Everyone knows that Unity needs to move on. Three years have passed since her husband's death, and she is still going to a grief group and sleeping in his childhood bed. After a fight with her best friend, Ellen, Unity creates a list of new things she'd like to try to help her make a fresh start. It turns out Ellen is in a rut herself. She was a teenage mother, and now her son is looking at colleges—she's ready for a life of her own. Both women enthusiastically start doing the unexpected. But when they each find serious love interests, only time will tell how truly determined they are to make lasting changes in their lives. VERDICT This engaging story explores the power that lifelong friendship and unconditional love have to help us through life's challenges. Told with a style as authentic as it is entertaining, this book is for the author's many fans as well as those who enjoy Debbie Macomber and Susan Wiggs.—Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

Mallery (Sisters by Choice) entices with this summery standalone about best friends choosing to go outside their comfort zones. Lifelong friends Unity Leandre and Ellen Fox have supported one another through thick and thin. Now Ellen fears that her son, Cooper, won't go away to college because he knows she depends on him and Unity worries she'll never break free of grief for her husband, Stuart, who died three years earlier. To break out of their ruts, the women challenge one another with summer to-do lists. Ellen's list includes getting a tattoo and ending her sexual dry spell, while Unity focuses on expanding her social circle and moving her business to an office. When Ellen agrees to chaperone a college trip for Cooper and his classmates, sparks fly between her and her fellow chaperone, high school coach Keith Kinne—but Keith wants more than just casual sex. Meanwhile, Unity meets handsome, successful Thaddeus, but she isn't convinced she can have a relationship with him without betraying her love for Stuart. Mallery's authentic characters and their refreshing summer escapades are sure to resonate. The emphasis on the power of friendship and the joy of new romance make this sparkling novel a sure hit with women's fiction fans. Agent: Annelise Robey, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Aug.)