The Sweet In-Between

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sheri Reynolds continues to captivate in this masterful tale of redemption and finding a place to truly belong.


Kenny Lugo has grown up in a family that’s not really hers. Her mother died of cancer when Kenny was very young, and Aunt Glo–who is, in fact, her daddy’s girlfriend–took her in when her father was sent to jail for drug trafficking. Now, as Kenny approaches her eighteenth birthday and the end of the government checks Glo has been receiving looms, she is desperate to prove that this house and these people really do belong to her. But when a senseless murder occurs next door in their small coastal town, Kenny can’t get it out of her mind. She has always been consumed by the ways in which she is different–and inherently unworthy–so the unjust death of a young woman with everything to live for becomes an obsession.


In the end, hers is a story of an unforgettable young woman whose redemption comes from

a source she never would have imagined.


“Ms. Reynolds’s poetic gifts are uncommonly powerful.” —The New York Times


“Reynolds . . . is a gifted writer with a deceptively simple style and a keen ear for dialogue.” —The Boston Globe


“The newest and most exciting voice to emerge in contemporary Southern fiction.” — The San Francisco Bay Guardian


“Reynolds is in top form with these beautifully drawn, flawed characters.” —School Library Journal


“Simple prose rich with subtext, convincing dialogue, and a fascinating protagonist combine

to produce a heartstring-plucker that’s explicit, tender, sad, and hopeful.” — Publishers Weekly


Sheri Reynolds is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of five novels, including The Rapture of Canaan. She lives in Virginia and teaches at Old Dominion University, where she is the Ruth and Perry Morgan Chair of Southern Literature.