Today's Read and Giveaway: The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller

Let's say you were anticipating a summer in the Hamptons with your hardworking husband. Then your sister, whom you haven't seen in twenty years, suddenly comes for a visit right around the time your husband is mysteriously asked to take a temporary leave from his job. How would you handle the upheaval? That's just the situation Manhattan marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is facing this July.

The first thing I do is offer them candy. I keep a jar of it, well stocked, right there on the coffee table.

In my experience, people are one hundred percent less likely to tell a lie with a Hershey's Kiss tucked into the side of the their mouth. So while they're unwrapping their chocolate or caramel or whatever, I lob the easy questions at them: How long have they been together? Do they have any kids?

And then, once they've relaxed a little, settled into the beige couch across from my blue chair, I probe: What do they want out of our meeting?

—The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller (Penguin Random House / New American Library, 2014, p. 1)

Quick Facts

• Setting: New York City area; modern times
• Circumstances: Paige's relaxing summer in the Hamptons is abandoned when her estranged sister returns and her husband has work troubles. As Paige confronts both these situations she is surprised by what she discovers.
• Characters: Paige and her husband, Dave (a lawyer); Paige's sister, Sloane (a travel blogger); Paige's parents, Frank and Venessa; Sloane's fiance; various friends and colleagues
• Genre: contemporary woman's fiction; beach read
• Themes: family, sisters, marriage, secrets, trust, forgiveness, communication, work
• What reviewers have praised: fun dialogue, believable characters, good family drama
• About the author: Heller is a divorce lawyer and wife, who has seen the good and the bad of marriage; visit her website for more information, including a reading guide (available soon)

The Giveaway

Thanks to the good people at Penguin Group USA, I have one copy of The Never Never Sisters to giveaway to one of my readers. All you have to do to enter for a chance to win is to have a U.S. mailing address and to fill out the following form. I'll pick a winner via random number generator on June 13. Once the winner has been confirmed, I'll delete all personal information from my computer. Good luck!