In her captivating debut, author Sarah Vacchiano tells an exciting “coming of adulthood” story about a young woman who takes a bold new path in her early thirties, leaving her old life—and starter marriage—behind.

When Sam walked herself down the aisle at the age of twenty-two, she never imagined wanting more than the life she had in that moment. Seven years later, with the ink still drying on both her law degree and her divorce papers, she arrives in Manhattan ready to start adulthood over and chase her dreams of becoming an entertainment lawyer, determined to prove to herself that upending her life was worth it.

As Sam navigates the high-pressure world of Big Law—heady and demanding, and full of magnetic and powerful people—she finds an unexpected ally in her charming, supportive officemate, Charlie. But just as he begins to tear down the walls Sam has built around herself, she lands her first big client, a “Poker Princess” facing federal charges for running high-stakes games for Hollywood’s elite, and discovers just how high stakes “fake it till you make it” can be when you’ve given up everything to become someone new.

Emotionally nuanced and delightfully frothy, Soft Launch is a sharp, witty novel that explores the messy reality of starting over and finding yourself.

Sarah Vacchiano is an entertainment lawyer based in Los Angeles. A graduate of Duke Law School, she began her legal career as a litigator representing Molly Bloom—the subject of the Oscar-nominated biopic Molly’s Game, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin—and other high-profile clients in the media and entertainment space.

Sarah has served as an adjunct professor of entertainment law at Duke and is a frequent guest lecturer for NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and Stern School of Business. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Matt, their son Gus, and pup Josephine (JoJo). Soft Launch is her first novel.