Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the advance reader copy of August Lane by Regina Black.

Luke is a former country music star at the bottom of his career. The song he continues to play, to his dislike, is his lone hit, “Another Love Song.” Luke receives an opportunity to open for his childhood idol - Black country music star, JoJo Lane. However, the opportunity is in his hometown which will force him to face his past and face JoJo’s daughter, August, the real writer of his hit song. August, though hurt from Luke’s betrayal, uses their reunion to launch her own songwriting career and leave the shadow of her mother’s career.

When I read this summary, I was drawn in and wanted to see how August and Luke could work through the past and come back to each other. The story is told in both past and present and I thought this was the perfect story structure. How the past and current events were revealed as the story progressed created the best build up to the end. I loved the ending and sat thinking about this book at its conclusion. This is a deep and emotional story that is so beautifully written.

If you love second chance romance, check out August Lane.

Regina Black is operating on another level. I loved her debut, and I loved August Lane. Deeply powerful and emotional with complex characters making messy, real choices. A must for romance readers

Professional song writing duo with a tumultuous family history. 4.5 stars

Story: 4 Characters: 4.5 Engagement: 4
Recco: yes

"That's what seeing him again was— a new hit of an old narcotic."

"Feelings didn't have a straight path. They were riddled with forks and ditches, blocked by rivers too strong to wade through."


Highlights:
- Raw romance: complicated history and interactions where truths weren't always shared.
- Deep feelings: not a fluffy surface romance
Struggles depicted so well you could into their shoes
- Character progression with all involved
Mixed storytelling methods going back in time, current, and podcast transcript
- Lots of well-written quotable lines (many below)

Midlights:
- Some scene transitions are a bit choppy

Lowlights:
- Some of the hurtful parental interactions are hard to read

Quotes I liked:
"Luke briefly wondered if this man knew that his entire life was one lie toppling over the next."

"Her willful ignorance had been a relapse, the resurgence of an old addiction to unsolicited kindness she should have outgrown years ago,"

"That's all we ever did. Say yes to each other when we should have been saying no. That's not love. It's just lazy."

"She'd memorized that man through the lens of teenage obsession."

"Now here they were, standing at two life-altering precipices with completely different trajectories."

"If there were a trophy for being the biggest idiot around a beautiful girl, he'd win it by the time the conversation ended."

"That was all they did now. Exchange truths that had been sharpened into weapons."

"Luke would offer some sweet gesture and she'd gorge herself sick, convinced it was enough to live on. It wasn't."

"Luke was stronger in a lot of ways: Physically, Mentally. But not when it came to her, his favorite weakness,"

"He wanted to ask her what it felt like. To be loved for existing."

"Luke seemed like the type who'd be comforted by familiar sandwich structures."

"It should feel like pulling something out of yourself that's already there. Excavating an emotion."

"Being judged at church was one thing. Those people put odds on each other's damnation like they were placing bets in Vegas."

"Good people confuse me, but I'm learning."

"Critics tend to listen with their eyes and not their ears."

"Hypocrites are always first in line when you have something they want."

"I also think people can only give what they have, Some of us don't have much."

"Or maybe he'd thought that she'd mended so much of herself already, there was nothing left to break."

One thing about Regina Black - she's not just going to tell you a story, she is going to piece together an experience bit by bit. Her writing is like a well-crafted puzzle. With this book being dual POV and dual timeline, she gives us a vivid story that we feel deeply, with no detail left out.

This book is a second-chance romance about Black country music artists August Lane and Luke Randall who, after a complicated breakup and sudden separation, reunite after ten years. During their time apart, Luke becomes famous off of a song August wrote and he takes the writing credit for the song. Luke is offered an opportunity to open for the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is taking place in his hometown. His return forces him to face August, his true love, and all of the hurt he left there ten years ago.

The big themes I took away from this book are forgiveness and personal growth. Both August and Randall are deeply hurt individuals still navigating their troubled childhoods whose parents were far from ideal parents. They work hard to make decisions that will help them heal, while also working to forgive themselves and the people closest to them.

I highly recommend this one! Definitely pick this one up when you re in the mood for an emotional romance read.

This book gave me ALL THE FEELS! August and Luke's story was so different than other romance books I had read, and the music connection made the story so interesting and fresh. I loved the interview interludes between the chapters with Jojo's point of view. This book is a must read for anyone who loves a deep, real, second chance romance.

Through alternating POVs, dual timelines and interstitial interview snippets, Regina Black has composed a story showcasing the love between characters who've experienced immense loss and loneliness. This book has authentic characters and a rich setting, and the execution is so masterful that I read through this in less than a day (despite preferring romance novels with a touch more levity). August Lane is a memorable and timely tribute to Black artists/musicians and their contributions to country music, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next from Regina Black!

Rating: 4.5 rounded up
Readers should be mindful of content warnings, as this story covers a lot of heavy topics.

I don’t even know where to start with this one.

If you know me at all you know I love a good love story. And this book delivers that. But what it does even better is it delivers a raw, emotional, painful look into what it means to human. In what it means to be deeply hurt and betrayed but still forgiving. This book isn’t a light read or a neat love story. It has layers to it that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in a book before. But the most beautiful part of this book is that for all the pain and heaviness, you aren’t without hope. Luke and August work for their shared and separate healing. They come up with a way to fix what was broken and share in the aftermath, one where the truth is out and they can finally have what they both want.

You want to be just as a mad at Luke as August is when the book starts, but through the flashbacks, you come to understand that betrayal isn’t always born of malice - it can literally be the only way to save your own life. I absolutely love that we got to see them fall in love as kids and again as adults, with the right tools to navigate their past tramas. These two are survivors and I hope they take their bows for coming out the other side of everything they’ve been through.

I cannot review this book without talking about the racism in country music. I know next to nothing about country music. I definitely am out of my depth when it comes to the ways in which Black country artists have had to fight for their voices in the industry. As a white reader, we must make space to read the voices of BIPOC authors and sit in the uncomfortable feelings of our privilege.

I loved every second of this story. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
Take a bow, Regina Black, you’ve so fucking earned it after this one.

Please check the content warnings for this one and take care of ourselves.
TW: addiction, child abuse, mention of rape/abortion, infidelity

Thank you Grand Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I loved August Lane so much and if you love an angsty second chance, chock full of beautiful hurt-comfort moments, this is for you. August Lane pubs on July 1!

✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Childhood Friends
✔️ Small Town
✔️ Hurt/Comfort

August is the daughter of a famous country singer Jojo Lane who she doesn't regularly see. She also hasn't seen Luke since high school, when he left town, went on a singing reality show and claimed sole credit on a song she co-wrote with him. Now he's back in town to sing their song with her mom and maybe make things right with August too.

The angst was strong from the get as both Luke and August have a lot of childhood baggage stemming from mommy issues. The flashbacks of their high school days where they were both volatile, full of drive and passion for music and each other was juxtaposed with current day where they are restrained and still in pain. It was beautiful to see them find their way back to each other and find family and forgiveness too. 5⭐️

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

This is a slow-moving, second-chance romance. Luke, a washed-up country singer, returns to his small hometown and must face some of his demons. August is the daughter of a country music legend who Luke betrayed. She has unrealized Nashville dreams, but remains stuck repeating destructive behaviors in her small town. They have a contentious reunion and must face their history in order for each of them to move forward.

I enjoyed reading this book and appreciated the author's writing style, but I found the romance to be secondary to the journeys August and Luke take together alone.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this free copy of "August Lane."

How can I rave about this book but keep my review short? Books about musicians are fascinating to me and this one was a page-turner that had suspense, romance, heartbreak, and joy on so many levels:

-best friend from high school and music soul mate who steals August's song and it becomes major hit (but why did he steal it?)
-challenges of being a Black music artist in a predominantly white music genre
-several dysfunctional parent-child relationships
-coming back to hometown to seek forgiveness

The story was compelling, written in a mix of flashbacks, present day, and podcast transcripts. And so many emotions were evoked - it was a special reading experience.

Regina Book, I’ve read and I really enjoyed the story. The characters were very believable and easy to relate to.

Loved the premise of the book. And liked how the flashbacks were used. I’ liked how the themes of religion, grief, addiction and recovery were presented in the story. I will say that I had issues with the pacing. Sometimes things would happen that seemed out of place or rushed. The way the relationship of the main characters progressed, both in their teenage years and in adulthood, while it had very romantic moments that I enjoyed, certain conversations or moments felt rushed to me. I also wish there had been more moments between Luke and his brother, or between Silas and the main characters, or Jojo and August, although I agree with how the book left the latter’s relationship. But I would have liked more moments between all these other characters that were introduced and that were important to the plot.

A Black country music star who lied about writing his only hit risks his comeback to reunite with the woman he stole it from, a first love the lyrics won't let him forget.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is gorgeous. I don't know how else to put it. It is a solid gold second chance
romance, but so much more. It hurts and heals and soothes in all the right places.

I love that we hear so much about August before she quite literally bursts onto the page in her first POV. The combined dual POVS, flashbacks, and interview format is so well done. Every moment is so perfectly placed and it all seems effortless, which makes it even more impressive. Everything I wanted to happen in the plot happened sooner than I was anticipating in a way l hadn't been expecting. So clever and unique, and I am so satisfied with the way it all played out.

Additionally, the playlist that Regina Black crafts throughout the plot is a stunner and adds so much to the story. I had to stop reading each time a new song was mentioned so I could listen to it as I continued.

What you can expect:
✨An angsty, slowburn second chance, dual timeline romance
✨Historically Black small-town in the rural South
✨Black country music stars, celebrity gossip, tell-all interviews
✨ Family drama/trauma
✨Friends to lovers with a lot of speed bumps and thirteen years in between

August Lane is out July 29th and I will not stop talking about it for the rest of the year, thank you very much!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the early access!

What an evocative and multilayered book. August Lane explores Blackness and its roots (and erasure) in a beautifully complex way with messy main characters and a beautiful romance that is somehow both mature and innocent. Regina Black is such a talent and after this and The Art of Scandal I truly cannot wait to see what she does next.

It took me a bit to get behind the chapters from the past because I wasn’t sure how they were relevant to the story but I grew to understand and love them. Such an emotional story.

When I first started this book I was so excited. I was so interested in the story and where we were going and then at some point I lost some of that like investment??? Maybe it’s because it took me a while to read but I felt confused a lot of the time. I think the three different timelines caused it all to blur together? But at the same time, I enjoyed seeing the past and present and the interview snippets. I also feel at times there were things happening that I just didn’t understand? We would start at a 2 and end up at a 17 and I just was so confused.

All that to say. I loved the historic aspect of country music and honestly all genres of music and Black people. I love the love between August and luke. Howeverrrrr tt felt really hard to read at times because it felt like every chapter there was something so heartbreaking. There’s a lot of trauma and sadness in this book which at times just wore down on me but also at the same time I think it was maybe necessary. I think this book was a very good depiction of love, loss, addiction, growth, and overall just a good depiction of how your pain and other peoples pain can affect your life and the choices you make.

I have really like gray era thoughts about this book, so deciding on a rating is tough. Butttttt since I need to give one, I would rate it a 3.25.

This book is beautifully written. I found myself highlighting many passages that resonated. The author is very gifted with writing descriptions.
I loved that the fmc August is a mess. I loved how flawed mmc Luke is. These are people with problematic childhoods and trauma that impact their life choices.
"August was suddenly very sure that he couldn’t. Years of being punished for existing had stripped him of boundaries or gut instincts. None of it was his fault. Life was different for kids like them. They were never wanted, which made them obsessed with being chosen."
I also loved the music and artistry in this book. The lyrics and poetry throughout the book spoke my language. The passion the characters had for music is palpable and believable because that's how artists are about their craft.
"Once the guitar was in his hands, his body transformed, adjusting to what felt like its natural state. This was why he’d roped her into helping him. Aside from when he spoke to her, Luke only felt like himself when his fingers were on the frets, his feelings buried beneath a C chord."
The theme of Black people as unseen in country music is important. It is art imitating life with the real-life backlash that exists as if Black people didn't always exist in country music. Because you ignore something doesn't mean it hasn't always been there.
I liked that her mother doesn't show for the concert. It tracked. I would've not liked it as much if she showed and they sang together and all was forgiven with a tidy bow. It is a gritty and raw story and I liked that the author remained true to that tone.
I definitely recommend this novel. I plan to read her first one.

I loved Black’s The Art of Scandal, so when I saw this go up on Netgalley, I grabbed it right away, eager to spend more time with her evocative, lyrical prose, complex character studies, and hard but rewarding emotional journeys. Her sophomore release centers two musicians who’ve had achingly hard childhoods, coloured with abuse, neglect, premature adult responsibilities, and countless messages about low worth. Though resilient and talented apart, it’s only together that they find the confidence to fully embrace their unique, powerful voices and move forward into the futures they want. Through a dual timeline, Black explores the profound impact of childhood on adulthood, from the delight of singing along to country music during one’s most formative years, to the silencing of passion and talent due to systemic exclusion, addiction, microaggressions, racism, social ostracism, imposter syndrome, and a lack of parental love, care, and guidance. Black’s leads emerge as tough but desperately tender young adults with so much potential, the reader is left yearning with them for a chance to do so much more than survive. The embedded lyrics in the novel are deeply moving, and the threaded history about Black country musicians is fascinating. Overall, this is another powerful, emotional character study, with a heart-breaking but ultimately joyful romance at its center, a beautifully depicted setting full of sensory texture and complex history, and a cast of memorable, imperfect characters whose interwoven stories blend hard realities with soft vulnerabilities to create the kind of melody /story that lingers with the listener / reader long after its last note / chapter.

I took my sweet time with this one. August Lane is a gorgeously written, musical second-chance romance. I’m beyond grateful to have received this ARC ahead of its release, 7/29/25. Thank you @netgalley & @grandcentralpub!

It’s Black Music Appreciation Month and this novel honors the roots, complexity, and power of Black artistry. From the structure alone, Regina Black delivers something genius: each chapter unfolds like a track on an album—intro, first verse, lift, chorus, bridge, outro—mirroring the emotional arc of the story itself.

August Lane follows August and Luke—two deeply wounded souls (⚠️TWs) brought together and torn apart by music, ambition, grief, and addiction. Told in dual POV and across a dual timeline, their love story feels raw and real. We move between the heat of their past connection and the bittersweet complexity of their present-day reunion, witnessing how time, fame, and trauma shaped their lives— and their hearts.

And threaded throughout is their song—“Another Love Song.” What starts as a melody becomes a memory, a scar, a lifeline. It recurs again and again, shifting in meaning with every stage of their relationship. It’s more than a song—it’s the echo of everything they’ve loved, lost, and tried to rebuild. When you read it you’ll get it and the refrain will haunt you in the best way!

The book subtly and powerfully explores the creative pain of being “trapped” at a specific emotional moment—especially as a Black country artist, a topic that y’all know is increasingly in the public eye. I couldn’t help but think of artists like K. Michelle, who has spoken candidly about trying to break through in spaces that were built on Black musical traditions yet often gatekeep Black artists. That theme comes alive with August & Luke + August’s mother, Jojo introduced through a podcast interview woven throughout the story.

This story was as soulful and layered as the music it centers. A must-read. 🎶 #AugustLane #ReginaBlack #BlackRomance #BlackMusicMonth #SecondChanceRomance #CountryMusicRomance

Loved the art of scandal and now I’m fully obsessed with August Lane! Regina Black’s storytelling skills shine through in this book managing to cover a host of heavy topics with grace and poignancy. Five stars to this book. Will be recommending this to everyone I know.