Book Sketches

Mickey is a patrol cop in a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis. Her usual run-ins consist of drug dealers and sex workers. Also on the streets she patrols is her younger sister, Kacey, whose addiction to drugs tore the sisters apart years ago. They no longer speak but keep tabs on each other as their paths repeatedly cross.

Emira Tucker is 25 and juggling two jobs as she struggles to pay rent, keep her healthcare, and figure out what she wants to do with her life. Alix Chamberlain is a wealthy white blogger and minor social media celebrity who battles doubts and insecurities, all while on the surface maintaining a facade that she has everything she ever wanted.

Set in the 1970s in Odessa, Texas, a small town on the cusp of the next big oil boom, Valentine explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime perpetrated against a young girl.  

On a day too much like all the other days, Margery Benson snapped when a cartoon depicting her as a frumpy matron hit too close to home. Unable to get any support from her fellow teachers, she quit and stormed out, taking the PE teacher’s boots on the way.