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<\/a><\/a>\nSet against the backdrop of Manhattan high society, Teetering<\/i><\/a> (Greenleaf Book Group Press) follows Allegra Christos as she prepares for her husband\u2019s milestone birthday while quietly confronting the unraveling truths beneath their decades-long marriage. While fictionalized, the novel reflects themes familiar to Mehiel\u2019s own life alongside her husband, businessman Dennis Mehiel, who is prominent in New York philanthropic and political circles. The book blends intimate storytelling with an unflinching look at the pressure to preserve the illusion of perfection. Readers\u2019 Favorite<\/i> calls Teetering<\/i> \u201cA thoughtful and layered story that pulled me in more and more as it went on...Readers searching for a character-driven, reflective women\u2019s fiction will likely find this book especially engaging.\u201d<\/p> \nMehiel\u2019s path to authorship followed a decades-long manufacturing career. After moving to New York City in 2000, she studied culinary arts, interior design, and fine art, later becoming majority owner of a New Jersey manufacturing business and founding Five Pillars Yoga on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side. In 2024, she launched FLOK NYC (Feeling love and Owning Kindness), a community centered on connection and wellness. Teetering<\/i> marks the beginning of a new chapter for Mehiel as a novelist exploring relationships, vulnerability, and reinvention later in life.<\/p> \n\u201cAfter years of balancing business, family, philanthropy, and the nonstop pace of New York, I felt a deep need to create something honest and meaningful,\u201d Mehiel said. \u201cI originally set out to write my husband\u2019s biography, but my own voice and experiences slowly entered the story, and it evolved into a novel. Teetering<\/i> became an exploration of the pressure so many people feel when they chase elusive perfection.\u201d<\/p> \nTeetering<\/i> is available to order today, June 2, 2026, on Amazon<\/a>, Barnes & Noble<\/a>, Books-A-Million<\/a>, or Porchlight<\/a>.<\/p> \nPraise for Teetering<\/i><\/b><\/p> \n\u201cSubtly powerful and fully engrossing, this memoir-style novel takes readers on a beautifully woven journey through the decades of change that age and wisdom bring. With sharp insights, Karen Mehiel brilliantly illuminates what drives us and makes us tick. An inspiring read that is thought-provoking and cathartic, Teetering<\/i> is a love letter to a husband and wife's separate and united life stories. Its poignant impact will remain long after the last page is turned.\u201d \u2013 Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today<\/i> and #1 international bestselling author of Hello, Juliet<\/i>.<\/b><\/p> \n\u201cA husband\u2019s surprise birthday party is the springboard for this fearless and psychologically complex debut about one woman\u2019s quest for living life on her own terms. A masterful portrait of domestic life, the cost of keeping secrets and the stories we tell others and ourselves, Teetering<\/i> introduces a remarkable new voice in women\u2019s fiction.\u201d \u2013 Debbie Babitt, <\/i>the author of The Man on the Train<\/i><\/b><\/p> \n\u201cAn intimate meditation on life inside a thirty-five-year marriage that tenderly explores how even amidst the wealthy, privileged elite, life is ephemeral, aging inescapable, and families are filled with love, yes, but also anguish, regret, and deeply held secrets.\u201d \u2013 Sandra Chwialkowska, author of The Ends of Things<\/i><\/b><\/p> \n\u201cTeetering<\/i> is an absorbing, compulsively readable portrait of marriage behind the glittering fa\u00e7ade, revealing the fault lines between devotion and desire, sacrifice and self. Elegant and confessional, it marries page-turning momentum with literary depth \u2013 a novel about privilege, power, and the courage to claim the truth, about the stories we tell to keep love intact and the one truth that can set us free. With sharp observational wit and a deft hand, Mehiel brings Allegra Christos to life in prose that is vivid, raw, and unforgettable.\u201d \u2013 Elizabeth McCullough Keenan and Greg Wands, internationally bestselling authors of Trust Issues<\/i><\/b><\/p> \n\u201cA luminous debut that peers beneath the sheen of privilege to reveal the quiet truths of a long marriage\u2014graceful, honest, and deeply human.\u201d \u2013 Kaira Rouda, USA Today<\/i> bestselling author of Jill is Not Happy<\/i> and We Were Never Friends<\/i><\/b><\/p> \nAbout Karen Mehiel<\/span><\/b><\/p> \nKaren Mehiel is a business founder, activist, and the visionary behind FLOK NYC (Feeling Love and Owning Kindness), a community space rooted in love, kindness, and connection. After a successful career running a manufacturing business in Los Angeles, she relocated to New York City in 2000 to pursue a wide range of creative and professional interests, from culinary arts and interior design to fine arts and nonprofit work. She later became the majority owner of a New Jersey-based factory and founded Five Pillars Yoga on the Upper East Side, deepening her commitment to community-centered spaces. During the pandemic, Mehiel began writing what would become her debut novel, Teetering<\/i>, marking her entry into fiction. She is currently at work on her second novel and a forthcoming book of poetry.<\/p>