Christine Nolfi Knihy

A gripping, openhearted novel about family, reconciliation, and bringing closure to the secrets of the past.Early into the tempestuous decade of her thirties, Rae Langdon struggles to work through a grief she never anticipated. With her father, Connor, she tends to their Ohio farm, a forty-acre spread that itself has enjoyed better days. As memories sweep through her, some too precious to bear, Rae gives shelter from a brutal winter to a teenager named Quinn Galecki.Quinn has been thrown out by his parents, a couple too troubled to help steer the misunderstood boy through his own losses. Now Quinn has found a temporary home with the Langdons—and an unexpected kinship, because Rae, Quinn, and Connor share a past and understand one another’s pain. But its depths—and all its revelations and secrets—have yet to come to light. To finally move forward, Rae must confront them and also fight for Quinn, whose parents have other plans in mind for their son.With forgiveness, love, and the spring thaw, there might be hope for a new season—a second chance Rae believed in her heart was gone forever.

Set in Liberty, Ohio, the narrative weaves together the lives of several women facing pivotal moments. Meade Williams seeks love while managing her father's illness and a new man's arrival. Dr. Mary Chance grapples with family expansion, Birdie Kaminsky hopes wedding plans will bridge gaps with her sister, and Glade Wilson confronts early motherhood. Their intertwined stories explore themes of love, friendship, and the complexities of family life, revealing how unexpected events can lead to profound changes.

When innkeeper Linnie Wayfair's brother Freddie returns to town after running off with most of the family money, local lawyer Daniel Kettering, who has been pining for Linnie for years, steps in to mediate between the siblings.

"Cat Mendoza needs a win. After a business failure and years of dating the wrong men, she's ready to turn things around. First she must convince the residents of Sweet Lake, Ohio, that she's taking her responsibilities seriously. As the events director of the newly restored Wayfair Inn, she has the support of her best friends, Linnie and Jada. But everyone else--including her overprotective mother and the well-meaning Sweet Lake Sirens--can't help but chime in with advice about her plans, her apparently too-tight clothes, and her undeniable attraction to Ryan D'Angelo, the charming ad exec hired to promote the inn. Cat knows she should keep Ryan at a distance, but she's drawn closer by the heartbreak he tries to hide. Will uncovering his secrets derail the new life Cat hopes to achieve ... or will she gain something to cherish forever?"--Page 4 of cover.

"When Ohio pastry chef Jada Brooks and her two best friends restored the glorious Wayfair Inn, it was a boon to Sweet Lake--and to their own lives. Now Linnie and Cat are focused on private matters: one engaged, the other swept up in newlywed bliss. Jada has also begun looking to the future by dating widower Philip Kettering and forging a sudden, sweet bond with his six-year-old daughter. But the past isn't finished with Jada. When a curious guest checks into the Wayfair, her delving questions stir Jada's guilt about the heartbreaking events that scarred the town seven years ago. The risks Jada must take by revealing the truth will test every assumption she's made about the meaning of family and the magic of enduring love."--Back cover

"A great pick for your book club this summer." --Working Mother Crushed by guilt over the car accident that killed her father and sister, and torn apart by her mother's resentment, Darcy Goodridge fled her family estate eight years ago and hasn't looked back. Now an unexpected phone call threatens to upend what little serenity she's found. Her nephew, Emerson, who was just a baby when his mother died, has gone missing. Darcy must return home and face her past in order to save him. Once back in Ohio, Darcy realizes there's more to Emerson's disappearance--and to the sudden retirement of her mother, Rosalind--than meets the eye. As she works to make inroads with Rosalind, Darcy begins to unravel a decades-old secret that devastated her family and forced a wedge between her and Michael Varano, the man she left heartbroken when she vanished after the funeral. After carrying the scars of that fateful night for almost a decade, Darcy is determined to find closure, healing, and maybe even love where she lost them all in the first place--right back home where she belongs.

Finding family is a journey of love, risk, secrets, and healing in a powerful novel by the bestselling author of A Brighter Flame, The Passing Storm, and The Road She Left Behind. When Nova Doubeck is asked to foster two children, she can't say no. With her own childhood wounds healed by adoptive parents, Nova understands the rewards of a caring guardian--even an impermanent one. But nine-year-old Henry and his seven-year-old sister, Bella, are more than Nova bargained for. Combative Henry is at risk of becoming like his abusive father, Egan Croy. Timid Bella, clutching a tin box of treasures, cowers at the slightest noise. Yet Nova gradually earns their trust and affection as they bring unexpected love and joy to her guarded life. Now she can't help but wonder: How will she stop her heart from breaking when the time comes to say goodbye? As Egan aggressively battles to regain control over the children, Nova's protective instincts prove just as fierce. In fighting to save Henry and Bella, she'll unlock the secrets hidden in their past--and learn more about herself and the true meaning of family than anyone imagined.