The Tiger in the House — Jacqueline Sheehan

Love and resentment, fear and hope intersect for two sisters as their desire to help an abandoned child forces them to face their past and decide their future . . .

Delia Lamont has had it. Though she loves her job at Portland, Maine's child services agency, its frustrations have left her feeling burned out and restless. She's ready to join her carefree sister Juniper and start a seaside bakery, celebrating and serving life's sweetness for a change.

Then the call comes: a five-year-old girl has been found at the side of the road. She reveals that her first name is Hayley, but little more. The only clues to her family lead to a shadowy web of danger that reaches closer to Delia herself than she would ever guess.

As she seeks to discover where Hayley belongs, Delia is forced to reexamine her own painful history. With no guide but her own flawed instincts, Delia must decide how deep to venture into the unknown, whether in shaping the destiny of the child who has no one else to turn to -- or in exploring the fierce dark corners of her own soul.