The Scoop

An unflinching look at what happens to the integrity of an ambitious journalist when she--in desperation--takes a job at an online tabloid news outlet. 

The Scoop, a searing and suspenseful first novel by Erin Van Der Meer, centers on ambitious, 29-year-old Francesca “Frankie” Miller who loses her editorial job at an elitist New York City-based magazine. 

For three months, she scrambles to find work. Losing hope and in desperation, Frankie takes a job at The Scoop, a cultural tabloid-like news website cast as a fictionalized off-shoot of a stereotypical FOX News and/or its parent company The Wall Street Journal. Frankie hopes this job will be a mere stop-gap employment measure, especially as it seems that no reporting is off-limits at this "click-bait" digital news outlet. In need of a steady paycheck and lured by the prospect of a better future job dangled by her domineering male boss, Frankie plays along. She launches a juicy tell-all story that takes down a rock star, but this becomes the tipping point that forces Frankie to ultimately question herself; her morales, values, and integrity; and her ambitions.

 

Van Der Meer presents an authentically based, provocative exposé of the contemporary news industry, delivering insights via the acerbic wit of her protagonist whose plight ultimately descends into a much deeper, surprisingly profound and personally reflective story.

 

The Scoop by Erin Van Der Meer

Grand Central Publishing, $29.00 hardcover, paperback, 9781538776339, 320 pages

Publishing Date: April 21,2026

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

Learn more about Erin Van Der Meer HERE

Lost in the Summer of '69

The thrill of the 1960s is brought back to life when a rebellious, forgetful 69-year-old goes on a zany cross-country road trip.  

Spry, spunky, independent females are hallmarks of Eliza Knight’s fiction. In Confessions of a Gramma Queen, Knight tackled the story of a feminist copy editor entrenched in the male-dominated publishing world of the 1960s. In Lost in the Summer of ’69, Knight takes readers on another exciting 1960s journey where a former rock singer/guitarist sets out on a zany quest to recapture her glory days before the threat of Alzheimer’s descends and robs her of cherished memories.

In 1969, widowed 69-year-old Eleanor Bell gets a devastating medical diagnosis that propels her to have one last great hurrah. Always a rebel, Eleanor sets off on her own, hellbent on attending every USA music festival she can over the summer. But when her adult daughter Leanne realizes her mother has taken to the road, she and Nora--her own daughter, a Yale undergrad--are forced to chase after Eleanor as she crisscrosses the country. As Eleanor serenades the public and wins their adoration, becoming a wandering celebrity, she remains just shy of the frustrated reach of her daughter and granddaughter.

Music lovers and fans of the 1960s will find great appeal in Eliza Knight’s adventurous multigenerational story that weaves social, political and cultural history into a comic novel that resonates with poignant heart and soul.

 

Lost in the Summer of ’69 by Eliza Knight

Sourcebooks Landmark, $17.99 paperback, 9781464255113, 400 pages

Publishing Date: June 9, 2026

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

Learn more about Eliza Knight HERE

 

The Rainy Day Bookshop

A warmhearted multigenerational romance centered on a grief-stricken mother and daughter juggling family demands, love interests, and a local bookshop. 

Four generations of woman reside at the center of The Rainy Day Bookshop by RaeAnne Thayne, a moving multigenerational romance about how the past can influence the future.

 

Widowed Rosie Lucas has her hands full. Her 72-year-old mother, Sylvia--who established and maintained The Rainy Day Bookshop in the small town of Wood Briar on the Oregon coast--is slow to convalesce from an ice-skating accident. And her estranged daughter, Emma, returns to town with Olivia, her three-old-old, Rosie’s granddaughter, in tow. The timing seems providential, as Emma can now help out at the store. However, Emma’s return forces Rosie and Emma to deal with a secret that drove a wedge between their relationship years before. In the midst of them revisiting the past, a quirky, loner writer and single dad becomes a loyal confidante for Rosie, and Emma crosses paths with an old flame from middle school.  Can the two women, riddled with grief, reconcile their mother-daughter relationship? And are they willing to open their hearts to romance again? 

 

Small town life and the complexities of women’s issues are Thayne’s (Snow Kissed, The Lost Book of First Loves) specialties—and they shine in this tender-hearted novel of family dynamics and blossoming love.

 

The Rainy Day Bookshop by RaeAnne Thayne

MIRA Books (HarperCollins), $29.00 hardcover, paperback, 9780778307433, 384 pages

Publishing Date: June 2, 2026

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

 

Learn more about RaeAnne Thayne HERE