Book Description:
It’s in that moment, I realise – I have nowhere to turn. If my precious daughters and I are going to have a roof over our heads, we have to return to my childhood home. The one I’ve not felt welcome in since my father died. The one where the woman who destroyed our family still lives… Today marks the end of my life as I know it. I have absolutely nowhere to go, no-one to turn to. My husband’s lies have ruined our family and wrecked our marriage. And now he’s disappeared, leaving just a promise to make it all right. My daughters, Olivia and Alice, need me like never before. I will do whatever it takes to stay strong, to keep them safe and loved. So I turn to the one place I hoped never to return to. When my dad died, he left me his house, with one proviso. His second wife, my stepmother, was to be allowed to live there for as long as she wanted. She hasn’t welcomed me there, or shown a single sign of leaving, since. But I have no choice. I need to ask for her help. Little do I know that everything I thought I knew about the woman who destroyed my life when I was a child is about to come crashing down. Living together now, the secrets that have kept us apart for all these years are finally revealing themselves. Will our fragile bond break completely, or could it be the only thing that saves me and my daughters…? An emotional story about family secrets and lies, and the lengths a parent will go to, to protect their children. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Kate Hewitt.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'My Stepmother's Secret' by Emma Robinson.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Emma Robinson, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 29th March 2023
This is the sixth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'My Husband's Daughter', 'Only For My Daughter', 'To Save My Child', 'To Be A Mother' and 'His First Wife's Secret' which I highly recommend.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is "An emotional story about family secrets and lies, and the lengths a parent will go to, to protect their children. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Kate Hewitt.'' I am a huge fan of all three authors so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Emma and if this is half as good as 'My Husband's Daughter', 'To Save My Child', 'Only For My Daughter', 'To Be A Mother', 'His First Wife's Secret' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 41 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in the fictional Fernley Village, Suffolk, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧 . I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact visited England on many occasions including this year so am looking forward to possibly recognising name places.
This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonists being Gabbie. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
'My Stepmother's Secret' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Emma discusses bullying, addiction and other domestic issues I don't want to add in case I give too much away.
Wow!!! Where to even begin?? Yet another stunning domestic drama from the extremely talented and absolutely wonderful Emma Robinson.
I start by saying that Emma Robinson is a very talented author and I cannot wait to dig into more of her books. She is definitely on par with several of my favourite authors including Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks which is why she is also one of my favourite authors!!!
The book itself is written so well that it reads so smoothly from chapter to chapter with brilliant descriptions and settings perfect for the scene. It really dragged me deep into the story and I became completely invested until I came out the other end with tears streaming down my face. The title and synopsis fitted the storyline perfectly.
Emma has such an amazing talent and is always able to weave serious domestic and other topics into an emotional rollercoaster ride of a story and she has covered several in this amazing book. I need to be very careful in writing this review as I really don't want to spoil anything for future readers so I will try my best to give as much detail in my review without going to in depth as to give too much away. The fact that Emma has done her research on so many topics absolutely shines through and this is one of the things that I love abut Emma is that she always does sych alot of research for her books and ensures there are no mistakes that could spoil the storyline for readers. Some of the topics that Emma has covered in this book include addiction, bullying, medical research, boarding school and much more nut any other subjects I mention may give too much away, After you have finished this fantastic book make sure you keep on going until the very last page to not only read the prologue and first three chapters of 'My Husbands Daughter' but to also read her letter which mentions Boarding School Syndrome. This is something I have never heard of, so thank you Emma on teaching me something new and not for the first time, and as soon as I have typed this up I am off to do some more of my own research on it. I absolutely loved this book, no surprise there really as all Emma's books have all been amazing, and I just could not put it down!! I ended up devouring it in a few hours as every time I told myself I would finish that chapter and get on with something else I just had to read the next and then the next until before I knew it I had come to the last page!! It is one of those books that had me hooked onto my kindle from the first page to the last and I ended up walking around with my eyes glued to the pages, well screen!! It is ram packed with emotions and so much going on. I was on the edge of my seat on so many occasions and as a parent myself some of the events that happened would have been my worse nightmare and there was more than one of them!! I cannot even begin to imagine how poor Gabbie kept herself going, I will go into the characters later on. As a parent myself I felt emotions such as horror, panic, love, dread, worry, stress, annoyance, guilt and so much more!! Emma's evocative writing skills ensures everything mentioned came to life around me and it felt like I was right next to Gabbie both in the present and past. I loved that Emma included letters between Gabbie and her Mum throughout the book as it gives the reader an insight into her Mum as well as Gabbie. This book isn't just filled with emotions but also shocks and surprises that absolutely blew my mind and I just was not expecting at all!! It is also filled with mystery and it left me intrigued to what happened between Gabbie and Liam for her to have to go to her stepmother, what happened between Gabbie's Mum and Dad, what happened with Jessica and why was she being the way she was and so much more. It was non stop and just when you think things couldn't get any worse for Gabbie and her family something else came smashing towards them around the corner. It is an absolutely beautiful story of love, loss, parenting, forgiveness, friendship, secrets and family!! It is filled with love, family, friendship, regrets, selflessness, heartbreak and much much more. It is extremely thought provoking and just goes to show that sometimes keeping the truth from someone because you think you are protecting them isn't always the right thing to do and can sometimes make things worse. I love how Emma manages to take what could be such controversial subjects and manages to weave them into absolutely addictive and gorgeous stories. Emma manages to mix the past and present chapters in at the perfect times so you get a bigger picture of what is and was going on but no too much to give the story away too early. There is so much going on this book that I just could not put it down for one moment!! You will definitely not only need to clear your schedules when you start this as you will not be able to put it down but you need to make sure you have tissues at the ready!!! I cried, screamed, smiled, my heart broke, my heart warmed and soooo much more!! Such a rollercoaster ride of emotions!! I wont say anymore as I don't want to give too much a way. Needless to say it is a beautiful book and an absolute page turner!!! I WAS completely invested in this book and read it in one sitting as I do with all of Emma's books. It is a complete rollercoaster ride of emotions and Emma has weaved so many "hard" subjects perfectly into a gorgeous yet heart-breaking storyline. This is yet another stunner by Emma that I would love to see made into a movie!!
Do not start this until you have cleared your schedules as you won't be able to put it down!!
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
The characters are all realistic and described so well I really felt that I got to know them all. I became completely invested in Gabbie but in Olivia and Alice too. My heart absolutely went out and broke for Gabbie especially as a parent myself. She not only had her own history and family past to deal with but everything her husband Liam was putting her through, her feelings for Jill and the stress of everything that was going on with her children Olivia who was 16 years old and Alice who was 8 year old to deal with too. It is hard enough as a parent anyway let alone as a Mum who has to move in with a step-mother she dislikes and one she hasn't seen in 3 years along with everything else. I need to be careful with how much as I say not to give anything away. Emma's writing skills made me feel that I was going through everything Gabbie was going through making my heart beat faster and then break. It wasn't just adult problems that she had had to deal with too but everything that went on when she was a child, from being sent to boarding school to losing her mother at a young age to feeling betrayed by her Dad to being bullied and isolated whilst in boarding school. I absolutely cannot abide bullying regardless of where it takes place and I wanted to punch Jessica (the ringleader) so many times I lost count. However, and there is no excuse for bullying, including the reasons given, but I did feel sorry for Jessica for what happened to her as a child too and I was gobsmacked when I found out!! You manage to shock me in all your books Emma and you would think I would start working things out by now but you manage to get me every time so a huge CONGRATULATIONS as I read hundreds of books a year so it gets harder and harder to shock me but you've done it from the first book I read by you to this one. I had mixed emotions about Jill (Gabbie's stepmother) as well as Gabbie's mother and father. Again, I need to be careful I don't say too much as I don't want to give anything away so all I will say about them really is that I thought Jill seemed very bossy to Gabbie and judgemental when she moved in with her children but I do think that she was fantastic with Olivia and Alice. Olivia is at that joyful age of 16 where she wants to be treated as an adult but act like a child at times and although I did think she was being a brat at some points I also seen how mature she could be, how sweet and wonderful she was to her sister Alice and how it also cant be easy for any child to go through what was happening. Rose was really sweet and innocent and I loved watching her relationships develop with Jill and some of the funny things she came out with. I really liked Gabbie's childhood friend Tricia who said it how it was and was a great support network for Gabbie. She was a lovely friend who would drop anything to come out to help her regardless of their past separation. I didn't trust Liam as there was something going on that he was behind although we don't find out until later in the book but I couldn't stand the way her kept trying to blame Gabbie who I was rooting for throughout and shouting at her to leave him!! Whether she does or not I will leave you ti find out yourself along with what Liam did and what secret Jill is hiding. Teaser I know but you'll just have to pick your copy up ASAP wont you . Gabbie is an absolutely amazing Mum who was continuously putting herself last and doing what she thinks is right for her children. However, does she get it right? Do any of us know that what we are doing is the right thing for our children? I really can't say anything else about how I feel about them as I think if I did say anything else I will spoil things but just trust me you need to read this book and you will know what I mean and feel!!! I loved that all the characters were a mix of personalities and I enjoyed watching the relationships between each grow and develop. regardless of whether I liked, loved or hated them they all worked together perfectly to make yet another exceptional read by the amazing Emma!!!!
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue and first three chapters of Emma's absolutely stunning 'My Husband's Daughter' which is another emotional page turner and one I have read myself and would highly recommend!!
Congratulations Emma on yet another page turner!! This is why you are one of my favourite authors and here is to your next success 🥂!!!
Overall an absolute page turning, addictive and emotional roller coaster, beautiful story of love, secrets, family, heartbreak and so much more!!
Genres covered in this novel include Literary Fiction, Women's Divorce Fiction, Mystery, Romantic Fiction, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Women's Writers & Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Literary Saga, Mothers & Children Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary Women's Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Domestic Fiction, Family Saga, Women's Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Women's Saga, Emotional Drama and Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Nicholas Sparks, Kate Hewitt, Diane Chamberlain Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, Colleen Hoover and just anyone looking for a beautiful read.
318 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with kindle and £7.99 in paperback via Amazon, at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio:
Emma Robinson is the author of several women’s fiction novels. She also blogs about the funny side of parenting and has contributed to podcasts such as Funny Women. Whilst her early novels are humorous, her recent work focuses on emotional themes and these novels are both heart-breaking and life affirming. Emma enjoys writing stories which explore the power of family and friendship in the most challenging circumstances. Emma currently lives in Essex with a husband, two children and a small black dog.
Social Media Links
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