Review: In Need of Therapy

Title:  In Need of Therapy
Author:  Tracie Banister
Genre:  Women's Fiction/Chick Lit
Publisher:  n/a
Release Date:  July 19, 2012
File Size/Pages:  478 KB/329 pgs
Source:  Tracie Banister

My Rating:  5/5

Summary:  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.

Review:  I received this novel from Tracie Banister in exchange for my honest review, and what seems like ten years later, I've finally finished the novel and I absolutely LOVED it!! The heroine, Pilar Alvarez is a Cuban therapist. She loves her job, her patients, and she may or may not be crushing on the new shrink next door. I immediately loved Pilar from the beginning of this story and was rooting for her to have her happy ending. When Victor's character was introduced I automatically wanted to know how the story would end for those two. Would they get back together? Would they be friends? Would they find someone else? The ending completely shocked me! I loved how Tracie gave us facts about Pilar's patients and how she gave us updates on all of them at the end. I absolutely loved all of the characters in this book:  her mom, her sisters, her patients, Victor...they were all very entertaining. Ford was in a category by himself though; he is definitely swoon-worthy! Is it possible to have a crush on a fictional character? Ford is definitely on the top of that list! I loved how this novel was fun and flirty, but at the same time different; we got to see Pilar in a professional aspect, which is not something we usually get to see in a chick lit book, but I absolutely loved it! Overall, I thought this was a great novel and I'm glad I was asked to review it!