Robinne Lee, author of the bestselling romance novel *The Idea of You*, will publish her second book, *Crash Into Me*, next summer.
Lee’s debut novel, published in 2017, tells the story of a woman on the precipice of turning 40 who embarks on a whirlwind romance with the lead singer of a boy band. The book sold nearly a million copies worldwide and was adapted into a film starring Oscar winner Anne Hathaway alongside Nicholas Galitzine. The movie became a global sensation, drawing over 50 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video and becoming the streamer’s No. 1 romantic comedy debut of all time.
“Women feel like I see them and see their worth and their value; how they want the world to see them as and how they’re afraid that the world no longer sees them,” Lee told *Variety* about *The Idea of You*’s breakthrough success. “I’ve given them permission to live that reality more fully, and to step outside of the box that society’s placed them in.”
Likewise, *Crash Into Me* is described as a “bold and fresh novel of love, lust and self-discovery.” The story follows Cecilia Chen, a wife and mother who reluctantly relocates from Paris to Los Angeles for her husband’s work, with their two children in tow.
As the title suggests, the story’s inciting incident is a car crash. The other driver is Anouk Ferrand, a swan-necked beauty from Cecilia’s past.
“It’s been 20 years since she last encountered the enigmatic model, on a photo shoot in Mexico,” the book’s synopsis details. (The year was 1996. Cecilia was a photographer’s assistant; Anouk was an unknown model, and this was the shoot that made her name.) “And it’s this chance meeting that will upend Cecilia’s life.”
The synopsis continues: “Sexy and spellbinding, at *Crash Into Me*’s core are familiar and complex challenges for many women: how to express creativity, how to be frankly sexual and emotionally vibrant in and out of a marriage, how to be an authentic friend and a good mother.”
In Cecilia, Lee creates a character straddling cultures: she’s an artist of Jamaican descent from the East Coast, married to a Frenchman whose career has catapulted beyond her own.
The intensity of the women’s physical and emotional entanglement drives the narrative, which also explores the dynamics of Cecilia’s conflicted marriage and her concerns about raising her multiracial children amid L.A.’s climate of privilege and power.
“Will what happened between them two decades ago sever the fragile bonds of the present? Will their addictive relationship destroy everything Cecilia has built? Will she find her way home?” the story posits.
In a statement previewing the book, Lee teased: “I wanted to seduce my readers with a privileged, glamorous backdrop and an uncertain future. To lead them on an unexpected journey. Show them the world through a different lens. And give them something to think about long after the last page.”
St. Martin’s Press has acquired the North American rights to *Crash Into Me*, which will be published on July 7, 2026. Elizabeth Beier, St. Martin’s executive editor, acquired the rights in a deal brokered by Richard Pine of InkWell Management. Penguin Michael Joseph (PMJ) will publish the novel in the U.K. on July 9.
Born and raised in New York, Lee is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School. She is a writer, producer, and actress, most recently seen in Netflix’s limited series *Kaleidoscope* opposite Giancarlo Esposito. Her acting credits also include *Hitch*, *Seven Pounds*, *Hotel for Dogs*, *13 Going on 30*, *Being Mary Jane*, and the *Fifty Shades* franchise.
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/the-idea-of-you-author-robinne-lee-new-book-crash-into-me-1236554089/