Lucky Break
By Jaclyn Westlake
Avon; paperback, $18.99; Ebook, $12.99; Digital Audio, $27.99; available today, Tuesday, July 15th
Jaclyn Westlake is the author of the novel Dear Dotty and an alumna of the Stanford Continuing Studies novel writing program. A recruiter turned career advice columnist, her work has appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, and Inc. She lives in California with her husband and their dachshund mix, Indiana Jones, who can be called Indy.
Lucky Break is Westlake's new novel, and it centers on Eliza, who has always had a plan, one which included raising 2.5 children nearly her tight-knit Italian family in San Francisco.
"I don't care what my superstitious Italian mother says, there's no such thing as luck," Westlake, in Eliza's voice, writes. "I've been around long enough (thirty-two years) to know that for certain. Everything has a cause and effect. That's why it's so important to always have a plan.
"I'm a Virgo, so I come by my love of planning and exceptional organization skills honestly. They were literally written in the stars. (I don't actually believe in horoscopes, but as a card-carrying California native, I'm comfortable using astrological signs as shorthand for personality traits.)
"I've had my life mapped out since my junior year of high school. My dad says that I'm goal-oriented. My therapist, Nora, says I have control issues and suffer from perfectionism. I don't get too hung up on labels."
Eliza's meticulous plan has been torn asunder as she has run into a spate of bad luck, as her life has imploded, and her engagement fell apart. She is now left second-guessing the picture-perfect future she had always envisioned.
As sudden as this is, Eliza is given an instant chance to start over, in Juneberry Lake, a small midwestern town eager to lure remote workers to their picturesque community.
In a move than shocked her family and friends, even herself, Elisa packs up and buys a lake house sight unseen. Juneberry Lake proves to be as delightful as it looked in the pictures, which don't include Joel, another new arrival who works alongside her every day in a charming coffee shop.
However, if Eliza is looking to get a sense of her uncertain future in the shimmering waters of this town, she won't have much luck. That's because her friendly Midwestern neighbors are holding a marvelous secret, which is one that will help Eliza to see that her recent spate of bad luck was never her fault.
Eliza learns that the tide can be turned when least expected, and with the help of those around her, new and old, she can build a future that's all her own.
Crash Test
By Amy James
Avon; paperback; $18.99
Amy James writes YA, adult fiction, and contemporary romance, and when she's not writing or working, she plays the piano and learns new languages. She lives with her husband and dog on the east coast of Canada.
Crash Test is James' new novel, a contemporary romance that takes the reader to the world of Formula 1.
Travis Keeping is a twenty-four-year old F1 driver, a phenom who's halfway through an incredible racing season, with a championship in his sights, but something tragic occurs that turns his world upside down.
There is a crash on the Formula 2 circuit involving driver Jacob Nichols, who is in critical condition. Nobody is aware of it, but Travis and Jacob have been dating for over a year.
Jacob is the only boy he has ever loved, and he is now clinging for life, and his F1 team cannot understand why Jacob's performance is faltering. Travis is also part of a cold war with Jacob's parents, who want him as far away as possible from their son. Travis is sure everything will improve when Jacob wakes up, but he soon becomes aware of the effect his parents have on him.
The F1 season continues to roll on, and Travis and Jacob find themselves alone and miserable on opposite ends of the world. Each one has new friends by their sides, and they will be pushed outside of their comfort zones and onto a journey of self-discovery, one that could lead them back to each other in the end.
The Black Highway
By Simon Toyne
William Morrow; hardcover, 368 pages; $32.00
Simon Toune is a writer, director, and producer who has made several award-winning shows, one of which one a BAFTA, in how over twenty years working in British television. He is the author of the internationally bestselling Sanctus trilogy (Sanctus, The Key, and The Tower), The Searcher, The Boy Who Saw, Dark Objects, and The Clearing.
The Black Highway is the third installment of the Laugthon Rees forensic suspense series, and this time it is centered on a case that hits uncomfortably close to home and threatens what Laughton values most, her daughter.
Laughton has to confront the darkest parts of her past, which she is not ashamed of, and includes youthful indiscretions that led to the birth of her daughter Gracie, to find the man responsible for the latest spate of murders along the Thames.
When Gracie's father returns unexpectedly, Laughton is automatically wary. Shelby Faber is a dangerous man who was formerly imprisoned for his involvement in an international drug trafficking ring, and no matter the feelings Laughton once had for him, she doesn't want him anywhere near Gracie.
However, when Shelby claims that he has information about an especially difficult murder case she is working, she can't turn him down. A body with no head or hands has recently turned up in the Thames, and the police were at a loss until Shelby identified the man. The victim was part of the same highly secretive smuggling ring that Shelby was involved with during his and Laugthon's youth, which was being investigated by Laughton's father, a former commissioner for the Metropolitan police, before he died.
Laughton begins to dive into her father's old files to try to trace the connections between past and present, but as she and DCI Tannahill Khan circle closer to the truth, the case takes a personal, as well as dangerous, turn. When another body turns up, which has been mutilated just like the first, the victim is no stranger to Laugthon, and she must find him before he takes away everything she loves.
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