The Romance Reader's Guide to Life by Sharon Pywell, 308 pages

As a young girl, Neave was often stuck in a world that didn't know what to do with her. As her mother not unkindly told her, she was never going to grow up to be a great beauty. Her glamorous sister, Lilly moved easily through the world, a parade of handsome men in pursuit. Her brother didn't want a girl joining his group of friends. And their small town of Lynn, Massachusetts, didn't have a place for a girl whose feelings often put her at war with the world-often this meant her mother, her brother, and the town librarian, who wanted to keep her away from the dangerous books she really wanted to read.
But through an unexpected friendship, Neave finds herself with a forbidden copy of The Pirate Lover, a steamy romance, and betrayal. And it is this world that as a grown-up she retreats to again and again when real life becomes too much.
Neave finds herself rereading The Pirate Lover more than she ever would have expected because, as she gets older, life does not reflect the romances she gobbled up as a child. When Neave and Lilly are about to realize their professional dream, Lilly suddenly disappears. Neave must put her beloved books down and take center stage, something she has been running from her entire life. She must figure out what happened to Lilly-and if she's next. Who Neave turns to for help makes for one of the most original, entertaining, exciting, and chilling reads.