This Changes Everything by Lisa Scottoline (pub date 07/14/26)

 

Julia Pritzker loves her new life as a wife and mother in beautiful Tuscany—except that she misses her best friend Courtney, back in the States. One night, Julia calls Courtney and reaches her as she’s arriving at her grandmother’s farm in Pennsylvania.

Then the unthinkable happens. A dreadful premonition overwhelms Julia moments before Courtney enters the house—and makes a heartbreaking discovery. Her beloved grandmother has been murdered, and the killer is escaping out the back door.

Julia flies home the next morning to support Courtney in her grief. The local police believe the murder was a botched burglary, but the women suspect something much more sinister and enlist hotshot Philly lawyer Bennie Rosato to assist. In addition, Courtney entreats Julia to trust her psychic intuition to point her to the missing pieces of this dark puzzle.

But in a town filled with explosive secrets, events take a deadly turn, and Julia becomes the target of a murderous conspiracy. She ends up fighting for her life, with no one to save her … but herself. author's website

 

This Changes Everything by Lisa Scottoline was one of the best books that I have read this year.  I’ve been a fan of Lisa’s for years now and her latest novel really ratchets the thrills and tension up to a new level.  This is a follow-up to last summer’s The Unraveling of Julia, but you don’t have to read that book (although you definitely should as it’s also great) to enjoy This Changes Everything.  This Changes Everything also features a cameo from attorney Bennie Rosato from Lisa’s Rosato & Associates and Rosato & DiNunzio series.  I hope we hear more from Bennie and the ladies at the law firm in the near future too.

This Changes Everything by Lisa Scottoline releases 07/14/26 but you can pre-order now at your favorite local bookstore or online shop.  Check out Lisa’s social media for more details and try to catch her on tour. 

Thank you to the publisher, Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Lies Between Us by Jessica Goodman (pub date 06/02/26)

 

 Do you ever really know the people you love?

For the Gold sisters and Silver brothers, life has been idyllic, growing up in side-by-side waterfront mansions in a town where doors are never locked and the police do little more than issue speeding tickets. The Golds and Silvers have known each other their entire lives, as neighbors, as friends, as family.

But one carefree summer takes a dark turn when a beach party ends in tragedy and their perfect world cracks wide open. Suddenly, the bonds that tie these families together are strained by suspicion and fear. Painful secrets surface, revealing the fragile truths they’ve all been hiding.

Lucy, the oldest Gold girl, harbors a crushing secret from her boyfriend, one of the Silver boys. Millie, the middle sister, quietly yearns for the one person she can’t have. And the youngest, Frankie, uncovers something that could blow their island apart. 

From New York Times bestselling author Jessica Goodman, comes a gripping novel about the lies friends tell, the façade siblings build, and how one summer tests—and breaks—the bonds of family. Penguin Random House

Lies Between Us by Jessica Goodman reminded me of all those great teen dramas they used to have on Freeform – a small town with a circle of friends all hiding secrets when a shocking murder threatens to expose them all.  I could easily see this novel adapted into a TV show. 

I loved the multiple POVs between the Gold sisters, Lucy, Millie, and Frankie.  This mystery kept me guessing until the end as there are multiple suspects and red herrings.  I enjoy trying to solve the case with the protagonists and being able to correctly guess “whodunnit.”  The ending here though is subject to interpretation which will be satisfying for some and frustrating for others.  Overall, this was a quick fun read.

Thank you to Penguin Teen/G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lies Between Us by Jessica Goodman officially releases 06/02/26 but you can pre-order your copy now at your local bookstore or favorite online shop.

 

 

The Island Club by Nicola Harrison (pub date 04/28/26)

 

1956: On idyllic Balboa Island, just off the California coast, life seems peaceful and welcoming. But when the lives of three women begin to unravel in shockingly different ways, an unlikely friendship—and the game of tennis—may be the only thing that can save them.

Milly Kinkaid's plan to fix her crumbling marriage seems to be falling apart before it even begins. She believed that moving her young family from Hollywood to Balboa Island might entice her increasingly distant husband to come home earlier after work. Instead, he's barely coming home at all.

Society matriarch Sylvia Johnson and her husband have been pillars of their community for decades, and have just recently begun a new business venture: The Island Club, a place for members to swim, play tennis and dine in style. But when she learns that he has been risking their financial security and putting their family's future in grave danger, she's not only poised to lose the club, but the entire community she holds dear.

Meanwhile, standoffish loner Adele Lambert's entire world is on the brink of being destroyed if the dark secrets of her past and her hidden identity is revealed. Twenty years ago, she ran from a shameful scandal and left behind the only thing she ever loved. Now, terrified that the anonymity she's spent decades guarding will be exposed, but desperate to stay afloat, she risks everything to return to the game that brought her to her knees all those years before.

Set against the sun-drenched beaches of Balboa Island, with its prim and proper 1950s facade, The Island Club is a story of love, loneliness and the lies we tell ourselves—and what can be gained when the truth is finally revealed. - publisher's website

 

It’s 80 degrees this afternoon in NY and I am starting to feel summer on the horizon!  If you’re looking for the perfect summer read, you will want to pick up The Island Club by Nicola Harrison.  I was lucky enough to be gifted an ARC by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and once I started it, I couldn’t put it down.  The Island Club has something for everyone, it’s a delightful story of friendship and self-discovery set in a vacation resort town in the 1950s with strong female characters (Milly, Sylvia and Adele), dishy secrets, and tennis!  While the novel is set in the 1950s some themes are timeless, it’s great to see how we’ve progressed as a society in some areas, yet it also glimpses at the unfortunate stagnancy in others.  I left this novel wishing that I too could pick up a racket and grab a cocktail with Milly, Sylvia and Adele!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.  The Island Club by Nicola Harrison officially releases on 04/28/26 but you can pre-order your copy now at your favorite bookstore or online shop.  You can also check out the publisher's webiste, linked above, for more information.