Joshilyn Jackson
Between, Georgia

Between, Georgia

Publishers Weekly says Between, Georgia has "plenty of Southern sass and rueful, charming confidences" to "make this a theatrical and well-paced Southern family drama."

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The Almost Sisters

The Almost Sisters

I can't do better than my bookstore-owning friend Holland to sum this one up: Imagine The Help meets Comic Con, and you've got this story about right. Talented graphic novelist Leia finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a drunken one-night-stand at a comic book convention. She doesn't know the father's name, but he looked awfully cute in his Batman suit. As Leia absorbs the knowledge that she'll soon be a mother to a biracial baby, she is summoned home to Alabama to do what she can for her struggling family—her stepsister's unraveling marriage, her grandmother's worsening dementia, and a shocking secret hidden in the family attic. This is a fast-reading, big-hearted novel that tackles Serious Issues really, really well—while spinning a terrific story.

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Backseat Saints

Backseat Saints

From the publisher: "Rose Mae Lolley's mother disappeared when she was eight, leaving Rose with a heap of old novels and a taste for dangerous men. Now, as demure Mrs. Ro Grandee, she's living the very life her mother abandoned. She's all but forgotten the girl she used to be-teenaged spitfire, Alabama heartbreaker, and a crack shot with a pistol-until an airport gypsy warns Rose it's time to find her way back to that brave, tough girl . . . or else. Armed with only her wit, her pawpy's ancient .45, and her dog Fat Gretel, Rose Mae hightails it out of Texas, running from a man who will never let her go, on a mission to find the mother who did."

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Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever

Jackson’s latest Southern story feels both exactly like the books her long-time readers know and love and like a total departure—and I am here for it. Her new domestic thriller (yes, really!) begins at a book club meeting in a quiet suburban neighborhood. These women live quiet lives revolving around family and sometimes work; they know each other well, and everything unfolds as usual … until a new guest arrives, one who has a score to settle based on long-buried secrets, and who won’t rest until she makes the woman pay for her crimes. But what happened back then, and why does it matter now? I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough in my quest to discover the truth for myself. An absorbing, rewarding mystery that will delight her loyal readers and entice new fans. Publication date: July 30.

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The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

I love Joshilyn Jackson. Entertainment Weekly calls this novel a "ghost story, family psychodrama, and murder mystery all in one." Add the fantastic Audible narration. Jackson almost always reads her own novels (and other authors' novels as well—she's that good).

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A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty

From the publisher: "A powerful saga of three generations of women, plagued by hardships and torn by a devastating secret, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of family. Fifteen-year-old Mosey Slocumb -- spirited, sassy, and on the cusp of womanhood -- is shaken when a small grave is unearthed in the backyard, and determined to figure out why it's there. Liza, her stroke-ravaged mother, is haunted by choices she made as a teenager. But it is Jenny, Mosey's strong and big-hearted grandmother, whose maternal love braids together the strands of the women's shared past -- and who will stop at nothing to defend their future."

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Mother May I

Mother May I

I'm always excited for a new Joshilyn Jackson title: she's one of my must read authors, especially on audio. The inciting incident of her latest suspense novel unfolds in the balcony at a school rehearsal for Grease, Jr: The Musical. While Bree catches up with an old friend and fellow parent, someone kidnaps her baby while he naps in his carseat nearby. Bree soon discovers the kidnapper wants to use her to exact revenge for something that transpired long ago, but is far from forgotten. Bree decides that to get her baby back, she can't interact with the kidnapper as herself. Instead, she must step into a role—one that will win the kidnapper's sympathies—and must rely on every bit of skill honed in her acting days to do it. Readers, take note: you'll want to talk about the ending with a friend, so plan accordingly. And while it's obvious this plot includes children in peril, other content warnings apply; please do your research.

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With My Little Eye

With My Little Eye

Jackson has long been an auto-read author for me: I’ll read whatever she writes. Here she once again pulls together things she loves and knows well: Atlanta, the theater, human nature, and autism, combining to tell a story that had me continually going WAIT, WHAT?! The plot of this new thriller revolves around an actress who was in a hugely popular show when she was 23. Now, twenty years later, she’s moved back to Atlanta with her daughter to get away from a scary stalker back in L.A. But when the stalker’s letters start showing up at her new address, she has to find a way to protect herself and her child. I loved this for its delicious misdirection, well-drawn child characters, and breathless conclusion. (Lots of content warnings here, including children in peril.)

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Someone Else’s Love Story

Someone Else’s Love Story

Sweet 21-year-old Shandi "fell in love with William Ashe at gunpoint, in a Circle K” when he steps between a gunman who's high on drugs and her 3-year-old son. When the crisis is over, Shandi hurls herself into a new mission: getting him to love her back. Her blond god Thor that she fell in love with so quickly turns out to be a brilliant geneticist, whose genetic makeup contains some “specific duplications and deletions.” What Shandi doesn't realize is she's stepped into the middle of someone else's love story, not her own—but that story proves to be far more interesting than she ever could have dreamed. This was a runner-up for the post about the best summer reading for your Myers-Briggs personality type.

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Gods in Alabama

Gods in Alabama

Part love story, part murder mystery, pure Southern fiction. After spending ten years in Chicago, hiding from her past, Arlene returns home to face a secret she's been hiding since she fled town after high school, and introduce her black boyfriend to her racist mother. Football, dysfunctional families, and colorful characters landed this one on the staff picks shelf.

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The Opposite of Everyone

The Opposite of Everyone

This is the follow-up to Someone Else’s Love Story, which I just loved (especially on audio). RT Book Reviews calls this "a masterfully written tale that readers cannot put down."

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