Cornelia Brown and her new husband, Teo, move from New York City to a pretty suburban neighborhood where they've imagined they'll have an ideal life.

But as Cornelia meets her neighbors, she realizes she may never fit in with the other wives. Especially with Piper, who concerns herself with the state of Cornelia's yard and just happens to be the leader of the neighborhood clique.

Marisa de los Santos' second novel, "Belong to Me," continues the stories of Cornelia, Clare and Teo from "Love Walked In" and adds a few new characters. It revolves around the bonds we form in life and how we consider our loved ones to belong to us. But is that a safe assumption? Do those bonds erode? Sometimes, we don't know the whole story.

De los Santos, an award-winning poet, explores what happens when life throws us kinks and crumbles the plans we've so carefully laid out. And as one would expect, there is poetry in her words and all around the world she has created for Cornelia.

Just as Cornelia and Teo's new house and neighborhood look perfect, so do the other wives. Piper leads the pack of women who devote themselves to personal maintenance, making their bodies, lives, children and homes look perfect.

But not Cornelia, who thinks there are more important things than appearing to be perfect. She finally finds a place she does belong when she befriends Lake and her son, Dev. The women bond immediately, but Cornelia starts to feel as if there's a wall she can't get beyond.

As we meet the characters, their actions generate more and more questions about their personalities and motivations. De los Santos quenches our gossipy sides by giving us what we want -- a window into these characters. Every few chapters, she switches speakers, so in addition to Cornelia, we hear from Dev and Piper. But that doesn't mean the reader knows everything.

There are plenty of surprises in "Belong to Me" that will keep you turning the pages. And eventually, you may even start to like Piper.