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For fans of Suzanne Heywood’s Wavewalker and Cea Sunrise Person’s North of Normal comes Leslie Johansen Nack’s emotional follow-up memoir about her battle with addiction following a traumatic childhood—and her inspiring journey toward healing and happiness. In the mid-1970s, Leslie Nack’s family returned from sailing to French Polynesia and began the integration process into American life again, which included being tossed back and forth between an alcoholic, mentally ill mother and an abusive, overbearing father. To find love and acceptance, Leslie chases a myth that throws her into the path of nefarious older men, where she eventually falls into drug and alcohol addiction. Her father dies in his plane in the jungles of Mexico when Leslie is nineteen, but his abuse lingers in her psyche. She spirals, her only solace her next fix—until, somehow, she finds the grace, despite her abjectly dysfunctional family background, to believe in her worth. This newfound self-love changes everything for her, and finally she is able to find her way to sobriety and recovery. Raw and intense but ultimately hopeful, this sequel to the popular memoir Fourteen tells the rest of Nack’s turbulent—and incredible—story. Author: Leslie Johansen Nack Publication Date: October 14, 2025 -
With dark humor, this women’s fiction novel is about obsessive friendship, secrets, and a life-changing summer in the wild 1980s of New York City. In 1980s New York City, aspiring writers Tina and Spike bond in a complex, all-consuming friendship that will change their lives forever. Desperate to redefine herself after a failed marriage, twenty-nine-year-old Tina embarks on a thrill-seeking journey to feel alive again. When she meets thirty-five-year-old Spike, a beautiful, seductive, seemingly invulnerable woman, she becomes enthralled by the older woman’s stories of NYC power brokers, sex, wealthy men, and her past. Tina latches on to Spike as someone who can save her from mediocrity and show her how to be the kind of woman who can have power over men—both in romance and in life. Chasing adventure and the writing life, Tina and Spike rent a cabin together for the summer in the rural backwoods. There, they go on a wild, manic, darkly humorous journey involving dive bars, drugs, men, and all-night dancing, becoming increasingly psychologically entangled in each other’s lives along the way. But eventually Tina realizes just how dangerous Spike is, and is forced to act to save herself. Filled with New York wit and fast-paced dialogue, this is a story of loss, betrayal, survival, and blurring the line between attraction and peril. Author: Robin Merle Publication Date: October 28, 2025 -
For fans of Claire Messud and Téa Obreht, a debut novel that examines how the Holocaust shapes the life of one tough survivor and the toll it takes on her daughters and granddaughters. Can you call yourself a Survivor if you don’t know what you survived? Take Sarah Vogel. Auschwitz is her hometown, yet she has no memory of the place. Not the obscene conditions of her birth, the mother, or the changing cast of faceless women who kept her warm on winter nights. She’s only three when liberated, and with no one to tell her who she is or what she might become, Sarah has no choice but to invent herself. On her journey from Europe, land of the defeated, to America, land of the self-invented, she learns that holes in a person’s past are red flags and that little white lies go down easier than explanations. But eventually those lies will become the wall that hides her true self, the good and the bad, from those she loves. Becoming Sarah is the poignant, sometimes ruthless portrait of an American family—its matriarch, a tough old bird who should never have drawn breath but is bent on lasting forever—and the line of daughters and granddaughters who follow. Each generation standing on the shoulders of the last; each gaining more of the strength, will, and maybe even luck that will make them Survivors in their own right. Author: Diane Botnick Publication Date: October 28 -
For fans of Eat Pray Love and Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, a therapist’s tale of mid-life sexual awakening as she bravely explores relationships, sex, and pleasure—and learns that it’s never too late to desire and be desired. Is it ever too late to connect to the sexual part of yourself? At forty-eight years old, after her husband announced he had fallen in love with a man, Alisa Kriegel was determined to finally figure out this essential part of herself. As a psychologist, she had the tools to help others; now, it was time to help herself. Alisa’s bold and vulnerable story told with honesty and humor, shows us that it’s possible to have a sexual awakening—and to experience the thrill of feeling desired—at any age. Letting go of decades of shame and giving herself permission for pleasure was just the beginning of jumping into a series of adventures in online dating, sex, and romance. From sex clubs in New York City to a canoe trip in the Canadian wilderness, this memoir offers readers an insight-filled journey into one woman’s mid-life discoveries about sex, love, and relationships—and a behind-the-scenes, in-depth analysis of women’s sexuality. Author: Alisa Kriegel Publication Date: November 4, 2025 -
For fans of Educated and The Glass Castle, a former music industry insider’s journey of healing—from childhood trauma through spiritual practices and self-discovery to a place of peace—with some incredible celebrity encounters along the way. A transformative memoir chronicling Wendy Correa’s journey to heal from childhood traumas, including the death of her father, emotionally distant siblings, and a violent, alcoholic stepfather, My Pretty Baby is a story of not belonging and, ultimately, of the healing that comes from building a chosen family. After escaping her turbulent home life, Wendy’s path of self-discovery takes her through Buddhism, meditation, plant medicine, yoga, Native American spirituality, 12-Step programs, and psychotherapy. Along the way, she has extraordinary experiences: singing “Give Peace a Chance” on the Rose Bowl stage with rock ’n’ roll royalty, attending AA meetings with legendary musicians while working at A&M and Geffen Records, and meeting her musical hero, Joni Mitchell. Native American sweat lodge and vision quest ceremonies further strengthen her sobriety and mental well-being. Her life takes a new turn when she moves to Aspen and becomes a radio DJ and assistant to gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson. There, she meets her future husband and begins to build the family she always longed for—but despite her newfound peace, she is repeatedly drawn back into her family’s dysfunction. It’s only after her mother’s death that Wendy uncovers a painful family secret that finally answers her lifelong question: What really happened to my family? Author: Wendy B. Correa Publication Date: November 4, 2025 -
For fans of No Matter Our Wreckage, this memoir explores the emotional impact of sexual abuse and how this debut author not only faces it but recovers from the trauma. Stephanie Maley’s life is beautiful. She has her husband of thirty years and two sons—all healthy and making their way in the world. Other than the unwelcome memories of the past that flash in her mind like blinding television ads, things couldn’t get much better. But when COVID-19 comes to the United States in 2020, Stephanie is seized by a deep panic, certain that she is going to die. Suddenly, her newfound fear of death triggers memories of the past she’s fought so long to repress: she was molested at a young age, groomed by two different men, and still feels the void left by her birth father and stepfather’s absence. In the face of a chaotic world wrought with both physical and mental illness, Stephanie must embark on a journey of healing. With the help of her therapist, her husband, and the solace she finds in writing, Stephanie discovers that she doesn’t have to be defined by the pain and abuse she’s suffered. No Longer That Girl is a touching memoir about a woman who bravely faces health issues, betrayal, and abandonment—and proves that no matter the obstacle, we too can overcome our trials and become more resilient souls. Author: Stephanie L. Maley Publication Date: November 4, 2025 -
Set in early medieval Britain and perfect for Lord of the Rings fans, this fourth installment of The Druid Chronicles tells the story of a Saxon sheriff who’s on the hunt for fugitive Druids—unaware that he is being pursued as well. Obedient to the dictates of their chief priestess, a small band of goddess-worshipping Britons leave the shelter offered them by a loyal innkeeper for a desolate mountain valley believed to be the site of their cult’s ancestral home. Rebuilding stone walls reduced to rubble over centuries of abandonment would have taken years for a legion of skilled masons; the five Druid priests and priestesses have only one skilled laborer with them and only a matter of months before winter sets in. Time is equally pressing for a pair of Christian Saxon lovers, neither of whom is motivated by any higher cause than their compelling need to finish what they’ve traveled from the capital city of Atheldom to the remote shire of Codswallow to do: kill the woman’s husband before he finds out that she is pregnant. Although the two situations are unrelated by anything other than their proximity to one another, the moment when Caelym, high priest of the shrine of the Great Mother Goddess, will be caught in the crossfire between Stefan, sheriff of Codswallow, and the forces his estranged wife has gathered against him, is rapidly approaching. Author: A.M. Linden Publication Date: November 5, 2025 -
For anyone who’s ever gone on terrible date, a vulnerable memoir that explores dating in midlife after divorce, with bad dates—from terrible one-night stands to promising matches who ultimately disappoint—anchoring the theme of every chapter. After two life-shaking events—losing her father and divorcing the man she’s spent half her life with, who happens to be an actor from a famous family—Rachel Lithgow leaves a thirty-year career to write full time and pursue a relationship with a calming, delightful man she recently met online. She thinks she has it all figured out . . . until he announces he’s joining a cult and moving to Phoenix with a blonde real estate agent. Through a year of terrible dates, peppered with a few great experiences and a lot of pinot noir, the author learns that patterns can be changed, that asking for help is sometimes necessary, and that there’s only one way to repair her brokenness: by facing her trauma and demons head-on. With a unique mix of humor, self-deprecation, and gritty vulnerability, this dark yet hopeful memoir tackles divorce, dating, single motherhood, PTSD, grief, loss, and starting over in midlife. From emotional rock bottom to a peaceful acceptance of the woman she truly is, Lithgow finds the humor in the blackness, redemption in the pathos, and fulfillment in the idea that “happily ever after” isn’t always a storybook ending—and doesn’t need to be. Author: Rachel J. Lithgow Publication Date: November 11, 2025 -
Female body hatred and fear have been reinforced by religion and culture for centuries, but can be transformed with female agency driven by unearthing and living healthy narratives of female strength and sacredness that will change laws and lives. Hundreds of female eyes, locked in oil and clay, latch onto Jacquelyn’s body as she wanders the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Female images frozen in frames and on pedestals as virgins and victims adrift in a sea of male kings and conquerors. The fierce female gaze ignites a panic attack, and she swears she can hear their plea: Set us free. Two months later, a dream as insistent as the female eyes shakes her awake with a question: Where is my rogue? She searches New York sidewalks and Montana meadows. When she awakens, she knows her rogue is not outside but in. Jacquelyn knew rogue energy as a child but puberty stole her away. The eyes insist she get the energy back. How? By acknowledging her innate female agency, and replacing obsessions over external appearance with trust for her body, instincts, intuition and dream wisdom. Search, the eyes urge, for female rogue-models through time, and scour history for lies and blank spaces. Reject the biggest lie of all: sin wallpapers female bodies. Rogue is her passion and soul. “Be fierce,” rogue commands. “I am your body, soul, intellect and self.” Jacquelyn says yes. The eyes have it. Author: Jacquelyn L. Jackson Publication Date: November 11, 2025 -
For fans of The Good Wife and Suits, the true story of a passionately principled young female judge in the man’s world of the ’60s and ’70s who is forced to defend her judgeship against two male challengers in a grueling election—while pregnant with her second child. Janet Kintner could have ended up just another victim of the system. Abused as a child, sexually assaulted as a young woman, the odds were not in her favor—but instead of letting these experiences destroy her, she used them as fuel in pursuit of her dreams. By twenty-four, she was a newly minted lawyer determined to secure justice for everyone, regardless of their gender, race, religion, or income. In 1968, the District Attorney’s office told Kintner, “We will not hire a woman lawyer.” Men dominated the legal system. Undaunted, she established herself as a lawyer who represented low-income people and, eventually, as a high-profile prosecutor specializing in consumer fraud. San Diego lawyers elected her the third woman ever to the County Bar Association Board of Directors. In her private practice, she continued to help everyone she could, often pro bono. In 1976, when Kintner was thirty-one and pregnant, Governor Jerry Brown appointed her the third female judge in history in San Diego—a move that didn’t sit well with some men in her field. Two years later, two men challenged Kintner, a mother pregnant with her second baby, in the nastiest judicial election of the year. In the coming months, Kintner struggled to balance her time between her children, working full-time in a stressful job, and campaigning. She didn’t want to let other women, present and future, down. But was San Diego ready to elect a female judge? Author: Janet Kintner Publication Date: December 2, 2025 -
For fans of Chanel Cleeton’s Next Year in Havana, a real-life story of how a young woman’s five-day trip to Cuba, her mother’s birthplace, completely changed her view of herself as a second-generation American. When Barbara Caver was growing up in South Carolina, her Cuban roots were as mysterious as the embargoed island her mother had been born on but left in 1959. For Barbara, Cuba represented a heritage that she’d never understood and couldn’t fully embrace. When she moved from South Carolina to New York, the vibrant diversity of the city and new friendships with other Cuban Americans made her curious about her mother’s home country. Finally, in 2017, she traveled to Cuba. Immediately upon arriving in Havana, Barbara was struck by a sense of the familiar: tiles on a backsplash looked like tiles in her grandparents’ home, the airport smelled like a childhood memory, local dishes tasted like her grandmother’s cooking, and a morning stroll through Vedado delivered her to the front gate of her great-grandmother’s home—despite the fact that she didn’t have the address. She wasn’t just visiting a foreign country; she was being welcomed home. Part travel adventure, part ghost story, and part memoir, A Little Piece of Cuba: A Journey To Become Cubana-Americanais an imaginative and humorous personal journey through Barbara’s memories and experiences as she discovers that she is and has always been more Cuban than she thought. Author: Barbara Caver Publication Date: December 2, 2025 -
For fans of Christina Baker Kline and Fiona Davis, a coming-of-age story about a young woman discovering love, loss, and the power of her own creativity in World War II San Francisco. San Francisco in 1944 is a bustling place, a revolving door of soldiers and sailors passing through on their way to the war in the Pacific. Twenty-year-old Irene Cleary, however, is not going anywhere. Although she’d love to travel, the seamstress shop she inherited from her mentor keeps her firmly rooted in the only city she’s ever known. She pours her energy into dressmaking and volunteers for the war effort by dancing with servicemen at the USO. But Irene’s life is transformed when she designs a gown for Cynthia Burke, the socialite whose new marriage to Max, a handsome Chicago businessman, is the talk of the Nob Hill elite. As Irene is drawn into the Burkes’ glamorous, troubled orbit, and as she becomes absorbed in making costumes for the first American performance of a ballet called The Nutcracker, she finds herself on the threshold of exhilarating, perilous new worlds . . . and the most surprising discoveries of all will be the ones about herself. Set in a vibrant city during a turbulent time, The World at Home is a coming-of-age story about creativity, loss, and the many lessons we learn from love. Author: Ginny Kubitz Moyer Publication Date: December 9, 2025 -
For readers who loved Marley & Me, a poignant memoir about cats, dogs, and what it means to forge a friendship—in life and in death—with a person you can never meet. Betsy Pauly died five years before Jen Braaksma knew she had even lived. Betsy was an artist and writer hailing from Minnesota, Texas, Missouri, and Florida. Jen is an author and book coach from Ottawa, Canada. Yet, improbably, Betsy became Jen’s friend. When Betsy died, she left behind a heartbroken husband, a hole in the hearts of her family and friends, and a half-finished manuscript. To honor his wife, Chips wanted to publish her animal stories—Betsy was a dedicated animal welfare advocate who could never say no to a stray dog or cat (or dozens!). Turning manuscripts around is Jen’s job. But as she worked, she never expected to form a friendship with the woman on the page. How was that even possible? Readers might feel they “know” an author by their writing, but Jen’s experience went further. She got to see Betsy’s drafts and her process. She got to see Betsy’s mind. And in doing so, she got to know this extraordinary woman. This may be Jen’s journey, but it’s Betsy’s story. A story about dedication, passion, and the connection that comes from sharing your authentic self—even between two people who can never meet. Author: Jen Braaksma and Betsy Pauly Publication Date: December 9, 2025
