Hi friends,

Happy belated Father’s Day to all the dads out there — and especially mine. His gift is the Yankees’ top position in the AL East standings.

I want to quickly thank the two Betsys (Marro and Verecky) for their recent guest posts. They both provided some excellent picks.

Quick PSA: Bookshop.org is providing free shipping from June 23rd through June 26th. Sounds like a #PrimeDay to shop there.

This week, I have three books for the summer travel season. Whether you’re jet-setting or planning a staycation, I think you’ll find something to enjoy.

And, now, what to read if …

You Have a Long Flight Scheduled

The Missed Connection by Tia Williams

After a rough few years, Sasha Cruz is starting to re-emerge into the world, beginning with a trip to Paris as part of her job as a casting director. She has a brief interaction with the attractive Italian man sitting next to her on the flight, in seat 7F, that grows into an intimate, electrifying conversation lasting the entire international flight. Despite their connection, the pair doesn’t exchange contact information or even names.

Weeks later, Sasha is still thinking about Seat 7F, convinced — half in jest — he’s her soulmate. So, she hires Wesley Dane, the smoldering private investigator who came to her rescue a few years earlier, to find her international man of mystery. The only problem? The more time Sasha spends with Wesley, the less confident she is that it’s Seat 7F who is her fate.

I had the ideal reading experience with The Missed Connection, poolside on a gorgeous day, sitting next to two good friends. But even if I had read it while stuck in traffic, I would have loved it. It’s a reminder why Tia Williams is one of the best romance writers today — it’s genuinely funny and voice-y, while exploring the darker parts of Wes and Sasha’s backgrounds. The only problem is that I read it the week it came out, and I’m now left waiting for Williams to write another book.

You’re Off to an Airbnb

Rental House be Weike Wang

Keru and Nate married after their college romance, drawn together despite — or because of — their dramatically different backgrounds and families. Keru, a well-paid corporate consultant, learned from her Chinese immigrant parents that to live is to suffer. Nate, a biology professor fighting to earn tenure, is the first in his white, working-class family to attend college.

In Rental House, Wang explores Keru and Nate, as individuals and a couple, over two vacations a few years apart. In the first, both sets of parents visit a Cape Cod house that Keru and Nate rented for the summer. The presence of their parents forces the differences and weaknesses in their relationship to the surface. Years later, at a luxurious Catskills rental, a series of uninvited guests disrupt the time Keru and Nate have blocked to spend together, after their careers pushed them to different cities.

Rental House doesn’t have a plot, per se; it’s more a character study of a marriage, and an attempt to understand how our families function — or don’t. As Alexis Burling wrote in a review for the San Francisco Chronicle, “Rental House is a pitch-perfect send-up of all the ways we humans can misunderstand or unintentionally (sometimes intentionally) wound our loved ones and drive each other crazy.”

You’ve Booked a Resort Stay

A Killer Getaway by Sienna Sharpe

For the past five summers, Lily Lennox has spent the summer lifeguarding at an exclusive Caribbean wellness resort, leaving behind her successful business and loving friends for a few months.

But Lily isn’t just there to get paid for tanning. She’s there to get revenge on the toxic guests and staff, who push unhealthy attitudes in the name of “wellness.” Perhaps coincidentally, each summer she’s worked at the resort, there’s been a mysterious death on site.

Lily’s time getting away with crimes might be coming to an end, though. This summer, a journalist has checked into the hotel — and he’s asking inconvenient questions. But even as he grows closer to finding the truth, she refuses to give up her plan.

I bought A Killer Getaway at Nora Roberts’ bookstore because 1) I lifeguarded for years and 2) I love a bonkers plot. Sienna Sharpe, a pen name for , delivers a wild ride, perfect for beach reading.

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