In Berg's Earth's the Right Place for Love, a stand-alone connected to her popular Truluv series, Arthur tries to contain his crush on gorgeous Nola McCollum (who's crushing on his older brother) while steering clear of his violent war-veteran dad; then tragedy upends his family. In debuter Brown's Black Candle Women, three generations of Montrose women must carefully tell sparkling young teenager Nickie that a curse delivered decades ago by a New Orleans vodou sorceress means that anyone she falls in love with will die. In Fedor's debut, Carla is shattered when the man she loves disappears with their baby but heartened years later when a man and child are spotted At Sea calmly treading water—Brandon claimed to be part of a U.S. Special Forces experiment that allowed him to stay longer than humanly possible beneath the waves. Puerto Rican sisters living on Staten Island, Jessica and Nina may finally learn What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, their long-lost little sister, when Jessica spots a look-alike on a reality TV show; from debuter Jimenez, the winner of multiple honors for her story collection Staten Island Stories. In standup comedian Langbein's debut, Hollywood hacks are trying to turn the androgynous, eco-crusading protagonist of Penelope Schleeman's feminist novel American Mermaid into a vampy teen, and creepy things (e.g., threats suddenly materializing in the script) are starting to happen. Following Napolitano's New York Times best-selling Dear Edward, Hello Beautiful features reserved William, who's hamstrung by his upbringing in a household shadowed by tragedy but lucky enough to have found effervescent Julia and gained her sisters' seal of approval—until trouble from his past threatens the relationship. From award-winning poet/novelist Novey (Ways To Disappear), Take What You Need returns Leah to the Appalachian home of her recently deceased stepmother Jean, from whom she had been estranged and who has left her with some surprises. Steel's Worthy Opponents pits Spencer Brooke, now owner of her family's luxury department store in New York and a divorced mother of twins, against overeager investor Mike Weston.

Napolitano (Dear Edward) explores the meaning of love and family with this striking story of four Chicago sisters and the young man who enters their lives. William Waters, a basketball player from outside Boston, enrolls at Northwestern in 1978 on an athletic scholarship. After he starts dating fellow student Julia Padavano, he's embraced by Julia's three younger sisters—Sylvie, a romantic searching for a great love affair; Cecelia, an aspiring artist; and Cecelia's earnest and quiet twin, Emeline—and is delighted to find a loving and loud family so different from his own, his parents having grown taciturn after his older sister's death years before. William and Julia marry, while the unmarried Cecelia gets pregnant at 17, Sylvie presses on with a job at a library, and Emeline works at a daycare where she fosters a crush on a coworker. After one character attempts suicide, the bonds of the expanding family are tested, and the Padavano women reexamine the limits of how much they're willing to sacrifice. The author breathes great life into her characters, and brings insight into their quiet moments as they gradually come into their own. This will move readers. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group. (Mar.)