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Lies Between Us by Jessica Goodman Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Penguin on June 2, 2026
Also by this author: They Wish They Were Us, They'll Never Catch Us, The Counselors, The Legacies, The Meadowbrook Murders
Format: eARC (304 pages) • Source: Publisher
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The New York Times bestselling author of The Counselors delivers a razor-sharp murder-mystery set during the summer when a local teen's suspicious death exposes the devastating secrets three sisters keep.
Do you ever really know the people you love?
For the Gold sisters and Silver brothers, life has been idyllic, growing up in side-by-side waterfront mansions in a town where doors are never locked and the police do little more than issue speeding tickets. The Golds and Silvers have known each other their entire lives, as neighbors, as friends, as family.
But one carefree summer takes a dark turn when a beach party ends in tragedy and their perfect world cracks wide open. Suddenly, the bonds that tie these families together are strained by suspicion and fear. Painful secrets surface, revealing the fragile truths they've all been hiding.
Lucy, the oldest Gold girl, harbors a crushing secret from her boyfriend, one of the Silver boys. Millie, the middle sister, quietly yearns for the one person she can't have. And the youngest, Frankie, uncovers something that could blow their island apart.
From New York Times bestselling author Jessica Goodman, comes a gripping novel about the lies friends tell, the façade siblings build, and how one summer tests—and breaks—the bonds of family.
I always read Jessica Goodman‘s books when they come out because they’re typically easy and addicting reads, but overall pretty middle-of-the-road. I don’t know why but she’s an auto-read author for me, despite never giving her books more than 4 stars.
This story follows three sisters in the wake of a mysterious death/possible murder of one of the local boys. The youngest, Frankie, decides she’s going to solve the crime, while the others (Lucy and Millie) are hiding secrets of their own. These girls are best friends with the three boys that live next door and that dynamic is heavily featured in the story. I thought some of it was unnecessarily cheesy (the girls last name is Silver and the boys last name is Gold…) but it felt somewhat realistic, with some of them dating each other or having crushes, etc.
I liked the small beach town vibes of this one, which made it a good quick summer mystery. Goodman writes in a very accessible way without feeling “young” for a YA book. I know I’m not the audience anymore but I do find them pretty good for adult readers.
Nothing groundbreaking happens in this one but I thought the resolution to the mystery was actually interesting and pretty unique. No spoilers obviously but I feel like it was generally something I hadn’t read before.
The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Magical Realism
Published by Berkley on June 16, 2026
Also by this author: Geekerella, The Princess and the Fangirl, The Dead Romantics, The Seven Year Slip, A Novel Love Story, Sounds Like Love
Format: Audio/Physical (400 pages) • Source: Purchased
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The new head gardener at the enchanting Lilymoor House stumbles upon a secret garden . . . with a mysterious man trapped inside, in the next magical novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Sounds Like Love and The Seven Year Slip.
When Sophie Drear plans her escape to coastal Maine for the summer—for a temporary job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House—she doesn’t expect to fall in love.
But she does: With the beguiling land, the fragrant flowers, and the towering hedge maze. With the quirky staff and the enigmatic woman who owns the place.
And then, the door appears. Never in the same place twice, it leads her to a secret, and unfinished, garden with a frustrated thundercloud of a man trapped inside.
This mysterious garden is not the only sign that the future of Lilymoor is unstable: the foliage resists Sophie’s careful nurturing, vines threaten to strangle the hedges, and the manor’s owner has wild ideas about who will take over when she retires—including her inconveniently attractive nephew who is also there just for the summer.
Despite herself, Sophie has come to care for the residents of Lilymoor just as much as she cares for its grounds. With the help of one man on the outside of the secret garden, and one man on the inside, she might be the only person who can figure out exactly what Lilymoor needs to bloom once more.
I’m so surprised how Ashley Poston’s have turned into “hit or miss” for me. She’s been one of my favorite authors for years now, back to her YA days, but now I just don’t know what to expect from them. After A NOVEL STORY was an extreme flop for me, I went into SOUNDS LIKE LOVE with reservations… and ended up loving it. I was then cautiously optimistic about THE SOMEDAY GARDEN just to have it also be closer to a flop than a success, for the most part.
It has everything I would love: set in coastal Maine, cute magical house and gardens… sounds cozy and cute. I think one of the issues I’m running into is that some of Poston’s books are veering into immature and cheesy whimsy instead of fun and cozy whimsy. This is the main reason I’ve stopped reading Meg Shaffer books – the premises sound amazing but the execution is on the juvenile side.
The story follows Sophie as she takes the internship of a lifetime at Lilymoor House, a place she and her best friend had loved for years and only visited once. She’s hoping to get her life back and work through the grief she’s been experiencing for the last year. The grounds and house seem to be a bit magical and she discovers a man stuck in a garden, with the door changing locations daily.
I enjoyed the premise and setting so much, and the main character’s journey to try to get her life back. But the romance was so minimal and not believable? I just didn’t really see it. She spends a good part of the book interested in a different guy so there wasn’t enough time or chemistry to see why she would switch up to the other one.
The magical elements didn’t make sense or have an explanation which isn’t a huge deal but combined with the weird romance, this fell short for me overall. It wasn’t a bad read but I hope more of Poston’s books in the future feel more like THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP or THE DEAD ROMANTICS than this one and A NOVEL LOVE STORY.
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