In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister

Lending a sympathetic ear and dispensing sage words of advice is all part of the job for psychologist Pilar Alvarez, and she’s everything a good therapist should be: warm, compassionate, supportive. She listens, she cares, and she has all the answers, but how’s the woman everyone turns to in their hour of need supposed to cope when her own life starts to fall apart?

While working hard to make a success of her recently-opened practice in trendy South Beach, Pilar must also find time to cater to the demands of her boisterous Cuban family, which includes younger sister Izzy, an unemployed, navel-pierced wild child who can't stay out of trouble, and their mother, a beauty queen turned drama queen who’s equally obsessed with her fading looks and getting Pilar married before it’s “too late.” Although she’d like to oblige her mother and make a permanent love connection, Pilar’s romantic prospects look grim. Her cheating ex, who swears that he’s reformed, is stalking her. A hunky, but strictly off-limits, patient with bad-boy appeal and intimacy issues is making passes. And the sexy shrink in the suite across the hall has a gold band on his left ring finger.

When a series of personal and professional disasters lead Pilar into the arms of one of her unsuitable suitors, she's left shaken, confused, and full of self-doubt. With time running out, she must make sense of her feelings and learn to trust herself again so that she can save her business, her family, and most importantly, her heart. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts on In Need of Therapy ~~

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I loved being a part of Pilar's life for a few days. Pilar is a psychologist who does a wonderful job of helping her clients figure out their lives as well as trying to figure out her own. I loved the parts of the book where she meets with her clients, maybe because psychology has always been an interest for me. Tracie writes very believable scenarios and fun, little bit crazy, likable characters.

Besides all the quirky clients and the wonderful Pilar, there is Izzy, Pilar's younger sister, who is too old to live at home anymore but doesn't think there is anything wrong with living and mooching off of her older sister. And then there is Pilar's mom, a drama queen who is determined to hook her daughter up with Victor, the ex-boyfriend, turned stalker, but who is the perfect catch in mom's eyes. And Ford, the psychiatrist who moves into the office down the hall with his adorable little son. He becomes a very good friend but is off limits to Pilar. Loved them all.

In Need of Therapy is very well written and was a true pleasure to read. I became totally immersed in Pilar's life and was actually kind of sad when it ended. I love Tracie's writing style and I will be watching for whatever she writes next. But first, I have to go read her first book, Blame it on the Flame - it looks like a winner too!

Connect with Tracie

Author of In Need of Therapy and Blame It on the Fame

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An avid reader and writer, Tracie Banister has been scribbling stories since she was a child, most of them featuring feisty heroines with complicated love lives like her favorite fictional protagonist Scarlett O'Hara. Her work was first seen on the stage of her elementary school, where her 4th grade class performed an original holiday play that she penned (Like all good divas-in-the-making, she, also, starred in and tried to direct the production.) Her dreams of authorial success were put on the backburner when she reached adulthood and discovered that she needed a "real" job in order to pay her bills. Her career as personal assistant to a local entrepreneur lasted for 12 years. When it ended, Tracie decided to follow her bliss and dedicate herself to writing full-time. Her debut novel, the Hollywood-themed BLAME IT ON THE FAME, was released in January, 2012. And she's following that up with the fun summer read, IN NEED OF THERAPY.

Tracie blogs about books and other fun stuff at http://traciebanister.blogspot.com/