Liv Ridgely prides herself on being the responsible wrangler of all things family: stay at home mom, caretaker of elderly parents, supporter of husband Oscar's career, savior of her wayward sister. Now, with her son off to college, and her ambitious daughter, Hazel, a year away from following him, it's Liv's turn. She's even established her dream career of bringing beautiful old homes back to life in the most picturesque part of Maine.
Until she learns that sixteen-year-old Hazel is three months pregnant.
Hazel insists she will have the baby and raise him with her boyfriend, Tyler, who's no one's idea of a model father. Clearly, there are going to be some conflicts to iron out. Liv just doesn't expect them to be with her husband.
As the family fractures in every direction, past resentments and pain come tumbling out. After years of putting others first, Liv wonders if she can do what's best for her daughter, her parents, and her marriage-while still being true to herself.
Colleen Faulkner's sumptuous tale captures all the wild passion of the Scottish Highlands. Tor Henneson comes to Scotland as an angry young man searching for the father he's never known. When he finds him, he is shocked to find himself becoming part of a family. He is even more surprised to find himself falling in love with his father's ward Anne. But Anne is the illegitimate daughter of King Robert the Bruce, and her hand is destined for a political alliance not a love match.
Since the age of twelve, McKenzie Arnold has spent every summer at Albany Beach, Delaware, with her best friends Aurora, Janine, and Lilly. The seaside house teems with thirty years of memories-some wonderful, others painful-and secrets never divulged beyond its walls. This summer may be the last they spend together, as Janine contemplates selling her family cottage. For now, all four enjoy morning beach walks and lazy evenings on the porch, celebrating Lilly's longed-for pregnancy and offering support during McKenzie's greatest crisis. It's a time for laughter and recriminations, a time to forge a new understanding of a long-ago night when Aurora sealed their bond with one devastating act. And as the days gradually shorten, events will unfold in ways that none of them could have predicted, to make this the most momentous summer of all.
