title: Family Ties: A Novel
author:  Danielle Steel 
description: A bland, forgettable tale full of platitudes and clunky exposition, Steel's latest bestseller-to-be follows Annie Ferguson, who inherits her sister's three children when she dies in a plane crash. Annie does her best to raise them and manages to build a career for herself as a promising architect, even if it means putting much of the rest of her life on hold. Once the children are grown, Annie realizes that there are a slew of other problems facing them--abusive relationships, culture clashes, and the painful process of finding one's way in life--and as Annie gently leads her inherited brood through the gauntlet of growing up, she finds her own happiness. The treacle factor is front and foremost as Steel demonstrates, again, why she's not known as a prose stylist, although there's a glimmer of a good plot. <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ![](Images/image00065.jpeg)  
  
    
    
  
  PATRICE GREENWOOD  
  
    
    
    
    
  
  ![](Images/image00063.jpeg)
  
  _Evennight Books/Book View Café_
  
  Cedar Crest, New Mexico
  
    
  
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  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events
  portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are
  used fictitiously.
  
  **INTERMEZZO: FAMILY MATTERS**
  
  Copyright © 2018 by Patrice Greenwood
  
  All rights reserved
  
  An Evennight Book
  
  Published by Book View Café Publishing Cooperative
  
  P.O. Box 1624
  
  Cedar Crest, NM 87008
  
  www.bookviewcafe.com
  
  Cover photo: Pati Nagle
  
  ISBN: 978-1-61138-771-1
  
  First Edition December 2018
  
  [http://bookviewcafe.com](http://bookviewcafe.com)
  
  Digital version: 20181205pgn  
  
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  _for Doranna_
  
    
    
    
    
    
    
  
   **Acknowledgments**  
  
    
  
  My thanks to Sherwood Smith, Vonda McIntyre, and Chris Krohn for their help
  with this book, and as ever to my colleagues in Book View Café.
  
   _ **A Note from the Author**_
  
  Dear