David and Ruth have a happy marriage, punctuated by their sadness dealing with infertility. Ruth indulges herself by spoiling her niece and David loses himself in work. He’s a successful landscape designer and has had a stream of satisfied customers except for one slightly crazed investor. Ruth is a lawyer and is surprised by her director’s request that she work with a new client, Brian Bishop, in San Francisco. She begins her new assignment with a promise to come home as often as possible. While she is away, David hires Annabeth, the young, rudderless daughter of a late friend, to be his office manager. (I think you can see where this is going). David becomes infatuated with Annabeth while Ruth and Brian deal with a slow burning attraction to each other. What happens next will put their marriage to the test.

Something Better, a debut family drama by the talented Diane Parrish, weaves love, frustration, anger and forgiveness together with threads of Christianity. I enjoyed all the characters, especially David, Ruth and Maeve. What I didn’t like was the final chapter. Without spoilers, I found it sad and depressing. Love does not win. So 4 stars and I will definitely read whatever Parrish writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Meryl Moss Media Group and Diane Parrish for this ARC.