Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a ARC of this title. I really enjoyed this story. Regina Black is one of the most passionate authors in the industry right now. He story telling is phenomenal and you feel like you are on a journey. I loved this and would definitely recommend.

I was super obsessed with this one. I loved sooooo much this story and this was a great time. Shocked. The Romance. All of it.

I don’t think Regina’s books are meant to devour in one go. There’s something so wonderfully painful about certain parts of August Lane that I had to stop reading and absorb them as I went along. The overlapping of three different timelines did confuse me at times but I don’t think that was a Regina Black problem. That was a me problem. (I’m not great at focusing on multiple timelines in one story).

With that said, I loved August Lane. It was angsty, it broke my heart, it deals with heavy topics like parental neglect and addiction (the latter on the MMC’s part). But Regina handles it in a way that retains the raw emotion without being too traumatizing. The pain and angst isn’t watered down but it’s also not the entirety of who Luke and August are.

Their path back to each other is a mess but it’s such a phenomenal mess to read. Because it feels very real and true to the way things often go in the real world. Plus the homage to country music’s foundations in Black culture was really spectacular to see on page. (And inspired me to dig more into the history myself!).

Phenomenal job, Regina Black. All the snaps.

3.5 🌟

Overall, I found August Lane to be an okay read for me. There were some really beautiful parts, and there were equally parts that didn’t hold my attention or took me out of the story.

Regina Black’s August Lane weaves together three storylines in a unique way. Primarily, we follow the story of August and Luke alternating between 2009 and 2023. Additionally, we see excerpts from an interview August’s mother did in 2024.

August and Luke both have challenging pasts that brought them together, forced them apart, and ultimately brought them together again. I always appreciate being able to get glimpses of the past in a character’s life, because it can give you a look at what made them who they are today. That was certainly the case for this book.

Getting to see how August and Luke met, how their families influenced the choices they made, and the paths they chose to take was very realistic. With that, some of the topics covered in this book might be considered triggering for some readers. I am not sure if the final version includes trigger warnings, but I hope that it does.

I didn’t fully feel the romance between the two main characters. They both had a lot that they were still working through, and I didn’t feel they were emotionally ready for each other, which made it difficult for me to cheer for them. I liked them individually, but together, I wasn’t seeing the chemistry.

Additionally, while I did enjoy the flashbacks, at some points the past and present storylines were so similar that I forgot which time period it was supposed to be in, which would take me out of the story. I think that also made it feel a tad too long overall. It felt like the same issues, different time at some point.

I think this book is good for someone who enjoys beautifully written fiction, music as a focus, and does not mind plots that seemingly run parallel to each other at points.

AUGUST LANE is a book I simultaneously wanted to devour and savor. The characters are multifaceted and complex, and Regina Black reveals layers with such care that each chapter feels like discovering something new. August and Luke felt raw and real, an honest reflection of how messy, tender, and contradictory individuals can be.

At its heart, this is a beautifully crafted love story, but it’s also an ode to country music and a reminder the genre has roots in Black history. This novel doesn’t shy away from addressing the genre’s lack of diversity and representation, expertly weaving in country music history and honoring the contributions of Black artists.

Told across multiple timelines, this novels is framed like a song. Each section mirrors a song’s structure, opening with podcast excerpts featuring fictional Hall of Fame country artist Jojo Lane. This format give the story a layered, rhythmic quality that pairs perfectly with the themes of country music.

The audiobook takes this one step further with a full cast narration. The podcast segments flow seamlessly and were expertly produced. William DeMerritt’s deep, smooth delivery is soothing, his voice feeling like a seasoned country artist. If you enjoy audiobooks, I highly recommend reading in this format.

Fans of raw and real characters: AUGUST LANE is a must read.

Thank you Hachette Audio and Grand Central Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This story is light on plot and heavy on angst. It has a rich, beautiful writing that I wanted to wrap myself in and roll around in the ache. A second chance romance from a small town with two kids who had dreams of just making country music, or maybe just dreams of escaping each of their abusive and/or neglectful mothers. There's a whole lot of mother issues and pain. The writing has a deep ache you feel in your bones, a bruise you press on, an injury that hurts when the weather turns. That's how these two wounded folks show up and reunite over a decade later - wounded and hurting, and pressing on those bruises because they don't know how to stop.

"They wanted Luke, the pop star who made you grab your girl and dance, not Lucas, the crooner who made you want to burrow with her under the covers and trace her skin until it didn't feel like skin anymore." I mean, COME ON! That imagery!

I wish there had been a bit more there there - exploring issues with all the family members who have hurt them (that cousin did not get nearly enough heat) - but I will go anywhere Black takes me, even if it's round of hurt in a small town.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the e-arc. August Lane is available now.

Black country musician, Luke Randall never lived up to the hype. The song that made him famous was one he stole from a woman he once loved, August Lane. So when he is asked to open for the 90’s country music legend, Jojo Lane as she is being inducted to the country Hall of Game, Luke knows this is a second chance once in a lifetime opportunity. But it also brings back memories of his former love, Jojo Kane’s daughter, August.

Told in dual timelines (past and present) and from multiple perspectives, the story of Luke and August is slowly revealed. Interspersed between the chapters is a podcast featuring Jojo Lane, the mother who wasn’t really there for her daughter and instead left her to be raised by her mother.

Both Luke and August have experienced trauma through their childhood which led to the people they became and their eventually separation. But as August and Luke come face to face after years apart, are they finally ready to confront their trauma, their heartbreak and maybe even get a second chance to reach their musical dreams?

I was #gifted an early digital copy of this one and paired it with the audiobook which featured a fantastic cast which really brought the characters to life. Through a buddy read we discussed the many themes woven through this novel, including child abuse, addiction, and racism. It’s a love story at the heart of it all. I enjoyed the premise of this novel but its execution fell a little flat for me.

Thank you to @grandcentralpub and @netgalley for a #gifted early digital copy of this novel

August Lane has a lot of heart, and Regina Black weaves such great stories. August is the daughter of a Black country music singer who abandoned her with her grandma she August was a child in order to pursue her career. (There's more going on there and the grief is felt throughout the story. Content note for parental abandonment in multiple ways, including forced pregnancy.)

August meets Lucas after moving to a new high school, and they have chemistry from their first meeting. They both like country music and make a good team where August writes lyrics while Luke writes music. They are each facing their own emotional and physical struggles at home and become a safe place for the other, siphoning off time together and celebrating small moments.

When the book starts, you meet Luke who is a Black country artist who is playing bars, trying to live in recovery from alcoholism, and living off one hit song--that August co-wrote while he took all the credit.

You get to meet these two over a decade later. They're still messy, but they're older and wiser, with some of that development coming over the space of the book when they are back in each other's lives. They're still drawn to each other, and maybe they still need each other to make great music.

I love the slow burn, the quiet and attentive love. I liked the two POVs and the way the timeline was handled. It can be hard to balance, but Regina uses both techniques to enrich the story. I also loved the history she tells here to show that country music, like most music in the US and maybe this planet, has its roots in Black music and Black culture.

There is childhood trauma, childhood abuse, drugs in the home, and parental neglect of many varieties. As a childhood trauma survivor, I felt like it was handled sensitively and not drawn out in long scenes.

I'll keep reading anything Regina Black writes!

This was the sweetest book. Heart-breakingly so. I was intimidated by this book and was scared to read it because of the amount of my triggers in it. But I love Regina Black so much, I gave it a shot anyways. I ended up skipping those scenes with the help of a friend who had already read it and I still fell in love with this book anyway.

OK so the characters were everything in this one. August had a rough childhood when it came to her mom. She was raised by her grandmother because her mom was a singer and didn’t take her on the road. And then there was Luke, who’s childhood was also terrible. And even with that, they found each other. They have found each other and became each other’s everything and healed each other. But of course, things happened that tore them apart and they STILL found their way back to each other. I can’t even explain to you the way this made me think about their romance. It was so raw and real. And I know that sounds cliche, but it really was.

As for them apart, August was confusing. She wanted to out him but she didn’t. But then she was mad that he didn’t say anything himself. But then she didn’t either. She confused me the entire book, but I do think she was just at war with herself. She still loved him but felt betrayed but she also didn’t want to listen to what really happened. It was maddening. But I will say, this entire thing was heart breaking. I kept thinking they were the only thing the other had and then they lost it and gah it hurt so much. And as for Luke, I was mad at him. He should have said something about that damn song immediately. And if not to them, he should have said something to August. And the entire time he was sitting there sad and mad that he was away from her. They were both so messy and real and complicated.

As for the audiobook, I was so happy that that’s the version I decided to read. I LOVED that it was a full cast audio and that they changed some of the sounds in production. Like when JoJo was being interviewed? Perfection. And the way the music is imbedded in this book was also perfection. She showed the good, the bad, and the ugly of being Black in the Country Music scene. That really sat with me.

This took me by surprise. I may not have read all of it, but I got the most important parts. And even though this is something that I’m not comfortable with, I still know from what I read that this is not something I could have missed out on. I hope y’all loved this as much as I did.

Regina Black’s debut was a great read and I was excited to read her next novel. She is back with another beautifully written novel. I loved the exploration of Black artists in the country music field and found those pieces of history to be so interesting. The ending is where things fell a little flat for me and I wish it had been more developed. However, Black will continue to be a must read for me!

This is not a light and fluffy romance. This is a story about two people who have been through some sh*t. They have endured traumas, loss, and a decade apart and yet they still find themselves drawn together. Both of our main characters, Lucas and August, hurt others throughout this book and were hurt themselves. With this book Regina Black shows that just because people are imperfect, it does not make them unworthy of love.

Side note: I think of you are a fan of country music, you would enjoy this even more than I already did. In many ways this is a love letter to country. As someone whose country experience is early Taylor Swift, and Kacey Musgraves, I think that aspect did not hit me as hard as it would a bona fide country fan.

“What do you think I regret, Luke?”
He’d turned it over in his mind so many times, rewound every choice that led to this: lost moments, misspoken words, every chance he had to love her the way she deserved, but saved himself instead. He gathered it all in his mind, held it there, and said, “You never should have met me.”
She smiled the worst smile he’d ever seen. Like a gaping wound. “You’re wrong. I never should have lost you.”
Luke was too stunned to respond. She used his paralysis as an opportunity to gather her things. There was so much to say. But none of it mattered. “You didn’t” was all he could manage as she slipped out the door.

After I finished reading this, all I could think/feel was Oooof. Get your book clubs to read August Lane because you're going to want to talk about the million and one things in this and not have to condense it down into a short enough review people will read and be tortured like me. Constructed like a song, the story of August Lane starts off with a podcast interview being given by her famous first crowned Black Miss Arkansas Delta Teen mom who had to relinquish the crown after it was found out she had a one year old daughter and then turned country music star. I, obviously, want Jojo Lane's own book but you'll get a good amount of her story in this one, because it gives context to August's character. While we have Jojo's perspective and storytelling in current 2024, the story also goes back and forth into 2023 with August and Luke reunited and 2009, when they first met in high school.

Even now, thirteen years after “Another Love Song” hit the top of the country charts, Luke couldn’t play the first chords without fumbling.

In 2023 Luke is a down and out former country star who got his big break from a reality tv competition show. He's broke, from signing bad contracts, and been on a long separation from his pop sensation wife, who is bisexual and in a relationship with a woman, so careers and media frenzies keep them from going through with divorce. He's doing the bar circuit and singing his one hit song, that destroys him every time because while he wrote the music, he didn't write the lyrics to it and he knows it's stolen. It's when Jojo Lane's manager comes up to him and asks him to sing a duet to that song with her at her country music hall of fame induction, taking place in his hometown, that he may finally get to apologize and try to make things right with August.

He played the music again and sang the revised chorus, changing the tempo to make it more vulnerable, the way she wanted. August sang along and Luke let his voice fade. He watched her while he played, too caught up in the melody to notice he was tumbling into something vast and endless.

The first twenty-five percent or so of this felt like set-up but it's also context, you're going to get an amazing understanding/look into these characters and secondary characters in their lives. August still lives in the hometown her grandmother raised her in, later she was her grandma's caretaker and just lost her three months ago. She has that vulnerability of not feeling like her mother wanted her and the confinement of not being able to break out of how a small town can keep you tied down to any reputation you gained as a kid, undeserved or deserved. The 2009 flashbacks not only show us how August and Luke met but the instances in their lives that made them the adults they are today, August's self-worth from family issues and betrayal from Luke and Luke's inherited self-medicating with alcohol from his mother, who suffered from undiagnosed fibromyalgia. Luke's been sober five years but, obviously, still battles with it as his emotional trauma from his childhood is unresolved.

One strap of her sundress had collapsed, and he leaned over, kissed her bare shoulder, her collarbone, the swell of her breast.

I went into this with my romance reader cap on, and while this was one of the fullest stories I've ever read, the romance didn't feel quite the star of the show that I like in romance genre. It takes a while to really get there but it's because of all the context to understand these two characters, so wear your romance caps but maybe pair them with your contemporary fiction/book club fiction hats too. So while we have August justifiably angry at Luke, Luke feeling incredibly guilty for feeling like he stole August's song, there's also that delicious tension drawing them together, the 2023 parts draw on all this and end up providing a heat inducing open door scene. You'll feel it between these two because the emotional groundwork and development between these two was solidly constructed up to this scene; they have intimacy!

“For people to love me, I mean. I can be a lot.”
“You’re the easiest person to love I’ve ever met.” The words slid so quickly from his mouth that it was like he’d been possessed. No halting half sentences. No long stretches of gathering his thoughts. He nodded at her journal. “It’s right there on paper. You see the world in colors I never knew existed. The rain plays you symphonies. You are so special, August Lane, and I can’t imagine anyone not seeing it.”

I did think the way Luke provided the way to their happily ever after felt a little, he just went and did it, rushed but him doing it probably out weighed the rushed feeling. If you've been looking for an Ooof story, this is it. These characters felt real as they battled, endured, thrived, lost, and loved through physical and sexual assault, racism, colorism, sexism, substance abuse, betrayal, small-town b.s., abortion, cost of fame, and all the little moments that build to make a person and a life. Along with some country music history and shout-outs (DeFord Bailey), the secondary characters were incredibly rich, Luke's brother Ethan and mom Ava, Jojo's manager, the town sheriff, Jojo who I mentioned wanting her own book with this insight about herself: It was the press about me being a good mother. I’m not. I never was. That was forced on me, by Theo and Birdie. August knew that, which made it hard to get close to her. I could never relax with that girl because she was always working so hard to prove she wasn’t a mistake. But all she did was drag me back to that time where I had no control over my life. and also Mavis, August's cousin, I NEED her to get her own HEA. Mavis had this insight about Jojo: “I think she survived terrible things and did the best she could.” She paused. “I also think people can only give what they have. Some of us don’t have much.” and this insight about herself: It’d be easier for him to love me if I loved myself.”. So yeah, read this if you want those ooof feelings and get your friends/book clubs to read it with you because this was rich with elements you're going to want to talk about.

Messy, soulful, and full of small town drama, August Lane hit all my second chance romance buttons. Luke, a former country music golden boy, comes back home for one big show and has to face August, the first love he wronged and the real talent behind his only hit. Sparks fly, old wounds ache, and songwriting turns into foreplay.

Told in a dual timeline with podcast snippets and music industry tea, this book is tender, raw, and completely addictive.

Tropes

🎵 Second chance 

🏠 Small town homecoming 

💔 Betrayal/redemption
🔥 Slow burn

🎤 Country music

⏳ Dual timeline

This book is so decadent. It reads like you’re listening to a song for the first time and you already know within the first notes that it’s going to be on repeat all summer.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Every single character is so multifaceted and complicated - in a way that makes them seem familiar and real even before you’ve had a chance to get to know them. Even when their lives aren’t relatable to you (because I am not a famous musician nor is my mother), THEY are - because they’re so very human.

The way that August accepts (even while loathing) the way the public opinion of her has been cemented against her will is heart wrenching. And the fact that Luke literally could not care less about what other people think about her (despite being self conscious himself) because HE likes her is so sweet and refreshing. From the jump he sees August for who she is, not who she’s seen as.

And August sees him, too - though in a more guarded, protective way. From their earnest and intense young friendship to their tentative (and initially hostile) reunion as adults, August sees Luke even when she doesn’t want to; because knowing that he’s good and kind means her heart is still vulnerable to him.

I love when things get messy and they refuse to bow to it - life has interfered enough that neither of them are willing to give an inch in regard to each other, and that’s exactly the kind of love both of them deserve.

Regina Black knows how to write messy romance. A lot of people are going to love this one so take my review with a large grain of salt. August and Luke used to be friends and then something more, until Luke left town without a word, won a reality show, and stole August's song to do it. Fourteen years later, Luke's career is going nowhere when he's invited to perform with August's famous mother Jojo, bringing him back to his rural hometown in Arkansas and back in August's orbit.

Arcadia's rural setting came alive thanks to Black's beautiful writing. Hometowns can be fraught places and it's no different for August, who wound up staying, and Luke, who fled. This is structured with flashbacks, a transcript from a podcast interview with Jojo, and song lyrics. The transcript provided an interesting through line. However, I could have done without the flashbacks. I recognize this is a me problem. I'm over second chance romances with flashbacks and plan on doing some research before picking up another one to make sure it's flashback-free. I don't think they added anything to this story. Instead, it took me out of the present day narrative. Seeing what Luke and August were like <i>then</i> doesn't help me better understand them <i>now</i>. It meant I felt very little emotional connection, when this should have been angsty as hell.

There's a lot going on: self-sabotage, August's reputation and stagnant dreams, August and Luke's toxic mothers, August's uncle's bar is going under, sobriety, parental alcoholism and substance abuse, a secondary character's abortion, and more. This made for a saggy middle. I kept asking myself, would this really happen? Do people really believe this/act this way? This included the depiction of country music, pre-Beyoncé country album release. I hate country music but I know a lot about it by virtue of having lived in Nashville for several years and being adjacent to people in that business. I also didn't understand why Luke thought foster care would be worse for Ethan than staying with their abusive mother. This made no sense and I needed them to reckon with it more when they reconciled. Frankly, Ava and Jojo sucked and I wanted them to get some kind of comeuppance. The lack of one was a letdown.

I needed to see August stand up for herself more and take charge of her life, instead of taking whatever crumbs people give her or going along with their plans. She forgave Luke too quickly and with no good reason. They may have history but that's not enough to convince me they have a future together.

While this didn't work as well as I hoped, I'm very much looking forward to whatever Black writes next.

August Lane follows Luke Randall, a washed-up country star sleeping in his car and living off his one-hit wonder status, and the titular August, daughter of the legendary JoJo Lane. Their second-chance romance when Luke ends up back in their small Arkansas hometown for a summer and tries to right some wrongs is emotional, steamy, and can't-put-it-down enthralling to read. I loved the setting, the characters, and the pacing of the dual timelines (triple timelines?)—the inclusion of Jojo's interview with Emma was a genius touch.

August Lane was recommended to me by practically everyone I know, so I had sky-high expectations going into this book, and I am thrilled to report that I was not disappointed one bit. I love when that happens. :)

The book of all books, WHEW. Regina wowed me with her debut, and that feeling was only elevated with August Lane. This is a book that puts Black creatives at the center of a narrative they've been so often removed from, and I loved the feeling of seeing myself in a work that was so carefully crafted with love and honor for the genre. Regina is definitely an autobuy author for me now!

Just follow me here lol as a huge fan of Beyoncé and a longstanding loyal member of the Beyhive, this book resonated with me in the same way that her latest album Cowboy Carter did. Without stanning too hard, for me, that album was a black girl getting to sing loudly about roots of hers that have been buried very deeply and a passion of hers that has never left her household but has always been something she’s been shamed for being about. Like, not being wanted or really accepted in your own damn house. As a Black woman and as an American this story really touched me.
August and Luke are two hurt ass people that basically need each as they’re like two sides of the same coin. I struggled with the difficulties of the characters because they’re so layered. Both MC’s are two troubled people who were dealt shitty hands in life. The shitty hands they were dealt resonated to me in a way that Black people have been dealt a shit hand by America. I feel like this book had a lot of parallels to real life and what’s been happening for decades of time. Black roots that have help tie the foundation of this land are being trampled and ripped up. We’re dealt this shitty hand and told “It is what it is. Figure it out. Learn to survive and don’t fail.” The mother’s in this story in one way or another failed their children but really.. they just made due with the circumstances they had? Like, as a millennial in modern times, I could say all the things that I would’ve done or said differently had I been one of my ancestors that struggled with whatever was happening in society at that time, but the truth is my ancestors did the best that they could with what they had and what they had and what they did with it is what got me here. So even though this society that I’m left to navigate is still shitty in our own modern way, I’m here and these are the cards that were dealt to me. It’s my responsibility to make do with them.
This book was an emotional roller coaster for me in a good way. The main characters really do a great job of exemplifying the turmoil that we have gone through and are going through due to shit that we have nothing to do with. I enjoyed the story and I really loved the way that it was told. My take away from this book makes me feel like I need to keep fighting for my ancestors’ story to be told and to remain the way that it was intended to be told. I need to keep fighting for it to be told to the people that it was intended to be told to. I love this book. I thought it was very beautiful. I thought it was a necessary story of black folks who just wanna be seen and don’t wanna be forgotten about. We may not be made of the strongest or toughest material, but we’re here and we deserve. We deserve to have peace of mind. We deserve to have Peace around us. Especially on land we nourished with our own hands.

I appreciated the way August Lane by Regina Black explored the backstories of multiple characters and wove them together in interesting ways. The interconnected narratives added depth, but overall, the story didn’t fully pull me in. I kept feeling like something was missing to make it truly captivating.

This one was really, really good! It started a little slow for me with the introduction of all the characters but once Luke got back to his hometown and started running into August, I was hooked. This was very character driven which can be tough for me sometimes but I thought the author did a great job of keeping me engaged with the story. I love how headstrong August was despite her upbringing and being in the shadow of her famous mother. I adored Luke and thought he deserved the world. The music aspect was the main draw for me - even though country isn’t my genre of choice, I respect the hell out of anyone trying to make it in such a saturated market. This one had a little spice, a little humor, and a lot of heart.