August Lane

De: Regina Black

A former country music heartthrob takes another run at stardom by reuniting with the uncredited writer of his only hit, the enigmatic daughter of a Black country music pioneer—who happens to be the woman he’s loved since they wrote the song together in high school.

Every Thursday night, 36-year-old former country music heartthrob Luke Randall has to sing “Another Love Song.” God, he hates that song. But improvising acoustic covers of his decades old hit at an interstate motel lounge is the only regular money he still has. After another lackluster performance at the rock bottom of his career, Luke receives the opportunity of his dreams, opening for his childhood idol—90’s era Black country music star, JoJo Lane, who’s being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He needs the money, and impressing JoJo could mean a nationwide tour and a second chance at stardom. But the concert is in Arcadia, Arkansas, the small southern delta hometown he swore he’d never see again. Going back means facing a painful past of abuse and neglect. It also means facing JoJo’s daughter, August Lane—the woman who wrote the hit song lyrics he’s always claimed as his own.

August hates that stupid song. And she hates Luke Randall even more. When he shows up twenty years too late and tries to apologize for lying about “Another Love Song,” August isn’t interested in receiving credit for a song she despises. Instead, she offers him penance: he can co-write and perform a new song at the concert, something that will launch her out of her mother's shadow and into a songwriting career beyond Arcadia's limits. Desperate to keep his secret, Luke agrees to put on the rogue performance during JoJo’s show, despite the risk of losing his shot at a tour and a new record deal.

When Luke’s guitar reunites with August’s torchlit alto, neither can deny that the spark that drew them together as teenagers is still there. As the concert nears, August will have to choose between an overdue public reckoning with the boy who betrayed her, or trusting the man he’s become to write another love song.

©2025 Regina Black (P)2025 Grand Central Publishing