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Reviews

Library Lines

April 24, 2026

New Fiction

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie - In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for Saturday Night Live; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her small Massachusetts town. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond, first as friends, then as acting partners until one day, Noah disappears without a word.
Seven years later, in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.

It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh - He has a secret. She knows he's lying…
Nadeeka is certain Jamie is having an affair. She knows the tell-tale signs. She's been here before.
When Jamie claims to be at work late, she knows he's lying. He's with another woman, and she's determined to catch him in the act. But when Nadeeka arrives home to confront him, Jamie can't explain himself. The house has become a crime scene Jamie is dead.

The Storyteller’s Secret by Sophie Austin - From the stage of the Penny Farthing Theatre, Ava Adams uses hypnotism to draw long-buried memories from the lost and the lonely. Taught by her late mother, Ava once believed in her gift — until heartbreak shattered her confidence.
Damien Carter is running from disaster when he sees Ava's face on a faded poster. It feels like he’s been waiting for her all his life. But as dark forces conspire to break them, can they reach beyond the prison of their memories to find redemption together?

American Fantasy by Emma Straub - When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.  Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.

Krista Law