RECENT NEWS

  • Women Writers Women’s Books published Zelly’s essay: ‘The Business of Being a Writer’.
  • Reader’s Choice Book Award Reviews called Not Yours to Keep “An emotionally charged, captivating and heartfelt novel.”
  • SheKnows.com featured Not Yours to Keep in “The 19 Best Books We Read in 2024” roundup
  • Jean Book Nerd Blog posted their interview with Zelly.
  • Authors Answers posted Zelly’s Q&A interview.
  • Women Writers Women’s Books published Zelly’s guest post.
  • Zelly’s guest post was Zelly was featured on House of Mystery Radio on NBC
  • Zelly was featured  on KMFG FM’s The Culture Buzz with John Busbee
  • Featured Audiobook Connection interview with author Zelly Ruskin
  • Not Yours to Keep was selected for the NetGalley homepage display for the week of August 19, 2024
  • The Indie editors of the Kirkus Reviews Magazine selected Not Yours to Keep’s review to be included in their August 15, 2024 issue.
  • Zelly was featured on the podcast On the Edge with April Mahoney
  • Not Yours to Keep was featured on the home pages of both PublishersWeekly.com and BookLife.com
  • Zelly was featured on the podcast LaunchPad with guest host Mary Helen Sheriff
  • Kirkus Reviews called Not Yours to Keep, “An often intriguing narrative about loss and enduring hope.”
  • Foreword Reviews said of Not Yours to Keep, “Two women are pulled together by their complicated relationships to motherhood in the tense but humane thriller Not Yours to Keep…whose suspense is directed by the intense emotions brought forth by the loss—or unrealized gain—of a child.”

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Suspense Runner-Up Winner for the 9th Annual Pencraft Book Awards For Literary Excellence
  • Not Yours to Keep was honored as the 2025 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite in Suspense
  • The Killer Nashville Silver Falchion judges selected Not Yours to Keep as a top pick for Best Suspense
  • Not Yours to Keep won Best Book for Fiction-Suspense at the Pencraft 2025 Book Awards
  • Not Yours to Keep was shortlisted for the 2024 Somerset Awards For Literary and Contemporary Fiction
  • Not Yours to Keep was shortlisted for the 2025 Hawthorne Prize
  • Not Yours to Keep received a 2025 Eric Hoffer Award Honorable Mention in General Fiction
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Finalist in the Suspense category of the National Indie Excellence Book Awards
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Finalist of the Reader’s Choice Book Award
  • Not Yours to Keep won Second Place for Fiction-Thriller-Domestic in the Spring 2025 BookFest Awards
  • Not Yours to Keep won Third Place for Fiction-Women’s-Thriller & Suspense in the Spring 2025 BookFest Awards
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Zibby Awards Winner in the Best Family Drama Category
  • Shelf Unbound honored Not Yours to Keep as a 2024 Best Indie Books NOTABLE INDIE
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Finalist in the 2024 American Writing Awards for Women’s Fiction
  • Not Yours to Keep was named the Best New Fiction Winner of the 2024 Best Book Awards
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Finalist of the 2024 Best Book Awards Fiction: Mystery/Suspense Category
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Finalist of the 2024 Best Book Awards Fiction: Women's Fiction Category
  • Not Yours to Keep was named the Winner of the 2024 American Fiction Awards Mystery/Suspense (General) Category
  • Not Yours to Keep was named a Finalist of the 2024 American Fiction Awards Women’s Fiction Category