A #1 Mom mug is all well and good, but why not prove how exceptionally awesome your mom is by picking up one of these stories of moms both good and bad, from a few outstanding authors not to miss.
In Sonali Dev’s delightful Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (William Morrow), a gender-flipped reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic, the heroine, for all her brilliance, knows she can never match her erstwhile Bollywood star mother’s beauty and poise. You’ll delight in watching Trisha try to live up to her mom, and swoon, too, when the romance of the story sweeps you away.
Trust Me (Forge Books) by Hank Phillippi Ryan is all about motherhood… in a very sinister kind of way. A troubled mother gets pulled into a high-stakes psychological cat and mouse game to prove the truth about the terrible death of her daughter. Spoiler alert: No matter who did it, your Mom won’t be able to put this one down.
Ever kept a secret from your kids? Well, in Amy E. Reichert’s The Optimist’s Guide To Letting Go (Gallery Books), complicated relationships between mothers and daughters lead to a huge family secret held for three generations… until a seven day unraveling leaves them all changed forever. (And it’ll leave the reader reaching for the tissues, too.) 
And when it comes to family secrets, don’t miss The Diary (Open Road Media) by Eileen Goudge. What if your mother was passionately in love with someone—and he wasn’t your father? That’s the question posed by this sweeping multi-generational story with just the perfect amount of page-turning suspense.
Finally, if the mom in your life is having the kind of night where the kids’ teeth aren’t getting brushed and she falls asleep before the toddlers do, offer her Kate Moretti’s unputdownable In Her Bones (Atria Books). No matter how chaotic things get, at least your mom’s not a serial killer who leaves behind not just a legacy of destruction, but a daughter who doesn’t know if she takes after her mom in the homicide department… now how’s that for some literary perspective!
Tina Ann Forkner has authored another great love story for moms, and it will especially tug at your heartstrings if you’re a step-mom. In The Real Thing (Tule Publishing Group), nothing can prepare a madly-in-love cowboy’s wife for the challenges of joining a ready-made family and going from zero to mom in an instant.
If you know a single mom who needs a laugh, try Mama, Mama, Only Mama (Skyhorse) by the ridiculously funny Lara Lillibridge. Written as a diary, the riotous entries take you through the trials and joys of parenting while dating and making the most out of a non-nuclear family. 
History-loving moms shouldn’t miss As Bright as Heaven (Berkley) by Susan Meissner. Set in 1918 Philly just as the Spanish Flu reaches town and the city’s boys are sailing to foreign shores, it’s the compelling story of a mother and her daughters resolved to survive a world outside their control, and maybe even make a little corner of it better.
Want to pre-order something for mom so she has a surprise waiting in her mailbox? Don’t miss the upcoming The Unbreakables (Harper) by Lisa Barr. A mother of three girls herself, Barr absolutely sings in this journey of mother-daughter bonding and strength in times of trouble.
Available now from my must-buy author Kristy Woodson Harvey, The Southern Side of Paradise (Gallery Books) is a love story to the mothers that root for us against all odds, even while making our lives just that little bit more complicated. The Murphy women who anchor this terrific series will having you cheering, and the men they love will steal your heart.
