Tag: family

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One December Morning: An utterly uplifting and tear-jerking novel of second chances in the most unexpected of places 

304 pages Publication date October 8, 2025 Bookouture publisher

ABOUT THE BOOK

One chance meeting. Two strangers. And a sprinkling of Christmas magic…

Fifty-five-year-old Peg has been lonely for as long as she can remember. As she battles through traffic while the snow softly falls around her, the best she can hope for is to get home for Christmas safely, and to spend it wrapped in a blanket by a roaring open fire in her tumbledown cottage in the Cotswolds. Little does she know that everything is about to change…

Because Henry is also stuck on the road, and when their cars come to a complete standstill, he and Peg strike up a conversation over a homemade mince pie and a flask of hot tea. Towering over Peg, his navy waffle-knit jumper charmingly threadbare at the elbows, he chats effortlessly. With his tortoiseshell glasses pushed back into his mass of curly dark hair, Henry makes Peg laugh, and the two click. As something shifts, Peg realises that it’s been a long time since she smiled like this.

Peg discovers that Henry is single too, but he’s off to grit his teeth through the forced jollity of another family Christmas with his insufferably perfect daughter-in-law in the next village. Before they get a chance to exchange numbers, the traffic starts to move and Peg and Henry are wrenched apart…

She doesn’t expect to see him again. But then, days later, there’s a knock on Peg’s door: Henry needs her help. In an instant, she knows this will be a Christmas she’ll never forget, in ways she could never have imagined. Can she let herself get involved and risk being vulnerable, or will she shy away?

MY THOUGHTS

Oh, my heart! What an incredible book. One I meant to read last year but ran out of time to do so.
Such an emotional story.
The best parts weren’t about Peg and Henry alone but rather relationships, many different types. Mended relationships and how we think others see us. It’s about letting down our guard, being ourselves and taking off the mask that we think others want to see us presented in a certain way. Talking and really listening to what someone is saying, making changes for the better in relationships. Compassion found and healed relationships. I absolutely loved this book. This is a powerful book, and it has zipped right up there on my favorites list.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job in the design studio didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It’s a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.

Pop over to her website http://www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her).

Have a lovely day. Thank you for stopping in.

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historical fiction

The Garden by Nick Newman

313 pages G.P. Putnam’s Sons publisher Pub Date Feb 18 2025 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A darkly beautiful, eerie, hypnotic novel about two elderly sisters living alone at the edge of the world.

In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. Evelyn and Lily have only ever known each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know. Each day is spent in languid service to their home: tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother.

When a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the center of their isolated grounds, their once-solitary lives are irrevocably disrupted. Who is he? Where did he come from? And most importantly, what does he want?

As suspicions gather and allegiances falter, Evelyn and Lily are forced to confront the dark truths about themselves, the garden, and the world as they’ve known it.

MY THOUGHTS

I enjoy trying new authors. The book wasn’t anything like I expected it to be. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of The Secret Garden but not even close.


I expected two charming elderly sisters living together as neither had married and they’ve never ventured outside of their garden walls. Instead, the sisters fight constantly. Taking place mostly in modern times, of what year it is we have no idea.

We also have a lot of flip flopping back and forth from this modern time to whenever the mother was alive. The mother put a lot of restrictions on the sisters, they couldn’t do many things and even in their elderly age she still has control over them with their thoughts.

The sisters spend their days taking care of bee hives, farming, cleaning and raising chickens. These are elderly women who have no help and no contact with the outside world.

No mention of anything modern like tv’s or phones. All of the sudden a ragged boy shows up and totally disrupts their world, one sister likes him the other doesn’t.


Part of the huge house is boarded up from the time the mother was living, and it still is. The mother had a huge influence on them and still does.
The whole book has a strange and unsettling vibe to it. I have many questions that were not answered in the book and I’m sure there won’t be a sequel to answer them.

I was given a complimentary copy of the book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Nick Newman is the author of THE GARDEN.

He has also published four critically acclaimed children’s novels under the name Nicholas Bowling.

Thank you for stopping in today.

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Sisters making Mischief Blog Tour

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sisters Making Mischief

Joy Chandler has had enough!

All she wanted was a lovely family Christmas with perfect turkey and luxury crackers. Instead, daughter Sara announces she’s getting divorced…and where is the fizz? And son, John and perfect wife Vanessa announce they are leaving for New York… and are the vegetables organic? And not one of them has made her a cup of tea!

So Joy decides she’s going to leave them all to it and head to France to visit her younger sister Isobel – a break from it all is just what she needs!

Isabel’s potato farm in France might be rustic, but Joy is hoping to find a bit of the old her again. Do her family really only think she’s their dogs body? Where has Joy’s joy gone?

Being with Isobel is loud and chaotic and being together brings out both sisters’ mischievous side! And being in France adds a welcome touch of ooh la la to Joy’s life again. Soon, she has a new job, a new man and maybe even, a second chance at living!

An uplifting and hilarious story about living life to the full and always, always having fun! Perfect for fans of Judy Leigh and Dee Macdonald

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/sistersmakingmischief

MY THOUGHTS

I’ll admit it this author is an automatic read for me. Why you may ask. Because of the author’s humor and situations where people actually do what you would want to do in the same situation but don’t dare to. In other words, I love this feel-good relaxation book packed with laugh out loud moments and have more than once nodded my head yes to certain situations.


A nice and relaxing Christmas holiday was what Joy was expecting as she waited for her daughter and her family to arrive for the holiday. She had been eagerly expecting her daughter, daughter’s husband and two grandchildren vesting. Instead, she got her daughter arriving without her husband and in tears and the children sullen and rude.


A divorce is in the works for her daughter and she’s hitting the bottle hard. Her son arriving with his family will surely work out better. When the siblings are together, they seem to be fighting worse than the children.
Where’s this relaxing holiday with family?
When her sister suggests she visits her in France we see the real Joy come to life again.


While her family seems to be in shock that she’s left them she comes to realize there’s more to life than being at their beck and call. While sister Isobel beats to her own drum she gets Joy to open up and live life a little again. The experiences are marvelous and not at all what she was expecting but will she want to go back home again?

The book left me smiling and happy. Quirky characters, fast paced, and I loved the dialogue amongst the characters. I’d sum this up and sunny and delightful!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

VISIT OTHER BLOGS ON THE TOUR

MEET THE AUTHOR

Author Bio –

Maddie Please is the #1 bestselling author of joyous tales of older women including The Old Ducks’ Club and Sisters Behaving Badly. She had a career as a dentist and now lives in rural Herefordshire where she enjoys box sets, red wine and Christmas.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: @maddieplease

Twitter: maddieplease1

Instagram: maddieplease1

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MaddiePleaseNews

Bookbub profile: @MaddiePlease

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Nonfiction review: A Patriot’s Promise: Protecting My Brothers, Fighting for My Life, and Keeping My Word

288 pages St. Martin’s Press publisher July 4,2023 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

An inspiring memoir of promises kept, overcoming obstacles, and what it means to sacrifice for others, written by a Special Warfare Operator with the US Air Force.

When Israel “DT” Del Toro, Jr.’s Humvee rolled over a roadside improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, he had one thought as he lost consciousness: I have to keep the promise I made to my dad. DT was orphaned at the age of fourteen, and on the night before his father died, he repeated the promise his dad had required of him: “Take care of your brothers and sisters.”

Throughout his childhood and into adulthood, DT indeed looked after his younger brother and sisters, even to his own detriment and sacrifice. When he enlisted in the Air Force, progressing in ranks as a skilled marksman calling airstrikes, his promise extended to his brothers and sisters in the Air Force―his fellow soldiers and brothers-in-arms.

When DT was injured in action, he lay in a coma for three months with third-degree burns on 80 percent of his body. He nearly died three times, and doctors predicted―if he survived―he would forever breathe with a respirator and never walk again. DT pushed through every limit to his full recovery, and he became the first 100 percent disabled veteran to reenlist in the Air Force.

DT’s promise to his dad extends now to his fellow wounded warriors throughout the world as he advocates for awareness and affecting change in public policy for wounded, injured, and ill soldiers. He is a patriot who has kept his promise and changed the world with the spirit of his heart, soul, body, and mind.

MY THOUGHTS

I don’t read as much nonfiction as I used to. After reading this I know I need to make a point to do so. Though I’ve never heard of the wounded vet this book is about I’m very impressed with his life story.

Coming from very humble beginnings, his father died when he was very young, but he made a promise to his father that he would always take care of his siblings and he did, putting his life on hold until they were old enough to not need his constant care. His mother also left him and his sibling’s way too early. Sent to live with his grandparents the siblings didn’t have an easy life, but he made sure they had all they needed.


Joining the Air Force, he had third degree burns over 80% of his body, with a 15 % chance of survival it goes to show the type of resilience he has. He became the first 100 percent disabled veteran to reenlist in the Air Force.


Though many of the changes have come too late for him he advocates for policy changes and awareness for wounded and ill soldiers. Many have said to him his public speaking has given them the encouragement they needed to face what they are going through.


He did this all for his wife and son they are his inspiration.
This is not the type of book I normally read but it’s so uplifting and inspirational that I’ll be reading more books of a similar type. Highly recommended! Thank you, sir. You are such an inspiration!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you for stopping in.

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Love Begins at Golden Sands Bay: The perfect feel-good romantic read from Georgina Troy (The Golden Sands Bay Series Book 2) 

251 pages Boldwood Books publisher March 2, 2023 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bella is happiest running her tiny antique business from the front room of her cottage on the Boardwalk.

To ensure she has enough income coming in, she also rents out two of her bedrooms to paying lodgers.

But she didn’t count on having a secret crush on Jack Collins, one of her lodgers and her best friend’s brother…

As if life wasn’t complicated enough,her world-travelling mother appears on her doorstep on the same evening that Jack’s ex-fiancée arrives on the Boardwalk determined to win him back.

Bella has a lot of thinking to do and soon discovers that not all gems sparkle.

So charming, what is not to love when you live in a brilliant cottage on the boardwalk overlooking the breathtaking sea. Going out your front door the sea spray cools you and the view is amongst the best you’ve ever seen.


Bella seems to be living the charmed life, a little antique business she runs out of the front room of her cottage and renting out a couple of rooms to boarders for supplemental income.
Life is great, she’s wonderful friends, since childhood with Jack, her best friends’ brother.


Would it be weird to start to have romantic feelings for him? Would he think it was weird? Would she lose her friendship with her best friend? Ugh, so much to think about, should she try to take that first step?


When something unexpected happens in her family will she embrace the changes, or will it be a hinderance to all she has accomplished so far?
A heartwarming rom com about the choices you make not only affecting yourself but those closest to you.

Warmth, family, choices, personal growth and friendships all blossom in the gorgeous book.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Welcome to my author page. I write a contemporary romance series set on the island of Jersey where I live with my three rescue dogs near two beautiful beaches.

Jersey is part of the Channel Islands and the largest of them, next is Guernsey – think The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society. We are nestled in the Bay of St Malo fifteen miles from the French coast and I can see the beach from my bedroom windows. There is a huge French influence here in Jersey from place names to food. We have countless beautiful views and over thirty beaches, and it occurred to me that if I love living here this much maybe readers might enjoy escaping to this pretty, romantic island through my books.

My latest series set on a fictional farm on the island is my Hollyhock Farm series. Welcome to Hollyhock Farm came out in May 2024 and Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm will be out on 16 November, with a third book following in 2025.

As for my other books, New Beginnings by the Sunflower Cliffs (originally published as A Jersey Kiss and a finalist in the Contemporary Romance Category, Romantic Novel of the Year Awards (RoNAs) and the Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers, is the first book in a four-book series. I’ve also written my five-book Golden Sands Bay series and three-book Sunshine Island series, all of which are out now.

Follow this page to receive alerts each time I have a new book published.

Thank you for stopping in. You are special!

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The Twilight Garden

389 pages William Morrow publisher April 9, 2024 publish date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Two feuding neighbors unite to resurrect a neglected city garden in this uplifting and quietly joyful novel by Sara Nisha Adams, author of the beloved The Reading List.

In a small pocket of London, between the houses of No.77 and No.79 Eastbourne Road, lies a neglected community garden. It was a beautiful thing once, a little oasis in a bustling city for neighbors by day and the local foxes at twilight. Now it’s overgrown and neglected, an empty patch of greenery lost to time.

Once a sanctuary, the garden’s gate is now firmly closed. And that’s exactly how Winston at No.79 likes it – anything to avoid Bernice, who has moved in next door with her young son. Their houses may share the garden, but they’re not exactly neighborly.

But then a mysterious parcel drops on Winston’s doormat. It contains no note, only a bundle of photographs of the garden in bloom many years ago—vibrant with flowers, filled with people from every corner of the community. Is someone trying to tell them something? The seed of an idea is planted…

Somewhere out there, a secret gardener made a decades-old promise to keep the community’s spirit alive. Now it’s time for The Twilight Garden to come out of hibernation.

Photo by Dmitry Demidov on Pexels.com

MY THOUGHTS

A new family moves into the rowhouses on a busy street in London. It’s a mother and young son. They share a backyard garden that used to be a community garden enjoyed by generations past for its vegetables and many beautiful flowers.

Families would spend evenings visiting in the twilight reminiscing as the foxes played nearby. Living next door to the new family is a man with a broken love relationship, it’s run its course and now they have different dreams, and it doesn’t include each other. A young family next door isn’t what he was looking for and he tries to avoid them.

The dry earth and overgrown weed choked lot is an eyesore and best avoided. When he and the new neighbors start getting mail suggesting a garden and pictures and long-ago garden designs of the former beautiful garden, they both have the same idea to start beautifying it again.

Who is the mysterious person with the thoughts of brightening up the area again. As the work continues it brings the generations together again. The concept of the book is a great idea, and it was a warm feeling I had while reading it.

I was given a complimentary copy of the book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sara Nisha Adams is a writer and editor. She lives in London and was born in Hertfordshire to Indian and English parents. Her debut novel The Reading List was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction 2021. Her second novel is The Twilight Garden.

Thank you for stopping in.

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The Summer Daughter 

322 pages Kensington Book publisher May 31,2022 publish date

SYNOPSIS

In a summer read rich in depth and heart, acclaimed author Colleen French tells a story of love, motherhood, friendship, and family in a picturesque Delaware beach town . . .
 
Each year, the start of summer brings bustle and much-needed tourist dollars to the little town of Albany Beach, Delaware. For Natalie Sullivan, this season is proving more stressful than others. It’s make-or-break time for the Irish pub her husband, Conor, recently bought with his brothers. Their two children are thriving, but she’s experiencing pangs of loss at the end of her childbearing years.
 
When sixteen-year-old McKenzie starts gushing about Bella, the new coworker at her summer job, Natalie suddenly finds her past and present in conflict. Bella, two years older than McKenzie, looks so similar that a customer remarks that they could be sisters. And when Natalie learns that Bella was adopted, she is propelled back into a heartbreaking decision. As a college student, Natalie became pregnant and put her baby up for adoption. Now, the more McKenzie talks about Bella, the more Natalie wonders: could Bella be her daughter?
 
Conor insists it’s a mistake to pursue the matter. Natalie’s child belongs to another family now; that was the agreement in the closed adoption. Still, Natalie can’t resist spending time with Bella. As their bond deepens, McKenzie accuses her mother of caring more for a stranger than for her, and Natalie begins imagining what it would be like to have Bella as a second daughter. What will the impact be if Bella really is her biological child? And if she isn’t, can Natalie embrace the joy and potential in her own family, without always wondering about what could have been?

pexels

MY THOUGHTS

I have so many books on my tbr list to come. Sometimes I wish I could read them faster, like this one.


Natalie Sullivan lives in a vacation town, Albany Beach, Delaware. The locals appreciate the beautiful beach area and the dollars the tourists bring in every year. As a local, Natalie is used to the hustle and bustle of the area and this summer her oldest child, her daughter is working a summer job at one of the local hot spot shops. She befriends the new girl, a teen several years older than her and more outgoing. Natalie is happy her daughter is being brought out of her shell.


When she gets a look at her daughter’s friend a flood of emotions comes rushing over her, see she has a secret she’s only told a few people. Namely her husband, parents and best friend. When she was a teen on a summer trip abroad, she got pregnant and gave up her first child in a closed adoption. At the end of her childbearing years, she is regretting this decision and would like to find her daughter.

Now she’s wondering, is it possible, could it be……. is her daughter’s new friend actually her oldest daughter. They do look very similar she thinks. Then the book progresses as the two girls become close friends and Natalie has so many conflicting emotions wondering if it’s her daughter as she and the girl become close to the dismay of her daughter who thinks it’s weird.

She can’t tell her daughter her secret, her hormones are raging; and her husband is fed up with how it’s affecting the whole family. See, her daughter’s best friend is adopted, is it her daughter? When her best friend’s daughter decides to try to find her birth mother Natalie is afraid of what the results may be. This book had my emotions all over the place. A sure not to miss tension filled summer read.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Colleen French lives in Delaware, where her family settled more than three hundred years ago. She comes from a long line of storytellers and spends her days, when she’s not writing, running the family farm, reading, and traveling the world. She has four children and seven grandchildren.

I hope you have a sunshiny day. Thank you for stopping in.

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Blog Tour for Silver Wish Farm by K.T. Dady

Welcome to Pepper Bay, where you’ll find love, drama, and a happily ever after.


Snuggle down with this cosy, feel-good, comfort read that whisks you away to a beautiful bay on the Isle of Wight – Perfect for fans of Christie Barlow, Alison Sherlock, Rachael Lucas, and Holly Martin.

The Pepper Bay books are standalone stories, best read in order, that intertwine with recurring characters.

Silver Wish Farm: After Rhett left Heath on their wedding day, things were never the same for them, but because they have a daughter, they’ve always tried their best to keep the peace. But then life changes for Heath, and he suddenly wants answers about their past and the future he believes he should have had, but will Rhett tell him the real reason she left him all those years ago?

MY THOUGHTS

The Pepper Bay series is one of my favorites and I’ve read quite a few in it though not quite all yet.
It makes for comfortable reading to be able to return to this series time after time and feel familiar with the setting and characters that many we’ve met before in other books in the series. Not a problem if this is your first read in the series though as it’s a delightful story all on its own.


We were introduced to Heath and Rhett, and you’ve got to love their names in another book in the series. They have a backstory, Rhett never showed up for her wedding with Heath many years ago and she broke his heart. They keep it civil though because they have a child together and coparent her.

We do see a lot of differences in their families and how they were raised and how it affected each of them and still does. As Rhett spends more time with Heath with and without their daughter those old feelings come rushing back but their newfound second chance romance is anything but rushed.

Through many heart to heart and emotional talks they must decide what is right for them, their daughter and the farm. A beautiful second chance romance and a man who wants to open his heart back up to the possibility of a second chance love but is afraid to.

I really enjoyed how this wasn’t rushed they thought of their daughter’s wants and needs and how she would feel about the chance of her parents reuniting for good.

The author writes a fun and realistic book from the heart. Family relationships are important, and the characters draw you in to care about them.
Looking forward to reading the next installment in this series.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Purchase Links

VISIT OTHER LOVELY BLOGS ON THE TOUR

Author Bio – Hello, I’m K.T. Dady. I’m the bestselling author of the Pepper Bay series. I’m also a chocolate lover, mum to a grown-up daughter, and a huge fan of a HEA. I was born and raised in the East End of London, and I’ve been happily writing stories since I was a little girl. When I’m not writing, I’m reading, baking cakes, or pottering around in my little garden in Essex, trying not to kill the flowers.

Social Media Links –

Welcome

https://www.instagram.com/kt_dady

https://www.facebook.com/ktdady

Have an awesome day. Thanks for stopping in today.

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The Sleuth of Blackfriars Lane (Blackfriars Lane, 3)

320 pages Barbour Pub Inc Pub Date: 01 Apr 2024

ABOUT THE BOOK

Wife. Mother. Homemaker. Detective. Kit Forge wears many hats, and if that’s not enough, she’s partnered with her father to open a new detective agency. It’s hard to be all things to all people, but Kit never shies away from the impossible. Despite her hard work and good intentions, some things fall through the cracks.
 
Namely, her husband.
 
But Jackson barely notices. He’s too busy putting out his own fires. As the new chief inspector of a busy London station, he must salvage the disaster left behind by the former police chief—an obstacle made all the harder when the superintendent breathes an ultimatum down his neck.
 
Against her father’s advice, Kit takes on a case involving a missing child, one in which she and Jackson become a little too emotionally involved. . .and end up endangering their own little girl in the process.
 
Can Kit and Jackson learn that just because they can say yes doesn’t mean they should?

MY THOUGHTS

The Sleuth of Blackfriars Lane is the final book in the Blackfriars Lane series of which I highly recommend reading all three in order.
I have really enjoyed spending my time with Kit and Jackson in these past three books. There has been a lot of character development for both of them.


The series including this book takes place in Victorian England and it’s so different from the books I have read taking place in modern day England.
For your convenience there are historical notes at the end of the book explaining a bit about the time period and the definition of some words. I know it helped me a lot.


The book was an adrenaline-soaked rush the whole way through. I think as I read some of the book I forgot to breathe. From the circus to the back-alleys will an emotional case from the heart be their last?

Kit and Jackso love their new baby daughter with all their heart, but will they be able to maintain their quality work and the care of their daughter as well. A faith filled historical fiction balancing mystery, suspense and the importance of family.
Highly recommended!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Book one

Book two

Book three

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the Christy Award-winning author of historical romances: A Tale of Two Hearts, The Captured Bride, The Innkeeper’s Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood’s Ward, A Heart Deceived, and Gallimore, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan. If you’d like to keep up with her escapades, find her at http://www.michellegriep.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

And guess what? She loves to hear from readers! Feel free to drop her a note at michellegriep@gmail.com.

Have a marvelous day and thanks for stopping in.

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Blog Tour for Her Secret Life by Anna E. Collins

ABOUT THE BOOK

I hold my breath as we push the door open. I’m not ready. But I know it’s time. And I know there will be a before and after this moment, the moment we finally discover the secret our mother had kept hidden for all our lives…


I haven’t spoken to my mother or sisters in years, but everything changes when I lose my husband. And I know it’s finally time to tell them why I’ve pushed them away. But as I approach my childhood home, my heart drops at the sight of police tape across the porch, and it shatters when I’m told my mother’s body has been recovered from the lake behind the house. I’m too late.


Pushing all our differences aside, my sisters and I desperately search her house for answers. But something isn’t right. Her clothes are missing, and everything is covered in a thick layer of dust. Our mother hasn’t lived here for months. What has she been keeping from us?
Just as we’re about to give up hope, we learn we’ve inherited a cottage we never knew existed. As we slowly push open the faded green front door, we are hit with the familiar scent of her perfume. This is where our mother had been all this time. But nothing can prepare us for when we finally unearth the reason why…


Now, I’m forced to decide if my mother’s secret will give me the strength to reveal my own to my sisters and heal our rift, or if it has the power to drive us apart forever.
Fans of Liane Moriarty, Laura Dave and Diane Chamberlain will adore this completely gripping page-turner about how the people closest to us can have the most shocking of secrets.

MY THOUGHTS

Three sisters, a dysfunctional family. The sisters haven’t all been together in years. The estrangement has ended with their mother’s death. The women don’t even know each other anymore or what to anticipate from each other, they used to be so close once upon a time and have flashbacks of those memories.

As they start to unravel the secrets of her mother’s life will it bring them closer or drive them further apart? As they start spending more quality time together, they realize the bond of sisterhood is strong and just what they need.

Each sister has her strength and weakness, and it becomes apparent as their secrets are revealed. Family secrets, forgiveness and strength in sisterly bonds awaits you. Fast paced plot and well-developed characters.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

VISIT OTHER BLOGS ON THE TOUR

Purchase link

THE AUTHOR

Anna E. Collins is a Seattle area author who writes stories about the lives and loves of women—their hopes, dreams, journeys, and relationships—with the goal of making readers both laugh and cry. She grew up in Sweden as a voracious reader with a vivid imagination but didn’t start writing fiction until after she had kids. By that point, she had worked as a high school teacher for several years, married an American, undertaken two international moves, and needed a new outlet.

Her first (gargantuan and unpublishable) venture into fiction sparked a passion for creating people and worlds that illustrate and illuminate aspects of the human experience that connect us. A couple more books and a master’s degree in educational psychology later, Anna decided to make writing more than a hobby, and she has never looked back. Whether writing women’s fiction or romantic comedies, Anna aspires to create characters that jump off the page and relationships that are as imperfect as the ones we find in everyday life.