Little Lovely Things by Maureen Joyce Connolly

Rating: 4.5/5 🌟

Thank you Source Books and Netgalley for my review copy!

LITTLE LOVELY THINGS explores the tragic turn of events that lead to every parents worst nightmare.

Chicago, 1991: Medical resident Claire Rawlings wakes up feeling out of sorts. She shrugs it off, it's probably just a reaction to that Hep-C vaccine she recieved. As Claire is driving her two little girls to daycare, her vision starts to blur and nausea overcomes her senses. Claire pulls over right outside a seedy gas station bathroom while her girls sleep peacefully in the backseat. Claire will only be a minute and she'll leave the bathroom door open, the girls will be fine in the car. Moments later, Claire regains conciousness and realizes that she is on the bathroom floor and the door has been closed. In a frenzy, she runs outside to find that her car and her beloved girls are gone.

The police have a difficult time finding leads or possible motives behind the kidnapping. Claire and her husband are desperately surviving on the hope that their daughters are still alive. Claire feels responsible for the kidnapping and the overwhelming guilt and grief eat away at her in the aftermath. Claire and her husband become distant and their marriage begins to unravel. Some time later, Claire meets Jay White, a spiritual Native American drifter who gave some information to the police to help aid the investigation. Claire and Jay bond over the fact that both of their lives were mired by tragedy and form an unlikely friendship. Claire believes that Jay possesses psychic abilities and Jay feels that everything happens for a reason. As it turns out, fate may have brought the two together.

This heart-wrenching psychological thriller had me on the edge of my seat reeling from the shock and dramatic twists. The flawed characters, alternating narrators and fast-paced sequence of events kept me hooked. As a mother, it was easy to feel Claire's insurmountable pain and despair. This book is dark, raw and emotional but also fills you with hope. This is a beautiful story that explores human perseverance, survival and the boundless bonds of love.

“Little Lovely Things” is a deep dive into every parent’s worst nightmare. Glen and Claire’s two little girls disappear, and they are left to figure out what happened and live with the aftermath.
The beginning of this book was absolutely gripping. I devoured the first 30 percent the first night I downloaded it. As the story wore on, however, I found myself wanting more from Claire’s perspective and less of some other characters. This was still a good read and I’d recommend it as a great beach read this summer — it hits shelves in April.

Claire is a mother of two girls - Lily and Andrea - and one day she has an allergic reaction. However, she decides to ignore this and starts to drive the girls so she can go off to work. She feels so ill that she eventually has to pull over and stop at a rest stop. She gets out of the car, leaves it running and thinks the girls are perfectly safe. However, once she comes back they are gone. Vanished. Is this a bad dream??

Claire and her husband start to investigate with local authorities until one day a man name Jay discovers something horrific. Unfortunately this doesn't help with any potential leads they have. Claire cannot sleep, eat, etc. and her marriage is definitely put to the test. I think this raises the question of Could you stick together with your partner/spouse if the unthinkable has happened?. It's raw, real and emotional.

This was my first book by Maureen Joyce Connolly and I believe this is her debut! I loved the emotions that this book brought out in me. I am always a little worried with family dramas that the emotions may be a bit sugar coated but I feel the author did a great job of being super honest and real when it came to what the parents, children and other characters in this story were going through respectively.

This book comes out on April 2, 2019 and if you enjoy some family drama and also suspense I would suggest this one! Thank you to SuzyApprovedBookTours, Sourcebooks and Maureen Joyce Connolly for my copy of this book

For a debut novel, this is an emotional and nerve-wracking read, that portrays in heart-breaking detail, a mother's worst nightmare. I couldn't put it down. The plot is narrated well by the mother, her daughter, the kidnapper and the witness. Excellent descriptive writing and character development.

My Review: This was such a wonderful debut! It was dark and lovely and frightening. I have to say that being a parent this one hit home and I am now keeping an eye on my kids a lot more. It only takes a second for someone to take a hold of a younger child. This one is a very scary reality and one that I hope I never have to experience. And although I have never been in this situation I do know someone who has and what I saw her and her husband go through showed in this debut. I have to say that I think the author did an amazing job out of the gates with this title and story. And I look forward to see what topic she covers next.

This review is so long overdue but so worth giving. I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of Little Lovely Things by Maureen Connolly from NetGalley. It was one I was seeing all over #bookstagram and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it as it was right up my alley by all indicators: a thriller/suspense novel involving a mother thrown into a snowballing set of circumstances leading to a tragic outcome, kidnapped little ones, and a marriage in peril because of the traumatic events a family has endured. I thought this would be a book in the vein of The Perfect Mother and I wasn’t bothered by that, I devoured that book. However what I got was something else and it was a painful (because the pain the author’s words evoked was so palpable) but ultimately a pleasant surprise. This book is not just suspense or thriller. Yes that’s part of it, and yes the points of view toggle between characters including that of the “bad guy” (which I like!) but the writing was fluid, surprisingly literary and lyrical for the genre and more a deep exploration into the pain and shattered lives - the raw emotion - of the people left behind after the event rather than a race to a happy ending or a tidy wrap up. There was not much tidiness here and once I got over the initial surprise of that, I was gratified to have found something different in this book than what I was expecting. I look forward to seeing this book all over Instagram when it officially releases in April and I think Maureen Connolly is an immensely talented writer. I can’t wait to hear what others who have read this book thought about the story. 3.75 out of 5 stars for this one as the storytelling and the disturbing and intense feelings evoked were compelling and surprising. .

I know there are plenty of people who will enjoy this fast-paced, tense debut. I just have a hard time reading about a family who loses two little girls and the aftermath of that one moment.

This story keeping you on the edge of your seat, Little Lovely Things by Maureen Joyce Connolly, is a story of an unimaginable tragedy. The story of deep seated love and how a horrific event, coming from a small wrong decision, can change your life and other lives forever more. This book is passionate, it shares commited love, and the story of tragedy and the question of "can you ever get passed it". I was thoroughly engrossed, I read it in one afternoon not able to put it down and finding at times I was holding my breath. Thank you #NetGalley #Sourcebooks #LittleLovelyThings

This was a bit of a different take on the all too popular child abduction genre. The writing is very good and some interesting and unusual characters make it easy to quickly immerse yourself in this tale. It is quite tragic in places.

It does follow the traditional guilt, blaming and marriage issues that follow child abductions. But then we meet Jay, a fascinating character! Now I can’t say much without giving away spoilers but this character is going to make or break the story for most people. I loved him!

I will say that there was an unrealistic amount of luck and coincidence that occurred but it’s fiction and I’m thinking maybe it was intended because of Jay?? The ending happens a bit too quickly. It would have been nice for a small epilogue (a bit into the future) but the situation was quite complicated to consider addressing properly in a few pages...

Overall, different and very good. I would recommend and read more by this author. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for a copy in exchange for a review.

I have to say, I am always drawn to debut authors!! This one really took my interest and it did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the suspense in this novel. As a parent myself, I could not imagine going through what they did. My emotions were all over the place while reading this. You definitely get drawn in with the characters emotions. This ARC was being highly recommended in a book club group I am a part of online. I am so glad I took a chance and requested it. Thank you to NetGalley, publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this novel for an honest opinion.

The whole duration of this book made me nervous and full of anxiety but in the best way a book can? I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to Maureen Joyce Connolly, Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

It’s a normal, chaotic morning for Claire Rawlings. A medical resident, she faces the regular stress of all working parents to get her young children Andrea, 4, and 15-month-old Lily, ready and out of the door on time. This particular morning she seems to be having an allergic reaction so she takes medication and tries to ignore the pounding in her head. As she drives she is overcome by her increasing symptoms so pulls over to use the bathroom of the gas station. All of a sudden she awakes to find the open door locked and her car containing her precious daughters has gone. The police, an ambulance, and her husband, Glen soon arrive. The stranger she had first alerted to their disappearance even drives to search for them in the direction he saw the stolen car take off. But it is all in vain, there are no clues and both the car and her children appear to have vanished into thin air.

Moira Kelly and Eamon O’Neil are Irish Travellers. They were banished by their clan and finding it increasingly harder to survive being so isolated. On their way to breakfast they spot Claire running into the bathroom. Telling themselves she’s a drug addict undeserving of her children, Eamon decides to steal the car along with the two girls much to Moira’s horror. She demands he takes them back but not only is it against their culture for a traveller woman to order her man what to do, but he holds a secret over her that she is in fear of him exposing. He decides they will take them to a secluded cabin and orders her to drive with the girls in the trunk of their own car so that they aren’t discovered.

Claire lives in limbo as time passes without clues or witnesses. Eventually a witness comes forward with a devastating discovery. Jay White is freshly out of prison, making him an unreliable witness and most of his tale is dismissed by the police. As the years pass they try to move on but the tragedy haunts them, with Claire and Glen living separate lives. The kidnappers live in constant fear of what they did that day being discovered. As they live their lives what none of them foresee is how their fates will converge years later in unexpected ways and how their decisions that day will affect all their lives for many years to come.

I really enjoyed this engrossing debut novel.

The story was narrated by Claire, Moira, Andrea and Jay, which gave us an insight into how not only the parents and one of the victims are affected by the events, which are points of view often explored in these kinds of stories, but also the thoughts and experiences of the kidnappers and a witness. As a mother I had a lot of empathy for Claire but I will admit my immediate reaction on reading that she went to the bathroom without her children made me wonder what on earth she was thinking. This in no way means I thought she deserved to experience every parents worst nightmare, she certainly didn’t, but I did think there were steps she could have taken to at least make what happened less easy for Eamon. I thought her grief and guilt were well written, as was how her marriage was affected by the tragedy. Moira is a hard character to like. I empathised with her in the beginning: being in an abusive relationship and the heartbreaking things she had gone through in life. I also admired how she at least tried to get Eamon to return the girls. But after that all trace of empathy for her disappeared and I found her chapters hard to get through as she was such a vile character. I do think this was necessary though as without it the story wouldn’t have had the same trajectory and you don’t really want to like the person who’s taken two children. Her traveller background did provide an insight into how she would justify and do things that are unthinkable to a lot of people, something that would have been missing from her character without that. The character I liked most, and I didn’t expect this, was Jay. He had a life mired by tragedy and the scene where he makes his discovery is heartbreaking and raw. You see the goodness in him. Also as someone fresh out of prison a lot of people wouldn’t have tried to help like he did. Seeing how much it all affected him years later endeared me to him too. He was genuinely a man trying to change his life, live right and do the right thing whenever possible. Andreas chapters were some of the funniest and most heartbreaking to read. The way she was written when she was taken was fantastic and the scene where she thinks she’s been swallowed by a monster when she’s in the trunk struck me as exactly how a four year old would think in that situation and her terror at realising she’s been taken is heart-rending. The tenacity, itelligence and feistiness she possesses were perfect for her character.

Little Lovely things is a readable psychological thriller filled with tension and drama from the start. Many times it is very raw as we are given an insight into the darkest moments in people’s lives. From the start of part 2 I was sure I knew how the story would end and it turned out that just like my expectations for much of this book, while I was partially right the author also surprised me. A great book for anyone who enjoys this genre.

This book grabbed my heart and didn’t let go for one moment. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook. I absolutely loved this book. It was heart wrenching and made me cry but also made me not want to put it down. What do you do in the face of unimaginable loss? Glen and Claire have to face this question after their daughters are taken in broad daylight and no clues for the police. I loved this book and hope the author continues to write more spectacular books

A great story, written well to captivate the audience. I found it interesting to read between the victims parents and the kidnappers views on the story.

Such wonderful writing and a gripping story! I loved the way Maureen wrote and the way the story was told from different points of view. As a mother, the whole premise of the book (two children being kidnapped while under their mother’s watch) was terrifying and hard to read at times but so well written that I was driven to keep reading to find out what would happen next. My only complaint (and the reason I didn’t give it 5 stars) was the ending. I feel like it was sudden and I would have liked more. I feel like some things were left unresolved and I would like better closure. Overall, a great book that I will definitely recommend and I look forward to reading more by Maureen Joyce Connolly.

*I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a mom of girls, I was hooked from the very beginning! I couldn’t get through the pages fast enough. I thought the characters were well developed and the author kept us guessing.

When Claire Rawlings is driving down the highway with her two small children asleep in the back of the car, the severe nausea that overtakes her forces her to do the unthinkable - pulling over onto a gas station, she leaves the children in the car while she runs to the restroom and passes out. When she comes to a few minutes later, the car - and her children - are gone.

The story drew me in right from the start. I could imagine the horror Claire was feeling when she discovered her children had gone, from panic to disbelief to guilt. I liked the way the story unfolded from thereon in, revealing the impact on each person involved, and following along. Although it is a story of tragedy, it is also uplifting and compelling, and as the story drew to a close, I was willing everything to be alright in the end.

There really wasn't anything I didn't like about the book, and I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

This book really seems to tug at your heartstrings. Many times I found myself almost crying. It tells the story of a woman who is driving to work with her children and pulls over because she feels sick. She leaves the car alone and goes to a gas station bathroom and passes out and when she awakes her daughters are gone. It’s every mother’s nightmare but its written so well, it blows you away. I actually can’t believe this is a DEBUT novel. I will for sure keep an eye out for more books by this author.

Wow!! This was one emotional piece of literature. The combination of a mother’s worst fear, folklore, death, and longing are the basis of this book. I can’t tell you how many times I cried reading this - it is so intense at times, I didn’t know how to control the tears! As a mom, this one sure did scare the crap out of me, but in a way that made me realize not to take what i have for granted. Ever. Hug your babies tight. Every day. This is one “fookin’” good book!

This fine novel captured my attention from the very first page and I found it very hard to stop reading to go back to my ordinary life. The characters are well-drawn and intriguing, and the emotional story of each is beautifully written. I especially loved the interplay of the spiritual and the intuitive throughout the story line. It is not your typical story about missing children, and because of this I highly recommend it.