"An environmental journalist in Washington, DC, Rachel has shunned her New England working-class family for years. Divorced and childless in her middle age, she's a true independent spirit with the pain and experience to prove it. Coping with challenges large and small, she thinks her life is in free fall-until she's summoned home to deal with the aftermath of her mother's death. Then things really fall apart. Surrounded by a cast of sometimes comic,...

"When Elizabeth Chen's ever-hustling realtor mother finally sells the beloved if derelict community center down the block, the new owners don't look like typical New York City buyers. Brendan Lee and Darcy Wong are good Chinese boys with Hong Kong money. Clean-cut and charismatic, they say they are committed to cleaning up the neighborhood. To Elizabeth, that only means one thing: Darcy is looking to give the center an uptown makeover. Elizabeth is...

"Light and dark-this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favorite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister's shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has brought the Nutcracker, an enchanted present that offers entry into a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom...

"Law enforcement officer Annie Pederson's life has been rocked by tragedy, but things finally seem to be heading in the right direction. Her relationship with the love of her life-who's also the biological father of her precious daughter-has never been better, and it looks like an engagement ring is in Annie's future. She's also slowly building back trust with her sister, Sarah, after a separation that lasted for decades. When a man escapes law enforcement...

"Lydia Jones and her younger sister Penny have had it with boy drama. Last year was marred by relationship disasters for both of them, threatening Lydia's standing with her school's theater tech club and Penny's perfect GPA. Penny has, naturally, diagnosed the problem and prescribed a drastic solution: a summer off from boys. Lydia and Penny decide to stay with their Aunt Grace and her boyfriend Oscar in Los Angeles while their parents are off on...

"An only child daydreams about what her life would be like if she had a little sister. Perhaps several little sisters. Or, even, lots and lots of little sisters. She imagines all the fun they could have... Playing together. Sharing treats. Getting into mischief. But what if she never gets to be a big sister?"

"Cornelia Brown is reeling from a terrifying act of violence when she gets word that her mother has been badly injured in an accident. Cornelia returns to Virginia, to the house she grew up in, and in the weeks that follow, she watches her mother Ellie struggle to recover, fluctuating between her usual crisp, can-do clarity and periods of delirium during which she seems haunted by a devastating loss from her past. In grief-stricken tones, Ellie begs...

""Daddy, there's a man in our room..." Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there's a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare. He isn't surprised that they're troubled. Grief has made its home at Hart House: nine months ago, the twins' mother Pippa died unexpectedly, leaving Alfie to raise them alone. And now, when the girls mention a new imaginary...

"When Dahlia Weathersby's sister disappears on what should have been a simple day hike, Dahlia immediately heads deep into the Colorado Rockies to find her. Knowing she'll never survive the mountains alone, she convinces the local hermit--adorably grouchy survival expert Winston Dane--to be her guide. All it takes is a good helping of Dahlia's charm...and just the teeniest bit of blackmail...before she's got all six-foot-something of him wrapped around...

"On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister, Debbie, to Salvation--a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions--nothing unusual for two sisters bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of the alluring...