Karen Mehiel’s Debut Novel Teetering Launches Today (6/2/26)

Founder of FLOK NYC marks her entry into fiction with a powerful portrait of a woman who seems to have it all, including a secret that threatens to unravel everything she and her husband have built

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Business founder Karen Mehiel today launched her debut novel, Teetering, an emotionally charged work of fiction that explores marriage, identity, aging, anxiety, and the hidden costs of maintaining appearances within New York City’s upper social circles. Drawing inspiration from her own experiences, including careers in business, philanthropy, and community leadership, Mehiel introduces a strikingly candid literary voice.

Set against the backdrop of Manhattan high society, Teetering (Greenleaf Book Group Press) follows Allegra Christos as she prepares for her husband’s milestone birthday while quietly confronting the unraveling truths beneath their decades-long marriage. While fictionalized, the novel reflects themes familiar to Mehiel’s 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’ Favorite calls Teetering “A thoughtful and layered story that pulled me in more and more as it went on...Readers searching for a character-driven, reflective women’s fiction will likely find this book especially engaging.”

Mehiel’s 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’s Upper East Side. In 2024, she launched FLOK NYC (Feeling love and Owning Kindness), a community centered on connection and wellness. Teetering marks the beginning of a new chapter for Mehiel as a novelist exploring relationships, vulnerability, and reinvention later in life.

“After years of balancing business, family, philanthropy, and the nonstop pace of New York, I felt a deep need to create something honest and meaningful,” Mehiel said. “I originally set out to write my husband’s biography, but my own voice and experiences slowly entered the story, and it evolved into a novel. Teetering became an exploration of the pressure so many people feel when they chase elusive perfection.”

Teetering is available to order today, June 2, 2026, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or Porchlight.

Praise for Teetering

“Subtly 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 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.” – Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of Hello, Juliet.

“A husband’s surprise birthday party is the springboard for this fearless and psychologically complex debut about one woman’s 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 introduces a remarkable new voice in women’s fiction.” – Debbie Babitt, the author of The Man on the Train

“An 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.” – Sandra Chwialkowska, author of The Ends of Things

“Teetering is an absorbing, compulsively readable portrait of marriage behind the glittering façade, revealing the fault lines between devotion and desire, sacrifice and self. Elegant and confessional, it marries page-turning momentum with literary depth – 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.” – Elizabeth McCullough Keenan and Greg Wands, internationally bestselling authors of Trust Issues

“A luminous debut that peers beneath the sheen of privilege to reveal the quiet truths of a long marriage—graceful, honest, and deeply human.” – Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of Jill is Not Happy and We Were Never Friends

About Karen Mehiel

Karen 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, marking her entry into fiction. She is currently at work on her second novel and a forthcoming book of poetry.