Why am I passionate about this?

My writing often focuses on motherhood and the difficult choices mothers are asked to make every day. I search for books to help me understand the points of view of other women. What they're thinking and feeling and the revelations that shape them and change the trajectory of their lives. I decided a long time ago, that if I'm going to invest the amount of time it takes to write a novel, then I have to have a passion for it. I strive to write characters that resonate, with those who are often marginalized in society because I want to shine a light on all the facets of humanity, not just the pretty ones. 


I wrote

When Wren Came Out

By Blair Bryan,

Book cover of When Wren Came Out

What is my book about?

How do you accept your child's authentic identity when it goes against everything you’ve always believed in?

Traditional Army wife,…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Blair Bryan Why did I love this book?

This book shines a spotlight on the luscious glamor of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the price women were asked to pay to stand in it. It chronicles Evelyn’s drive to fulfill her career dreams under a magnifying glass and the concessions she is forced to make to keep her celebrity status. The contrast between this feisty superstar and the journalist who is tasked with writing her story is beautifully executed and the choice between fame and the freedom to choose authentic love is one that sticks with you. 

By Taylor Jenkins Reid,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"If you're looking for a book to take on holiday this summer, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has got all the glitz and glamour to make it a perfect beach read." -Bustle

From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six-an entrancing and "wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet" (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready…


Book cover of The Push

Blair Bryan Why did I love this book?

This book pulled my heartstrings as a mother. The experience isn’t always as romanticized as we are told it should be and I rejoiced for this refreshing glimpse into a side of it seldom seen. You feel the emotions through the heartache of this mother grappling with raising a difficult child and the ramifications of her actions leave you breathless. I read this on Mother’s Day weekend and could not put it down. Eight hours later, I crawled into bed still thinking about it, and now over a year later, I am still mulling it over. It’s a story that grabs a hold of you and won’t let go. 

By Ashley Audrain,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Push as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | A New York Times bestseller!

"Utterly addictive." -Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

"Hooks you from the very first page and will have you racing to get to the end."-Good Morning America

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family-and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for-and everything she feared

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of…


Book cover of Write My Name Across the Sky

Blair Bryan Why did I love this book?

I identified with WIllow, the musician, who poured her whole heart and soul into a record that never hit the big time. She is disappointed with her current level of success and goes home to New York to stay with her Aunt Gloria in her famous mother’s old penthouse. The story revolves around an investigation into stolen art and I adored the seventy-year-old Gloria who chose herself instead of the love she found in the arms of a passionate artist turned art smuggler. The characters are richly detailed and women you want to know, and the prose is lyrical and complex, so beautiful you have to pause to appreciate it. 

By Barbara O'Neal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Write My Name Across the Sky as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids returns with a tale of two generations of women reconciling family secrets and past regrets.

Life's beautiful for seventysomething influencer Gloria Rose, in her Upper West Side loft with rooftop garden and scores of Instagram followers-until she gets word that her old flame has been arrested for art theft and forgery, and, knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, decides to flee. But that plan is complicated when the nieces she raised are thrown into crises of their own.

Willow, overshadowed by her notorious singer-songwriter mother, has…


Book cover of All We Ever Wanted

Blair Bryan Why did I love this book?

This author is the queen of modern family storytelling. When a scandalous photo is snapped of an underage girl at a party Nina’s son attended and then shared publicly, it sets off a powder keg in her affluent community. It was interesting seeing the way money could corrupt a family and a mother who fought against that instinct to do what was right. Nina is divided between loyalty to her husband and son and standing up for a girl who was assaulted. When the truth comes out, it is a life-changing moment that changes everything. 

By Emily Giffin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked All We Ever Wanted as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this riveting novel from the #1 bestselling author of Something Borrowed and First Comes Love, three very different people must choose between their families and their most deeply held values. . . .

“An unpredictable page-turner that unfolds in the voices of three superbly distinct characters.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution • “A gripping, thought-provoking journey.”—Jodi Picoult

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THESKIMM

Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been…


Book cover of Small Great Things

Blair Bryan Why did I love this book?

This book has so much to teach us about race and misconceptions. Faced with the decision of intervening to save a newborn baby’s life and the orders she’s been given not to touch the child of white supremacists, a NICU nurse, Ruth, hesitates for a moment then provides care. Her hesitation causes her to be charged with a serious crime. She is assigned a white public defender who wants to plead out and keep race out of the equation, but Ruth stands her ground. The women have to learn to trust each other and to find common ground. This is the most beautiful struggle about race from both perspectives that leaves you with a deeper understanding of both sides of the issue. 

By Jodi Picoult,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Small Great Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Small Great Things is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written ... It will challenge her readers ... [and] expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice.' - The Washington Post

When a newborn baby dies after a routine hospital procedure, there is no doubt about who will be held responsible: the nurse who had been banned from looking after him by his father.

What the nurse, her lawyer and the father of the child cannot know is how this death will irrevocably change all of their lives, in ways both expected and not.

Small Great Things is…


Explore my book 😀

When Wren Came Out

By Blair Bryan,

Book cover of When Wren Came Out

What is my book about?

How do you accept your child's authentic identity when it goes against everything you’ve always believed in?

Traditional Army wife, Theresa Churchill, was relieved when her husband retired and they finally put down roots in a picket-fence and apple pie Minnesota town. She is thrilled to see her daughter settling in and making friends, but, gradually, she begins to worry that Wren’s feelings for her classmate go beyond friendship. An undeniable transformation is taking place Theresa cannot ignore, forcing her to grapple with her own convictions and demanding that she navigate the widening divide between her conservative husband and queer child. Theresa must embark on a journey from fear and confusion to unconditional love and acceptance discovering the courage she needs to give her child the freedom to love. 

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The Yamanaka Factors

By Jed Henson,

Book cover of The Yamanaka Factors

Jed Henson Author Of All In

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Reader Dad Outdoorsman Space cowboy Curious

Jed's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Fall 2028. Mickey Cooper, an elderly homeless man, receives an incredible proposition from a rogue pharmaceutical company: “Be our secret guinea pig for our new drug, and we’ll pay you life-changing money, which you’ll be able to enjoy because if (cough) when the treatment works, two months from now your body will be youthened to twenty-three years old.”

When his treatment proves more difficult than expected, and corporate espionage turns deadly, Mickey finds himself flanked by internal corruption and powerful external enemies, including Chinese operatives desperate to reverse their country’s aging demographics and amoral U.S. government officials who fear the…

The Yamanaka Factors

By Jed Henson,

What is this book about?

Fall 2028. Mickey Cooper, an elderly homeless man, receives an incredible proposition from a rogue pharmaceutical company: “Be our secret guinea pig for our new drug and we’ll pay you life-changing money, which you’ll be able to enjoy because if (cough) when the treatment works, two months from now your body will be youthened to twenty-three years old.”

When his treatment proves more difficult than expected and corporate espionage turns deadly, Mickey finds himself flanked by internal corruption and powerful external enemies, including Chinese operatives desperate to reverse their country’s aging demographics and amoral U.S. government officials who fear the…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in family secrets, movie stars, and teenagers?

Family Secrets 202 books
Movie Stars 53 books
Teenagers 132 books