"Tales from the Yoga Studio" tells the story of Lee, a Yoga teacher in the small town of Silver Lake. Many of her students come into her class, and they all have problems, in desperate need of spiritual renewal. Lee is even experiencing the need of renewal: her husband is pulling away from her and she is at a loss of what to do with her marriage. To top it all off for Lee, a chain of Yoga studios despaaetly want her as a teacher but she would not be able to have to freedom and control she does in her own studio. The other four main characters are indeed characters:

Katherine, the studio’s resident masseuse, is trying hard not to sabotage what could be the perfect relationship.

Graciela, is a dancer on the cusp of getting her breakthrough job, assuming she can overcome a suspicious injury.

Imani, a happily married and successful actress, struggles to get beyond the one big loss she can’t seem to forget.

Stephanie, a talented screenwriter and development girl, might be driving herself to the breaking point.

Normally in a book with a wide variety of characters, I pick one as my favorite and cheer the one on for the duration of the book. This story, I loved all 5 of the women at the center. Ms. Mitchell does an excellent job of drawing us into each of their lives and telling the stories. I couldn’t put the book down because I wanted to plow through to find out what was going to happen next to each of them. Even though this novel is lumped into the chick lit genre, it isn’t a typical sarcastic character(s). Each character has depth and you can put yourself in her shoes. After finishing this tale, I was left with wanting more. I would love to see more books by this author with these characters or even a new set of students for Lee with the other four popping in from time to time. I definitely recommend you add this to your summer vacation reading list.