What do you get when you mix two fun, witty authors with not one, but two, debut novels: double trouble!

…So come join us for double the fun as we celebrate the launch of USA Today bestselling authors Abbi Waxman and Lian Dolan’s respective novels at Napatini Wine Bar and Bistro. Enjoy a delicious glass of wine (or non-alcoholic option), along with some scrumptious happy hour charcuterie and flatbreads, and learn more about Christa Comes Out of Her Shell and The Marriage Sabbatical.

Your Adventure includes a happy hour experience, a glass of wine paired with a generous assortment of delicious happy hour bites, tax, gratuity, and an opportunity to meet Abbi and Lian up close and personal in an intimate setting.

About the Authors

Abbi Waxman is a USA Today bestselling author of I Was Told It Would Get Easier, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Other People’s Houses, and The Garden of Small Beginnings. She worked in advertising for many years, which is how she learned to write fiction. Abbi lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and three children.

Her upcoming novel, Christa Comes Out of Her Shell, is a hilarious and insightful new novel about a reserved scientist who is suddenly thrown into the public light when her once-famous-father, presumed to be dead, turns up one day alive and well.

As Christina struggles to make amends with her father and juggles with her sudden thrust into public scrutiny, she also rekindles an old relationship and begins to experience turmoil in both her professional and personal life.

This novel explores themes of loss, uncertainty, and change, making it universally relatable to anyone who has experienced sudden, immense obstacles in their lives.

Lian Dolan is the author of four best-selling novels and is the producer and host of Satellite Sisters, the award-winning talk show she created with her four real sisters. A speaker who combines humor and heart, Lian has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and The Today Show. She’s been a featured speaker at the LA Times Festival of Books, the Santa Barbara Celebrity Authors Lunch, and dozens of other events at libraries, bookstores, schools, and women’s organizations across the country.

Lian’s newest novel, The Marriage Sabbatical, follows Jason and Nicole Elswick, a married couple who are ready for a break from their daily lives. The couple agrees to take nine months pursuing their own adventures—with a bit of don’t-ask-don’t-tell—and then return to their shared lives.

As Jason bikes his way across a continent and Nicole reclaims the art she’s long neglected, they discover both the pleasures and pitfalls of being apart. This causes them to confront temptations of all kinds and uncomfortable truths, as well as gain a new perspective on their partnership.

This fun, witty, and romantic novel stands out for exploring the humorous, fleeting thought: what if you could take a vacation from your marriage?

To schedule a book club visit with Lian or any of our authors on NovelNetwork:

About Napatini Bistro and Wine Bar

Lynn and Gary McLean are the owner-operators of Carlsbad’s Napatini Bistro & Wine Bar. They moved to San Diego’s North County in 2019 from the San Francisco Bay Area, where they lived very close to California Wine Country. Long story made short: This is a bucket list to-do for Lynn & Gary!

“We wanted a wine experience. Our friends and we thought of all the great times we had at wine tasting rooms in Wine Country. We thought that if we were ever given the opportunity, we would try to mimic that wine-tasting room experience- at least as much as practical- by opening a wine bar, minus elaborate decor. After hitting a number of challenges we opened in December 2022!”