Author Amy Patt

What if there was a secret, underground society of people helping maintain peace and order in the streets? The Bartlett Journals, written by Amy Patt, is a romance/mystery book series about a therapist, Emma Bartlett, who uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help her clients learn self-help skills to navigate through various life tragedies. Ms. Patt introduces characters in a distinct style that draws the reader in through dialects, deep character development, and endearing protagonists. Each book in the series is a journal in the form of a story about each of Emma’s clients. The premises challenge each young woman to the core, and only with the help of Emma, and a team of hidden colleagues, can the women not only recover, but reach a new potential. This real, often gritty, series follows the lives of these young women from a sleepy Connecticut suburb breaking out of their shells and into the NYC scene with a little help from the locals. 

In the first novel we meet Kiki, an aspiring ballerina in NYC. In this story, Kiki had a previous relationship with a theater director with whom she allowed herself to be abused. As a result, she has closed herself down and focuses on her work as both a ballet teacher and principal dancer for a famous ballet school in NYC. However, she is discovered by audience member Beau, a famous tennis player. He falls for her and the two start a whirlwind romance with Beau trying to convince Kiki to date him and Kiki initially rejecting him because of her past. How can she date this beautiful man with her terrible secret? Unfortunately the paparazzi make it even harder to say yes. With the help of Ms. Bartlett, Kiki not only allows herself to love and accept love, but her dancing becomes even more beautiful. Kiki is the catalyst for change in others lives as well, rescuing a fellow dancer from overdosing on painkillers and diet drugs and being a strong, female leader and role model for the other dancers and a slew of students. The book ends with a celebrity wedding that includes guests from all over the world, including a Saudi prince and his entourage “dressed in sarees and sunglasses.” 

Each of the books in the series follows the same characters and timeline as the first book but from a different character’s perspective. These are The Bartlett Journals: Book 2 The Cosmetician, currently published, and coming soon; Book 3 The Actress, Book 4 The Collegiate, and Book 5 The Socialite.