If You Like Alice Hoffman...

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Earthy, magical and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a bestselling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The tyrannical owner of De la Garza ranch, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother's womb, her daughter to be weeps so violently she causes an early labor. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef.

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Hallie Nodine fights for justice in Nicaragua while her sister, Codi, returns to Arizona to confront her dying father, as myths, dreams and flashbacks blend to examine life's commitments.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Clare and Henry have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was 36, and were married when Clare was 23 and Henry 31. Impossible but true, because Henry's genetic clock periodically resets. He finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, alternately harrowing and amusing as the story unfolds from both points of view. Their attempt to live normal lives is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
A man's attempt to sell a piece of land and the resulting Abenaki tribe's protest that it is a sacred burial ground spurs an investigation by ghost hunter Ross Wakeman, who discovers a long-hidden murder haunting a small Vermont town.

Moon Tide by Dawn Clifton Tripp
Set in the tourist town of Westport on the coast of Massachusetts during the years 1913-38, Moon Tide follows the lives of three women: Elizabeth, the wizened widow of an explorer killed during an Arctic expedition; her delicate, beautiful granddaughter, Eve, who has retreated into artistic pursuits after witnessing the death of her mother; and perpetual outsider Maggie, forever regarded as mysterious by the town's residents, who has the gift of clairvoyance and falls hard for a seething rum smuggler.

The Wishing Garden by Christy Yorke
Summoned by her estranged mother to attend the deathbed of her dying father, Savannah Dawson heads home with her rebellious teenage daughter and encounters unexpected love in the arms of the enigmatic woodcarver who is helping her father accomplish his final wish.