Tracy Dobmeier

Wendy Katzman

"For those who couldn't stop reading about Lori Loughlin and Operation Varsity Blues, this suspenseful thriller about the lines moms are willing to cross to get their kids into college is for you."—Refinery29 "A thriller for the post-college-admission-scandal age."—PopSugar Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Parade Magazine, Newsweek, POPSUGAR, Refinery29, Brit + Co, and more! Three women, three daughters, and a promise that they'll each get what they deserve... College admissions season at Seattle's Elliott Bay Academy is marked by glowing acceptances from top-tier institutions and students as impressive as their parents are ambitious. But when Stanford alerts the school it's allotting only one spot to EBA for their incoming class, three mothers discover the competition is more cutthroat than they could have imagined. Tech giant Alicia turns to her fortune and status to fight for her reluctant daughter's place at the top. Kelly, a Stanford alum, leverages her PTA influence and insider knowledge to bulldoze the path for her high-strung daughter. And Maren makes three: single, broke, and ill-equipped to battle the elite school community aligning to bring her superstar down. That's when, days before applications are due, one of the girls suffers a near-fatal accident, one that doesn't appear to be an accident at all. As the community spirals out of control, three women will have to decide what lines they're willing to cross to secure their daughters' futures...and keep buried the secrets that threaten to destroy far more than just college dreams. The perfect book club read with a suspense bite, Girls with Bright Futures combines the college admissions scandal with the edge of Big Little Lies, the snark of Class Mom, and the schadenfreude of watching the elite implode. "A sharp, irresistibly fun fictional look at college admissions."—Real Simple

A Novel

Girls with Bright Futures

A widowed and grieving young novelist believes her words create realities--both tragic and charmed--in a hopeful and surprising novel about family, newfound love, and moving on. Four years after her husband Sam's tragic death mirrored a fatal plotline in her debut novel, Thea Packer hasn't written another word, afraid that what she writes could come true again. Resigned to raising her young daughter in her in-laws' guesthouse, Thea is on the verge of abandoning her literary career when inspiration strikes. Her new book is a fairy-tale romance featuring a long-lost astronaut who miraculously returns home to his family, with the hero loosely drawn from Thea's memories of Sam. Thea considers the fantasy a harmless way to process her grief. That is, until a charismatic man walks into her life--and he's an astronaut. Thea can't believe it's happening again. Or is it? Her mother-in-law doesn't think so--she sees only a woman increasingly detached from reality. Now, as coincidences between Thea's writing and reality pile up, Thea must unravel the secrets of her past and tackle her grief head-on before she loses more than she imagined.

Tracy Dobmeier

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