"What is so horrible about the past that no one can talk about it?" Rooted deep in all the secrets in this book are three love stories...a husband's love for his wife, a father"s love for his daughter and a mother's love for her daughter. An important aspect of this story is how mental illness affects a family and how far a husband and father will go to protect his wife and daughter.
The four main characters (David, Elle, Marie and Grace) are all well-developed as is the plot in this story. I felt Elle's frustration in wanting to know the truth about her mother's past and it's not until the very end that all the truth comes out and the wait is worth it!

WOW! Steena Holmes has hit it out of the ballpark yet again!! Jaw dropping through the whole thing.....better be prepared for an allnighter! Such a great plot and very very interesting characters! If you love a great mystery grab this one up!

I am completely blown away by The Forgotten Ones. I don't want to say too much about the story so I don't spoil it for others who MUST read this book! I read the story in one sitting, my mind racing through all different scenarios. Steena Holmes totally drew me in, spun me around and left me with a serious book hangover!

This book was so good, I read it in one day. This is the first book I've read from this author and she had me hooked on the story from the very beginning. A great mystery with plenty of twist and turns!

I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book.

"I guess in the end, you start thinking about the beginning." " Love isn't always pretty or clear cut. It can't be wrapped in a nice little box and presented with a bow. Sometimes it's ugly and hurtful and does more damage than good." "Family is everything." These are a few of my favorite quotes in this book. This book is heart wrenching and I had to wait for the tears to stop so that I could write this review. This is a book about family drama, loss and mental illness. It also encapsulates so much more. This book made me cry, sob actually. You will need tissues. You will think you know answers to questions, but you will not. This book kept me turning page after page, wanting answers, no, needing answers and yet not wanting it to end. This is a well written portrayal of a dysfunctional family who does the unthinkable. The characters are deeply complex and the dialogue is moving to say the least. Your heart will break, I know that mine did on several occasions. I found this to be Steena Holmes best work to date. It is extremely well written and the flow of the story is exquisite, alternating between characters, it simply said, just works. I will not soon forget this story. My heart is still breaking and I still want to cry. I can not imagine what it must have been like for David, or for the other characters. This is a book that you simply have to read. You must savor every word, every little detail. The ending threw me for a loop, it was quite unexpected. I thought I knew the answers, I did not. I highly recommend this phenomenal book. You will not have an ounce of regret. I am grateful for the privilege to have read it. Thank you to Steena Holmes for another blockbuster of a story. You write with your heart and soul poured into every single word.

Talk about a great book hangover. This amazing novel is one of the authors’ best works and I’m already a big fan. Elle is an amazing young woman. She’s a pediatric Nurse and finds out that her grandfather, who she was told was long dead, is in the hospital where she works. This begins the twisting secrets and lies that have plagued this family for decades. Mental Illness plays a role in this complicated family and you yearn for Elle to get the answers she truly needs. She’s a very likeable heroine and someone you’d want as a friend. Someone you want to see overcome and succeed and have a good life.
I love books that are unpredictable, ones that make you think and wonder “what would I do?” The author has that way of getting you in the story, feel the emotions, gasp out loud at times and turn pages late into the night. You get to know the other characters enough to know their story which all ties into the decades long family secrets.
I loved this book. I want everyone I know to read it. I want to share Steena Holmes with the world. 5 stars and a huge hug to the author for this very special book.

I am never disappointed in a Steena Holmes novel. This one was no different except I think is my brand new favorite of hers. It was so good. I received a copy of this awesome book from Steena via NetGalley and Lake Union. To them I am forever grateful for the best books ever.

I used to believe wishes were like fairy tales: all you had to do was make one, and your happily ever after would come true. I don’t believe that anymore.
Home meant love and security and family.
I guess in the end, you start thinking about the beginning.
There is never enough time. Never.
When you were born, I made you a promise. I swore to always protect you, to put you first, to make sure you grew up surrounded by laughter and love.
Those are a few of the lines that kept me turning pages and wanting more.

Elle is a nurse, daughter and best friend. She learns that her grandfather is in the hospital where she works and dying of cancer. She had thought he died already so was very curious to know him. Her mother told her to not believe a word he said. She had always said her parents were dead. To her they were. Grace has been taking care of Anna since she was a small child. There are secrets that need to be told and Elle has to decide who is telling the truth and who is not.

This book pulled me in from the very beginning and was so hard to put down. It is so well written and the subject matter is one that will make you wonder what really happened. Should David really blame himself for everything that happened. I didn’t think so but I also felt for Gertie, Anna’s parents.

There is so much love, laughter and mental illness in this story. Told from different points and goes back and forth from now to the past. I thought I had it figured out a few times but I never got it right. Just when you think you know who is who or what is what another twist. It’s one that holds your attention all the way. I wish there would be a sequel to this one just to find out about another character, her daughter and her family. Also to see how Elle handles her life.

I just don’t have words enough to describe how much I truly loved this book. It was a bit of magic in parts and sad in parts. It will make you need a box of Kleenex for sure but so worth every tear. It was just an all around wonderful story, book, novel. Thank you Steena Holmes for the chance to read such a good book. My favorite as I said. I LOVED IT!!!

Be prepared for this book to keep you up late reading, for once you begin it is very hard to put down. A meeting with her grandfather who she believed to be dead for year, leads to Elle trying to decipher family secrets that have filled her with a sense of dread for many years. Character development is excellent and you will be rushing through the book to discover where does the truth really lie.
Another successful novel from author Steena Holmes. Put this one on your to be read list as it is definitely a 5 star read.

I am a Steena Holmes super fan. I own every single book she has written on my kindle. This is her best book to date! I loved the characters and could feel every emotion right along with them.This was a heartbreaking story of lies, secrets, and ultimate love and sacrifice for ones family. Elle is a nurse who grew up with her mom Marie and her mom's caregiver Grace. Elle's mom suffers from mental illness. Elle did not have an easy childhood but Grace was always there for her when her mom couldn't be. One day Elle receives a letter from her grandfather asking to meet her. As Elle meets her grandfather, she realizes she has been lied to her entire life by her mom. Elle needs to piece together what she has been told and what her grandfather is telling her to figure out the past. This story has so many layers, and just as you think you have something figured out a new twist comes. I found the characters believable, the story unforgettable, and a completely all consuming ride. I received an advanced readers copy from the author and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Forgotten Ones is an utterly compelling book, as startling family secrets are unraveled piece by piece. Elle is a nurse, and her family has always consisted of just her and her mother...until the day she discovers that her grandfather, a man she thought was dead, is a patient at her hospital. He starts telling her stories, stories her mother says are lies...but Elle doesn’t know who to believe. This story is haunting, full of unexpected revelations; a story of love, and madness, and a man who must make the most difficult choice of his life.

The Forgotten Ones is filled with many secrets, some characters that you will like and some you won't and a lesson - namely that honesty really is the best policy, especially when it comes to family. Well, that is the lesson I took from it. Others may take something else away from this book.

What do you do when you suddenly hear from a grandfather you'd been told was dead? If you're like most people, you try to figure out why you were told that, which is exactly what happens in Steena Holmes' latest novel. Unfortunately, that rather simple task is made harder by individuals that suffer from mental illness and a grandfather that mostly relates truths as stories or maybe truths.

I was pulled into this story immediately, primarily due to fascination with family histories and I enjoyed reading it even when I grew frustrated with a character's behavior that I didn't care for. That's okay though because who cares for everyone? Certainly not me and upon further examination, that character had reasons for her prickliness.

Reading this was like playing with a matryoshka, those Russian nesting dolls. Just when you think you might be at the end, more would come out. If you enjoy family dramas, mystery or suspense, then this is definitely a book you'll will want to pick up. It keeps you wondering, asking why and then wondering some more.

Thank you to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for making an ARC available to me.

Wow! This book grabbed (and held) my attention from the very beginning. Elle thinks her grandparents are dead only to discover that her grandfather is alive, but dying. She visits him in the hospital to try to piece together her mom's past and find out why her mom, Marie, wants nothing to do with her family. I really liked how the author switched between the viewpoint of Elle and David (her grandfather) with a little bit of her mother thrown in. What Elle finds out through David's stories is so unbelievable she tries to determine fact from fiction. This book also highlights the limited options offered in the 50s for dealing with mental illness and the stigmas that went with it. I highly recommend this book. I was provided with an ARC from the author via NetGalley.

Mind. Blown. A line from the book, and how I feel after reading it. Steena Holmes weaves a tantalizing tale that keeps the reader on their toes until the end. The story involves a young woman, Elle, who is searching for answers to her past that her mentally unstable mother is unable or unwilling to provide. Elle discovers that her grandfather is dying at the very hospital she works at. The two become acquainted over a series of stories he tells. But what is fact and what is fiction? Elle is left to piece together snippets of information told to her by her grandfather, mother, mother’s caregiver, and old family friends. However, sometimes the truth is more horrifying than fiction. Fans of Jessica Strawser’s Not That I Could Tell and Catherine McKenzie’s Fractured will love this book!

Steena Holmes has once again given her readers an unforgettable story that will keep them turning pages until the end. Warning - don't make any plans for the day that you start reading this book because you won't put it down until the last page is read.

Elle is a nurse and grew up in a dysfunctional family. Her mother has mental illness and Elle has worried about taking care of her mom for her whole life. Elle has been told that she has no other family - that her grandparents died before she was born. Imagine her surprise when she finds out that her grandfather is dying at the same hospital she works at. As she tries to get her family secrets answered, it is very upsetting for her mom and very confusing for Elle who doesn't know who to believe - someone is lying - it is her grandfather or her Mom?

This is a complex family drama with characters that are so well written that you feel like you know them. The family secrets are revealed slowly and we don't know the total family story until the end which makes it an even more intriguing. This is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Wow! I’ve just finished this book and am overwhelmed.
Yet again another well written book that draws you in and leaves you wanting more.
I loved getting to know David, Ella, Marie and Grace and reading their stories and finding out how their lives connect.
I loved that the book ended leaving me wanting to know more and feel this could lead to a sequel although this isn’t necessarily needed. I’m just a greedy reader

“There is never enough time. Never."
An intense family secret is the theme of this moving, heartwrenching novel.
A young woman amazingly finds her grandfather in the very same hospital where she works as a nurse. She had been told he was dead from the time she was young and now on his deathbed, he has a story to tell to try to right the wrongs of years passed.
I loved and savored this book of love, mental illness, and family.
The details and writing of this story are amazing and I believe this is Steena Holmes’s best work yet!