Book Description
She’s the daughter you never knew… But how far will she go to get the life she never had?
Today I’m hosting a family party. One that’s different to every celebration we’ve had before. Because I’ve invited my secret daughter to it.
I’ve never forgiven myself for abandoning her as a baby, with just a scrawled note tucked into her soft yellow blanket, saying her name was Hope.
As soon as she reached out, I knew I had to meet her. My family all seem ready to accept her with open arms, their forgiveness a blessing I barely deserve. And I dare to believe that maybe we are all going to have a happy ending after all.
So I try to put all those small, strange things that have been happening to me in recent weeks out of my mind. The missing money, my lost charm bracelet, the broken window, the fire…
But as the drinks are poured and everyone’s talking animatedly, I hear a knock at the door. And something in my heart tells me this family is about to be torn apart. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it…
An utterly gripping psychological suspense novel with a twist you’ll never see coming. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards and K.L. Slater.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Family Reunion' by Karen King.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Karen King, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 23rd January 2023.
This is the fourth book I have read by this author. I have previously read Karen's 'The Stranger In My Bed', 'The Mother-In-Law' and 'The Perfect Stepmother' which I would also highly recommend reading.
I was originally drawn to this book by its interesting eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'An utterly gripping psychological suspense novel with a twist you’ll never see coming. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards and K.L. Slater.' I am a huge fan of all three of these amazing authors so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a fan of Karen and if this is as good as 'The Stranger In My Bed', 'The Mother-in-Law' and 'The Perfect Stepmother' it is sure to be a gorgeous 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 69 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 England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually visited and had holidays on England on several occasions so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise anywhere that Kennedy has based the book on.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Mary. Alison and Cathy. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists 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.
OMG!!! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!! WHAT HAVE I JUST READ!?!?!? Karen King you are a writing legend!!!
Wow!!! Well fair play the first thing I must say is congratulations to Karen King on yet another HUGE success!! Absolutely blooming fantastic!! I never did work out what was happening and that is quite a feat considering it is quite hard to shock me now that I have read so many suspense and thrillers yet I never did see any of those mind blowing twists coming!! Anyway on with my review.... This book is fantastically written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all feeling the hair raise on your arms and feeling the sweat run down your bac Yet ANOTHER huge success by Karen!!! This book has got to be one of the most heart racing books I've read in a long time!!! It had me hook, line and sinker from the first page and I could not put it down!!! Every time I said one more chapter it ended on a cliff-hanger and I just had to know what was going on!!! If you are going to read this then clear your day because it is truly unputdownable. I started this yesterday afternoon and finished it at approx. 2am, I read it in one sitting and although I'm knackered today it was 1000000% worth it!!! It really does make you think how life can change so quickly and how different decisions can change a life. It also makes you think how looks can be deceiving. It is filled with family, lies, secrets, twists, turns and everything you could want from a psychological thriller along with some MASSIVE BOMBSHELLS which will leave you absolutely shocked!!! I for one was NOT expecting any of that at all!!! A true page turner, this book is absolutely compelling with an addictive storyline that kept me guessing throughout. I was continuously questioning who was doing what!! It was filled with suspense, drama, secrets, explosive twists, family I loved the ending and thought it fitted perfectly. The storyline is realistic and believable making it easy to picture what is going on. Great descriptions throughout the book really put the readers in the story and gives them a good feeling of what is going on. Filled with suspense, explosive bombshells and tension this book is one must read psychological thriller!! 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 were very realistic and well rounded and again their personalities reflected the storyline and how they would act, etc perfectly. The descriptions gave a really good in depth view of how Mary, Cathy and Alison were feeling and what they were thinking. My heart truly went out to Mary for everything she went through in the past and was going through throughout the storyline. She had had to live her life with a secret that she felt absolutely awful about while being scared out of her mind. When she finally reveals that she had another daughter to her children it seems that all they cared about was money and then incidents started happening and Mary starts worrying that she has what her mother suffered. While she is going through all this there are other secrets that other people have been keeping coming out of the closet and her children and their partners are all arguing. I found both Jason who is Mary's son and Joanne who is her daughter to both be very selfish people who I disliked throughout, Jason more than Joanne. Jason acts more like a child than a grown up, leaving his wife Alison to constantly look after their children, asking Mary for money and not taking responsibilities for his actions. Joanne is argumentative and also spoilt but not as much as Jason. Joanne's partner Damien is stuck up and thinks he is better than everyone else whereas Joanne and Damien's teenage daughter Kelly is mature and compassionate compared to them both. I liked Alison who is Jason's partner who seemed to be the only one out of the four (Alison, Joanne, Damien and Joanne) to be mature, tries to see the best in others and doesn't constantly think and talk about money. Joanne, Damien and Jason seem to only care about how much they can get out of Mary and were not very likeable at all. I didn't trust Cathy at all throughout the book and thought she was manipulative and using Mary. These were my feelings for them at the beginning of the book. How much was I right or wrong about? Well, you will just have to pick up a copy of this absolutely addictive psychological thriller and prepare for som every explosive twists!!! I really felt sorry for a certain character when I found out what was going on and what had happened. I was absolutely shocked when one of the characters true personality came to light and it took me a while to believe it even though I was "seeing" it happening myself. That is all I will say as I don't want to run the risk of dropping any hints or spoilers. However, whether you love or hate these characters, they all have their own strong unique personalities and they all bring the story to life playing their roles perfectly.
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first chapter of Karen's 'The Mother-In-Law' is just as addictive as this book and I would highly recommend reading it!!
Congratulations Karen on yet another absolutely amazing mind blowing page turner!! You manage to make my jaw drop every single time and this is EXACTLY why you are one of my favourite authors!! Here's to your next success 🥂!!
Overall a page turning addictive psychological thriller that will have your heart racing and will blow your mind with the explosive twists.
Genres covered in this novel include Thriller, Noir Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Suspense, British Thriller, Domestic Drama, Psychological Suspense, Mystery, Women's Psychological Fiction, and Psychological Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'Gone Girl', Shari Lapena, Sheryl Browne, Sam Hepburn, Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards, K.L. Slater and absolutely anyone who loves a mind-blowing twist that you will never see coming!!!
324 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon 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
Karen King is a multi-published author of both adult and children’s books. Currently published by Bookouture and Headline, Karen writes about the light and dark of relationships. Her third psychological thriller, The Mother In Law, was published in July, and her eleventh romantic novel, The Spanish Wedding Disaster, in June. A fourth psychological thriller will be published in January 2023.
Karen has also had 120 children’s books, two young adult novels, and several short stories for women’s magazines published. Her thrillers The Perfect Stepmother and The Stranger in my Bed and her romantic novel The Cornish Hotel by the Sea became International Amazon bestsellers.
Karen is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors, the Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She now lives in Spain where she loves to spend her non-writing time exploring the quaint local towns with her husband, Dave, when she isn’t sunbathing or swimming in the pool, that is.
Social Media
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Website: https://karenkingauthor.com/
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Purchase Link
Amazon UK: https://geni.us/B0BJFD5D8Zsocial
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