All too often, women – and even men – believe that once they find “The One,” they will begin living their happily ever after. For Lisa Henriksson, author of the newly released book, I Was Supposed to Be Happy (Access Consciousness Publishing, LLC), her perfect life was anything but; the white picket fence she always wanted became bars behind which she was trapped. In her book, Henriksson tells the story of how, despite getting everything she ever wanted by the age of 32 (her dream job, the perfect partner, house and kids), she was miserable.

“I had a list of things I was determined to achieve with greater success than most: a great career, finding the love of my life and having a perfect family. Happiness would be waiting at the finish line as I reached these goals,” she writes. Henriksson soon realized that she was trying too hard to be what others wanted her to be and what she thought she was supposed to be, rather than who she really was. With the help of Access Consciousness – a method with a set of tools and techniques that help one gain access to what he/she knows beyond anybody else’s reality and expectations – only then was she able to start living her own life.

Henriksson’s book is not a manual; it’s her personal journey to happiness and fulfillment, one she shares in hopes it might help others adjust their outlook on life and discover what makes them happy. As Henriksson writes, one thing she learned is that “life is an exciting adventure and you are your own tour guide.”

In Jane Lotter’s debut novel, The Bette Davis Club (Lake Union Publishing), the fictional Margo Just goes on an adventure of her own. When Margo takes an ill-advised trip to California for her niece’s wedding, she gets a lot more than she bargained for. After her niece, the 19-year-old daughter of her half-sister, runs away the morning of her wedding, Margo is tasked with (well, offered $50,000 by her half-sister) going after the runaway bride to retrieve her and the family valuables she took with her on the way out. The catch: She must drive across the country in her late father’s red 1955 MG with the jilted groom.

During the trip, Margo, who has a deep love for gin and extra-dry martinis, is forced to face the missteps of her past, including a crappy childhood mostly spend in an English boarding school, pining for an unattainable man for 30 years and facing bankruptcy and losing her architectural salvage store in Manhattan. Despite these less-than-ideal conditions, somewhere between Los Angeles and New York, Margo finds just what she’s looking for, even though it isn’t quite what she expected.

Lotter’s book is light, fun and humorous. Shrouded in just enough mystery and full of lovable (and hate-able) characters, The Bette Davis Club has something for everyone.

By Kimberly Dunbar