Jessica's Picks

The cover alone draws you into this cookbook, and if you’re as enthusiastic a baker as I am, you will spend hours reading through each delectable recipe and drooling over the gorgeous pictures. Meg Ray, the owner of Miette, gives detailed, exact instructions, making this the perfect book for newbies and experts alike. But my favorite thing about this book is that all the recipes are scaled to small, so you can have your cake and eat it, too. —Jessica

How cool would it be to have two parallel lives? Husband getting on your nerves? Just find a portal and waltz into the apartment you share with your rock star boyfriend. Boyfriend having another breakdown? Step through the portal and back into the kitchen to your husband and son. For Quinn Braverman, the ability to slip back and forth between the life she’d had if she’d stayed with her ex, and the life she has with the man she left him for, has never really been a big deal. But when she discovers she’s pregnant and there might be a problem with the baby, she finds herself visiting the life she could have had more and more, and each time she goes it gets harder to come back. Soon she must make a choice or risk losing everything she’s fought so hard for. The plot draws you in, and Meister’s smooth writing and compelling characters guarantee you’ll keep reading until the last page.   —Jessica

This book grabs you by the throat from the first page and doesn't let go until the final word. Annie O'Sullivan's just going about her daily routine when a prospective buyer jams a gun in her back at a house showing. He drives her to the middle of nowhere and lays down the rules for the new life she's going to lead... with him. Stevens' absorbing characters and tense, edge-of-your-seat narrative combine to create a novel you won't be able to forget long after you've finished it. -Jessica

After the death of their beloved Franny, the Mason family is falling apart, and patriarch Sam hopes a summer spent at the lake will put them on a path towards healing. Greenwood writes about the joy and sorrow of the familial relationship with insight and painful clarity, making this a can’t-put-down novel. As a native Arizonan, I also appreciated the parts of the book set in my home state. —Jessica

In the aftermath of her husband’s death, Julie Menz discovers the man she married was a total stranger who carried on affairs with many different women, including one of Julie’s close friends. Menz’s honest, brutal descriptions and reactions to every infidelity are powerful and heart-breaking. You will cheer for her as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of her marriage and her future. —Jessica