Unclaimed Baggage

"Katie O'Rourke writes engaging, big-hearted stories about complicated families, navigating life, and finding love." 2000: This is the year Jenna is supposed to graduate college, become independent, and find true happiness—whatever that looks like. But she is a people pleaser, and when her stepfather's health deteriorates, she leaves school to help take care of him. While she struggles to say goodbye to the only father figure she's ever had, a family secret confirmed by a DNA test drops like a grenade into Jenna's already complicated life. Amidst the fallout and at the worst possible time, she starts falling for a man who turns out to be the first person in her life who doesn't want anything from her—only to be with her. As grief and betrayal threaten to tear her family apart, Jenna must decide how to put her own needs first and allow good things into her life when they show up. "A beautifully written, emotional novel about messy family relationships. O'Rourke's characters are real and relatable. I couldn't help but root for the protagonist, Jenna. The writing is engaging and hooked me from page one."—Diane Barnes, Amazon Best-Selling Author of All We Could Still Have and The Mulligan Curse "A complex, satisfying tale of families, secrets, mothers, and daughters. And fathers and daughters."—Jackie Fraser, author of The Beginning of Everything and The Bookshop of Second Chances