Review: In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister

Publisher: Self-published

Pages: N/A

Source: Received from author in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: July 19, 2012
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Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Review:

I have to say I am always happy to help out self-published authors get word of their books out there, In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister had an interesting premise for a chick lit novel for me so I was happy to pick it up. Because I have read so many chick lit novels over the years I could see where this book was going, but that doesn't mean I didn't have so fun getting to that point. Banister adds in a lot of great humour through the many different secondary characters throughout the story.

I do admit that though many of the secondary characters were part of the story and mirrored something in Pilar's life, I just found that there was too much focus on them compared to Pilar. I wanted to know more about Pilar and I don't think there was enough characterization of her for me to really understand and connect with her.

I found that it took some time to get into the story and the different situations that Pilar continually gets into, but once everything started happening I found myself immersed into everything, seeing where Pilar will go wrong next. And even though I could guess the ending from subtle hints the author gave, it was still kind of fun and there were a few unexpected things that happen along the way.

I have to say of all the characters (and there were many) my favourite had to be Nate, the little five year old boy (almost six). He was adorable and I always loved the humour he brought to the story. I do admit I think he was a little too smart for his age, but I always love seeing kids who are brilliant in books. Pilar`s mother was also a really great character, she reminds me a lot of mothers you see in most chick lit books, overbearing and trying to push marriage and family on the single child. But Pilar's mom, with her worrying about her looks and being overly dramatic, made for an interesting family dynamic.

This was definitely a cute book, and I'm glad I got the chance to read it. I wonder if Banister will write more on the Alvarez family in the future, I can see a lot of great storylines from this family (very similar to Marian Keyes' Walsh family).