The call of summer, sisterhood, and hearts in need of healing bring two best friends and their
college-age daughters to Napa Valley, California’s breathtaking wine country—where a long-held secret threatens to forever alter their relationships . . .

Since their fast friendship as teenagers over 30 years ago, Louisiana natives Remi Landry and Bianca Fuentes Perez have seen each other through the best and worst of times. Now, as Remi grieves the sudden death of her beloved husband of 25 years, and Bianca struggles with the fallout of a divorce she didn’t see coming, the women are amid their greatest challenges yet.

Remi and Gerard spent their honeymoon and summers in Napa and on the Sonoma Coast. Their love of wine led them to buy a Victorian home in Wine Country—and then a winery on the site of an age-old vineyard. They spoke endlessly about retiring to run their winery. But with Gerard gone, Remi must sort through his things and reevaluate their assets, and her future.

Bianca is grateful to be there for Remi. After all, Remi was her rock when Bianca’s husband left—and throughout the breast cancer diagnosis that followed. Now in remission, and with her daughter a thriving college freshman, Bianca hopes for a brighter future. But when Remi unearths a secret about her late husband so shattering even Bianca can’t help, the past casts a shadow over everything—and everyone . . .

Emotional and relatable, here is a captivating novel of the bonds of friendship, the power of love and forgiveness, and the revelation that sometimes comfort lies where you least expect it.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dafina

• Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 28, 2026

• Author: Monica Garner

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 149675042X

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496750426

"An utter delight from start to finish." –Terah Shelton Harris, author of One Summer in Savannah, for Sisters with a Side of Greens

A heartwarming small-town tale of rediscovering joy in unexpected places. Starting over isn't easy, but sometimes it's exactly what we need.

Newly divorced and determined to prove she can stand on her own, Joyce Hicks moves back to small-town Texas, leaving behind the life she has known for decades for a fresh start in her late father's home. Unfinished renovations force her to share her kitchen with her tenant, Gabriella Santos, an aspiring chef with dreams of opening a restaurant inspired by her Black and Mexican roots. What begins as an inconvenience blossoms into an unlikely friendship between the two women as they learn to navigate their shared space.

Just as her life begins to settle, Joyce's summer plans upend when her grandson, Elijah, is dropped off for an unexpected seven-week stay, dredging up all kinds of buried things from her past―including visits from her ex-husband, judgment from her daughter, and insecurities that she never quite healed from. Meanwhile, Gabriella's passion for cooking and her vibrant personality infuse the household with energy, even as she faces her own struggles with self-doubt and heartbreak. 

Together, Joyce, Gabriella, and Elijah form a patchwork family that supports each other through life's highs and lows. When an old flame, Richard, reappears in Joyce's life, she must decide whether to embrace love head-on or to slow down and wait just a little longer for her happy ending.

More Praise for Michelle Stimpson

"Stimpson delivers raw, complex characters and a delicious storyline that will stay with the reader long after the last page." ― New York Times bestselling author Kim Michele Richardson for Sisters with a Side of Greens

"Full of heart, generosity, and charm." ― Lucy Gilmore, author of The Lonely Hearts Book Club, for Sisters with a Side of Greens

"This is a heartwarming story of misconceptions and learning to love people for who they are, not what you expect them to be." ― Booklist for Sisters with a Side of Greens