The Big Bang — Linda Joffe Hull

Winner of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer of the Year Award

Melody Mountain Ranch is a gated, planned, suburban heaven for everyone but interior decorator Hope Jordan. As Hope struggles through the letdown of several unsuccessful fertility treatments, her cul-de-sac neighbors Will Pierce-Cohn, a stay-at-home dad and community activist; Frank Griffin, a ministerâ€"cumâ€"homeowners' board president; and Tim Trautman, a soon-to-be father of five, jockey for her attentions.

When Hope has a few too many cocktails and inadvertently eats hash-laced brownies at the playground ribbon-cutting gala/Memorial Weekend poolside potluck, she falls into the arms of one of her three wannabe paramours. Maybe all three. She wakes up with only fleeting memories of the evening, and soon discovers that her dream of getting pregnant has become a crushing reality. With all eyes on her, Hope is forced to watch as the walls holding up her picture-perfect neighborhood begin to crumble.