From the Jump

This winning friends-to-lovers romance from Waldon (The Layover) centers on a group of college best friends—Liv, Phoebe, Simone, Mac, and Deiss—who have stayed close for 11 years. Still, Liv feels like the odd one out, envying the others’ self-confidence and money. Having grown up poor and occasionally homeless, she works herself to death at her office job. But just before her friends leave for a safari that Liv’s afraid to splurge on with them, Deiss challenges Liv to get off the corporate treadmill. Impulsively, she starts saying no to the unfair demands of her job and follows her friends to South Africa. There, she winds up sharing a room with Deiss, who has a secret past of his own. The proximity forces Liv to finally admit her ever-present attraction to Deiss—but Phoebe makes her vow not to ruin the group dynamic by sleeping with him. So when Deiss reveals the attraction is mutual, Liv must decide whether their potential relationship is worth the risk. Though the story starts slowly and Liv remains a repressed character for much of it, the romance is charming and believable and the group’s vacation will delight armchair travelers. Fans of Susan Mallery and Jill Shalvis should snap this up. Agent: Claire Friedman, InkWell Management. (July)