In Need of Therapy

***FINALIST in the 2013 Shirley You Jest! Book Awards***

Chick Lit, Published July 2012

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.

Praise for IN NEED OF THERAPY:

“In Need of Therapy is Big Fat Greek Wedding type comedy only Cuban style!”

-Tobi Helton at Forget the Housework, I’m Reading

“Banister’s writing style is engaging, her characters are full of life and she will make you laugh until you cry.”
-Reader

“. . . entertaining chick lit romp replete with hilariously bad dates, out of control clients and a drama queen mother, and spiced with details of Cuban-American culture and Miami life.”
-Shirley You Jest! Book Awards

“I loved turning the pages with Pilar and her collection of crazy patients, family members, and love interests.”
-Reader