Hot Summer Reads

Stanford grad and stay-at-home mother Ava Wong is unhappy—her two-year-old son, Henri, is a terror who prefers his nanny, and Ava’s husband, a transplant surgeon, has moved into an apartment rather than make the commute from San Francisco to Palo Alto. Ava’s discontent is the reason she is vulnerable enough to get pulled into a con involving counterfeit designer handbags, run by her old college roommate Winnie Fang—at least, that’s what Ava would like the detective interviewing her to believe. Fans of the movie Hustlers will enjoy this madcap caper narrative that shifts between Ava’s trips to Hong Kong to procure meticulously crafted knock-off designer bags, and the scheme the ruthless Winnie runs back in the states—hiring “shoppers” to purchase handbags from department stores and boutiques, only to return knock-offs days later, while the real bags are sold on eBay for a hefty profit. Check it out!

Crime writer Cassidy Bowman is convinced she has found the story that will make her career—the case of Lore Rivera, a Texas woman whose double life led to the murder her husband at the hands of her other husband back in 1983. The closer Cassidy gets to Lore through her interviews, the less sure she is that Lore’s husband Fabian is really the person who killed Andres Russo—but why would Fabian lie to protect to woman who betrayed him and broke apart their family? At once a slow-burn of a mystery and an intimate portrayal of motherhood, Gutierrez’s debut novel asks questions to which there are no easy answers—it’s no surprise that Good Morning America named More Than You’ll Ever Know their book club pick for the month of June. Check it out!

Sager’s latest thriller follows another young woman trying to outrun her past who stumbles into a fight for her life. Reeling from the death of her husband, actress Casey Fletcher retreats to her family’s cabin in Vermont, where she spends her days drinking bourbon and spying on the couple across the street—a tech mogul and his former supermodel wife. The premise will feel familiar to readers of The Woman In The Window, but Sager has a wild twist in his pocket that is sure to generate discussion.  Check it out!

Kiki Banjo is the host of her college popular radio show, Brown Sugar, where she dispenses relationship advice (like avoiding the mess of them) to her loyal followers. But when Kiki gets caught kissing the very guy she denounced as the biggest player on campus, she finds her reputation in jeopardy. The solution? A fake dating scheme in which Kikki and Malakai use each other to rehab their images—and maybe even find a deeper connection along the way. The latest Reese’s Book Club pick is perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Sally Thorne. Check it out!

This year’s biggest beach read follows Persephone “Percy” Fraser as she reluctantly returns to the lake house where she spent her summers as a teen alongside her best friend—and first heartbreak– Sam. Percy and Sam haven’t spoken in ten years, and ever since, Percy has guarded her heart carefully. Set over the course of six summers and one weekend, Fortune’s debut romance about first loves and second chances is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Colleen Hoover. Check it out!

The author of Oona Out Of Order returns with a dazzling story of sisters, magic, and the cult of celebrity. During the finale of her comeback show, famous magician Violet Volk performs her vanishing act and never reappearances. Ten years later, Violet’s sister Sasha grapples with the unanswered questions about what happened on that stage. Violet’s fans remain obsessed with her disappearance, and popular podcast host Cameron Frank is pulling out all the stops to make Violet reappear. As his investigation becomes more intrusive, and her daughter Quinn conducts her own investigation into her aunt’s disappearance, Sasha must finally confront the painful truths about her relationship with Violet.  Check it out!

In Koontz’s latest, a group of strangers are drawn to a Montana ranch by a mysterious force. Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity drives the plot of this supernatural thriller, which features a diverse cast of characters, each arriving in Montana with their own motivations and unanswered questions about the dark forces at work on the ranch. Koontz’s fans will appreciate his trademark action-packed plotting and oddball cast of characters. Check it out!

If you had the chance to find out how many years you had left to live, would you take it? This question is at the heart of Erlick’s debut novel, in which every adult on earth receives a wooden box containing the answer to how long they will live. The latest Read With Jenna pick is a thought-provoking story that follows eight characters whose lives intersect after the fateful day the boxes appear. Check it out!

Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and Recursion, is back with another mind-bending thriller.  Agent Logan Ramsay works for the Gene Protection Agency in a world devastated by the effects of genetic modification. When Agent Ramsay is exposed to a virus during a raid of a lab where scientists are illegally manipulating human genomes, he finds himself developing strange new cognitive abilities—he can read faster, memorize things better, and he even needs less sleep. Realizing the virus was engineered to bring about the next stage in human evolution, Ramsay must work to stop the plot that has been put in motion—but what if “upgrading” really is humanity’s best chance at survival? Check it out!