing village on Kauai to research a planned biography of forgotten aviation pioneer Sam Mallory, who joined the loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War and never returned. Obsessed with Sam’s fate, Janey has tracked down Irene Lindquist, the owner of a local island-hopping airline, whom she believes might actually be the legendary Irene Foster, Mallory’s onetime student and flying partner. As Irene spins her tale to its searing conclusion, Janey’s past gathers its own power. To whom does Mallory rightfully belong?
The Request by David Bell – June 30th
Thriller greatness!
Ryan has it all—great job, wonderful wife, beautiful child—and he loves posting photos of his perfect life on social media. Until the night his friend Blake asks him to break into a woman’s home to retrieve incriminating items that implicate Blake in an affair. Ryan refuses to help, but when Blake threatens to reveal Ryan’s darkest secret, Ryan has no choice. He finds the woman dead. Then his phone chimes, revealing a Facebook friend request from the woman. With police sirens rapidly approaching, Ryan flees, wondering why his friend was setting him up for murder. Can he clear his name?
The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan – July 7th
Finally, the Long-awaited sequel to The Royal We. God Save The Queen!
After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca “Bex” Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London and old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her Bex’ royal life. Re-read The Royal We and then dive into The Heir Affair!
How To Save A Life by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke – July 14th
Wonderful read!
When Dom bumps into Mia, his ex-fiancée whom he hasn’t seen in almost a decade, he believes they’ve been given a second chance and asks her out. When Mia dies tragically on their date, Dom makes a desperate wish: to be given the chance to save her life. And when he wakes the next morning to the shock that she’s alive, he thinks his wish may have been granted. But the further he digs, the more obsessed he becomes, making him realize that slowing down time may be the only way to see things clearly. Dom vows that he’ll watch Mia die a thousand times if it means he can save her once.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis July 21st
A beautiful ode to libraries and strong women!
It is 1913. Laura Lyons’ husband is the superintendent of the New York Public Library, allowing their family to live in an apartment within the grand building. But headstrong, Laura attends the Columbia Journalism School and she becomes drawn to Greenwich Village’s new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club—a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women’s rights. But when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she’s forced to confront her shifting priorities head on.
Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel July 21st
Laugh out loud funny and poignant. Love it!
Bridget and Will have the kind of relationship that people envy: they’re loving, compatible, and completely devoted to each other. The fact that they’re strictly friends seems to get lost on nearly everyone. For three decades, they’ve nurtured their baby, the Forsyth Trio—a chamber group they created as students with their Juilliard classmate Gavin Glantz. Bridget has been dreaming of spending the summer at her well-worn Connecticut country home with her boyfriend Sterling. But Sterling, breaks up with her over email and her twin twenty-somethings arrive unannounced. Bridget’s elderly father announces he’s getting married, and the Forsyth Trio is once again missing its violinist. She concocts a plan to host her dad’s wedding on her ramshackle property, while putting the Forsyth Trio back into the spotlight.
A Star is Bored by Byron Lane – July 28
I love this book! A hilariously heartfelt novel influenced in part by the author’s time assisting Carrie Fisher.
Charlie Besson is tense and sweating as he prepares for an insane job interview. His car is idling, outside the Hollywood mansion of Kathi Kannon, star of stage and screen and People magazine’s worst dressed list. She needs an assistant. He needs a hero. Their odyssey is filled with late night shopping sprees, last minute trips to see the aurora borealis, and an initiation to that most sacred of Hollywood tribes: the personal assistant. But Kathi becomes much more than a boss, and as their friendship grows, Charlie must make a choice.
The First To Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan – August 4th
Another Ryan suspense triumph!
We all have our reasons for being who we are―but what if being someone else could get you what you want? After a devastating betrayal, a young woman sets off on an obsessive path to justice, no matter what dark family secrets are revealed. She isn’t the only one plotting revenge. An affluent daughter of privilege. A glamorous manipulative wannabe. A determined reporter, in too deep. A grieving widow who has to choose her new reality. Who will be the first to lie?
Etiquette for Runaways by Liza Nash Taylor – August 18th
A sweeping Jazz Age tale in a fabulous debut novel!
1924. May Marshall is determined to spend the dog days of summer in self-imposed exile at her father’s farm. Following a dalliance that led to heartbreak and her expulsion from Mary Baldwin College, May returns home with a shameful secret only to find her father’s orchard is now the site of a lucrative moonshining enterprise. Despite warnings from the one man she trusts — her friend Byrd — she joins her father’s illegal business.
The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story by Darin Strauss – August 18th
I love Lucy! Always have, always will!
This indelible romance begins with a daring conceit—that the author’s grandfather may have had an affair with Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball was part of America’s first high-profile interracial marriage. She owned more movie sets than did any movie studio. She single-handedly created the modern TV business. And yet Lucille’s off-camera life was in disarray. While acting out a happy marriage for millions, she suffered in private. Her partner couldn’t stay faithful. She struggled to balance her fame with the demands of being a mother, a creative genius, an entrepreneur, and, most of all, a symbol. A mix of fact and fiction, memoir and novel, to imagine the provocative story of Lucy.
