By Marjorie Preston
“Desperation Reef”
By T. Jefferson Parker
Forge Books
It’s been 25 years since surf legend John Stonebreaker died in the Monsters of the Mavericks, a competition off the Pacific Coast. Now his widow, Jen, also an accomplished surfer, vows to take on the same Monsters, in part to purge her guilt over John’s tragic death.
The couple’s sons, Casey and Brock, also will take part—if they can stay alive. Casey, a pretty-boy sports model and social influencer, is at war with offshore poachers who are quite capable of killing him. Brock, the head of a secular church and disaster-relief organization, has enemies of his own: a militia gang who are out to destroy his mission.
As the big contest approaches, the Stonebreakers battle inner and outer demons that have taunted them most of their lives.
“Desperation Reef” is a tense, wonderfully wrought thriller, unlike anything you’ll read this summer.
“The Summer Swap”
By Sarah Morgan
Canary Street Press
Lily Thomas left medical school to pursue her true destiny—as an artist.
To escape her disappointed parents, she flees for the summer to Cape Cod. There she makes ends meet by cleaning houses—including beachfront Dune Cottage, which has been vacant for years.
Lily can’t resist hunkering down in the quaint bungalow, which is filled with magnificent paintings—and intriguing secrets. She is found out when Cecilia Lapthorne, widow of famed artist Cameron Lapthorne, unexpectedly shows up.
Surprisingly, Cecilia doesn’t show Lily the door, but invites her to stay on. And the women form a close bond, based on shared heartbreak. Cecilia feels betrayed, because she has learned her late husband broke a solemn promise. Lily is filled with doubts about her art, and bereft because the man she loves is engaged to another woman.
Over the course of the summer, these women, from different generations, stand at crossroads in their lives, and learn to swap old dreams for new ones.
Lovers of romance can always depend on Sarah Morgan to deliver a deeply felt story, with winning characters they’ll want to root for.
“Is This Anything?”
By Jerry Seinfeld
Simon and Schuster
Jerry Seinfeld hasn’t written a memoir in the strictest sense. Yet this book has a timeline and trajectory all its own, and reveals a lot about the iconic comedian’s life.
“Is This Anything?” is a collection of standup bits from Seinfeld’s career, in chronological order. It starts in the mid-1970s, when the young comic made his debut at New York’s Catch a Rising Star. It continues through the ’80s, ’90s, and much of the new millennium.
Some of the jokes don’t really land. Some are laugh-out-loud funny. For my money, the LOLs far outnumber the groaners. I loved it.
“Slow Dance”
By Rainbow Rowell
William Morrow
If a girl is lucky, she gets at least one great guy friend. In high school, Shiloh lucked out with both Mikey and Cary.
The three outcasts did everything together, shielded each other from the usual bullies, and dreamed up beautiful futures, far from Omaha: Mikey as an artist, Cary in the Navy, and Shiloh as an actress.
The relationship between Shiloh and Cary deepened into something like love, but they were kids, and let the bonds break before finally drifting apart.
Now, almost 15 years later, Shiloh is back in Omaha, a divorced single mom who wonders what happened to the life she planned—and the love she lost.
When the old friends reunite at Mikey’s wedding, Shiloh and Cary wonder if this is their chance to start again. The friends-to-lovers storyline is fully and sweetly realized in this satisfying romance.
“Camino Ghosts”
By John Grisham
Doubleday
Corporate speculators are trying to hustle an elderly woman out of her heritage, a tiny, uninhabited barrier island off the Florida coast.
Writer Mercer Mann learns about the dispute when she comes back home for a seaside wedding. So she joins forces with Lovely Jackson, the descendant of slaves, to save Dark Isle from the developers and politicians who want to build a casino there.
But there’s a reason no one dares to live on Dark Isle, and the land-grabbers better beware.
No spoilers. Just prepare to enjoy a crackerjack drama, full of suspenseful twists, Grisham-style.
Marjorie Preston is a business writer, editor, ghostwriter and compulsive reader, who gobbles up books like potato chips. For more information (and more book reviews), visit marjorieprestonwriting.com.
