*Sigh* I really wanted to like this book. I really wanted my boredom of the story to pass and the plot suddenly change to be exciting and drawing me in completely. I really wanted to be able to give a review for a Lake Union Publishing book that I enjoyed recently. There are have been many in the past but that was before I found NetGalley. But none of what I really wanted was going to happen during this book. I'm so disappointed. The story just fell. I could never figure out why the characters did or didn't do things or even why some characters were part of the story. I gave up before I had even finished the book.
I seem to be finding many unenjoyable books recently. I hope my dry spell changes soon!

When I read the blurb about this book on NetGalley, I was intrigued. Tabitha's husband disappears and the suspense of the goodbye note: "“I’ll tell them what you did.” So I thought I would give it a try. My intrigue ended there though and I ended my relationship with this book early without completing it. I just could not put up with Tabitha. Why so many lies? Avoiding the truth? Difficulty in finding a job? Stealing?
I found so many of the situations in the story so hard to believe. She wouldn't be the first to have a spouse leave them in a bad way. Why would you not share with your friends and look for help? The feeling of "shame" really should not have kept her from getting help for her children, at least!
I am sorry Lake Union Publishing, I just could not finish this story. Thank you for giving me the opportunity though.

Wasn’t my fav. I couldn’t be bothered to finish it.

Nope... can’t get into this one. A few chapters in is as far as I got. It’s way too churchy and there hasn’t been one character yet that I like.
I also found myself confused by the story. It often didn’t make sense. There was random things written that didn’t fit in, for example when Beverly had a chance Garett’s after thanksgiving supper. It had no relevance to the story.
Robyn Carr is a favourite author but this book is not her best work. I miss the Virgin River and Thunder Point stories. I wish there were more.

I was looking forward to a “gripping novel of suspense” but I soon found out that this book was more like a cozy mystery that I never really got into. It didn’t grip me.
The story started out interesting enough with Ellie, a woman who doesn’t leave her home. I wanted to know why and what the event was that caused this. This kept me reading, in hopes of finding out soon. Then Colleen and Jackson were introduced to the story with Mitchel, the husband/father. This was a domestic abuse situation that escalated quickly in the chapter.

As I was reading, waiting for some information to why Ellie was almost a recluse, it began to appear that the main character was really Colleen, not Ellie as the book's summary suggests. There wasn’t enough in the story about Ellie and her memory loss and what happened with her boyfriend.

In addition, I found it hard to believe too many details about the characters and setting. The small town as described was just a bit too idyllic... it was too much like "Mayberry." Mitchel's reform happened too quick for it to be realistic. Colleen’s new romance was too fast. Hector, as a teenager, wouldn’t have time to do the amount of work that he is given credit for.

The plot came to an end pretty quick and was anticlimactic with many situations working out for the positive so easily. No cliffhanger, no “wow” moment. I didn’t hate the book, I did finish it, but I felt like there was too much that was lacking.

Thanks the NetGalley and Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm disappointed that I have to give only two stars for this book. I found it hard to get connected to. Right from the start there were so many questions. Too many details given that I found myself scrolling back to figure out who or what that was referring to and not finding the answer. And because I had to keep scrolling back, the story did not flow well. I kept getting confused about what was going on and so much seemed unbelievable.

Thank you so much to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I'm sorry I can't give it more love.

I received this book from the "Read Now" pages of Netgalley. I had heard such great things about this book that I jumped on the opportunity to get this book. And unfortunately, I was disappointed. I only got about a third of the way through before I gave up. I just could not get into it.
The premise of the book sounded great... a murder, a cult.... what more could you ask for. This thriller was not that thrilling though. The pace was slow and there wasn't a quick to draw me in situation. I put the book aside to try again later but with so many other books waiting to be opened, I am going to leave this one.

I am happy that so many other readers did enjoy this one and send congrats and best wishes to the author and publisher. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas&Mercer for giving the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really wanted to read this book, especially after discovering that it was written by an author from, and set in, Ontario. The same province I live in. I had never heard of the author so before I started reading I found out some information about her. I had learned that she had won many awards for her writing. So knowing all this, it had to be a great read, right? Unfortunately, for me, it wasn't.
It started out okay but I soon tired of the repetitiveness of the details. Yes, we know that Alice's husband left her. We understand that he left her with almost nothing.
I was also frustrated with how child-like Alice was made to sound. She talks and carries around with her a stuffed rabbit from her childhood. This also came across in how she dealt with the departure of her husband. Or how she handled driving away from the her home with no destination and not paying attention to what is going on around her. It was hard to get attached to Alice's story.
I could have continued through the story, maybe skipping the repeated information and stop back reading to try to figure out what I got confused about (it seems to be some proofreading and editing is still waiting to be done before publication). Maybe I would have eventually connected with Alice but the final straw is the continual pointing out of Alice's body size and shape. I just could not handle reading that over and over like it was some awful thing about Alice. Why is this needed?

I wish the author well on this book and truly hope that many great reviews are received.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I borrowed this book from my nearby library and renew it a couple of times in an effort to read it but I just couldn’t get past the first few chapters. I gave up. There are way to many other books on my list to bother trying. Maybe I’ll come back to it one day. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for this story at the moment.

I won’t give a rating until I maybe try again.

I started reading this book but I don’t think I’m in the mood for this kind of story right now so I’ve returned the book to the library for someone else who is. I plan to try again another day.