Summer Reading List 2018
The Last Time I Lied
by
Riley Sager
Two Truths and a Lie.
The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp
Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis,
the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched
the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or
anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her,
hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.
Now a rising star
in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive
canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly
shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca
Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When
Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a
painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what
really happened to her friends.
Yet it's immediately clear that
all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from
fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at
her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all,
cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As
she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past
while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.
And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.
The Secret to Southern Charm
by
Kristy Woodson Harvey
Leaving fans “practically [begging] for a sequel” (Bookpage),
critically acclaimed author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with the
second novel in her beloved Peachtree Bluff series, featuring a trio of
sisters and their mother who discover a truth that will change not only
the way they see themselves, but also how they fit together as a family.
After
finding out her military husband is missing in action, middle sister
Sloane’s world crumbles as her worst nightmare comes true. She can
barely climb out of bed, much less summon the strength to be the parent
her children deserve.
Her mother, Ansley, provides a much-needed
respite as she puts her personal life on hold to help Sloane and her
grandchildren wade through their new grief-stricken lives. But between
caring for her own aging mother, her daughters, and her grandchildren,
Ansley’s private worry is that secrets from her past will come to light.
But when Sloane’s sisters, Caroline and Emerson, remind Sloane that no
matter what, she promised her husband she would carry on for their young
sons, Sloane finds the support and courage she needs to chase her
biggest dreams—and face her deepest fears. Taking a cue from her middle
daughter, Ansley takes her own leap of faith and realizes that, after
all this time, she might finally be able to have it all.
The Seasonaires
by
Janna King
For a twentysomething,
there is no summer job better than being a seasonaire - No
responsibilities, college is barely a thought, and you’re surrounded by
glamorous, beautiful people. When life is this intoxicating and
seemingly carefree, what could possibly go wrong?
Acclaimed screenwriting talent Janna King makes her fresh and thrilling debut with The Seasonaires.
An idyllic Nantucket summer begins like a dream for scrappy Mia from
South Boston; Presley, the gorgeous southern beauty queen; Cole, a
handsome introvert; Jade, the sultry daughter of a model and music
mogul; J.P., the energetic young designer; and Grant, the playful
party-boy. These six are working as seasonaires - influential brand
ambassadors - for the clothing line Lyndon Wyld. But like all things
that look too good to be true, the darkness lurking underneath slowly
rises to the surface.
Lyndon Wyld, the chic British tigress who
owns the eponymous business, rules their daily life by curating their
every move, which the seasonaires are obligated to post on social media
for their growing throngs of followers. When corporate greed,
professional rivalries and personal conflicts are mixed with sex, drugs,
and the naiveté of youth, the results are explosive as the murder that
will sully their catalog-perfect lives.
After Nightfall
by
A.J. Banner
Beware of friends with secrets…
Imagine
your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks
forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of
reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining
everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered,
lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.
Newly
engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be
celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her
friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she
take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa
digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening
after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping,
the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she
investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew
about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.
California Summer
by
Anita Hughes
Ben and Rosie are
Hollywood’s newest director/producer dream team. After hitting it big at
Sundance, it seems that their ten years of love and hard work are
finally paying off. Rosie is happy making independent films, but Ben
wants the A-List celebrity package: a house in Beverly Hills, fancy cars
in the driveway, and his name on the biggest blockbusters. He’s willing
to do anything, even sleep with the most famous producer in town, to
get them.
Rosie is devastated by Ben’s affair, and she decides to
take a break from show business. She accepts her best friend's
invitation to spend the summer at her parents' estate in Montecito. It's
far away from L.A., the perfect place to start over.
In
Montecito, Rosie meets a colorful cast of characters including Rachel,
who owns a chocolate store, and Josh, a handsome local who splits his
time between surfing and classic cars. Suddenly Rosie has new friends
and a new purpose. She starts a business in the village, and her luck
seems to be turning around. But Rosie knows all too well that success
comes with a price, and the price might be losing love...again.
Girls' Night Out
by
Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
For estranged friends
Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between
them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway
to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re
reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the
secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night
out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy
memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also
reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together.
Was
Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and
leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped
under the weight of her own lies?
As the clock ticks, hour by
hour, Natalie and Lauren’s search rushes headlong into growing suspicion
and dread. Maybe their secrets run deeper and more dangerous than one
of them is willing—or too afraid—to admit.
Lady Be Good
by
Amber Brock
Set in the 1950s, Lady Be Good is Amber Brock's mesmerizing return,
sweeping readers into the world of the mischievous, status-obsessed
daughter of a hotel magnate and the electric nightlife of three iconic
cities: New York, Miami, and Havana.
Kitty Tessler is the winsome and clever only child of
self-made hotel and nightclub tycoon Nicolas Tessler. Kitty may not have
the same pedigree as the tennis club set she admires, but she still
sees herself as every inch the socialite--spending her days perfecting
her "look" and her nights charming all the blue-blooded boys who
frequent her father's clubs. It seems like the fun will never end until
Kitty's father issues a terrible ultimatum: she may no longer date the
idle rich. Instead, Kitty must marry Andre, her father's
second-in-command, and take her place as the First Lady of his hotel
empire. Kitty is forced to come up with a wily and elaborate plan to
protect her own lofty ideas for the future, as well as to save her best
friend, Henrietta Bancroft, from a doomed engagement: Kitty will steal
Henrietta's fiance, a fabulously wealthy but terribly unkind man from a
powerful family--thereby delivering the one-two punch of securing her
now-fragile place on the social ladder and keeping her friend from a
miserable marriage.
Then Kitty meets Max, a member of a band
visiting New York from her father's Miami club, and her plans take a
turn. Smitten, but still eager to convince her father of her commitment
to Andre, Kitty and Hen follow Max, Andre, and the rest of the band back
down to Miami--and later to Cuba. As Kitty spends more time with Max,
she begins waking up to the beauty--and the injustice--of the world
beyond her small, privileged corner of Manhattan. And when her
well-intended yet manipulative efforts backfire, Kitty is forced to
reconsider her choices and her future before she loses everyone she
loves.
Somebody's Daughter
by
David Bell
When Michael Frazier's
ex-wife, Erica, shows up on his doorstep pleading for help, she drops a
bombshell that threatens to rip his family apart: Erica's nine-year-old
daughter is missing--and Michael is the father. Unable to quickly
determine if Erica is telling the truth, and unwilling to leave the
little girl's fate to chance, Michael has no choice but to follow the
elusive trail of the child he has always wanted and never knew he had.
But
finding Felicity comes at a price--the closer Michael gets to the
truth, the further into jeopardy his marriage falls and the faster his
family begins to unravel. As lies that span a decade bubble to the
surface and the window for Felicity's safe return closes, Michael will
have just a few short days to decide who can be trusted and who is
hiding the truth.
The Masterpiece
by
Fiona Davis
For the nearly nine
million people who live in New York City, Grand Central Terminal is a
crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia
Clay, it represents something quite different.
For Clara, the
terminal is the stepping stone to her future, which she is certain will
shine as the brightly as the constellations on the main concourse
ceiling. It is 1928, and twenty-five-year-old Clara is teaching at the
lauded Grand Central School of Art. A talented illustrator, she has
dreams of creating cover art for Vogue, but not even the prestige of the
school can override the public's disdain for a "woman artist." Brash,
fiery, confident, and single-minded--even while juggling the affections
of two men, a wealthy would-be poet and a brilliant experimental
painter--Clara is determined to achieve every creative success. But she
and her bohemian friends have no idea that they'll soon be blindsided by
the looming Great Depression, an insatiable monster with the power to
destroy the entire art scene. And even poverty and hunger will do little
to prepare Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come.
Nearly
fifty years later, in 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply
as Virginia Clay's life. Full of grime and danger, from the
smoke-blackened ceiling to the pickpockets and drug dealers who roam the
floor, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the
once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be
demolished? For Virginia, it is simply her last resort. Recently
divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order
to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby. But when Virginia
stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers
a striking watercolor hidden under the dust, her eyes are opened to the
elegance beneath the decay. She embarks on a quest to find the artist
of the unsigned masterpiece--an impassioned chase that draws Virginia
not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery
of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrator who disappeared from
history in 1931.
Somebody's Daughter
by
Rochelle B. Weinstein
Emma and Bobby Ross
enjoy a charmed life on the shores of Miami Beach. They are a model
family with a successful business, an uncomplicated marriage, and two
blessedly typical twin daughters, Zoe and Lily. They are established
members of a tight-knit community.
Then, on the night of the
girls’ fifteenth birthday party, they learn of Zoe’s heartbreaking
mistake—a private and humiliating indiscretion that goes viral and
thrusts her and her family into the center of a shocking public scandal.
As
the family’s core is shattered by disgrace, judgment, and retribution,
the fallout takes its toll. But for Emma, the shame runs deeper. Her
daughter’s reckless behavior has stirred memories of her own secrets
that could break a marriage, a family, and friendships forever.
When Life Gives You Lululemons
by
Lauren Weisberger
New York Times bestselling author Lauren Weisberger returns with a novel starring one of her favorite characters from The Devil Wears Prada—Emily
Charlton, first assistant to Miranda Priestly, now a highly successful
image consultant who’s just landed the client of a lifetime.
Welcome to Greenwich, CT, where the lawns and the women are perfectly manicured, the Tito’s and sodas are extra strong, and everyone has something to say about the infamous new neighbor.
Let’s be clear: Emily Charlton, Miranda Priestly’s ex-assistant, does not
do the suburbs. She’s working in Hollywood as an image consultant to
the stars, but recently, Emily’s lost a few clients. She’s hopeless with
social media. The new guard is nipping at her heels. She needs a big
opportunity, and she needs it now.
Karolina Hartwell is as A-list
as they come. She’s the former face of L’Oreal. A mega-supermodel
recognized the world over. And now, the gorgeous wife of the newly
elected senator from New York, Graham, who also has his eye on the
presidency. It’s all very Kennedy-esque, right down to the public
philandering and Karolina’s arrest for a DUI—with a Suburban full of
other people’s children.
Miriam is the link between them. Until
recently she was a partner at one of Manhattan’s most prestigious law
firms. But when Miriam moves to Greenwich and takes time off to spend
with her children, she never could have predicted that being
stay-at-home mom in an uber-wealthy town could have more pitfalls than a
stressful legal career.
Emily, Karolina, and Miriam make an
unlikely trio, but they desperately need each other. Together, they’ll
navigate the social landmines of life in America’s favorite suburb on
steroids, revealing the truths—and the lies—that simmer just below the
glittering surface. With her signature biting style, Lauren Weisberger
offers a dazzling look into another sexy, over-the-top world, where
nothing is as it appears.
Switch and Bait
by
Ricki Schultz
We switch. I bait.
Let me help you snag a date.
All
through college, Blanche Carter was known as the love doctor in her
sorority. Now she's parlayed her talent into a unique consulting
business: she runs the online dating profiles of Washington D.C.'s most
eligible women.
Armed with a battalion of rules, Blanche expertly
helps her clients optimize their profiles and ace that first date. But
although she'll happily message handsome strangers (and fend off dick
pics) for other ladies, Blanche's most important rule is the one she has
for herself: no relationships. She's seen too much heartbreak to
believe in real love anymore.
When a former fling pops up among
the matches for one of her favorite clients, Blanche gamely messages him
on her behalf. Blanche is definitely over him, and this is how she'll
prove it. But if she doesn't watch out, Blanche might end up not only
screwing over a client-and possibly tanking her entire business-but
breaking her rule about love as well . . .
Kick back, relax, grab a cocktail and enjoy your summer reading! I'm sure a few of these reads on now on your TBR pile!
xoxox Bethany
Aloha Love by Susan Murphy
Susan Murphy is a Civil Marriage Celebrant based in South Australia. With over 8 years experience, she’s had the pleasure and blessing of conducting ceremonies all over the country including weddings, baby namings, commitment ceremonies, funerals and anything else that has been requested by a client. The stranger the better!
