Tag: family drama

Audiobook Review: Love Lives On by Ivy Alexander

Love Lives On
Series: Helena’s Grove #5
Author: Ivy Alexander

Narrator: Jennifer Groberg
Originally Published: January 14, 2015
Published in Audio: February 14, 2023
Audiobook: 2 hours 35 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: April 21-22, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

Aunt Gabby is getting ready to be reunited with her son. Although it’s an exciting time, there are plenty of emotions that come with facing the decisions she made so long ago. Now, Zack, Jen, Annie and Adam are set to go with her to Seattle to meet the family none of them knew they had.

James Drake has wanted to meet his birth mother for as long as he could remember, but will the reunion be everything he hopes it will be? And how will Aunt Gabby react to a surprising turn of events that brings up a connection from her past?

Enjoy this final installment in the Helena’s Grove Series!

Jessica’s Review:

Now that her family knows about her past, it’s time for Gabby to meet her son. It is a nerve-wracking time for everyone involved as these kinds of things don’t always go well.  And Gabby and company are going to meet her son at Thanksgiving! Talk about all the nerves! 

This was such a sweet finish to the series. If you want a good, clean read then this is the series for you!  I don’t recall any foul language at all throughout the books! The characters do like to partake in some wine and there is some sexual innuendo, but otherwise it’s squeaky clean!  It is possible for a book to be clean but still enjoyable!I have enjoyed ‘Going back to the Grove’ a second time, this time in audio, and definitely recommend this sweet series. The whole series would make a great Hallmark Channel films. I would like to see what happens next with the family as listening through all five books you become attached to them. 

Despite my one issue with the narrator that I mention in the last book, Groberg did a good job and it was nice for the same narrator to be throughout the series. 

Many thanks to Ivy Alexander for sending me the audio versions of this series!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

 

Blog Tour: Book Review: My Secret Sister by Lauren Westwood

Today I am helping to end the blog tour for My Secret Sister by Lauren Westwood.  I enjoyed this one.  There is also an international giveaway going on for e-copies of the novel!

Book Description:

Two DNA tests, one big lie…

“As I speed off in the ambulance holding my daughter’s hand, I wonder how I could have been so stupid. I should have made the bargain, paid the price – anything to avoid being right here, right now.

A voice whispers in my head that I can’t silence. This is all your fault. You killed her. It’s her voice, the one I hear in my nightmares. The woman who stole my memories, the woman who stole my life. And, this time, I know she’s right.”

How far would you go to save your child?

Claire is living every mother’s worst nightmare. Her daughter, Jess, has been diagnosed with a rare illness and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. With no match on the registry, Claire turns to a charismatic geneticist for help and embarks on a Genetic Journey to seek a familial match for her daughter.

On the other side of the country, Marianne suffers her eighth miscarriage. Her perfect life is rotting underneath, but she is determined to do whatever it takes to have a baby.

When DNA test results reveal that Claire and Marianne are half-sisters, Claire must face the dark lies of the past and make impossible choices about the future. Is her secret sister the answer to her prayers, or will she cost her everything?

My Secret Sister is a tense and emotional family drama with a moral dilemma at its heart. Fans of Liane Moriarty, Jodi Picoult, and John Marrs’ The One will be gripped.

My Secret Sister
Author: Lauren Westwood

Published:  August 31, 2021
313 Pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: October 24- November 11, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Jessica’s Review:

My Secret Sister shows how at home DNA testing can be like opening Pandora’s Box: Are you sure you actually want to take the test as you never know what family secrets you may bee revealing.  This is the kind of book that book clubs are made for: Covering many topics ranging from IVF, parental issues, medical issues, deceit, and at home DNA testing, this one will have many discussions!

The author started writing this novel before Covid-19 and chose to keep it out of the story.  I am glad she chose this as it would have muddied the waters of an already complicated situation.  As Covid-19 will most likely always be with us, it doesn’t have to be present in novels that deal with medical situations.

We have three narrators throughout the novel with Claire, Marianne, and Becky and see each of their sides with a variety of emotions. I was pulled in the most with Becky’s chapters.  I am not a parent, but have a sister with a physical disability, so I identified with Becky.  I can see mothers identifying with Claire and women who have experienced fertility issues identifying with Marianne.  Needless to say I think every reader will identify with one of our narrators.

I was intrigued and also unsure with what was going to happen and we get some twists and turns as well. Are we going to have a happy ending or not?  My Secret Sister really starts moving around the last third of the novel, but the final twists just did not work for me, as they really came out of left field.

Otherwise, I did enjoy this novel and look forward to what else Westwood has written!

My Secret Sister is recommended.

Buy My Secret Sister: http://mybook.to/MySecretSister

About the Author:

My books explore the darkness and the light of the human spirit, and take you on an emotional journey. My Sister’s Secret is a tense and emotional drama about a mother’s race against time to save her daughter’s life. My Mother’s Silence is a gripping and romantic drama about homecoming and family secrets set in the wild Scottish highlands. It was shortlisted for the Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award 2020. The Daughter She Lost is a dark journey of self-discovery and overcoming the secrets of the past. My holiday romance Moonlight on the Thames is a love story to classical music and the healing power of love. It was a bestseller in urban fiction and top 100 Kindle book. My first three novels: Finding Home, Finding Secrets and Finding Dreams all feature mysterious old houses and intelligent, feisty contemporary heroines who set out to unravel the mysteries of the past. I also write award winning children’s books as Laurel Remington. I am originally from California, and now live in Surrey, UK with my partner and three daughters.

Contact Lauren:
Website
Twitter: @lwestwoodwriter

 

INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY
Win one of 5 e-copies of My Secret Sister

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

 

[Top]