Books In Progress

A psychologist is supposed to keep her private life—private. But what if her new patient knows all too much about her?

Dr. Rina Ostrov is burned out, despite her professional success. She ended her long-distance relationship with a narcissistic psychiatrist, Philippe, only to find that he has moved nearby and is hawking a self-help book, The Paleo Dyad, with his current wife. To add to Rina’s worries, she cannot figure out why her new patient, Lilah, is so hostile. Lilah is a volatile incest survivor but has qualities that Rina envies: unusual beauty, a baby on the way, and a tech mogul husband. After in-session tensions climax, Lilah confesses that she has been testing Rina before enlisting her help in exposing Philippe’s malpractice. Philippe had sex with Lilah during therapy in the guise of “treating” her sexual problems. Can these two women work together despite jealousy and distrust in order to protect others from an unethical doctor?

Rina reluctantly continues to treat Lilah, consulting with a colleague. They file a case to revoke Philippe’s medical license. When Philippe is called to testify before the medical board, he devises a plan to silence his accusers for good.

BETA READERS WANTED

Golden Pearls

A Novel

Were you amazed that the forty-five-year-old heroine of All Fours could embark on a sexual odyssey at her age? Get into position for seventy-year-old Julia Klein, who is struggling to live her best sex life despite having metastatic breast cancer.

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Julia’s Big Island vacation was intended to celebrate retiring as chief of internal medicine. The return of her breast cancer was not on the itinerary and her dating partner quickly jumps ship.

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At age seventy, Julia still enjoys boomer sex and sea kayaking. She has plans to carry out. Her astrophysicist son often seems lost in space, but is starting IVF with his wife. Julia longs for a grandchild and hopes to connect with her prickly daughter-in-law. She also wants to fix her best friends’ problems. Natalie may lose the medical research funding that has kept her going after her husband’s death. Grace is raising her socially awkward, catastrophe-obsessed grandson.

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As Julia struggles to absorb the news of her finite future, a friend from residency days reappears. Knowing that Julia takes care of everyone else, Jerry is determined to nurture her. Like the extravagant South sea pearls that Julia buys in Hawaii, can the strand of her life remain golden?