In most major publishing houses today, an author has a publicist assigned to her book. In my case at Doubleday, that’s Todd Doughty, whom I admire and adore. Todd crafted my Family Tree tour last year, and though I haven’t done a formal, in-the-flesh tour for The Secret Between Us, he has still done plenty of work. It’s his job, for instance, to send review copies of the book to every possible media outlet, and while that sounds simple enough, consider this. I’ve been around for a while. Yes, my books consistently hit the NY Times list (did you see my NEWS clip about its debut at #12 on February 10?), but lots of other books hit those lists, and many are books by first-time authors and are, therefore, treated like the next new not-to-be-left-unreviewed thing.

Getting reviewers to read and review my books can be a challenge. Todd’s pitch letter (describing the book, telling why it's different) is crucial, as is a follow-up phone call or two. And even then, a newspaper or magazine may say they’ll be posting a review, only to preempt it if something better comes along.

Moreover, there’s the be-careful-what-you-wish-for phenomenon. A review may be hard-won … but scathing! Is all publicity good publicity? Is it better to have a bad review than no review at all?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. But I lucked out last Friday. My PEOPLE magazine arrived with a fabulous review of The Secret Between Us inside.

“What would you do? That’s the question implicitly posed in Delinsky’s provocative new novel when mother and daughter Deborah and Grace Monroe hit Grace’s history teacher with their car, mortally wounding him. Grace, 16, was driving, but Deborah hides that fact and takes the blame. Delinsky is interested in how the lies we tell for love can destroy us instead – and she lays out this particular deception so painstakingly that even the most honest reader will sympathize. Like a car wreck about to happen, this family’s near-undoing can be tough to watch, but it’s even tougher to look away.”

Can an author ask for a better recommendation? Well, I can’t. And I’m reprinting the PEOPLE review here in this blog, because (a) PEOPLE doesn’t seem to post its book reviews online, and (b) I am so proud of this one. Okay, I’m also hoping to impress you, so that when you read the inevitable bad review, you’ll know there are two sides to every story.

BTW, just to clarify, review copies are sent by the publisher to its own list, not mine. They decide how many to send out and to whom. So if you’re one of those writing to me asking for a review copy, I just can’t help you. I’m sorry. I bet you’d write me a good revew.

Actually, many of you have. Check it out!