JUST BETWEEN US

Four lasses try to balance love and life in modern Ireland.

Kelly (Best of Friends, Feb. 2005, etc.) posits the eternal question: Is it possible to have it all? The bright and beautiful Miller women—Rose, Holly, Tara and Stella—hope to answer this question affirmatively, but like most, they’re a bit short on perfection. Rose Miller, the matriarch, is elegant and kind, and a loving wife. But be warned: Beneath her calm exterior, trouble is brewing. Rose has a stupendous meltdown during her elaborate 40th anniversary party, airing the dirty laundry of her marriage in front of family and friends and then high-tailing it out of town. Now, the daughters must sort out their man problems without her sage guidance. Holly, the youngest, is in love with her newly engaged neighbor and suffers from debilitating insecurity. She longs to summon the courage to share her feelings. Tara, the middle child, has a gorgeous husband with an equally stunning drinking problem. His alcoholism is shredding their marital bliss to bits. Stella, the eldest and a single mom, has sacrificed her love life in order to focus on raising her daughter—that is, until a charming new client shows up at her office door. There’s a catch, though. This sexy prospect comes with plenty of baggage. He’s fresh from divorce court and has two teenage daughters who like to stir up trouble. It’s easy to see why Kelly is such a success across the pond; she has a gift for revealing the humor in life’s most challenging moments.

Sentimental and sweet. The Miller girls feel like old friends by the end of this well-rendered novel.