“A hilarious spoof of academic intrigue, Slipsliding by the Bay mirrors the societal turmoil and follies of the seventies.”
―Independent Publisher, Notable July Indie Book Release

“With a sharp eye for detail and a complement of perfectly peculiar characters, Barbara McDonald has devised a wonderful satire of the academic world. Her portrait of a small liberal arts college―its lecheries and larcenies―exactly conjures the atmosphere of that unique modern institution where absurdity and logic are married so closely: the campus.”
―Louis B. Jones, author of California’s Over, Particles and Luck, and Radiance

“Intriguing. You got me hooked with the moving plot and interesting characters. I was curious to see what mischief Gudewill and Stein would cook up. Magdalena and Lucy continued to surprise.”
―Louis Owens, author of Sharpest Sight and Bone Game

“Barbara McDonald’s Slipsliding by the Bay is an absorbing novel. A comedy both dark and light, it recounts an often wild search for survival of an embattled small college in 1970s San Francisco. The battle is within: a new president recruited to save the college, diverse students, faculty and alums, and most engagingly, a famed artist Sister Magdalena, whose sculptures embody a fierce war against corporate America, notably the college’s chairman of the board. McDonald’s gift for lively dialogue carries the college from one crisis to another, the denouement in suspense until the very end. An intriguing read from start to finish.”
―John Boettiger, author of A Love in the Shadows

“I am always cautious when approaching a novel written by a published poet but Barbara McDonald made reading Slipsliding by the Bay easy for me. Enticing and entertaining, I read it with mounting pleasure.”
―Chester Aaron, author of About Us

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“As her heartfelt and moving story descends further into the realms of despair and desperation, the author remains a beacon of hope and sets an amazing example for readers caught in a similar situation involving mental illness and a family member. The bond between mother and child knows no bounds in this intense memoir darkened by addiction and bipolar disorder yet buoyed by love and possibility.”
―Kirkus Reviews

“Blinded by Hope is the book that every parent should read, even if the child is not, like the son of the author, afflicted with both bipolar disorder and an addiction to illegal drugs. It explains a mystery: Why is it that a parent is reluctant to make their offspring accountable for their destructive behavior? Why do we consistently choose to believe their words over their actions? How are we blinded to the truth by our love and concern for them? Meg McGuire goes to the root of that magical thinking and tells us the story of how she broke the infernal cycle of hope-disappointment-shame-despair-hope. Over the years, she understands the deep-rooted reasons why she, as a mother, cannot stand the disconnection, how she is hooked on motherlove as if in the grip a drug. She has the courage to look at her truth.”
―Ginette Paris, PhD, author of Heartbreak, Mourning, Loss: Detach or Die

“Meg McGuire’s brilliant and moving story Blinded by Hope returns repeatedly to the tough question of belief: Whose story does one believe? Whose rendering of reality does a parent accept from her child and from herself? When does hope blind one to the truth? The anguish aroused in struggling to read and act on the true story comprises the dramatic tension that shapes the relationship between McGuire and her son.”
―Dennis Patrick Slattery, author of Riting Myth, Mythic Writing: Plotting Your Personal Story

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“The projected first in a series, Last Seen makes the southwest landscape and culture an integral part of the story. This self-sufficient community is one that readers will be intrigued to visit again.”
―Booklist

“Readers will grow enamored with these characters and the twisty dark plot – so much so, they may forget about BLL completely.”
―Redbook, “6 Books to Cure Your Big Little Lies Withdrawals”

“A missing person tale with a strong setting and cast of characters… Doucette’s auspicious first novel puts a welcome focus on the players instead of transgressive twists.”
―Kirkus

“Author J.L. Doucette gives readers a keen sense of Wyoming winters, three-dimensional characters, and taut, descriptive writing. An enthusiastic welcome to Dr. Pepper Hunt!”
―Linda Barnes, Edgar Award-winning author of the Carlotta Carlyle mystery series

“There’s a detective named Antelope, at least two registered sex offenders, a scoundrel in pricey ski gear, his lying mistress, and tellingly, his missing wife. At the middle of this many-sided mess is Dr. Pepper Hunt, psychologist―clear-eyed, intelligent, beautiful, brave. You’ll fall in love with Pepper and with J. L. Doucette’s subtle, immersive, beguiling tale.”
―Bryan Gruley, Anthony, Barry and Strand Award-winning author of the Starvation Lake Mystery series

“With clear, crackling prose, at times breathtaking, and characters so real that I felt flesh and bone back on that wild western landscape, mingling with the people and inhabiting their world. Combine Doucette’s voice and prose with a story that haunts and intrigues again and again, and we know we are in the hands of a very talented writer. I loved these characters. I loved the terrain. I never wanted to leave. This is the kind of writing that stays with me long after the novel is finished.”
―Diane Les Becquets, author of Breaking Wild

“Last Seen is a tantalizing psychological thriller in which J. L. Doucette masterfully weaves a chilling plot around a cast of complex, well-drawn characters led by psychologist, Dr. Pepper Hunt, a woman running from her own nightmare past. As the tiny Wyoming town searches its frigid horizons for a missing local woman, Dr. Hunt and Detective Antelope spark some warmth in an investigation all their own. A suspenseful ride that will keep you turning pages to the very end!”
―Michelle Cox, award-winning author of A Girl Like You and A Ring of Truth, from the A Henrietta and Detective Howard series

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“Leah Chyten’s Light Radiance Splendor is at its essence a beautiful love story between humanity and the Shekinah, the feminine aspect of the divine. Unrelenting in its depiction of the human drama, it begs each character to respond with forgiveness and love in order that She may return, and offer Her much needed guidance to a world in desperate need of healing. The book is masterful in presenting universal themes in a deeply personal way. Reading Light Radiance Splendor is a consciousness-changing experience.”
—Linda Carleton, author of Elmina’s Fire

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“A cautionary, engaging, and informative medical account.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Second Chance reaches out to all expectant mothers and empowers them during the birth of their children, enabling them to grow in their spirituality, confidence, and power through birth . . . will make everyone look at the options of what should be done to make childbirth safer and healthier for women.”
—Readers’ Favorite 5-star review

“This book is a beautiful, raw and poignant story of the role of birthing in women’s lives. It takes us on one women’s journey yet it is so real that it is almost impossible to not take it to heart as partly our own.”
―Erica Weiss, MD, Obstetrician/Gynecologist, San Francisco, California

“So many women today don’t believe that they have choices when it comes to giving birth – but Thais Derich shows us the way in her brave and beautifully written memoir. It is an important and timely story – a memoir full of heartache, resilience, and joy. My hope is that all women considering motherhood will find their way to Thais Derich’s book.”
―Melissa Cistaro, author of Pieces of My Mother, a NCIBA Best Nonfiction Book of 2015 winner

“I’ve read a lot of book-length birth stories, but Derich’s stands out as especially revealing of the weaknesses in our system.”
―Ina May Gaskin, best-selling author and midwife

“An unbiased, highly transparent account of one woman’s journey through the labyrinth of emotions and experiences that can accompany the post-cesarean birthing woman within the U.S.”
―Laquitha Glass, Former President of the International Cesarean Awareness Network

“Second Chance is a beautiful telling of a mother’s journey and will be empowering to many women. The ending is so wonderful, I cried.”
―Amy Graff, News Producer for SFGATE.com

“A raw and revealing memoir which illuminates the maze of emotions during birth.”
―Maria Iorillo, Licensed Midwife (LM), Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), past first Vice President of the Midwives Alliance of North America and the Chairwoman of the California Association of Midwives

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“A memoir filled with truth, brutal honesty, poignancy, and heart. It is a love story, a simple love story filled with massive moments; moments that will leave you breathless.”
—Amy Ferris, author, Marrying George Clooney, Confessions From a Midlife Crisis

“Readers will love Filling Her Shoes, a big-hearted memoir. Fasbinder tenderly takes us through years of love and loss constantly weaving tattered threads of a family together into a tapestry of joy, commitment, and, ultimately, renewal.”
—Linda Schreyer, TV and screenwriter, co-author of Tears and Tequila

“Filling Her Shoes is a memoir that will make your heart sing, even if you’ve never been a step-mother. You’ll feel happier when you read this book, your faith confirmed in the best of our humanity and the power of love.”
—Linda Joy Myers, President/Founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, Author of Don’t Call Me Mother and The Journey of Memoir

“With breathtaking honesty, Fasbinder chronicles her family’s messy and imperfect journey of becoming a family under the most unlikely of circumstances, and dares our cynical selves to believe that hearts shattered by loss can be made whole again.”
—Hollye Dexter, Activist, author of Fire Season: My Journey from Ruin to Redemption

“Fasbinder writes with a graceful honesty that is both refreshing and timeless. Hers is a hopeful, heartfelt journey where deep laughs alternate with moments of profound loss. A beautiful and inspiring testament to the resilience and healing power of family.”
—Booklist

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“A touching parade on the importance of community and cherishing where you’re from.”
—Redbook

“A charming debut offering readers a glimpse into the history and evolution of a community, you’ll find yourself rooting for this small neighborhood.”
—Buzzfeed

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“The 2000 summer season in fictional Long Harbor, Rhode Island, becomes the setting for a family reunion and the revelation of a long-held secret, not to mention the airing of more than a few resentments, in this debut novel. An engrossing, character-driven family saga.”
—Kirkus

“With familial drama so mesmerizing and gripping from the first page, it’s hard to believe that this is only Blasberg’s first literary blessing to the world.”
—Brit+Co

“ . . . [A] beautifully written masterpiece that takes you on a historical journey inside a tormented family’s summer home to reveal painful secrets, utter heartbreak, and major family drama. An inspiring first novel.”
—Boston Herald

“A stirring historical novel perfect for women’s fiction fans.”
—Booklist

“Eden is not just another farewell-to-the-summer-house novel, but instead a masterfully interwoven family saga with indelible characters, unforgettable stories, and true pathos. Most impressive, there’s not an ounce of fat on this excellent book.”
—Anita Shreve, author of The Stars are Fire

“Eden is a heartbreaking novel about the wounds that are passed down through generations. Blasberg’s voice is strong and clear, and her characters are so real―with their ambitions and their weaknesses, their good intentions and their resentments―that no reader is likely to forget them.”
—Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street

“Jeanne Blasberg¹s brilliant first novel conjures a family home so poignantly that I feel as if I¹ve returned there every summer of my life. In Eden, Blasberg invites us into the fearsome echo chamber of a dysfunctional family, and shows us ‹ in unsparing, crystalline prose how the members of such a family can begin to make their way into the light.”
—Louisa Hall, author of Speak and The Carriage House

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“I wish this book had existed decades ago, to help adults understand how children navigate grief during and after a parent’s death. Kudos to Mary Plouffe, Ph.D. not just for writing this book about the aftermath of her sister’s death, but also for helping her niece adjust to the absence from ages 3-15 and beyond. This is an important addition to the children’s bereavement field. Highly recommended.”
―Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters

“A beautiful, courageously honest book . . . In I Know It in My Heart, Dr. Plouffe, a clinical psychologist, masterfully interweaves her own grief for her sister’s death with her niece’s, while educating readers as to the emotional and psychological nature of adult and childhood loss. A must-read page-turner: Profound, insightful, and exquisitely written.”
―Virginia A. Simpson, Ph.D., FT, Bereavement Care Specialist, founder of The Mourning Star Center for Grieving Children, and author of The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life

“Because we are mortal, love always turns to grief; but honest remembering, of the kind Mary Plouffe does here, restores it to its true nature. As a therapist, Plouffe understands the difficult pathways of mourning; as a sister, she has had to walk them in sorrow and wonder; as a writer, she has depicted the terrain with a power and beauty that will make I Know It in My Heart a classic.”
― Richard Hoffman, author of Half the House and Love & Fury

“Mary Plouffe has written an achingly beautiful family guide to loss and healing. This is a story that will make a difference, told with grace and wit and the keen understanding of a sister’s grief and a child’s capacity for hope.”
―Susan Conley, author of The Foremost Good Fortune, Paris was the Place, Stop Here, This is the Place

“In a profound yet simple way, Mary Plouffe gives us a compelling personal story of grieving―of her sister’s diagnosis, then caring for her little niece, her own family, and herself, then loss, and then on to healing. Her evident experience as a psychologist adds authority to a universal story in a deep and tender way . . . a noteworthy, compassionate companion, eloquent and reassuring.”
―Anne Lynch, Director, Maine Center for Grieving Children

“Mary Plouffe’s love for her late sister lives on in the close relationship she built with her niece after their mutual great loss, just as it lives on in I Know it in My Heart, a book that so poignantly bows to the often-unacknowledged pain suffered by a grieving sibling, and the life-altering loss experienced by a young child.”
―Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of Songs from a Lead Lined Room, This is Paradise, and Sundays in America

“A searing, beautifully written story of unfathomable grief and unbreakable family bonds. If you are a human being, read this.”
―Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys and The One-in-a-Million Boy

“A remarkable, empathetic, and intense exploration of the nature of grief and guilt, featuring searing personal insights as well as cleareyed professionalism.”
—Kirkus Reviews

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