About the Book

Book: The Fifth Avenue Story Society

Author: Rachel Hauck

Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Women’s Fiction

Release Date: February 4, 2020

An invitation to join The Fifth Avenue Story Society gives five New York strangers a chance to rewrite their own stories.

Executive assistant Lexa is eager for a much-deserved promotion, but her boss is determined to keep her underemployed.

Literature professor Jett is dealing with a broken heart, as well as a nagging suspicion his literary idol, Gordon Phipps Roth, might be a fraud.

Uber driver Chuck just wants a second chance with his kids.

Aging widower Ed is eager to write the true story of his incredible marriage.

Coral, queen of the cosmetics industry, has broken her engagement and is on the verge of losing her great grandmother’s multimillion-dollar empire.

When all five New Yorkers receive an anonymous, mysterious invitation to the Fifth Avenue Story Society, they suspect they’re victims of a practical joke. No one knows who sent the invitations or why. No one has heard of the literary society. And no one is prepared to bear their deepest secrets to a roomful of strangers.

Yet curiosity and loneliness bring them back week after week to the old library. And it’s there they discover the stories of their hearts, and the kind of friendship and love that heals their souls.

Get your copy of the book here.

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

“If we love when it’s easy, it’s of no credit to us. Anyone can love when it’s easy. But if we love when it’s hard, then we are all the better. We gain what we cannot see.”

The Fifth Avenue Story Society is another beautifully written book by Rachel Hauck that will thrill her followers and garner new fans. The author does something a bit different in this book – the timeline stays in the present (so don’t expect split timeline plot) but she melds five different characters and their heartaches into a vividly orchestrated story of secrets, grief, forgiveness, and redemption. The plot is definitely character driven and there is this delicious slow build up of suspense as each person’s secret is revealed within the story society that the five characters are invited to. The author is known for her lyrical writing, weaving the supernatural into the plot line, and emotional depth in her characters and this book shines in these areas.

The five characters – Jett, Lexa, Chuck, Coral, and Ed – are unique individuals living in NYC who have fascinating lives filled with pain, past heartaches, and secrets. Some of their secrets will surprise you and some will awe you. Week after week, they meet together as the “story society” without fully realizing who invited them and what their purpose is. The mingling of their lives, though completely random at first, brings fuller and more abundant lives. Though Jett and Lexa are the centerpiece of the fivesome, I really liked Coral and how grounded she is in the midst of a professional and personal crisis. And I liked Chuck, the underdog, who tries so hard to overcome his rage and lack of self-control to find his way back into his children’s lives.

Once you open this book, you will become deeply emotionally invested in the characters’ welfare; so beware! You won’t be able to put the book down. I received a copy of the book from Thomas Nelson via Celebrate Lit Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

rachel-hauck-LR-5 Rachel Hauck is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Wedding Dress, which was also named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times and was a RITA finalist. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pet and writes from her ivory tower. Visit her online at RachelHauck.com; Facebook: RachelHauck; Twitter: @RachelHauck; Instagram: @rachelhauck.