The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson

Joe and Ella have been married for three years with two children from Joe's previous marriage when Joe drowns while taking pictures of the ocean. All this time, Ella thought that Joe's ex-wife, Paige, left him and the children without wanting any more to do with them, but she appears at Joe's funeral and more than one truth comes out. As Ella is dealing with Paige's new presence in her life and reclaiming a presence in her children's lives, she discovers that the store that Joe owned is less solvent than she was led to believe and is near financial ruin. Facing a war on two fronts, she leans on Joe's family to help her make sense of all this news. Along the way, she learns that the story Joe told about Paige isn't the whole truth.

Recommendations:
If you liked when two women came together for a common goal, like in Love Anthony by Lisa Genova.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

This was another book for a different Meetup (I am part of two Meetup book groups). This one follows Franny, a wannabe actress in New York who is six months away from her 3 year deadline of making it as an actress or moving on. She lives with two friends who are encouraging of her pursuits. In her acting class, there is a guy that she has a big crush on and is flabbergasted when he shows an interest in her after he breaks up with his girlfriend since he seems completely out of her league. This relationship starts to overwhelm her and distract her from her goal of being an actress until she starts to realize things about herself and her beau. Apparently, a sequel is in the works and this will become a TV show.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

Love Anthony revolves around two women in Nantucket. One, Olivia, had an autistic son named Anthony who passed away two years prior. The other, Beth, finds out her husband is cheating on her with a woman he works with. They are drawn together by autism: Olivia by her son, and Beth with her rediscovered creative writing. The intersection of their stories seems entirely unrealistic, but if you can divest yourself of reality, you would be able to enjoy it.

This book was for my Portland Book Club for 20-Something Women Meetup group.

These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen

I think this was my first "chick lit" book I have ever read. The story revolves around three women: Cate, who had an affair with her professor and dropped out of college and hopes no one finds out that secret; Renee, who is vying for a beauty editor position and is desperate to lose weight; and Abby, who had an affair with the father of the girl she was nannying. I thought how the story was told was interesting. Renee and Cate's go from present forward, while Abby's starts presently and then goes back into the past, bringing her to the present moment, and then forward. It was a very light, fluffy read, perfect for those summertime days at the beach.