Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️/5
Themes: Child loss, murder mystery, first love, flashbacks

“My daughter is dead and my son is the prime suspect.

We’d only just become a family of four, and now all we have left is Holden. Five months ago, my husband and I stood before a judge and promised to be ten-year-old Holden’s forever family. We adopted this little boy to give him a home, a chance, love. “

Emery’s entire life as a stay-at-home mother revolved around her daughter Betsy. Through alternating flashback chapters and current chapters, the reader explores the life choices leading up to the adoption of Holden, the failure of Emery’s marriage, the unconditional love of a mother, and the loss of her first love. I could not put this book down and I was in suspense the entire novel trying to determine who was the killer! I did not see the ending coming!

Very little in this book surprised me, I've clearly read too many similar books and can guess the plot a mile away.
It was still a fun read.

I finished it in an afternoon, the writing flowed nicely, and I do like to know if I'm right or not. 😄
Entertaining.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

I read this book in an afternoon. It was good, I was excited to see what was going to happen but some parts of the ending really irked me.

Emory and Mark have a daughter named Betsy. Em wants to adopt a boy named Holden. Mark doesn’t think it’s a good idea but Em wants to adopt him, regardless of if it’s a good idea or not.

Holden is a troubled boy and people around him keep getting hurt. Their perfect family isn’t as perfect as Em was hoping for.

I received this book for free from Netgalley and publisher in return for my honest opinion .