Publication Date: June 16, 2026
Two women in a wealthy lakeside suburb clash over a cute male nanny, pulling the town’s darker secrets to the surface.
DRAMA LOVES A DEEP END
When Danika Crawley attends events at the Aldon Lakes Country Club, heads turn. Danika has it all—beauty, money, a successful husband, and two perfect children. She plans on making this summer her best season yet and has a secret weapon to secure the envy of her neighbors.
Augie Elling has lost it all. Reeling from a post-grad scandal amidst her now-former life in New York, she returns to Aldon Lakes with her tail between her legs. Augie wants to keep her head down, save money, and find a way to leave her hometown for good, but someone keeps distracting her.
Danika and Augie have one thing in common: they are both a little obsessed with Chat, the male nanny Danika hired for the summer. But, unbeknownst to either woman, Chat’s appearance in town sets off a chain reaction that threatens Aldon Lakes’ carefully maintained ecosystem. As the heat rises between the three of them, the truth behind a long-buried scandal comes to light, and everyone at the club must reckon with the consequences.
The Lake Club is both an addictive, rollicking beach read, and a stylish, deft exploration of a lesser-known region of American wealth.
Aldon Lakes serves as an insider community in Minnesota that houses an elite playground for the wealthy, where the class distinction is razor sharp.
Author Lina Patton serves up a scandalous tale involving a male nanny in The Lake Club. For Danika Crawley, hiring Chat not only resolves her childcare issues but also earns her social points with her envious peers.
Danika proves to be a complex character. While on the surface she appears to be just another rich wife, she has secrets bubbling to the surface. Her relationship with her husband appears to be on life support.
In the meantime, Augie Elling returns to her hometown after a failed attempt in the big city and picks up shifts at the club. Encountering a past one-night stand was never her plan, but she finds herself fighting the attraction.
Amid summer parties, lives begin to unravel as past scandals involving rich people’s poor behavior come to light.
The Lake Club offers a peek inside the world of an elite community where scandal and gossip spread like wildfire.
Lina Patton is a writer, illustrator, and teacher. Originally from Maine, she moved to Minnesota at thirteen, trading the ocean for 10,000 lakes. She holds a BA from Elon University and an MFA from George Mason University. Her work has appeared in ELLE, The Cut, Narrative Magazine, and Driftwood Press, among others. After seven years living abroad, she and her husband currently reside in Washington, DC, with their two very good, very bad dogs. The Lake Club is her first novel.
