Million Dollar Road — Amy Conner

Set in the heart of Louisiana, Amy Conner's spellbinding new novel tells of a young woman yearning for a better existence -- and of the secret longings that will change the lives of all those around her.

Eighteen-year-old Lireinne Hooten has always been on the lowest rung of the ladder. Abandoned by her mother, Lireinne lives with her stepfather in an old trailer on Million Dollar Road. Every day she walks the long mile, through a canopy of live oaks, to her job at the world's largest alligator farm. Shy and overweight in high school, Lireinne has become lean and resilient from months of hosing out the huge cement barns. And just like Snowball -- the enormous, all-white alligator she feeds illicit treats every day -- she's hungry to be free.

Lireinne's boss, Con Costello, is powerful, attractive, and used to getting exactly what he desires. Now that he's noticed Lireinne's haunting beauty, he wants her too. But unlike Con's needy second wife, Lizzie, or Emma, his still heartbroken ex, Lireinne isn't interested. Undeterred, Con's growing obsession will upend all their lives -- compelling Lizzie to confront the hard truth about her marriage, pushing Emma past her self-imposed isolation and back into the world. And for Lireinne, it will lead to an unexpected chance to redefine herself, far away from her past and from Million Dollar Road.

Insightful and atmospheric, Million Dollar Road is a richly observed novel of our most keenly felt appetites -- for love, acceptance, and a place to belong.