Authors with ties to the North Shore pen sizzling new reads that provide the perfect distraction for sunny summer afternoons.

WOMAN ON FIRE

by Lisa Barr

From the New York Times bestselling author of Fugitive Colors and The Unbreakables— Woman on Fire is a gripping tale of a savvy, young Chicago journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centered around a Nazi-looted masterpiece—forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth. Rising young journalist Jules Roth is given an unusual assignment—to locate a painting stolen by the Nazis: legendary Expressionist artist Ernst Engel’s most famous work, Woman on Fire. Meanwhile, the powerful Margaux de Laurent also searches for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux is a cunning gallerist who gets everything she wants. A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice that illuminates the destructive cruelty of war and greed and the triumphant power of beauty and love.

THE ADVENTURES OF HERBIE COHEN

by Rich Cohen

Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator: dealmaker; risk-taker; raconteur; adviser to presidents and corporations; hostage and arms negotiator; lesson giver and justice seeker; author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, The New York Times bestselling author Rich Cohen’s father. The novel follows our hero from his youth spent running around Brooklyn with his pals Sandy Koufax, Larry King, Who Ha, Inky, and Ben the Worrier; to his days coaching basketball in the army in Europe; to his years as a devoted and unconventional husband, father, and freelance guru crossing the country to give lectures, settle disputes, and hone the art of success while finding meaning in this strange, funny world. This book, a bildungsroman, a collection of tall tales, the unfolding of a unique biography coiled around Herbie’s great insight and guiding principle: The secret of life is to care, but not that much.

WHEN WE LET GO

by Rochelle B. Weinstein

From the USA Today bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends, this is a moving novel of family and forgiveness and of hope and healing. When Avery Beckett is proposed to by Jude Masters, a widowed father and the man she loves, it should be a time of great joy. Instead, she is on edge and too afraid to take the leap. It’s the kind of fear that comes from having secrets. Before Avery commits, she must reconcile with the life she left behind. When she returns to her childhood farm, she’s surprised to be saddled with a companion: Jude’s teenage daughter who’s grappling with the loss of her mother and the complicated emotions of first love. When We Let Go is about the lessons that come from heartbreak and the healing it takes to embrace the joy of a second chance.

GILT

by Jamie Brenner

The acclaimed author of Blush presents a compelling novel about a jewelry dynasty. The Pavlin family built an empire on love. As the first jewelers to sell diamond rings exclusively for proposals, they started an engagement-defining tradition. But when a publicity stunt pits the three Pavlin sisters against one another, their bond is broken and one of the sisters dies. Now, over a decade later, Gemma Maybrook is still reconciling the reality of her mother’s death. Left orphaned and cast out by her family, Gemma is ready to reclaim what should have been hers. From Manhattan’s tony Fifth Avenue to the vibrant sands of Provincetown, Gilt follows the Pavlin women as they are forced to confront the past if they have any hope of finding love and happiness of their own.

METROPOLIS

by B.A. Shapiro

This masterful novel of psychological suspense from the New York Times bestselling author of The Art Forger follows a cast of unforgettable characters whose lives intersect when a harrowing accident occurs at the Metropolis Storage Warehouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But was it an accident? Was it suicide? A murder? Six mysterious characters, who rent units in, or are connected to the self-storage facility, must now reevaluate their lives. The characters have a variety of backgrounds: they are different races; they practice different religions; they’re young and they’re not so young; they are rich, poor, and somewhere in the middle. As the characters dip in and out of one another’s lives, fight circumstances that are within but also beyond their control, and try to discover the details of the accident, Shapiro both dismantles the myth of the American dream and builds tension to an exciting climax. Metropolis is a spellbinding story of what we hang on to, what we might need to let go, and how unexpected events can lead us to discover our truest selves.

All books are available through The Lake Forest Book Store, Winnetka’s The Book Stall, or on amazon.com.