Until I Find You by Rea Frey (thoughts)

 

Summary from Goodreads:

"2 floors. 55 steps to go up. 40 more to the crib.

Since Rebecca Gray was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, everything in her life consists of numbers. Each day her world grows a little darker and each step becomes a little more dangerous.

Following days of feeling like someone’s watching her, Bec awakes at home to the cries of her son in his nursery. When it’s clear he’s not going to settle, Bec goes to check on him.
She reaches in. Picks him up.
But he’s not her son.
And no one believes her.

One woman’s desperate search for her son . . .

In a world where seeing is believing, Bec must rely on her own conviction and a mother’s instinct to uncover the truth about what happened to her baby and bring him home for good."

My Thoughts:

Until I Find You was one of those tense reads that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.  The premise of this book is unique as it features Bec who is now considered to be legally blind.  She has had a difficult life with both her husband and then mother recently dying so she is on her own raising her baby boy.  I cannot speak on the portrayal of what it is like to lose your sight or to be blind but I felt like this author really handled it well. She voiced the struggles and fears that Bec faced with raising a young child on her own and not being able to see.  The book felt almost claustrophobic at times especially as the author takes the reader through some of Bec's own experiences with not being able to see.  The idea of not knowing who is behind you, how far you have until you reach something like stairs....it's all a bit terrifying to think about which really added to the suspense that was present throughout this book.  It was sad to see how Bec was treated because of her inability to see by others who had their vision.  I felt like it was a realistic portrayal though because often people with disabilities are listened to less than someone without disabilities.  It made me mad for her though because her friends really weren't there for her like they should have been.  This book was a true page turner and literally had me on the edge of my seat at times.  I NEEDED to know how everything was going to end and if Bec was going to find her baby.  I finished this book reading fast and furiously between pitches at my son's baseball game.  Completely worth it!

Overall, I'm excited to have found this author and am looking forward to reading more by her in the future.  This book really made me think about my own vision and what it would be like to slowly lose that vision.  I also connected with it strongly as there is such a focus on motherhood and being the best mother possible despite the circumstances.  Bec had her doubts and insecurities but that's what it is like being a mother.  I don't think that there is a mother out there that doesn't experience their own insecurities and doubts relating to being a mother and how well they are doing.  I think that readers who enjoy a suspenseful read, those who enjoy page turning books that keep them hooked until the very end, and those readers who want a mystery featuring a main character with a disability should definitely pick this book up.  Highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  A suspenseful read that has moved this author on to my must read list!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a PICT book tour.  Honest thoughts are my own.

CW:  Kidnapping, death, grief, blindness, mental illness

Book Details: Genre: Domestic Suspense Published by: St. Martin's Press Publication Date: August 11th 2020 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 1250241588 (ISBN13: 9781250241580) Series: Until I Find You is not a part of a series. Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads Author Bio: REA FREY is the multi-published, award-winning bestselling author of three suspense novels and four nonfiction books. She’s been featured in US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Popsugar, Hello Sunshine, Marie Claire, Parade, Shape, Hello Giggles, CrimeReads, Writer’s Digest, WGN, Fox News, Today in Nashville, Talk of the Town, and more. She is also the CEO and Founder of Writeway, where aspiring writers become published authors. To learn more, visit reafrey.com or writewayco.com. Catch Up With Rea Frey: ReaFrey.com Goodreads BookBub - @ReaFreyAuthor Instagram - @reafrey Twitter - #ReaFrey Facebook - @reafrey

Little Pieces of Me by Alison Hammer (thoughts)

 

Summary from Goodreads:

"When Paige Meyer gets an email from a DNA testing website announcing that her father is a man she never met, she is convinced there must be a mistake. But as she digs deeper into her mother's past and her own feelings of being the odd child out growing up, Paige begins to question everything she thought she knew. Could this be why Paige never felt like she fit in her family, and why her mother always seemed to keep her at an arm's length? And what does it mean for Paige's memories of her father, a man she idolized and whose death she is still grieving? Back in 1975, Betsy Kaplan, Paige's mom, is a straightlaced sophomore at the University of Kansas. When her sweet but boring boyfriend disappoints her, Betsy decides she wants more out of life, and is tired of playing it safe. Enter Andy Abrams, the golden boy on campus with a potentially devastating secret. After their night together has unexpected consequences, Betsy is determined to bury the truth and rebuild a stable life for her unborn child, whatever the cost.

When Paige can't get answers from her mother, she goes looking for the only other person who was there that night. The more she learns about what happened, the more she sees her unflappable, distant mother as a real person faced with an impossible choice. But will it be enough to mend their broken relationship?"

My Thoughts:

Little Pieces of Me is one of those books that is going to stick with me for awhile.  Last year I read (and was broken by but in a good way) this author's debut You and Me and Us.  If you haven't had the opportunity yet to read that one, I highly recommend it as well.  I was nervous to read this one because I enjoyed that first book so much so I was both afraid that it was also going to break me and I wasn't emotionally ready and also worried that I had too high of expectations set for this one.  This book though didn't disappoint in the slightest.    It was just as good of a read as her debut but also very different.  This author has a knack for looking at mother/daughter relationships and bringing them to life in all of their messy glory.  One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book was how real each of the characters felt.  They weren't perfect but instead had faults and just felt like normal, everyday people.  They made mistakes, poor decisions, and had insecurities that just helped me to become even more attached to them.  I even came to respect Paige's mother by the end although I still don't agree with the decisions that she made.  I also really liked how this book was told in two parts: one from Paige's viewpoint as she both learns and tries to deal with the fact that the man who she believed was her father wasn't and the second viewpoint from Paige's mother back in the past before and after she became pregnant with Paige.  It was interesting to see how the events from one viewpoint tied into and led to things that happened in the present.  All in all, this really was an enjoyable read and a good look at what makes up one's own identity.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book and feel like this is an author to watch.  Her books bring about strong emotions for me but in the best of ways.  I hope that she continues to dive into the mother/daughter relationship in different ways because she really does it well.  Readers who enjoy contemporary fiction, women's fiction, and books with characters that come to life for you should give this book a read.  An easy book (and author) for me to recommend!

Bottom Line:  A book that tugged at my emotions as both a mother and daughter.

CW: Grief, lying, cheating, adoption, death of a loved one

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher.  Honest thoughts are my own.

The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler (thoughts)

 

Summary from Goodreads:

"A devoted wife…

A year ago, Gemma met the love of her life, Danny. Since then, their relationship has been perfect. But one evening, Danny doesn’t return home.

A missing husband…
Gemma turns to the police. She is horrified by what she discovers – a serial killer is on the loose in Bristol. When she sees photos of the victims she is even more stunned…they all look just like Danny.

Who would you believe?
But the police are suspicious. Why has no one apart from Gemma heard from Danny in weeks? Why is there barely a trace of him in their flat? Is she telling them the truth, or is this marriage hiding some very dark secrets?"

My Thoughts:

The Perfect Couple was a really enjoyable, page turning read that kept me guessing until the end.  One of my favorite things about this book was that it felt like the perfect blend of domestic suspense and police procedural.  The story was told from two different viewpoints: one from Gemma's point of view where she was dealing with the fact that her husband had gone missing and the second point of view was from the lead inspector who was trying to solve the two recent deaths that had recently occurred and then also gets drawn into the case of Gemma's missing husband.  The fact that there were two recent deaths of men that looked like Gemma's missing husband really had me guessing.  I could not figure out what was going on and was kept guessing the entire time.  I love the way the author set this book up.  I found myself trusting Gemma and rooting for her...then questioning her...then trusting her all over again.  It made up for a really fun reading experience in the end.  Even when I started to "think" that I knew what probably had happened, there were still twists that I didn't expect as well as the fact that I couldn't figure out the why's behind it all.  The night I finished this book I fully intended on getting things done - instead I sat wrapped up in my book until I turned the last page.  I was just completely immersed in the best of ways.  Also, I love the way this book ended!  I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers but it just gave me a very eerie feeling.  I cannot wait to read more by this author!

Overall, I'm sure that you can already tell that I really enjoyed my time reading this book!  I think that readers that enjoy domestic suspense, those readers that enjoy police procedurals, and those readers who enjoy a page-turning, suspenseful read should definitely pick this book up!    This is an author that I plan on reading more of and will be watching for future releases!  An easy book to recommend.

Bottom Line: A suspenseful read that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour.  Honest thoughts are my own.

Goodreads:

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author Links: Website, Twitter, and Instagram