Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.

Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein

Why I have it: Sucked in by the cover.

Summary: Caleb Horowitz’s manuscript has caught the attention of a literary agent, who offers him fame. He can’t wait for his book to be shopped around to every editor in New York, except one: Avi Dietsch, a college rival and the novel’s ‘inspiration’. When Avi gets his hands on it, he sees nothing but theft—and opportunity. Caleb is forced to make a Faustian bargain.

I’m thinking: Yes.

A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp

Why I have it: Spotted on a Best of 2022 list.

Summary: Anna doesn’t fit in. Not with her classmates at the selective London Conservatory where she studies singing, not with the family she left behind, and not with Max, an older man she meets in the bar where she works. He’s everything she’s not, and before long Anna is hooked, desperate to hold his attention, and determined to ignore the warning signs that this might be a toxic relationship.

I’m thinking: No.

A Hunger by Ross Raisin

Why I have it: Not sure.

Summary: Anita is a talented chef at a high-end London restaurant. At home, her husband is suffering from dementia and declining rapidly. Anita must make a decision about their future. Should she free them both by acting on his last plea, or should she remain faithful to the person Patrick once used to be?

I’m thinking: Yes.