“Hi, Mom.”

“Did you tell your father he’s been kicked out of the dad club?” her mother replied, her tone laced with a sharp edge.

“Did he bother to mention that he called me a ‘terrible person’ just because I used Caspian Harrington’s picture for my book cover?”

“No,” her mother responded tersely, though her voice carried that trademark note she used when someone—namely her husband—was about to bear the brunt of her ...