Elyssa Friedland, current NYC resident and author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, just released Jackpot Summer, on June 11.

Inspired by Long Beach Island, Jackpot Summer tells a fictional story of four adult Jacobson siblings, grappling with the sudden sale of their childhood home on the Island.

“On a whim, one of the siblings buys a Powerball ticket (and) two of the siblings join him; they win (and) the fourth sibling is not included,” Friedland summarized. “And, you know, all hell breaks loose.”

But what the novel is really about, Friedland said, is not money, but family.

“It’s not about the size of the house; it’s about the people inside,” she said.