Luke is a fallen country star who is being brought back to the limelight to sing for Jojo Lane’s induction into the Country Hall of Fame. She’s the first Black woman to be inducted and it means returning to Luke’s hometown, a place he vowed never to return. It also means he must face August Lane, Jojo’s daughter, the true author of the lyrics Luke always claimed as his own.

August Lane is told in multiple POV with podcast transcripts written throughout. It truly helps you see all perspectives!

I enjoyed this one. I felt it was similar to The Favorites (unrequited love, multiple POVs). It simply made for a lovely audiobook, too!

Thank you Regina Black, Grand Central Publishing, and Netgalley for the ALC!

Oh my. This broke my heart and put it back together again - but what a ride. I listened to the audio and it was perfect. The narrators Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon bring the characters to life in a way that is visceral. Sometimes I had to brace myself for what was to come, it felt so vivid. This book is hard, but somehow necessary, so much to think about and to feel. Luke and August, but also Jojo. I'm neither American nor a country music listener, but this touched me.
I'll re-read it as a e-book, but in the meantime I'm a little bit haunted by these characters, and a little bit in love with Luke. Beautifully written and such a professional, immersive audio experience.

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC. Opinions are my own.

I loved this story of August Lane. I think it’s so relevant with us being in the Cowboy Carter era. Regina Black gives us a Black music lesson that is needed in a time like this. The knowledge tidbits that were sprinkled in throughout the story was probably my favorite thing about the novel. Plus, I can’t get enough of stories with complex parental relationships. This audiobook was produced very well. Multicast narration that nailed each character and the podcast interludes gave it a nice touch too. This book had all of the elements of a home run but somehow it slightly missed the mark for me. This seemed to be marketed more as this great second chance romance and I think it would have been more palatable to be viewed more as Women’s Fiction with romantic components. I was on edge hoping for romance. That’s where I ended up a little disappointed but it’s still a great story that I recommend.

August Lane is a second-chance romance between a Black pop star and the girl he stole a hit song from - the daughter of a Black country music star. I hesitate to fully call this a romance in the way people might expect because a lot of it is about complicated multi-generational family dynamics between mom, daughter and grandmother. The hero is a recovering alcoholic trying to make amends and there is a lot of messiness between people. I didn't feel like the romance was really the most central plot but I think this may appeal to people who aren't big genre romance readers and want to dip their toes in. The audio narration is great. I received an audio review copy via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was such a sweet second chance romance and I also LOVED the audio of this book. I’m not into country music but it was so warming to see two African American artists so intertwined in it. I have a soft spot in my heart for stories involving finding your soulmate and this was the perfect summer read! Now I can’t wait to read The Art of Scandal!

August Lane is a well written small town romance that has a lot of depth and passion to it. There was so much going on in this book that it made it hard for me to it down. I can tell that I might not be the target audience for this book but it did not stop me from really enjoying the story.

The heartbreak and second chance element was great tied with the family dilemmas and issues made for a heartbreaking story where you really got to know the characters. There were so many layers to this story and I found myself to wanting to put it down. Each character felt real and raw. There were moments you didn’t even like certain characters but you can understand why they did what they did.

I recommend this book to any country music lovers looking for a romance book full of passion and intrigue. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story!

I absolutely love this cover! The author is a great storyteller; and I loved the Black representation and social commentary this story offers about country music. The interview at the beginning of the book was a great way to start out to get readers thinking and reflecting. I personally wasn't as big of a fan of the romance in this story and possibly it was because I personally found it difficult at times to remember if I was in the past/present and dual POV/multiple characters and that could just be the audiobook versus the print book (which I did not have to read along with audio).

Read this if you like:
•country music
•second chance
•rockstar romance

The characters in this story were so real and raw and I felt like I knew them and their pain. There’s a lot of harder topics that are delicately handled. What a beautiful story. Thank you Hachette audio for ALC

I couldn’t let this month end without reading Regina Black‘s new romance, August Lane. Set between the late 2000s and 2023, this second-chance romance takes one-hit-wonder Luke Randall back to his small hometown in Arkansas to perform a song with the new Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, JoJo Lane. But he knew JoJo’s daughter, August, back in high school, and that love song he’s famous for was secretly co-written by her. They haven’t spoken in over a decade, and August isn’t happy to see him. Even so, she sees an opportunity to write a new song for him to perform. Can their music careers—and romance—get the revival they deserve?

What I Liked:
- Diving into country music, especially where Black artists fit within the genre. I grew up on country music, and though my tastes changed when I was a teenager, I still remember enjoying the genre. It was interesting to revisit country music here and see the perspectives of JoJo, August, and Luke on why they love country despite its often racist reputation and exclusion of nonwhite artists. I also appreciated learning more about the genre’s history and other Black country singers.
- Songwriting! August was born with lyrics in her heart; Luke doesn’t know how to articulate his emotions with words, but he can express them with chords and melodies. I loved seeing these two lean into each other’s strengths and compose songs together. The songwriting here felt top notch.
- Harsh depictions of alcoholism. Even as a teenager, Luke already used alcohol as a coping mechanism for the abuse he suffered growing up. It’s hard to read about how his mom treated him and how he turned to drinking to numb the pain. By 2023, Luke has been sober for five years, but each day he must overcome the urge to drink. It’s so raw and honest. My dad was an alcoholic, and the depiction here rang true for me.
- Harsh depictions of family, too. August and Luke can bond over their respective difficulties with their moms. Where his is abusive, August’s famous mom JoJo is just absent. JoJo never wanted to have a child and was only a teenager herself when she had August. This has absolutely affected the way August sees herself and her worth.
- Second-chance and dual timeline. While these aren’t tropes I always enjoy, they were done so well here! I loved getting to know our main characters both as teenagers and as thirty-something adults. They go through a lot, and their friendship is tentative but real. This is a hard-won happily ever after.
- Podcast interview snippets. I really enjoyed the excerpts of interviews, mainly with JoJo and but also with Luke. JoJo’s interview parts give her much-needed side of the story; it makes her seem less like an awful parent and more like a full person who faced her fair share of challenges. She also gives a lot of perspective on country music and her place in it.

Audiobook:
Bahni Turpin and William DeMerritt do a marvelous job of narrating as August and Luke. I’ve been a fan of Bahni Turpin for several years now, and she always delivers a perfect voice acting in every book she does; August Lane is no exception. She captures the title character’s full range of emotions, both as a teenager and an adult, and adds extra nuances like laughter to go the extra mile. William DeMerritt, likewise, portrays Luke so well, from the awkward teenager he was to the somewhat defeated man he’s become.

January LaVoy and Stephanie Cannon fill out the cast, lending their voices to the podcast excerpts that give glimpses of JoJo Lane’s perspective. I also enjoyed the audiobook’s use of extra media, such as making a voice message sound distorted like the real thing. A lot of care and attention to detail went into this audiobook!

Final Thoughts
August Lane is an excellent novel that feels so full. It’s a friends-to-lovers, second-chance romance, but it’s also about family, trauma and recovery, and a profound love for music. The whole novel feels like getting lost in a good country song, both for its deft storytelling and the eight-part structure of verses and choruses. This is a must-read, and if you enjoy audiobook versions, a must-listen. I’m excited to read more from Regina Black, starting with her debut novel, The Art of Scandal.

I love a second-chance romance novel, and this contemporary romance is a stellar example. Add to it the country music and a small town reunion, and you have a mix for a fine story. Luke Randall and Augusta Lane were so in love as teens, but that fell apart, and over a decade passed with feelings of guilt, resentment, and betrayal, along with addiction and dysfunctional family dynamics. Can those two, now grown adults, find their way back to each other?

I really loved The Art of Scandal. The way Regina Black writes just draws me into her stories. While I did not love this book as much as The Art of Scandal (they are very different, so it's not even fair to compare the two)... I did enjoy the story. I kept thinking about Beyonce's country album, the backlash she has received, this question of who gets to be part of any given music genre... and how she says, "never ask permission for something that already belongs to you."

This book is not just a good story. It feels timely, powerful, and important.

Thank you to Regina Black, Grand Central Publishing, and #netgvalley for my advance audio copy.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t stop listening. I was hooked from the first minute! The narration was wonderful. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio for the ALC of August Lane in exchange of an honest review.

Let me start off by saying that the audiobook was great. Production, narration, everything was SO well made. I loved both the FMC's and MMC's voice actors. Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon, delivered and I will 100% make sure that I find more books narrated by these actors.

Now when it comes to the story, this is where things get a bit confusing for me when it comes to rating and actually putting my thoughts into writing. While I enjoyed SO MUCH of the insight of the influence of black culture in country music, music that I was thought to think (WRONGLY) was "white music". I really enjoyed that part of the book, and I enjoyed Luke's road to recovery. With that being said...this for me is NOT a romance. The story is marketed as a second chance and while SURE it has some of that, for me it was more of recovery, forgiveness and growth. I have to be honest but I would've loved to see more of Luke, instead of Jojo and August. His story was more interesting. I understand August's struggles and how she slowly overcame it but I just didn't feel enthralled by her as I was by Luke.

Writing was great and I will for sure check more of Regina Black in the near future.

4 Stars

This was such a powerful and emotional read. I loved the podcast elements. You really feel like you get to know the characters. This was a great audiobook to listen to. The narration was perfection.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

Narrated by Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon, their delivery is flawless. They conveyed the emotional nuances of their personalities with remarkable authenticity.

Regina Black wrote a beautiful story full of passion, heartbreak, hope, healing, forgiveness and surprises I didn't see coming....brilliantly.

I went into August Lane hoping it would be that book—the one that would hook me emotionally and never let go. With a premise steeped in country music and second chances, I was so ready for it to be a five-star read. Regina Black’s debut, The Art of Scandal, hadn’t quite pulled me in when I first sampled it, so I put it aside. But August Lane seemed like a fresh shot—music, emotion, deep character arcs—it had all the ingredients I usually fall for.

And to be fair, the story itself is solid. The plot is compelling and well thought out. August and Luke both carry heavy emotional baggage, especially when it comes to their parents and the traumas of their youth. Their backstories are layered and important, tackling themes of shame, abandonment, fear, and the complex weight of unfulfilled dreams. The dual timeline structure gave a clear sense of how much their past shaped who they are in the present.

But here's where it missed the mark for me: emotionally, it just didn’t hit as hard as I wanted it to. The book was clearly trying to pull on the heartstrings—and everything was in place for it to do so—but I never fully connected. I wanted to feel the ache of betrayal as their shared history unfolded. I wanted to be gutted by the losses, awed by their growth, and wholly swept up in their reconnection. But something was missing that kept me emotionally at a distance.

That said, the audiobook experience? Absolutely phenomenal. The cast—Bahni Turpin, William DeMeritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon—was an all-star lineup that truly elevated the material. Their performances added depth and nuance to the characters, and the emotion that sometimes felt muted on the page came alive in the audio. The narration added soul to scenes that might have otherwise fallen flat. If you’re going to give this book a shot, I’d highly recommend the audio version.

In the end, August Lane was a near miss for me—not because it lacked heart, but because I couldn't fully feel it. Still, there’s something about Regina Black’s voice that intrigues me, and I’m willing to give The Art of Scandal another go and keep my eye out for her next release. Sometimes it takes more than one book to figure out if an author’s style is the right fit, and I'm not quite ready to close the door on this one.

Thank you @booksparks, @reginablackwrites and @grandcentralpub for the #gifted book and @hachetteaudio for the #gifted audiobook. All opinions expressed are my own.

August Lane is messy, layered, and completely addictive. August and Luke were high school sweethearts who fell apart thanks to fame, family drama, and a secret that wrecked them. Years later, Luke’s struggling career puts him back in her orbit when he agrees to open for JoJo Lane, a 90s country icon and August’s mom.

The dual timeline pulls you in, mixing past and present while slowly revealing what really happened. JoJo’s interview transcripts add even more layers, showing just how complicated her relationship is with August. This isn’t just a second chance romance. It digs into tough topics like child abuse, addiction, and the racism built into the country music industry, but it also finds space for love, community, and two people figuring out if they can come back to each other after everything.

I listened to the audiobook, and Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon were incredible together. The performances felt natural, the sound effects made the podcast moments pop, and it all blended into a listening experience that pulled me in from the first minute. If you can, read and listen at the same time for the full effect.

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. The narrators are great.

I loved the character development in this story. Luke's description sounds like that of a very handsome and attractive man. Both Luke & August had struggles that they had to overcome stemming from childhood and never dealing with the until later in life.
This tells av story of triumph, Forgiveness & comeback.
I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend!

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.