Illinois Authors

Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville's elite. Her husband's tech business is booming, and her adored son, Finch, is bound for Princeton. Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs. His adored daughter, Lyla, attends Nashville's most prestigious private school on a scholarship. But amid the wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn't always fit in. Then one devastating photo changes everything. Finch snaps a picture of Lyla passed out at a party, adds a provocative caption, and sends it to a few friends. The photo spreads like wildfire, and before long, an already divided community is buzzing with scandal and assigning blame. In the middle of it all, Nina finds herself relating more to Tom's reaction than her own husband's -- and facing an impossible choice.

St. Martin's Press, New York : 2006.

Is there ever a deal-breaker when it comes to true love? What happens to the perfect couple when they suddenly want different things? First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes--a baby carriage. Isn't that what all women want? Not so for Claudia Parr. And just as she gives up on finding a man who feels the same way, she meets warm, wonderful Ben. Things seem too good to be true when they fall in love and agree to buck tradition with a satisfying, child-free marriage. Then the unexpected occurs: one of them has a change of heart. One of them wants children after all.--From publisher description.

Meredith thought she'd done it all right--married the perfect man, had the perfect daughter--but as she grows increasingly restless, she can't help but wonder if she got the love part wrong.Josie has been happily single for years, but she wants a child of her own so much she's one bad Match.com date away from heading straight for the baby carriage all on her own.These sisters, whose relationship was strained by the tragic death of their older brother over a decade ago, now find that they need each other more than they realized.

Following a tragic accident, two women--Tessa Russo, a renowned pediatric surgeon, and Valerie Anderson, an attorney and single mother--living in the same Boston suburb but with relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children converge in ways no one could have imagined.

In the irresistible new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All We Ever Wanted and Something Borrowed, a young woman falls hard for an impossibly perfect man before he disappears without a trace . . .

St. Martin's Press, New York : 2008.

A chance encounter forces one woman to question her decisions, her marriage, and herself.

Ballantine Books 2022

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • He’s American royalty. She comes from a troubled past. Is their love story meant to be? This “lively page-turner” (The New York Times) offers a nostalgic, hopelessly romantic escape—from the author of Something Borrowed and The Lies That Bind. “I’m a sucker for an iconic, against-all-odds love story, and Meant to Be truly delivers.”—Tia Williams, author of Seven Days in June “A chic, history-inspired summer read [that] strikes a careful balance between simply retelling the true story of JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and crafting an entirely new one.”—Bookreporter The Kingsley family is American royalty, beloved for their military heroics, political service, and unmatched elegance. In 1967, after Joseph S. Kingsley, Jr. is killed in a tragic accident, his charismatic son inherits the weight of that legacy. But Joe III is a free spirit—and a little bit reckless. Despite his best intentions, he has trouble meeting the expectations of a nation, as well as those of his exacting mother, Dottie. Meanwhile, no one ever expected anything of Cate Cooper. She, too, grew up fatherless—and after her mother marries an abusive man, she is forced to fend for herself. After being discovered by a model scout at age sixteen, Cate decides that her looks may be her only ticket out of the cycle of disappointment that her mother has always inhabited. Before too long, Cate’s face is in magazines and on billboards. Yet she feels like a fraud, faking it in a world to which she’s never truly belonged. When Joe and Cate unexpectedly cross paths one afternoon, their connection is instant and intense. But can their relationship survive the glare of the spotlight and the so-called Kingsley curse? In a beautifully written novel that captures a gilded moment in American history, Emily Giffin tells the story of two people searching for belonging and identity, as well as the answer to the question: Are certain love stories meant to be?

St. Martin's Press, New York : 2005.

Her belief in the power of beauty shattered when her fiancé dumps her for a plain woman, a pregnant Darcy flees to London and struggles to rebuild her glamorous life before realizing that her past methods no longer work.

After a night of indiscriminate partying, Rachel sleeps with a close friend's fiancé and is consumed with guilt, until the intensity of her feelings forces her to make a difficult choice.

Centering her life on the successful Walker family, into which she plans to marry, Shea struggles to end her affair with a less-than-stellar boyfriend only to have her entire existence placed in question by the death of the family's mother.

Ballantine Books 2024

In the wake of tragedy, a group of friends makes a pact that will cause them to reunite a decade later and embark upon a life-changing adventure together—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Meant to Be.Four freshmen arrive at college from completely different worlds: Lainey, a California party girl with a flair for drama; Tyson, a brilliant scholar and aspiring lawyer from Washington, D.C.; Summer, an ambitious, recruited athlete from the Midwest; and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner who is content to quietly round out the circle of big personalities. Soon after arriving on campus, they strike up a conversation in their shared dorm, and the seeds of friendship are planted.As their college years fly by, their bond intensifies and the four become inseparable. But as graduation nears, their lives are forever changed after a desperate act leads to tragic consequences. Stunned and heartbroken, they make a pact, promising to always be there for one another, no matter how separated they may become by circumstances or distance.Ten years later, Hannah is anticipating what should be one of the happiest moments of her life when everything is suddenly turned upside down. Calling on her closest friends, it soon becomes clear that they are all facing their own crossroads. True to their promise, they agree to take a time out from lives headed in wrong directions and embark on a shared journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.In this tender portrayal of grief, love, and hope, Emily Giffin asks: When things fall apart, who will be at our sides, helping us pick up the pieces?

St. Martin's Press, New York : 2012.

Her carefully constructed life thrown into turmoil by the appearance of an eighteen-year-old girl with ties to her past, New York television producer Marian Caldwell is swept up in a maelstrom of personal discovery that changes both of their perceptions about family.