My review
Lucinda or Lu as she is known as, is adopted and after a tragedy, goes in search of her birth mother and finds Mellyn. The first part of the story deals with their emotional meeting after so many years. But slowly things start unravelling between them which leads to doubts and secrets. All is not what is seems!!
My first book by author Amanda James, a good book to read. I liked the way Amanda has shown the inner workings of Lu’s brain, the emotions which hit her in the beginning, followed by suspicion and fear. In the entire book, I felt Lu was like a wave advancing and retreating depending on Mellyn’s moods.
Though I liked the development of Mellyn’s character, I felt that the suspense shown could have been better. I liked both the characters but couldn’t connect with either.
There were a few niggles, which delayed the read, took me 4 days to finish, which is far too long for me. The story started slow, and had its moments of intensity, but didn’t last. It dealt more with the day to day life of Lu with her birth mother. The premise of the story was great, but I wanted the pitch to be higher for it to be classified as a complete thriller.
The author has written the book well, making it more of a family thriller with an unexpected twist in the epilogue.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bloodhound Books and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating : 3.5 stars
About the Author
Amanda James was born in Sheffield and now lives in Cornwall with her husband and two cats. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, singing and spending lots of time with her grandson. She also admits to spending far too much time chatting on Twitter and Facebook! Amanda recently left her teaching role (teaching history to sixth form pupils) to follow her ambition to live her life doing what she most enjoys–writing.
Book blurb
Adopted at birth, for years Lu has secretly dreamt of finding her birth mother but childhood bullying has left her with a lack of confidence. When a tragic accident changes her life forever it sets her on a mission to get in contact with her birth mother and find out the reasons behind her adoption.
When she tracks down her mother in Cornwall there is an emotional reunion and the pair begin to form a relationship.
But is everything as wonderful as it appears or has Lu walked into a nightmare?
Product Details
Publication date : 10th April, 2018
Publisher : Bloodhound
Language : English
Available on Amazon
Family thriller
85 Responses
Nice review Shalini!
Thank you so much. And what made you think I am an insomniac?
Just felt (sixth sense ;p)
Hahaha tell your sixth sense that it is probably gone to sleep so it’s not working well hehehe
lolz will do
😊
😀
🤔
thinking ??? Y so ;p
As to why you are grinning so much
nothing, it’s just a smile ;p, How was your day?
Very hectic, how was yours?? Did you have fun?
No fun..it’s not weekend na…just another routine day
Oh… Do you do fun stuff on weekends?? 😉
haha yes 😉
Wonderful…
hmm,what about you?
For me all days are the same… Being a freelancer
lucky you are! flexible working 🙂
Haha that equates to flexible money
haha 🙂 I sent a msg on goodreads check
Checked and replied
Thanks
Nice review! Is it weird that when you said that you hoped the pitch would be higher in the book all I could picture was a bunch of dogs chasing it?? Yes. Yes that’s weird…
Hahaha that was weird. Well, maybe if the dogs chased the 2 women, I would have read it faster, not taken 4 days 😉😉
LMAO!!!! 😂😂 So true!
🤣😂🤣😂 It would make a nice story, anyone listening???
Psh. We’ll just have to write it ourselves. 😉
Hahaha… Bring it on… I may need your drinks to bring out the weirdness in me 😉😉
Oh you’re on!! Although, you may be frightened at how weird I get WITH the drinks!! It’s only 11am here and I’m weird enough already!! 😂😂🍻👍
Hahahaha. It’s 8 15pm here. I am pretty sane… And I realized how weird you are with the dog comment. Hahaha… Now I am hearing the dog noises. Till I realized my neighbor has a dog visiting…. Hahaha
LMAO!! It’s like I summoned them!!! Ooooooooo…..eerie music….
You betcha… The dog barked its lungs out till it quietened… More eerieness
Now, THAT should be in our story!!! Why did the dog stop barking?? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!!!
Why are the neighbors quiet suddenly too?? What happened? Why is there a lock on the door when I didn’t hear them going out
(more ominous music) this is DEFINITELY a case for….. SHALINI AND NICOLE!!!
Oh yeah… We should investigate… Will report back if the door ever gets unlocked or if I hear noises… Standby till then…
Oh, I’ll be here doing my research on dog barks and their meaning and door locks… Let me know! We’ll compare notes!!
I hear strange noises, someone unable to open the lock but no dog.. No barks..
UNABLE to open the lock?? Hmmm…. Curious. Clearly I should have started my research earlier…
True that… Where did the barking dog go? The usual neighbors are gone, there are some new people entering, but no dog…
Ok… So, maybe these people entered earlier and killed the regular neighbours. They didn’t expect the dog as its not normally there. So, the either killed the dog too, or took the dog somewhere (I mean, killing an animal wasn’t part of the plan!!) and now they’re coming back to clean up the mess…
Nah the dog was a visiting dog, so probably belonged to these new people. But I can’t hear the old neighbours and there is no dog. It seems to have vanished. I can hear noises from the kitchen but no lights in the other rooms. Curiouser and curiouser… I am seriously standing at the window to see what the heck is happening
Told you! These people aren’t the owners! They were there to kill the owners and didn’t expect the dog BECAUSE it was visiting!!
Haha…. Good one. The dog belongs to these new people. I have seen them with the dog. But now no dog, no old neighbors, house in darkness, noise from the kitchen and some strange music…. Hahaha I am scaring myself away..
Hm. Maybe the old neighbours have run off with their dog and they broke in to get clues to their whereabouts??
Maybe they are usurpers.. Its 10 20, my old neighbors are generally home by this time of night. Weird… It is not even the weekend..
Lol!! I keep forgetting what time it is for you! (Even though you just told me) that IS really weird!! Isn’t it a little late for them to be there even IF these people had their dog??
I agree.. I am trying to peer through my window. Can’t see much. Why are there no lights, it’s 10 30… Got to have lights in the room
Especially when you’re not the owner of the house… who goes to someones house and prowls around in the dark??
Their relatives come at any time of day or night sometimes at 2am making a lot of noise. This was too quiet an entry for them.. They are a noisy bunch usually
…. You have some weird neighbours… says me, who has her father in law walking in at all hrs (usually, when I’m unclothed) and he’ll be walking in the back door (because, why knock??) while I’m trying to sneak upstairs to put some pants on! Lol!!
Omg omg hahaha such a funny scenario. Why are you unclothed at any time of day or night? OK night is understandable.
Hey man, what can I say?? I’m a nudist at heart!! 😍💖🍻🛀
Hahaha… 🤣🤣😂😂 If it’s only at heart, it’s fine. In reality it is always going to be a rush to find clothes and get into them hahaha
The burdens we secret nudists must bare…. (see what I did there?? BARE??!! I CRACK MYSELF UP!!! 😂😂😂
At this rate of baring, everyone and the world would see your crack!!! 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂
Ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!! (I wish there was a nude or butt emoji I could use right now! Come on technology, catch up!!) 😂😂
This is not technology which needs to catch up. You have gone to the cave men style of living, one with nature, no clothes all bared. Hahaha… And we get to bear with the bare without an emoji….
You got to understand it’s half hour to midnight the bewitching hour
🐻🐻 a bear is the closest I can find after all of this BARING of our souls. 😂😂
Hahaha I was thinking about the same thing. Wait I thought of a great dialog while brushing teeth.
With the hour being barely sane, I could barely bear to hear you being bare, so I decided to make a bear🐻 of your bare
LMAO!!!!!! I I can 🐻LY 🐻 to contain my laughter!! 😂🐻😉😉🍻 NOW GO TO BED YOU CRAZY LADY!! 💖💖🌛🌛
Hahaha.. I am barely bearing to stay awake, till your bear bared his tushie to me… Haha this was horrible. Hahahaha
… That’s proof you should be sleeping!! 🐻🐻😂😂😂💖 LMAO!!!
Hahaha yp on my way, just having a peek at the window, no dog, no original neighbors, will check tomorrow, who are these new people… Lots to do tom
Let me know!! I need to know how things work out!! So we can write the end of the story!! 💖
The story continues… It got derailed by the baring of your crack, and with bearing of my stoic expression
Ya. I normally derail people with my crack… That tragic bus….
Hehe… I am done till laters, my darling bared babe… Enjoy the au natural state. Have fun 😉😉😘😘
And you… Sleep! 😘😙😍
They weren’t “having trouble” with the lock. THEY WERE BREAKING IN!!
Breaking in is possible….. I didn’t check through the peep hole, it they were the original neighbors…. Scary
Nice review but it seems like a boring book to me as I have heard about the similar kind of books.
Maybe, it was okay, it had its twists.
I really think it might be different in writing style or it might have its own twist but the story line seem regular. 😊😉
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Thanks Michael
😉
Another nice review, Shalini! I also think you are an insomniac. 😉 Four days for one book is too long. Oh my God! LOL Michael
Hehehe… No I am not. I read books on the go on my phone. That’s how I finish. Haha. Thanks Michael
On the streets ???? May Kali protect you! Michael
Haha not exactly on the streets but while travelling haha
I know 4 days was just soooo long
Good review and sounds like u nailed it.
Thank you so much. I am glad you liked it.❤️💜