estranged families

Things are getting tense at home for Nicky and Kenny as they wait for a visit from their estranged mother. To escape, they go for a walk on the moors, taking their little Jack Russell terrier with them. But what should have been a laugh, a lark, turns deadly when the weather changes and they are caught in a blizzard. Nothing will ever be quite the same again.

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother's considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother's demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Meduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother's) obsession with the mirror--and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.

"When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out. Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That's a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger"--Provided by publisher.

"Natalie Walker is the reason her older brother and sister went to prison over 15 years ago. She fled California shortly after that fateful night and hasn't spoken to anyone in her family since. Ten years later--on the same day her boyfriend steals her dream job out from under her--Natalie receives a letter from a lawyer saying her estranged mother has died and left the family's historic Santa Cruz house to her. Sort of. The only way for Natalie and her siblings to inherit is for all three adult children to come back and claim it--together. Natalie drives cross-country to Santa Cruz with her willful cat in tow expecting to sign some papers, see siblings Lynn and Jake briefly, and get back to sorting out her life in Boston. But Jake, now an award-winning ornithologist, is missing. And Lynn, working as an undertaker in New York City, shows up with a teenage son. While Natalie and her nephew look for Jake--meeting a very handsome marine biologist who immediately captures her heart--she unpacks the guilt she has held onto for so many years, wondering how--or if--she can salvage a relationship with her siblings after all this time"--Provided by publisher.

"Frygea Forest... an ancient and mystical place where trolls lurk in the mossy spaces between tree trunks and changelings scamper about, causing mischief. A place that Kyra and her sisters Margot and Janna return to every year to spend the summer at their grandma's farm: roasting marshmallows, catching frogs and befriending tiny, grumpy root goblins. But this summer is different, and as teenage Margot drifts apart from her sisters, slamming doors and keeping secrets, Kyra starts to worry. When Margot is enticed into the woods by the mysterious figures in the mist, Kyra resolves to do everything in her power to save her sister from danger, even if that means facing the spooky forces within Frygea Forest with just her kid sister for help"--.