July in Iowa always makes me think of bicycling because this is the month when RAGBRAI makes its way across the state. The Register’s Annual Great Bi Ride Across Iowa starts in Onama and ends in Dubuque this year. Cyclists will cover 391 miles from July 18-25.
If you can’t make it out to Iowa’s backroads by bike this summer, maybe you’ll enjoy reading about a cycling adventure. Descriptions provided by publishers.
Love in Tandem by Becca Kinzer (2024) After a failed engagement and her mother’s battle with cancer, Charlotte Carter’s life is finally turning around now that she’s landed a dream job teaching music. What she didn’t see coming was the imminent closure of the school’s music program. She’s determined to save it, even if it means getting creative. Zach Bryant is back in town just long enough to see his brother Ben get married and then he’s off traveling the world again. He never imagined he’d run into Charlotte Carter, his brother’s ex-fiancé, or that everyone would believe he and Charlotte are an item. He certainly didn’t dream he’d end up riding a tandem bicycle hundreds of miles with her in an attempt to raise funds for a defunct music program, but how can he say no when the prize money would help him out of his financial predicament too?
A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants by Ann Claire (2024). The first the Cyclists Guide Mystery series. Nine months ago, Sadie Greene shocked friends and family by ditching her sensible office job in the Chicago suburbs and buying a sight-unseen French bicycling tour company, Oui Cycle. Now she’s living the unconventional life of her dreams in the gorgeous village of Sans-Souci-sur-Mer. Sadie feels enough pressure to burst a tire when hometown friends arrive for a tour, including her former boss, Dom Appleton. Sadie is determined to show them the wonders of France and cycling. She hopes her meticulously planned nine-day itinerary will win them over, with its stunning seascapes, delicious wine tastings, hilltop villages, and, of course, frequent stops for croissants. When Dom drags his heels on fun, Sadie vows he’ll enjoy if it kills her. That is, until Dom ends up dead. The tragedy was no accident. Someone went out of their way to bring a permanent end to Dom’s vacation. As more crimes — and murder — roll in, suspicions hover over Oui Cycle.
The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner (2023) Abby Stern, 33, has made it to a happy place. True, she still has gig jobs instead of a career, and the apartment where she’s lived since college still looks like she’s just moved in. But she’s got good friends, her bike, and her bicycling club. She’s at peace with her plus-size body — at least, most of the time — and she’s on track to marry Mark Medoff, her childhood summer sweetheart, a man she met at weight-loss camp. Fifteen years after her final summer at Camp Golden Hills, when Abby reconnects with a half-his-size Mark, it feels like the happy ending she’s always wanted. Yet Abby can’t escape the feeling that something isn’t right…or the memories of one thrilling night she spent with a man named Sebastian two years previously. When Abby gets a last-minute invitation to lead a cycling trip from NYC to Niagara Falls, she’s happy to have time away from Mark, a chance to reflect and make up her mind. But things get complicated fast. Abby spots a familiar face in the group — Sebastian, the one-night stand she thought she’d never see again.
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