The Sweet Spot

In Poeppel’s fizzy latest (after Musical Chairs), a large cast finds itself in a number of messy situations. Leo Aston and Lauren Shaw are given a Greenwich Village brownstone by Leo’s father. With Lauren’s charming yet grotesque ceramics gaining traction in a local boutique and finally having enough space for their three children in the brownstone, it seems their lives are coming together. Then, Felicity Wynn, the pregnant owner of the boutique that sells Lauren’s ceramics, credits Lauren for convincing her to keep the baby and commit to his father, Russell, thus breaking up his marriage. Russell’s ex, Melinda, is forced to take an administrative job at what ends up being the school for Lauren’s children, which puts her in spitting distance of Lauren, whom she’s convinced ruined her life. The Sweet Spot, a bar in the basement of the brownstone; the bar’s hunky older bartender, Dan; and Dan’s daughter, Olivia, who has been canceled on social media for mistreating Melinda at Felicity’s store, all come to play roles in the delightful chaos that ensues. The author leans a bit too heavily on coincidences, but there’s plenty of fun to be had in this chronicle of misunderstandings and new beginnings. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Linda Chester, Linda Chester Literary. (Jan.)