Women's Lit/Real Issues - #Spotlight on Michele Shriver

This week I want to introduce you to another one of my critique partners from www.critiquecircle.com. Michele Shriver and I met a few months ago, and I have been absolutely in awe of her writing abilities. She really tackles hard issues: Gay rights, addiction, adoption, and many more.

I have been privileged enough to read Michele's second book as she wrote it (which she is now getting ready for publication--I can't wait!) and I'm also reading her current work in progress. The format Michele follows for her books is to have four different women who are point of view characters.  She delves deep into each character's life and problems. They all have their own issues, flaws, and things to overcome. At the same time, there is a lot of joy in Michele's writing and humor. She has a beautiful style, and I really feel like I know each of her characters, like they are friends.

I'm just getting ready to start reading Michele's first book, After Ten.  Here's the blurb on that:

Four women, once best friends, have not spoken to each other in ten years. A drunken, decade old promise and a class reunion will bring them together again.

For Jordan, her lofty dreams now a distant memory and her life at a crossroads, a reunion with her one-time friends offers a chance to make amends and start anew, but only if she can avoid falling back into self-destructive habits.

After years of struggling with her identity, Sarah has found personal and professional contentment. Will she finally have the courage to reveal the secret she hid from her friends?

Beth thought she was on the verge of having at all, but after a personal crisis now risks losing it all. In order to face her future, she must first find a way to face the past.

Tracey is still searching for happiness and approval. Will she find what she is looking for at the reunion, or leave stronger because she doesn't?

A story of forgiveness, acceptance, the bonds of friendship and the age old question of whether you can go home again.

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This book is endorsed by Grub Street Reads, and if it is anything like the work of her's I've read, I know I am going to love it.  I will post a review once I am finished and let you all know what I think.

You can buy After Ten on Amazon or Barnes & Noble and read it for yourself, too. If you want to find out what Michele is up to these days and learn more about her, you can visit her blog http://micheleshriver.com/ She is a very talented author, and I'm always excited to read something by her! Highly recommended!

Have a great weekend!

~ Chantel