This was my first book by Susan Lewis and unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. Nothing wrong with the book, but just wasn't to my taste.

I have always enjoyed Susan Lewis's books, so looked forward to reading the new book Believe In Me, but sadly was disappointed, this didn't have the fascinating storyline that are usual for Susan Lewis and when getting to page 150 and still the story hadn't seemed to move very far.

The concept of the family living at Ash Morley was a nice idea, but letting out the other buildings to people in need, how are all the bills paid this story fell very short.

I know people like to fight for the underdog, but being involved in so many Marches, and when ever available the other campaigns is a lovely idea, but how to you own so many properties with no money coming in, the story just felt very unrealistic.

I was looking forward to reading this book after reading the synopsis, however, I was greatly disappointed that I just could not get into the story or relate to the characters. On this occasion, a book not for me.

It wasn't a book that grabbed me from page one, but once it got going it was a really enjoyable read. The way it is written you soon get drawn into the family life ups and downs. I really felt for the characters and their problems. A book that I will be recommending to my friends.

I think this is the first book I have read by Susan Lewis, but the synopsis appealed to me and having been on a bit of a run of psychological thrillers, I was in the mood for something different!

Leanne and teenage daughter Abby have returned to the family home, Ash Morley, following the suicide of Leanne’s husband. Also around are Leanne’s mother, Wilkie, who is quite a character, and Polish friend Klaudia with her two children. All is certainly not perfect in their lives - there are major strains in Leanne’s relationship with Abby, who seems to hate her and has no problem expressing it, and Klaudia’s ability to stay in the country is suddenly in doubt following the Brexit referendum.

Elsewhere a young boy, Daniel, is passed from foster home to foster home following his father’s imprisonment for a horrible crime. Daniel continues to believe steadfastly in his father’s innocence. When Leanne decides to foster a child, their paths will cross, with important consequences.

I really enjoyed reading this book and found myself caring about the characters. Susan Lewis does not shy away from confronting some difficult issues including the discrimination faced by Klaudia post-referendum, a very topical subject which I have not seen discussed in fiction before. Daniel’s situation is also heart-wrenching. In contrast the compassion and tolerance of Leanne and her family shine through.

There is a certain suspension of disbelief required at times - I’m not sure the process of applying to become a foster carer works quite like that, and certain other storylines are a bit too conveniently resolved to be realistic. Leanne herself is a bit too perfect at times (Abby is simply awful to her and I’m not sure I could have been so patient.) However this did not affect my enjoyment at all and it was a very engaging read.

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Life can be so complicated. I was guided in following the characters along this complicated emotional pathway. A safe coonclusion.

For a Susan Lewis book this was disappointing. It was lacking in something, I think I got to about 40% and was still waiting for the story to start. Good main characters, but too many mention of friends who had no real part in book. Daniel probably the only character who made me feel anything. Was just an ok read.

Susan Lewis is one of my favourite authors. I rarely read the blurb on the back of her books I just start reading.
The characters are all likeable. You get to know them all. It was an easy read. I wanted to know how the book ended so carried on reading but ....
Its a light read, not taxing. A decent holiday read.

A great book from a good storyteller. You wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters and how things would turn up from them as they were brought alive by the writing.

Will read more from this author.

Leanne Delaney finds herself and daughter Abby back at Ash Morley Farm, Leanne’s childhood home, following the suicide of her husband and the death of her Aunt Glory. She is the main beneficiary of Glory’s will and, along with Glory’s home, also inherited her vintage shop, Glory Days. Abby is not coping well with recent events and the corresponding adjustments in her life, making her relationship with her mother a volatile one at best. She is angry, feeling guilty and confused, unable to get to grips with, much less articulate especially to her mother, her destructive underlying feelings and lashes out, with her mother bearing the brunt of her angst.

Wilkie, Leanne’s mother, and Leanne share the farm with family friend Klaudia and her children, Mia and Adam, each family having their own space. Klaudia is suffering the backlash from Brexit and is unsure whether she will be sent back to Poland or be given permission to stay in the country.

When the opportunity arises to foster a child, Leanne, who has inherited her mother’s tendency to reach out and help those in need, needs no urging to put herself forward. Ten year old Daniel Marks has been in care since his father had been tried and convicted of murdering a young girl. There had only been the two of them since Daniel’s mother died and Daniel is thrust into a world that doesn’t treat him kindly.

Believe In Me is a story of new starts and second chances, peopled by engaging and sympathetic characters who draw the reader in. Wilkie is a wonderful example, warm, caring and not afraid to stand up for her beliefs. Daniel’s story, on the other hand, is heart breaking but sensitively handled. Even though his name is changed he’s bullied and abused, moving from foster home to foster home, until he arrives at Ash Morley and slowly becomes absorbed into the family. I love how he never loses his belief in his father’s innocence no matter what people think or say to him.

This touching story incorporates several important and emotional issues, including racism, the justice system and children coping, or not, with tragedy and loss. I loved the concept of Ash Morley Farm and the little community of family and friends that lived there.

Another great novel from Susan Lewis with a completely up-to-date setting. The problems being experienced by foreign nationals hoping to achieve UK residency post-Brexit are sympathetically described. At the heart of the story is parental love for Abby, Daniel and Adam but many other relationships are explored. A heart-warming tale.

his book grabbed my attention just from reading the synopsis and I knew that it would be a great book.

This is the first book of Susan's I have read and was given a copy for free to review for the blog tour.

As soon as I started reading this book I fell in love with it and didn't want to stop reading.

I really liked the characters, and their back stories, which we learn about through the story. I also liked the descriptions of the locations and the way they were written about puts you deep in the middle of it, making the whole story that much believable and easier to read.

The story itself follows Leanne and Abbey as the move back to Ash Morley Farm to live with Leanne's mother and a group of other minor characters. The main points in this story involve the relationship the three of them have along with how they cope with the loss of Abbey's father the previous year.  It also features Daniel who is fostered by Leanne and her family, and how they all learn to get along with each other in the second half of the book.

Overall it is a very good read, which I would recommend you read on your own, especially the ending.

It took me awhile to get to grips with all the different characters and plot lines, but it was well worth persevering as the novel picks up pace and becomes quite addictive. Wilkie, daughter Leanne and granddaughter Abby seem a bit too good to be true in their zeal for looking after the underdog so it's good to see Abby producing some pretty awesome teenage tantrums at times. There are some sensitive issues addressed including the impact of suicide on the bereaved, the plight of foster children and the anguish of those caught up in race related problems post referendum. To lighten the mood there's also a bit of laughter, love and romance in the mix.

A book of love, loss, family, friendships and family angsts. However, there is a darker side with the after affects of the referendum and race hate. Throw in a murderer and his adorable son who is passed from foster home to foster home and this really completes this family saga. I thought some of the book was a little over the top with the good this one family does for the world but overall a good read. Some characters appear from previous books which were lovely to be reacquainted with.

A very heartwarming story , beautifully written by this outstanding author but unfortunately I just couldn’t get into it but would definitely love to read more by this author

I really enjoyed this heartwarming story of different generations of one family and friends of different nationalities all living at Ash Morley Farm .I was totally immersed into the trials and tribulations that befell this family and friends .I felt I would like to become part of their family as the warmth and love and fun was tangible .There were different little stories running through the book which all tied up to make the ending perfect .

Having read Susan Lewis for a few years now, I expected this book too, to follow the same premise. Emotions and suspense. This book too has them but at a slightly lower flame. There are no intense moments of emotions or suspense. This book surfs gently on all the waves.

Leanne comes to stay with her mother, Wilkie with her daughter Abby, after her husband’s suicide. They are the inner core of the characters in this book. Soon surrounding them, there are others who join in as the story continues. Leanne then decides to take up fostering, and Daniel, whose father is in prison, comes to stay with them. The story then revolves on proving Daniel’s father innocent of the crime, dealing with the consequences of Brexit, trying to smoothen out her relationship with her daughter Abby, Leanne finds herself in the centre of all this.

I generally love Susan Lewis books, and I have bought quite a number of them over the years. But this book fell short for me. There were too many characters, though it was nice to see the friends rallying around Leanne, I found that emotions got diluted. There are few scenes in the book, where Susan weaves her magic, and emotions emerge suddenly. But sadly, this brilliance is seen rarely in the book.

Susan has never been the one to shy away from difficult topics, heart rendering ones. In this book too, she writes them with a sensitivity that pulls the threads of the heart. But this was seen only in a few places.

The book was an entertaining family saga, I found the plot lacking, and the book was at a slightly slower pace. I found it dragging most times. There was no suspense at all.

The only part where I found that the book shone was in all the scenes involving Daniel, there was something so heartbreakingly sad about his sorrow and something so heartbreakingly joyful about his reunion with his father. Also Susan Lewis’s worldbuilding in describing Ash Morley was fabulous, I could just imagine it as it was.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Random House UK Cornerstone, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I've read quite a few of Susan Lewis' earlier books but it's been a number of years since I read one, despite buying copies of the books in her No Child of Mine trilogy and the first couple in her Detective Andee Lawrence series, a character who makes an appearance in this book to offer support and advice when Leanne believes that an injustice has been done.



Leanne was a strong woman who has already been through so much in her life, with the death of her husband and having to sell her house and move home to her family's farm in Kesterley-on-Sea, but despite everything she still wants to do whatever she can to help others which is why she decides to become a foster carer. My one little niggle with this aspect of the storyline regarding the fostering of Daniel was the apparent ease of the process, from the decision to apply to foster children to the subsequent placement, but I know in reality you can't really write about the long period of legalities, steps and hurdles that you need to go through to be approved so I was able to let that go. I personally know a couple of friends who are amazing foster carers and it's a selfless job offering love and support to vulnerable children, I don't know if I would be strong enough to do it.



But it wasn't only Leanne who was there for Daniel, there was a wonderful support network of family and friends, from her mother Wilkie to daughters Abby locally and Kate overseas, as well as her friend Klaudia and her children Mia and Adam. Wilkie, along with her late sister Glory, had turned Ash Morley into a wonderful community with converting the various buildings into houses and rental properties. I loved the sound of this idyllic set up in the heart of the countryside, peace and tranquility if you want it to take time out to think or recharge your batteries, but always someone around on hand to offer a listening ear or moral support if needed.



Wilkie was such a delightful, eccentric character who I instantly warmed to and wished I had someone like that in my life. As for the tumultuous relationship between Leanne and Abby I suspect that this was to be expected from everything they have been through and it was clear that Abby had her fair share of issues bottled up that she needed to address but time is a healer as they say. Klaudia also had her own issues to contend with on a daily basis, from the verbal abuse she has endured from a minority of local residents to her fight to get residency in a country she's called home to for many years and the only home her children have known.



Believe in Me is a book about second chances, a new start for Leanne and Abby, a fight for residency for Klaudia, and a loving home for Daniel although he still dreams about being reunited with his father Patrick. A wonderful, heartwarming story from start to finish which had me cheerleading for them all to get the outcomes they so wanted and needed. I have today just bought a copy of her latest paperback Hiding in Plain Sight which is also part of her Detective Andee Lawrence series so think I need to try and catch up with reading the other books first!

The novel starts out with Patrick Marks being arrested for a murder he claims he didn't do. His son, Daniel who witnesses this shocking business is having his birthday party. Leanne and her mother Wilkie foster the child. Abby is her rebellious daughter and Kate is living in USA with her father. Within the family's care is Klaudia, a newly single Slavic woman with her daughter Mia and son, Adam. All the characters have a lot of issues from the past and the present. I found it a little tricky to work out the relationships of the characters at first as the timelines were not smooth. But the characters are warm and you take them to your heart through their ups and downs. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for permission to read it.