Lake Effect is a must-read for fans of family drama and character-driven stories. Spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, two families deal with the fallout of an affair in a vividly described Rochester, New York. When Nina Larkin, a food writer and mother to two teenage daughters, is given a copy of The Joy of Sex from a newly divorced friend, she realizes how unfulfilling her own marriage is and soon embarks on an affair with her neighbor Finn Finegan. When Nina and Finn decide to leave their marriages and get remarried to each other, their families are changed forever, along with their Rochester community. Nina’s oldest daughter, Clara, takes these changes especially hard, though her path to becoming a food stylist in New York City and being part of the rough early days of the Food Network is fascinating. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed how she made the characters very likeable despite their seemingly bad decisions. A compelling, hard to put down story told with warmth and humor, perfect for fans of The Irish Goodbye and Maine.