The tightrope walk is getting trickier by the minute. As maternity leave comes to an end for Heidi Elliott, so does virtually everything else she thought she knew. The substitute filling in for her high school Spanish classes has made a complete mess—not just with her students, but perhaps in a way more personal. Her husband is developing the disconcerting habit of going out of his way to help a beautiful and wealthy client who is all kinds of perky. And now, to further complicate matters, Heidi’s old boyfriend has moved back into the neighborhood. Fiercely independent, Heidi has never been one to ask for help. But when she discovers unexpected camaraderie with a Moms’ Group, Heidi finds herself in a sea of shoulder pads, big hair, and surprisingly strong women who just might hold the lifeline she didn’t think she needed.

Balancing Act: Heidi Elliott Series, Number One

Religion & Spirituality

Stuart, Kimberly

Christian Books & Bibles

Blom Books

The Moms’ Group that saved Heidi Elliott’s sanity has gone on hiatus, as have any ideas about dropping the weight (in all the wrong places) and keeping the curves (in all the right ones). In their place, the Friday Strut-n-Stroll provides, if nothing else, two miles of adult company and the outside chance to use polysyllabic words. As much as she has loved being home for Nora’s first steps, words, and forays into makeup artistry, Heidi misses working, not to mention money for pedicures. And her husband, Jake, seems increasingly worried about their dwindling bank balance. So when the beautiful Kylie Zimmerman, with a wave of her multi-carat-laden fingers, dangles the chance to become part of a “life-enhancing, woman-affirming business opportunity,” Heidi takes the bait. After all, what does she have to lose?

Bottom Line: Heidi Elliott Series, Number Two

New Yorker Sadie Maddox is the toast of the classical-music world—and a bit of a diva. But lately her CD sales are sagging, not to mention parts of her anatomy. Maybe it’s time for a change. So when her agent suggests a professorship at a small liberal-arts college, Sadie decides to give it a go. Besides, she needs the money. But the college is in rural Iowa. Sadie’s colleagues are intimidated, her students aren’t impressed, and she has to live far too close to farm animals. When Sadie meets Mac, a veterinarian, she assumes they have nothing in common—he is, after all, a country-music fan—and she’s counting the days until she moves back to New York. Yet, when Sadie is forced to spend time with Mac, she likes him. Her students really need her. And this quiet Midwest community begins to grow on her. When the semester ends, Sadie packs up and decamps for the city that never sleeps…and finds she can’t either. Will she find the courage and grace she needs to embrace her Act Two?

Act Two

Mia is a granola-eating, sensible shoe-wearing, carbon footprint-conscious twenty-something living in a multicultural neighborhood in Chicago. Her mother, Babs, is a stiletto-wearing Zsa Zsa Gabor type who works as an activities hostess on a Caribbean cruise line…and if you guessed there’s some tension there, you’d be right. Factor in an unexpected pregnancy and Mia’s idealistic boyfriend, and the mother-daughter relationship is, well, stretched very thin. As is Mia’s sanity when Babs shows up to…help. Actually, Mia has a whole neighborhood of quirky characters who want to help, including her BFF, Frankie, a magenta-haired librarian; Silas, the courtly gentleman of indeterminate age who lives downstairs; and Adam, proprietor of the corner grocery store where Mia shops. But it’s Adam—endearing, kind, possessed of a perfect smile and impeccable Persian manners—who ultimately charms Babs and rescues Mia from more than one mother-induced meltdown. Could it be that Mia and Babs might actually be able to get along? With Kimberly Stuart’s trademark irreverent humor and a surprising and satisfying take on romance, Stretch Marks is an authentic but tender story about family, grace, and the importance of a good grocer.

Stretch Marks

Twenty-year-old Nellie Monroe has a perfect college GPA, a job that’s beneath her, and a restless brilliance that makes her a bit of an odd duck. Oh, and she wants to be a private investigator, even though her tiny Ohio hometown offers no hope of clients. Until she meets Amos Shetler, a refugee from the local Amish community who’s carrying a torch for the girl he left behind. So Nellie straps on her bonnet and goes undercover to get the dish. Literally, since she’s talked her way into Amish cooking lessons. But though she’s brainy, Nellie is clueless when it comes to real life and real relationships. In short order she has alienated her best friend and angered her college professor—and appears to have botched her case. Will the boy still get the girl? Can Nellie save her career in criminal science? And more importantly, will she ever learn how to make a decent piecrust?

Operation Bonnet

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Heidi Elliott is busy, busy, busy. Now that she and Jake are parents of a kindergartner, Heidi has a to-do list a mile long. Like deep clean the kitchen cabinets. Volunteer in Nora’s classroom. Create sparkly USA ninja warrior Halloween costumes for two. Repaint several pieces of household furniture. Meddle in her best friends’ relationships. Grieve her most recent failed pregnancy. Find her misplaced hope. Jake wants to adopt. Nora plans to pray a sibling into existence. And Heidi keeps moving to avoid thinking about anything other than paint colors. Thoughtlessness, of course, leads to mistakes and misunderstandings, and in the space of a month, Heidi manages to lose control of a group of kindergartners, make a terrible impression on the social worker, and damage—possibly irreparably—her closest friendships. And then she remembers. She doesn’t have to go it alone. Sometimes we really are better together.

Better Together: Heidi Elliott Series, Book Three

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