Surrogacy gone very wrong. That’s the simplest explanation for this book. I don’t want to give too much away by saying more.

I really enjoyed this one. It kept me on the edge of my seat and even though I thought I had it all figured out pretty early on, I was wrong!

This thriller about 2 women living parallel lives that are intertwined due to family comes through with the twists that you don’t see coming. Libby and Anna are connected through the desire to have a family, the desire to be able to survive, and their stories end up being more connected than you could imagine as the plot unfolds. Just when you think you are sure of how the story ends, one final twist makes you question everything you thought you knew.

Yet another fiction book with ‘unstable women’ as main characters. Maybe because I don’t have children I don’t understand that driving need to have them, but this book just did not work for me. I liked neither Anna nor Libby, and found myself rolling my eyes at times over the dialogue and progression of the story. The premise started out so interesting and unique but the storytelling got in the way.
Thank you for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

A bit predictable, but the writing and pace were well done. A solid thriller you can read in a weekend.

A topic so scary it can give every mother nightmares happens when your child is missing. What happens when you find the person who took him, but still can't find your child? Well, this story line is truly unique to me! Haylen Beck set up a story line that looked familiar then threw a big monkey wrench into it! This is not your everyday, run of the mill missing child mystery. A great look at how today's medical sciences can complicate lives. The story is really good. This one deserves a movie of the week!

Not my very favorite book, but not one you just cannot finish. I thought that it would be a favorite of mine by reading the synopsis, and in the beginning I knew I was right, but towards the middle of the book it became entirely too slow paced and directions sort of shifted, making it hard to get through. I do think that it’s one most will enjoy and get some thrills and chills, but absolutely not one I will be calling my favorite ever. A solid 3 star read.
I will be letting members of Chapter Chatter Pub know about it’s upcoming release!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.
This was a good read, and a genre I am quite familiar with. That said, it did not stand out from the pack for me, but had strong moments.
I liked the start with the missing boy, and wondered often when the plot would return to that scene.
The main storyline here was a surrogate mom who decides to change plans, and the havoc that ensued because of her choice. A woman and her husband who planned on bringing home a child, the husband somewhat reluctantly, were in for a shock and she became a little unhinged - putting it mildly. I don't want to give away too much, just know that it takes turns and twists, and some time later the plot comes full circle. I didn't see all the details coming - how it ended really - but some parts seemed a tad familiar.
I enjoyed this book, read it quickly, but would have l0ved to see some more new, fresh material.

Strong start but I got a little bit distracted or lost in the middle of it. Overall a good story, but it just didn't grab me the way I hoped based on the book blurb. Thank you netgalley.

Pub date August 6, 2019

There is more than meets the eye in this dark thriller about 2 mothers in a fierce battle over the child they each believe is hers. I feel that saying anything more about the plot would give too much away, but it goes to a place I didn't predict or see coming. I rated this at 3.5 stars overall. I was definitely gripped by the story and invested in the characters and the outcome.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Being a fan of Stuart Neville's Northern Irish novels, I was thrilled to get an ARC of LOST YOU from NetGalley. But this foray into psychological fiction wasn't really for me. It started off with a believable premise, but devolved from there into a series of incredible events. I wasn't attached to any of the characters in a useful way, so as the storytelling got crazier I didn't quite have anything to latch onto.
thelithaven.com

The story opens with Libby Reese taking a much needed vacation with her three and a half year old son, Ethan. Libby's husband left when Ethan was six months old.

While on vacation, Libby befriends a gay couple, Charles and Gerry. Ethan was fascinated with the elevator, and while Libby and Charles were talking, Ethan headed into an elevator and started pressing buttons. Terrified Libby took the stairs to try to connect with her son on a floor, but Ethan seems to disappear. A search begins, and footage on the security camera show a woman with Ethan. When the woman is confronted, and asked who she is, her response is puzzling. She claims to be Ethan's mother.

I enjoyed this book a great deal! When I first started reading it, I thought it was going to be a child abduction story, to some degree it is, but it's so much more. The more the story unfolded, the more my emotions flipped flopped from feeling bad for Libby, then bad for Anna. Two women, strangers, but linked together and what happens when one changes her mind.

The subject matter touches on emotions of trying to conceive and how exhausting all avenues can lead to desperation and those who are willing to prey on the vulnerable for a price.

Enjoyable read!

I received an ARC from NetGalley via Crown Publishing in exchange for my honest opinion.

Every mother’s worst nightmare.... you looked away for a moment and your child is gone. This story takes you deep into how the mother feels and also adds an element of suspense. You find yourself asking how can this be and what would you do.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an average thriller. There were some "twists" but they were pretty predictable. I did like how the perspective changed so that you could see the story through both main character's eyes and how neither of them was exactly who you thought they were in the beginning. Because things were so predictable I did have a little trouble staying engaged and got a bit bored in the middle of the book. The end wrapped up a little quickly. Not a bad read if you have nothing else but it isn't one I'd run out and look for.

What an amazing thriller! Absolutely loved it; every roller coaster moment of it. This book was full of surprises, and there was no boring moment. I highly recommend it.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I really thought the book started out good. Libby was a writer and went away with her son Ethan. The story goes on with Ethan missing and once found, two women claiming to be his mother which brings about the surrogacy story. It was just okay and I did feel like the foul language was a little too much.

I received this as an ARC. I really liked this book. It wasn't as good as his last book though. It is suspenseful fiction that will keep you guessing.

Lost You was just okay for me. Psychological Thrillers seem to be a dime a dozen at the moment and it's hard to find one that is truly unique while also being realistic. While the plot was interesting the main characters made this more of a chore to read - I couldn't empathize with them and before long genuinely didn't like them. There was a decent twist but it takes more than a twist for me to really love a book.

I received a free e-copy of Lost You by Haylen Beck from NetGalley for my honest review.

I loved how this book started out. Throws you right in and then we go back to the beginning of the story with with the story of Anna. Anna is working as a waitress but gets let go due to the business not doing so well. Anna then struggles to get a job and is financially strapped. Her friend who still has her job at the diner comes across a job in the paper and that is when everything changes.

Anna decides to take a job being a surrogate mother for another couple who live in another state. The couple in the other state are aware that this is illegal in their state but the firm they hire says it is legal because they do all the transactions in the state the mother is in and watch over the surrogate mother through the whole process.

Things continually change with the other family's heated and emotional problems, relationship issues and so much more. Anna, is also finding she is growing to love this little "butterfly" in her belly. Now she wants to keep the baby but the man in charge of watching over just won't have it. What lengths will this man go to to make her stay committed to her contract? You can only imagine.

The fight over this child thickens and so many lives are at stake. I really like this book to start off with, even with the unlikable characters. As the book went on though, I found myself just sitting and reading and saying "REALLY", come on. Just some very unbelievable things but I do appreciate the opportunity to read it.

1 like

Libby has been raising Ethan as a single mom for a while, and are finally able to go on a much needed vacation. But something is bothering Libby. And she is right to be worried.
Ethan becomes lost in an elevator, and is seen on CCTV being led away by a stranger. But when the police finally catch up with this stranger, the woman insists she is not returning him for reasons that set the story in motion.
Lost You is a good suspense novel, just when you think you have it figured out, you are sent on another twisting ride.

Wow this book was good. I loved how she made al the characters crazy. At one point I was on Anna sides and hating Libby. I still don’t like Libby for what she did but then once Anna got out of the hospital and played her mind. I honestly couldn’t stand her. This story line was so suspenseful and different. I would highly recommend this book to a friend.