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.

 

 

Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen (pub date 05/05/26)

 

Finley has always felt most comfortable in someone else’s shadow. Fortunately, she’s got Colin, her magnetic boyfriend, who sweeps her along for activities, friendships, and future plans. Then she goes on a last-minute trip with her distant mom to a family vacation house that Finley didn’t know existed and is now about to be sold.

Her mom was estranged from her own parents and siblings since leaving home for college, and it’s a novelty for Finley to see her aunts and cousins. There’s also the handful of teens who work at the Egg, her aunt’s diner, and make up a found family of their own—including undeniably handsome guitarist Ben.

Then her relationship with Colin goes into freefall, and Finley’s roadmap for life after high school is gone. She has no choice but to live, for the first time, without plans. The longer Finley stays, the closer she gets to the truth about why her mother stayed away—and why she’s brought Finley here now.

And the closer she grows to new friends at the Egg, the more she starts to fall for charmingly awkward, soulful Ben and to realize how much of herself she’s been missing. By the end of the summer, nothing will be the same—for this community or for Finley herself. -Simon & Schuster

Change of Plans is classic Sarah Dessen, a Young Adult coming of age story full of heart.  While there is a romance in this story, it’s in the background to Finley’s growing relationship with her newfound family both (both biological and chosen) and her personal self-discovery.  There is a large mix of characters in this story so just like Finley, it took me a bit to remember who is who and how they all fit.  I especially loved Finley’s co-worker Lorna and I’m manifesting a follow-up book featuring her.  I would’ve liked some more development on Finley’s relationship with her mother, Cat.  There was also a lot of deeper issues throughout such as cell addiction and gentrification that have kept me thinking days after I turned the last page.

This is Sarah Dessen’s latest novel after a seven-year hiatus and I hope she doesn’t keep us waiting that long for another book!  Although time really does fly, I remember getting a physical ARC her novel Just Listen when I worked at Borders and that was way back in 2006!! Where did those twenty years go?

Thank you to Simon & Schuster/Simon Teen and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.  Change of Plans officially releases May 5, 2026 but you can pre-order now at your favorite book store or online retailer.  Sarah is also going on tour, check out her social media for dates and info.