What does it mean to be a family? New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge's engaging new novel is a powerful adventure into the heart of marriage, motherhood, and four friends who discover they may be the best family they ever had.

Fifteen years after graduation, best friends Jay, Franny, Emerson, and Stevie meet at their college reunion. Life has taken each of them in different directions — Jay is a married man with a baby on the way while Franny yearns for a child as she searches for love in all the wrong places. Divorced single mom Emerson is drawn to a man who challenges everything she's come to believe about finding a once-in-a-lifetime love. And Stevie's life has recently been rocked by a shocking revelation — the answer to a family secret that will shatter everything she believes about herself.

Now the bond between the foursome takes a surprising twist, one that changes how each feels about family and friendship. One thing is certain: They will all find their heart's desires in the last place they imagine — as they discover that family is less about blood ties than the warm embrace of ones who accept them as they are.

"Eileen Goudge writes like a house on fire, creating characters you come to love and hate to leave," praises Nora Roberts — and nowhere do Goudge's bestselling storytelling talents shine brighter than in Immediate Family.