“Palmer’s “fine wit…on display.”
—KIRKUS
“As advertising executive Anna Wyatt turns 40, she faces a turning point in her love life and career. She puts an end to her yearlong, post-divorce dating hiatus, and she is primed to land a big account for her firm. To that end, Anna develops a marketing campaign for a new client based on a popular self-help book written by a romance novelist who urges women to become the heroines in their own stories. Her research delivers Anna to Romance-Con, an over-the-top conference for romance writers and their fans, replete with themed parties and hunky book-cover models. While there, Anna has a passionate fling with Lincoln Mallory, an enigmatic business traveler. After this dazzling, even surreal trip, returning to her decidedly unromantic real life is difficult until Anna figures out how to live according to her own advertising advice. Palmer (Nowhere But Home, 2013) writes with heart and humor about a woman taking charge of her own fate while dispelling the long-abandoned clichés about romance novels and damsels in distress.”
—Aleksandra Walker, BOOKLIST
“This book has inspired me, and will inspire all female readers, to be and demand and desire more for themselves. Every chapter is dripping with sage advice and wise words. It is incredibly easy to identify with the characters and the situations as the book touches on themes like finding your direction, taking chances and letting go of the dead weight. The author doesn’t waste time on flowery language or an overabundance of descriptive words; each sentence, word and phrase is essential to the story.”
—4 1/2 stars, RT Magazine
“In Girl Before a Mirror, Liza Palmer has taken a lovely look at post-feminist womanhood in which the desire to be accepted for who and what one might be is not a given. Where a woman’s desire “to be loved and give love unreservedly in return” calls her intelligence into question. Where a desire to be “human. And sexual. And vital. And equal. Every version of us” is a dream, but not a reality for every woman. And Palmer does it with humor, warmth, and respect for her readers. Kudos, Liza Palmer.”
—New York Journal of Books
“My God. Where do I start? Liza Palmer is my literary hero. The queen of women’s fiction. I thought there was no way that she would ever manage to write a novel that evoked as much emotion, empathy and understanding from me as she did with Nowhere But Home, but damn it, she’s done it again with her latest novel, Girl Before a Mirror.”
—Paperiot.com
“It’s not that I haven’t made my feelings about Liza Palmer’s books abundantly clear, because I know that I have. It’s that her latest novel—Girl Before a Mirror—is so good it’s giving her others a run for their money as my favorite (and I honestly didn’t think my love for Nowhere But Home could be surpassed). So good I’ve already reread it once and am fending off a second reread even as I type this.”
—Angieville.com
“This particular book inspires me to JUST BE… I don’t have to be the perfect mom, perfect wife, perfect blogger, perfect ANYTHING. I just need to be who I am and be happy doing it. I need to be my own perfect.”
—BookRockBetty.com
“Girl Before a Mirror reminds me why I love reading. I almost never write in books, but I had to take out my highlighter with this one. This book moved me and entertained me. Liza Palmer writes stories that resonate with me and creates characters that feel real. I know these women – whether it’s at work, down the street, in my family or the person I see when I look in the mirror. I cannot recommend A Girl Before a Mirror highly enough. Make room on your shelves and in your heart for this unforgettable book.”
— SoObsessedWith.com