Sara says: "Calling all fans of messy family dramas! The Feldman family's hilarious Caribbean cruise, celebrating matriarch Annette's 70th birthday, devolves into a whirlwind of mishaps and revelations. Eldest daughter Elise grapples with a shopping addiction that threatens to destroy the family's stability. Meanwhile, her brother Freddy attempts to hide both his newfound millionaire status and the questionable venture that earned him his wealth. Even the grandchildren can't escape the drama, harboring their own hidden agendas and worries. Tensions rise and secrets bubble to the surface, culminating in a Baked Alaska fiasco the family won't soon forget."

A multimillion dollar lottery win distorts family dynamics in Friedland’s amusing family dramedy. A year after their mother dies, the four adult Jacobson children gather one last time in their parents’ beloved Long Beach Island vacation home before it’s sold. On a whim, Noah decides to buy a Powerball ticket and invites his siblings to go in on it. Two say yes, one condescendingly refuses: why would he throw his money away like that? But against all odds, three siblings win the $262 million jackpot. After the win, it’s uncomfortable for everyone as guilt and resentment abound, and the Jackpot Jacobsons discover that instead of finding the relief they’d expected the money to bring, they find themselves living with all their old problems—plus a whole lot of new ones.

For anyone in the mood for a dose of 1990s nostalgia. When Melissa, Priya, Tara, and Suki graduated in 1997, they thought they would conquer the world. Twenty-five years later, their high school reunion approaches and none of them are where they thought they’d be. They make a pact to go after their old dreams, one way or another. A fun examination of friendship, the transition to adulthood, and the meaning of yearbook superlatives.

Ginger says: This was my first Elyssa Friedland novel, but it won’t be my last. She writes these great ensemble casts that you fall in love with. This family drama combines two families, with all their interpersonal mess and secrets at a hotel in the Borsch Belt. The resort is past its heyday, and the family needs to decide what to do next—and of course everyone has a different opinion about what that should be. Friedland includes food, fashion, games, and fireworks so you feel like you’re summering along with the Goldmans and Weingolds.