The thought of hosting a dinner party or even having a friend over for coffee is enough to give some women flashbacks of lopsided cakes or doomed casseroles from home economics class. But opening up your home to others doesn''t have to be fancy or frightening or cost a fortune, says Karen Ehman.

In A Life That Says Welcome, she offers a practical, painless (no crafting or cooking aptitude required) course on hospitality. It helps busy women open up their hearts in order to open up their homes. Full of tips, ideas, recipes, to-dos, and how-tos, A Life That Says Welcome shows readers that opening up their homes is less scary and less work than they might think.