A Fish Out of Water It's culture clash when suburban Maryland widow Lauren Nash attends a house party in the West Virginia mountains to please her daughter, Wendy, and get a break from the stress of a pending lawsuit plus an in-law’s weird demand for a family heirloom. Wendy’s almost-engagement to Brandon Rawlings won’t become official until his mother approves of Wendy and her family—and his mom quickly makes her disapproval clear. So does her brother, Gary Murphy, who challenges Lauren in a hostile manner over politically charged topics. Lauren can’t flee soon enough, but a sudden snowstorm traps them all on the mountain, upending her relationship with Gary and Wendy’s with Brandon. As Lauren and Gary grow closer, Wendy and Brandon grow apart. Once the snowy roads are cleared and everyone goes home to their normal lives and problems, will new relationships blossom or wither? Shocking family secrets, a missing heirloom, culture clash, and a hike in a life-threatening snowstorm combine to make one wintry December memorable. --- Readers of Cleaning Her House will meet old friends in this story, the second in the timeline of stand-alone novels set in the extended Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Life Is Too Short is the third in the timeline.