A Family of Strangers by Emilie Richards. I've read past books by this author and enjoyed them and this book hasn't disappointed me. A drama with issues and secrets between family members. A fast paced roller coaster of a ride.

Ryan has lived in her sister Wendy’s shadow most of her life. She never felt like she “fit in” with her family. Wendy calls Ryan and asks her to come home and take care of her neices because Wendy may be accused of murder. Ryan discovers family secrets. How far will one go to protect family?
This was a fascinating story and had many layers. There was mystery, family drama, secrets, and a little romance. Many thanks to Harlequin-MIRA and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have read all of Emilie Richards books and even though this is a slight change from her normal genre, it's fantastic and my favorite of all of her books. Her past books have been women's fiction but her new book has a central mystery that keeps you guessing until the end.

Though Ryan and Wendy are sisters, they were never close because there were so many years between them. Wendy was ready to start college when Ryan was born. Wendy was a successful business woman who helped her dad run the family business. She was married to a military person who was gone for long periods of time in submarines and they had 2 young daughters. Ryan had a successful podcast about cold cases. Out of the blue, Wendy calls Ryan and says she can't come home because she may be accused of a murder and asks Ryan to move into her home (4 hours away) and take care of her daughters until she can get home. That is all she tells her! Ryan has to try to keep the truth from her mother and her father who is recovering from a heart attack without worrying them. The two little girls are not overly friendly to Ryan and as she tries to win them over, she is spending most of her time trying to figure out what is really going on with her sister. The more she learns, the stranger things get! Blood may be thicker than water, but what does Ryan owe a sister who, with every revelation, becomes more and more a stranger?

This is an excellent family drama with a central mystery that affects the entire family. Even though Ryan is the sister who didn't feel like she was part of the family, she stepped up when she was asked for help from her sister. I thought that she was a very strong and resilient character who went well beyond to help her family. I enjoyed her scenes with her nieces as she tried to pull them out of their shells. There is also some romance for Ryan when she meets up with her old boyfriend. This is a wonderful story about love and family and how far people will go to protect the ones they love.

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

I love this author’s books! I thought this was well written. It had some twists and surprises thrown in! Thank you for the early copy

Slow and mundane. The story dragged with too many details. It made it difficult to connect with the characters.

A Family of Strangers by Emilie Richards: a suspenseful Women’s Fiction work that may have you questioning things you recall about your own family. Do we ever truly know everything about our siblings? Do yourself a favor and add this title to your must be read list. The character development is incredible & the plot line is fast-paced and twisted.

Ultimately this is a story of sisters. Ryan is the younger sister and has never felt like she fits in with her family. Wendy is the perfect older sister Ryan is always comparing herself to and falling short. When Wendy calls in trouble and needing Ryan's help she rushes to her family. This is a story of family secrets, the lengths of family love, and lots of family drama. I enjoyed the twists and turns in the book and it did keep me guessing. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Oh my goodness, Emilie Richards really wow’ed me with A Family of Strangers!!! Being that this is the first novel I’ve read from Emilie, I was pleasantly surprised that I immediately connected with her writing style.

This addictive novel centers around Ryan Gracey, who is trying figure out why her straight laced, responsible sister, Wendy, leaves town. Even crazier yet, Wendy calls and says she’s been accused of murder! Ryan jumps into aunt-mode to take care of Wendy’s two daughters at the same time trying to get to the bottom of what is happening with Wendy!

The storyline was fast paced with some well timed twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat (I honestly never saw most of them coming)! A Family of Strangers is primarily a mystery/thriller, but I really enjoyed how Emilie Richards weaved in a sweet romance as well—so realistic and organic! I think the title A Family of Strangers is spot on for this 4.5 star novel! I can’t wait to read more from Emilie Richards in the future!

Emilie Richards is a must read author. This story didn’t not disappoint. It was riveting and had me hooked from the first page. I couldn’t not wait to get back to it every time I had to put it down. A definite must read. I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an hones review.

A Family of Strangers by Emilie Richards 4 stars

This is the first time I have read a book by this author. It was entertaining, suspenseful and engrossing. The book starts out with a scene from childhood, with a big sister talking with her little sister. The scene is sweet and cute. The book switches to the present, the little girl, Ryan has grown up to be an investigative journalist and does a podcast focusing on cold cases. She receives a phone call from her big sister, Wendy asking for her help. She needs to care for her two nieces and stay with them. This begins a mystery thriller that ultimately tries to answer one question - What has Wendy done and who is she really? There are twists and turns that surprised me. I won't spoil the ending, but it's a winner.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin/MIRA for the ARC of this book.

A Family of Strangers by Emilie Richards Publication date June 25, 2019 HARLEQUIN - MIRA This was the first Emilie Richards book I’ve read. Although it took me a while to finish it, it wasn’t because it wasn’t good, it was because life got in the way and I couldn’t sit and read as I normally do. Actually, I rather enjoyed it. I thought of it as a mystery suspense type genre. It did seem a little slow in the beginning for me but once I got into it, it held my interest and kept me reading. About midway into the book there’s a surprise or twist in the storyline that totally shocks you because you never anticipate it. From that point on, it gets really interesting. This is a family drama with deep emotional secrets. I’d like to thank NetGalley, Harlequin - MIRA and author Emilie Richards for allowing me the chance to read an early copy and give my honest opinion. I did struggle with the decision as to give it a 4 or 5 star rating.

Family relationship with plenty of drama between sisters. I could not connect to the book. It just seems to go on. After a while, it just became painful to figure out the reason. I had to set it aside and pick it back up. It was just not on I cared for about.
Thank you, NetGalley for the advance copy.

A Family of Strangers is a little bit second chance romance wrapped in a big whopping mystery. Ryan was born to her parents late in life and always felt she did not measure up to her big sister Wendy. Ryan is busy running her successful true crime podcast when big sis calls her up asking for a favor. Wendy is on the run, afraid that she will be arrested for murder and needs someone to care for her girls while she's gone. Ryan returns home to care for the girls as her mother is struggling to take care of her father, recovering from heart problems. As she steps into her sisters home and life, Ryan quickly discovers all is not as it appears- her sister's shiny life is teetering on pedestal of lies. Dangerous circumstances send Ryan running back to Teo and Biz, the love of her life and his furry partner, the duo who saved her life once before even with terrible consequences. Using every available resource as a True Crime investigator, Ryan digs out the truth in the web of lies while building a new life with her nieces and Teo. Ryan is a sympathetic character and Teo is sexy and sweet while everyone needs a Biz in their lives. Ryan's nieces tug the heart strings and inspire even deeper feelings about Wendy's character. Suspenseful and twisted, the story drew me in and the romance was just icing on the cake for a really good read from a new to me author that I'll be looking for more from. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

I've never read anything by this author before and wonder if I made a mistake. The book was long and drawn out, and while this is something I hesitate to do, I didn't finish it. For that reason, it would be difficult for me to give a more positive feedback. My thanks to NetGalley for the this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a reader of romance novels and women's fiction. I rarely read murder mysteries, and when I do they tend to be packaged along with romance or women's fiction, like A Family of Strangers. I'm smart enough to realize that these books are fiction, but when I finish reading any book, I like to think that once I accept the premise that these people lived at a certain time in a certain place, the rest of the book could be true--even if it is stupid self-published romance about aliens--once I accept that those aliens exist, I like to be able to consider the story plausible.



This book begins with Ryan, who is a true-crime podcaster, getting a phone call from her much older sister. The sister has been out of town on business, and is afraid she is going to be framed for a murder. She needs to disappear for a while. Can Ryan watch the kids--she had left them with the grandparents, but Grandpa just had emergency heart surgery and Grandma can't handle everything. Ok, so far, so good. Maybe not the smartest move on the sister's part, but hey, I've never thought I'd be accused of murder, so who knows what was going through her mind.



Over the next few months, Ryan's sister, Wendy, drops some clues and Ryan does some sleuthing and finds out not only what likely happened to her sister, but also learned that some things about her own life weren't what she thought. At the end, my only thought was "really?". None of it made any sense. Ryan followed this trail of clues but I just don't think that if the initiating incident had happened to the characters Richards drew that the rest of the story would have gone down that way. Honestly the only halfway realistic part of the story was the romance plot and yes, surprisingly enough, she and the guy ended up together.



While Emilee Richard's books are usually favorites, I'm afraid this one just wasn't.



Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGally. Grade: C+

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I found this book to be a page turner, and although it's noted as a mystery, I'd almost place it in simply fiction. This is a family story, and I liked the background of the main character being a podcaster, which is very much current. I liked the twists, the interaction from the family members, and interestingly, seeing how people perceive their past as one thing, when sometimes it's entirely different. The only reason I didn't give this a five was because I felt that some of the reactions to one sister missing weren't realistic. The characters are well developed, and I enjoyed it a lot. These characters almost lend themselves toward a series. I usually don't care for that, but in this case, I think it would work.

Not what I thought it would be, I found this book too slow moving for me and didn't like the style of Emilie's writing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

“A Family of Strangers” was a story that had a lot going on in it. The twists and turns really took me by surprise. I went through many emotions while reading about Ryan Gracey’s adventure into figuring out what is going on with her sister, Wendy, and in their family dynamics which is full of complicated issues. The authors writing style flowed well.
Altogether a story with mystery, family loyalties, humor, family secrets...a little of everything to keep you wanting to read to the last pages.
I received this book from NetGallery in exchange for a honest review.

I enjoyed this book because of the characters. The two main characters were interesting, they kept me reading so that l could find out what happened to the sister who turned out to be a murderer. It was a believable story.

This book was a long, slow-moving "mystery" (more fiction than anything) that did not hold my attention very well although I trudged through until the end. The book is more about the relationship between two sisters, Ryan and Wendy, than it was a murder mystery. It was likable enough, I didn't dislike it, but it was wordy and i felt like I was missing something important so I had to double and triple back to make sure I hadn't missed something.
Thanks to Emilie Richards, Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.