Soft Launch: A Coming-of-Adulthood Novel

Sarah Vacchiano's debut novel follows Sam, a woman who leaves her marriage and begins a new chapter in her early thirties. At twenty-two, Sam married without imagining she would want anything different. Seven years later, newly divorced and with a law degree in hand, she moves to Manhattan to pursue her dream of becoming an entertainment lawyer and prove to herself that her life upheaval was worthwhile. Working in a high-pressure law firm, Sam encounters Charlie, a charming and supportive colleague who begins to break through the emotional barriers she has constructed. Her fresh start takes an unexpected turn when she lands her first major client: a woman known as the "Poker Princess" who faces federal charges for operating high-stakes gambling games for Hollywood figures. Sam must navigate the risks of reinvention when she has already sacrificed so much to become someone new. The novel examines the complicated reality of starting over and self-discovery.