Connie Green wasn’t bargaining for trouble when she arrived in Blackpool for a networking conference. In fact, she would have preferred to stay at home with her loving husband Luke and invite their equally loving friends over for dinner. So when she finds herself flirting with John Harding and they wind up at another conference in Paris, Connie finds the lines between adultery and fidelity blurring. It doesn’t take long before she can no longer tell the difference, nor does she care.

In the meantime, Connie’s friends Sam, Daisy, Rose, and Lucy are leading hit-or-miss lives of their own. Connie’s life is something of a fairytale: She left the carefree days of many lovers (which eludes the noncommittal, ruthless Lucy); found a wonderful husband (which eludes Daisy and Sam); and still manages to have fun (which eludes Rose, an ex-corporate up-and-comer now saddled with children). So why would Connie even look at another man? Connie isn’t sure of the whys either, but very quickly arrives at a point of obsession. John feeds this obsession, and soon discretion is dismissed as well. One by one, Connie’s friends uncover the truth, with varied opinions about her behavior: Lucy coaches her, Sam tolerates her, and Daisy is mortified. Then there’s Rose, who ultimately finds herself in the same vulnerable position as Luke. The most unlikely source of confrontation, Rose helps Connie reassess what is important to her and how far she’ll go to retrieve it. It is then that Connie finally realizes the magnitude of her sin.

Readers will find the first half of Playing Away disturbing; the idea that Connie is getting away with blatant adultery without repercussion is shocking. Ironically, readers will also like Connie; she truly is a likable character, making it very difficult to hate her or turn a deaf ear when she explains her actions and feelings. Wanting to hug her instead of thrash her is even more disturbing than Connie’s actions, but Connie does eventually pay, and she pays dearly. Adele Parks mingles humor with dark, realistic themes of boredom and isolation. Some may regard the ending as sappy, but after all the suffering, no other ending would suffice for such an endearing crew of friends.

Abbey Anclaude is a former schoolteacher.

Thirty-six-year-old Patty Murphy has waited patiently for her husband and children. Unfortunately her patience has not paid off. Patty is essentially a homemaker disguised as an unmarried real estate salesperson, a distinction she would not deny. As the narrator of Elizabeth Berg’s latest novel, Until the Real Thing Comes Along, Patty makes these points perfectly clear within the first few pages.

She readily admits that she has, in her two years at Rodman Real Estate, managed to sell one house (which happened to sell for $3.2 million). Despite her less-than-ambitious career, she enjoys the real estate business; her desire to be a wife and mother, however, overshadows any joy that she receives from showing houses. As Patty’s story unravels, the reader/confidante is taken through a maze of scenarios and reflections that center around a fictitious husband and a multitude of make-believe children.

Patty has known since the sixth grade who would make the perfect husband and father: Ethan Allen Gaines. She and Ethan are very close, and have even been engaged. Their engagement was broken when Ethan confessed that he is homosexual. The good news is, they have remained good friends, though the relationship is often frustrated by Patty’s lingering love and blind hope that Ethan is simply going through a phase.

Two things that both Patty and Ethan desire are the right man and many children. And since neither have any prospects in either area, they decide to have a child themselves. Though Patty’s pregnancy does not match the daydreams that had danced in her head for 36 years, she is happy with their decision . . . right? Factored into the Patty Murphy equation are an elderly couple whose days are numbered, a love her/hate her beautiful best friend, and two worried parents. And while Patty’s encounters with each character are amusing, there is an underlying, inexplicable sadness that tends to permeate each relationship. This sadness culminates when Patty discovers that her mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Amid these trials of life, Patty begins to focus on what the real thing actually is. A self-proclaimed runner-up in the pageant of life, Patty realizes that perhaps the real thing includes loving someone or something despite itself. Because of itself, actually. A warm-hearted story that gently offers insight rather than answers, Until the Real Thing Comes Along would especially appeal to those who have survived loss and crisis.

You won’t find the women in Faith Sullivan’s new novel wringing their hands and moaning What’s a woman to do? Sullivan turns that phrase on its edge and renders it a call for action in the title of her latest novel, What a Woman Must Do.

But life doesn’t always neatly dictate where duty lies. Kate, Harriet, and Bess, Sullivan’s trio of related main characters, struggle inwardly with their personal dilemmas. Each knows her actions will affect the others, and their choices, though individual and honest, are not made easily.

Bess, the youngest, has been raised by her aunts and yearns for adventure beyond the streets of Harvester, Minnesota. But just before she is to leave for college, Bess risks her future by falling for a local married man. Harriet is the middle-aged cousin who wants desperately to have a home of her own, and though it may mean losing her beloved Bess’s approval, she goes to the Dakota dance hall to kick up her heels with a widowed farmer. And then there’s the aging but spirited Kate, fighting with ghosts from the past and reproaching herself for things she should have done as a woman despite her fears and the conventions of her youth.

Though separated by generational differences, each cares deeply for the other, for regaining and maintaining their family’s respectability, and for the men they come to love. But it is Kate’s fervent longing for the farm she has lost, her love for the land she once lived with so intimately, that becomes the narrative’s overriding passion and its idyllic backdrop. Heaven will be a farm, she tells herself. And we will own it outright. Sullivan uses a condensed time frame a mere three days and like a play, the story moves swiftly through its web of conflicts to its crisis. A variety of techniques flesh out the characters and bring the past into relevancy with the present; flashbacks, dreams, and Kate’s ability to conjure her beloved farm to the point where she is not simply imagining, but there, give us insight into the characters’ motivations.

If you are looking for an intriguing tale of love and relationships mixed with distinctive female characters and a dash of family scandal, get Faith Sullivan’s new book and find out What a Woman Must Do.

Linda Stankard writes from Cookeville, Tennessee.

Filled with romance, intrigue, revenge, and salvation, Lake News, the latest novel by best-selling author Barbara Delinsky, is a gripping tale sure to please her legions of loyal fans and earn her quite a few new ones.

Lily Blake is a quiet young woman leading a quiet life in Boston. She teaches music appreciation at a private academy, but her real love in life is playing piano and singing the old favorites at the Essex, an exclusive dining club which boasts among its members the newly installed Cardinal Fran Rossetti. Having known the cleric all her adult life, Lily considers the Cardinal one of her closest friends and advisors. But when Terry Sullivan, a devious newspaper reporter with a secret agenda, accuses her of having an affair with her dear friend, Lily becomes a pariah overnight.

Lily finds herself unable to return to her Boston apartment, where reporters are permanently camped out. Embarrassed by the false revelations, friends, neighbors, and employers begin to shun Lily, and she soon realizes she has no alternative but to escape to her hometown of Lake Henry. Vulnerable and wary, she makes the trip home. Once there, she must dodge sneaky reporters and confront old demons in the face of a cold and unloving mother and a town still whispering gossip about her youthful indiscretions.

John Kipling, the editor of the Lake News, knows all about the emotional trauma Lily Blake is going through. He used to be one of those rumor-mongering reporters in the big city himself, until one day it just got to be too much and he too retreated homeward, with trust issues and family problems of his own. But John knows just what to do to help Lily exact her revenge on the reporter who ruined her life and, in the process, gets a little redemption himself. He just didn’t plan on falling in love with Lily along the way.

Lake News has just enough mystery to keep readers on the edges of their seats, and just enough romance to make them all sigh.

Sharon Galligar Chance is senior book reviewer at the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Cheaters is a 368-page Jerry Springer moment. Both of Dickey’s main characters, Chante and Stephan, are poster children for dysfunctional people. Stephan is a self-described player although his game is a bit off. In fact, he gets caught at his own game and finds out what the wrath of a woman scorned can be. Chante, on the other hand, finds herself in between being dumped and being the other woman. Needless to say, these two misfits meet, feign disinterest, and fall rapidly into fledgling, drama-packed romance. The secondary characters are particularly intriguing. Dawn is an unsupportive wife. Darnell is her misunderstood husband and a struggling writer. Tammy is a creative spirit who captures Darnell’s imagination. What will happen? Will Darnell and Tammy cheat? Why? Why not? Readers will want to find out. Dickey’s best attribute is his ability to effortlessly capture the language of the Hip Hop generation. For example, after visiting a museum with Stephan, Chante says, We checked out Rhapsodies in Black, a phat [superb] showcase of art from the Harlem Renaissance. It’s this almost perfect intonation in this case, the right balance between colloquial and proper speech that makes Cheaters feel and sound real. Also, unlike many of his contemporaries, Dickey doesn’t rely on cheap tricks like placing Chante in designer clothing to signal her social status. Instead, we get class-based tension between Chante and her friend Karen, which allows for a richer narrative.

While Dickey opens interesting doors, readers are not always pulled through them a slight frustration. Issues such as class and cast are mentioned but not aptly dealt with. Still, Mr. Dickey didn’t set out to formally address such serious issues. Instead, Cheaters reads like a beach book it’s fun, full of raunchy behavior and great one-liners. One hopes real people don’t be have so badly. But, this reviewer will admit, it’s enjoyable to read about characters who do. Jerry Springer would gladly pay these characters to be on his show.

Crystal Williams is a poet in Ithaca, New York.