Mary Rose McGill blew her nose – loudly. She had just sat down at table 12. She was totally alone in the spacious dining room. A small pack of tissues was in her right hand. Another small pack of tissues was in her jeans pocket. She was crying. “What if I can’t stop?” she said out loud. “You Will,” Robbie Leary answered as she walked in the door, laptop in one hand and coffee mug in the other. “I didn’t think anyone would hear me,” Mary Rose said with a weak smile. “Hey. It’s good to talk to...

“For once, I’d like to get a real Christmas letter,” Mary Rose McGill said, carefully putting what was obviously a Christmas letter back into its envelope. They were gathered at Table 12 in the Meadow Lakes dining room sharing donuts and a large pot of coffee. “Like one that says, ‘My son’s drug business went down the toilet, he’s in jail, and we don’t have the money for bail. To donate, send a check to the return address,” Marge Aaron said. “Or like my Jewish cousin in Chicago,” Hadley Joy...

Let’s be honest. Finding a book that really gets you can feel like hunting for a unicorn in a haystack. You want adventure, a dash of romance, a sprinkle of mystery, and characters who feel like your best friends (or your sassy cousins). Enter witty women's fiction books that hit all those notes and then some. And if you haven’t yet dipped your toes into joy's novels , you’re in for a treat. Let me walk you through why these stories are lighting up bookshelves and hearts everywhere. The...