Many thanks to Rachel and Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on this Blog Tour.

Years ago when I was bright and innocent, I played the game Simon Says. Now decades later, I read the book and it raised my hackles. Innocence lost, oh so slowly, grooming a child of 14, making her pregnant and threatening her brought my need for justice to the forefront. Oh, how my vengeant heart wanted revenge!!

Author Jo Wesley has written a book so authentic that I couldn’t help but see the scenes like a movie horrifying. The creepiness slithered silently like a snake, its venom subtle but deadly. The story shown was dark, its barbs hooking me deeply into the story of Cindy who was groomed by Simon and then delivered her daughter Ella but managed to escape him. Oh how I wanted her to be safe forever!!

She ran for her life, her daughter was being raised by her elder sister Mandy. But life wasn’t kind to her. She was on the crossroads and had to return home just to discover the abhorrent truth. Simon had now moved in with Mandy and ELLA WAS 13 YEARS OLD. Would the cycle begin again? Oh how I wished it weren’t so!!

Written in dual timelines, Jo Wesley has depicted both the timeframes when Cindy was slowly pulled into Simon’s web and years later when she was back home with twins. The book unfurled a story which was scary, yet it happened frequently in life. Oh, how I felt helpless at this point!!

I cried when innocence was lost, I wanted to take this child and protect her from the predators. How children were brainwashed to believe the wrong person. But I could do nothing but read the story. The writing was raw and gritty with Cindy’s emotions hitting me hard. Oh, how I wanted to cry at the wrongness of it all!!

The scenes of the past put a shiver down my soul, as I was seething by the time I read the whole section. The predators never stopped, a kind word here and a gift there, they soon overpowered a child’s tender mind. Oh, how I wanted to protect this child!!

With Simon coming back to threaten her once again, I was happy to see how Cindy gathered up her strength against him and fought for her firstborn. My heart, though heavy, was lightened by the end of the book. One of my toughest reads!! How how I was proud of Cindy and the author who wrote her story!!

I received a free ARC from Rachel and the author, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Her new life may not be perfect but she’s happy. Until she makes a terrible decision – and learns the hard way that home is not a place of refuge.

Not while Simon lurks in every shadow.

He groomed her as a teen: terrorised her into fleeing and leaving her baby behind. Now the man who destroyed her childhood has become the perfect father to her teenage daughter. And her return threatens his future.

A desperate man is a dangerous one.

Simon says she must leave or suffer the consequences. She refuses.

Now it’s his move. Because it’s not enough to face your demons.

Sometimes, you must destroy them.

Publication Date: 11th July 2019