Julie Valerie is the bestselling author of Holly Banks Full of Angst, book 1 in the Village of Primm series. She serves on the board of directors for James River Writers; earned an editing certificate from the University of Chicago Graham School; and has a master’s degree in education, a bachelor of fine arts in fashion, and certification in wilderness first aid. A former trend forecaster, Julie enjoys books, the study of wine, hikes on the Appalachian Trail, and travel. She married her college sweetheart, and they live in Virginia with their four children and two English Labradors.

A wife, mother, and aspiring filmmaker clings to the pursuit of perfection only to have fate play with every plan she’s made in this quirky, contemplative, and empowering novel.

Holly Banks is on a desperate mission to have it all, but nothing in life goes according to plan. She’s quickly learning that keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, especially when the women of Primm, her new neighborhood, seem to have it together all the time.

With her husband’s job in flux, her daughter’s difficulty with learning to read, and her mother’s new zest for dating, Holly’s life is already anything but picture perfect. Then her dog digs up an old artifact in the village center, and the mishap draws the attention of local media. Because of course it would.

Holly finds herself at the center of a mystery between two rival towns that, if solved, could change the Village of Primm forever. Attention is the last thing she needs as she’s launching a new business, the village-wide “Parade of Homes” is approaching—though she’s hardly unpacked—and she needs to submit her entry for an upcoming film festival. Can Holly still create her perfect (looking) life? Or is fate about to go off script and give her a story she never could have imagined?