'The Identicals' makes a splash on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list

Here’s a look at what’s new on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list…

Easy, breezy beach reading: Elin Hilderbrand’s latest beach read, The Identicals (Little, Brown), debuts at No. 2 on USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list this week. It is the highest debut and rank for the author, who has had 13 novels and one short story make the list previously. (The full list will be published on Thursday.)

Often dubbed the "Queen of Summer," Hilderbrand's books are basically a seasonal staple, as important to beach reading as sunscreen and sand.

"I think she has a real gift for storytelling and creating these characters and situations, setting them against the backdrop of a beach or on an island. There is something winning and magical about that," says Reagan Arthur, senior vice president and publisher of Little, Brown. "She has made it something that people can rely on to kick off summer and it delivers the kind of satisfaction that is harder and harder to come by."

The author, whose latest novel was inspired by watching The Parent Trap with her daughter, did a little island hopping this time around, setting the book on both Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

The Identicals is about estranged adult twin sisters raised separately after their parents’ divorce who must decide whether to reconcile when their father dies. Named one of  USA TODAY's 10 hot books of summer thanks to its "summer setting and the plot device of feuding sisters."

On learning of her No. 2 debut, Hilderbrand shared with USA TODAY, "I'm thrilled and honored to be at the top of this list among some true literary giants. This is my nineteenth novel and with the publication of each new book I grow more and more humbled by the love and devotion from my fans."