Books like One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery

Twenty‑five year‑old Belly Conklin returns to the family summer home on the coast, where a cancer diagnosis forces her to confront love, loss, and growing up amid the familiar rhythm of beach life.

Don Tillman, a genetics professor with Asperger’s, designs a scientific survey to find a wife, only to meet Rosie Jarman, a drinker and late arriver who challenges his controlled worldview and leads him to discover that love can’t be measured.

Amid writer's block and a looming deadline, a skeptical romance novelist and a disenchanted literary author trade their craft: she must write a happy ending, he a Great American Novel, as they race to finish before summer ends.

Monsieur Perdu, a literary apothecary aboard a Seine barge, prescribes novels to heal broken hearts. When his own love remains a mystery, he journeys south of France to find closure and prove stories can mend souls.

Wedding coordinator Renee Grothen knows she’s not meant for marriage—until an unlikely proposal from thriller writer Jasper Dembenski turns a casual fling into an irresistible love story, forcing her to choose between plans and passion.

A baker in Fool's Gold, Shelby Gilmore seeks a male friend to prove that men can be trusted, but the town’s adventure tour captain, Aidan Mitchell, must confront his reputation as a Casanova and his own assumptions about women.

Lilian Girvan, a young widow and single mother, balances an illustrating career, two children, and a newfound love for gardening at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden. Through composting and new friendships she learns to bloom again.

"Edited by bestselling author Rebecca Walker, this anthology invites us to step into the center of a range of different domestic arrangements and take a good look around. From gay adoption to absentee fathers, from open marriages to green-card marriages, the reality of the American household has altered dramatically over the last three decades. With changing values and expectations, fluid gender roles, and a shifting economy, along with increase in infertility, adoption, and the incidence of mixed-race couples, people across the country are redefining the standard arrangement of family life. In a collection of eighteen honest, personal, and deeply affecting essays from an array of writers, One Big Happy Family offers a fresh look at how contemporary families are adapting to this altering reality." ... from Publisher's Description.

When computer consultant Parker Hamilton learns he has a secret daughter, his peaceful life on the rugged Pacific coast is turned upside down. With the help of his aunt Erin Ridgeway, he must navigate the challenges of newfound fatherhood and a budding romance.

Pia O'Brian, a single mother, decides to become pregnant but meets Raoul Moreno on her way to the clinic.

A DATE WITH MR. DESTINY... When Samantha Scott was six years old, a mysterious old woman promised her true love if she found the courage to fight for it. Twenty years later, Sam was convinced that Mr. Right had taken a permanent vacation. Then along came gorgeous Kevin Delaney, who made her melt every time he looked at her - but instead of being her destiny, he insisted he was too old for her. Old! She'd never heard such malarkey in her life. She wasn't about to let a few measly years keep them apart. Kevin was her long-awaited reward - he just didn't know it yet! GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Three sisters are promised love -- and find that wished do come true!