Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

I picked this book up and put it down so many times. And I kept having to remind myself to pick it back up. I don’t think it’s the author’s or the story’s fault so much as it is I’ve just read too many books in this genre back to back and maybe weary them.
What I appreciate about the story and writing is that it tells the tale from both points of view, what in this case seems to be the heroine and the villain. The mother whose baby was stolen and the woman who stole her. I mean, how can you write this character sympathetically. Well Crosby finds a way to do. And wish such compassion that the reader is truly saddened and heartbroken for both mothers. It is certainly thought provoking story and quite emotional, being a mother myself.

In 1971, the small town of Hesterville in Georgia, was invaded by hippies there for a music festival. The crowd was much larger than expected, despite tickets being sold, and many of the shops in the town had to close. The festival played continuous loud music, some of the crowd behaved badly, and caused problems.

Rachel Dixon had a young six month old baby Emily, after two nights of blaring music, no sleep, a storm hit, and she and her husband George were exhausted. They didn’t hear the back door opening, a small woman entered the house, took Emily and in the morning her cot was empty. The local police immediately started investigating Emily’s disappearance, and they had very little to go on, a few smudged thumb prints and some dusty footprints. They had trouble solving the missing baby case, despite posters being distributed, a reward being offered and lots of media attention.

Vicki Robart, was at the festival with her boyfriend Russ Murphy, she’s depressed, she had a baby girl seven month before and she was stillborn. Not until later does Russ discover what Vicki had done, he’s shocked and he tries to convince her to return the baby. Vicki’s mentally unstable, she’s determined to keep Lara and Russ can’t get her to listen to him. Vicki had a sister called Angela, she hasn't seen her in over three years and Russ doesn’t know anything about her. Angela and her husband Kenny are surprised to suddenly hear from Vicki, when she arrived with a baby and they have no reason to suspect the baby wasn't hers?

Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby is a story about a family’s heartache of losing their baby daughter, for years they suffered every parent’s worst nightmare, they hoped Emily was alive and being cared for. Years later, what happened on that night is reveled, two mothers find out the truth about their daughter, and for one it’s a devastating revelation. I recived a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, you feel so sorry for the characters of Rachel and George Dixon, a heartbreaking story and four stars from me.

I was introduced to Bette Lee Crosby's books about a year or two ago, and I have loved every one of them! This one is no exception! This definitely pulled at my hear strings! When 6 month old Emily goes missing from her crib in the middle of the night, it's every parent's worse nightmare. Baby Emily has been kidnapped right out of her own crib! Rachel and George are devastated at how this could happen. You will be on the edge of your seat with every page, wishing for Emily's safe return! I read this in one sitting! Such an amazing read!!

This gem right here pulls you in from the 1st page. Fell in love with these characters and was sympathetic to a situation I never thought I would be.

This was an excellent book that I read with no preconceived idea of what it was about. I was enthralled with the storyline, it was twisty, mysterious and suspenseful. The characters were perfectly written too. It had all the emotions as I ended up crying, angry, and sad. I truly think you will love this book!!

During a music festival in Georgia in 1971, the Dixon family sleeps soundly as their child is stolen right out from under them.

Having lost her child, Vicki, after partying, has Murph pull over and sneaks into a house to steal some food, but when she is in the kitchen she spots a baby bottle and she comes out of the house with more than she planned, a baby to replace the one she lost. Murph loves her too much to do anything about it, even though he wants nothing to do with it.

Upon awakening, Rachel and George Dixon fall into despair realizing their baby girls is gone. As the days and weeks progress, Rachel wonders if the person who took Emily will keep her safe and love her like she does.

Bette Lee Crosby has a way of pulling you into her stories and making you care about each and every character. She leaves it open to interpretation if you want to place blame on anyone or dislike any particular characters.

This book is poignant, sad, happy and thoughtful. She write with her heart and makes you feel like you are in the book with her characters.

Another 5 star book by Bette Lee Crosby

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby is a story of love and loss, of anger and hurt, forgiveness and acceptance.
Set in Hesterville, Georgia, the story takes us back in time to early 1971 with a sense of foreshadowing 47 years before the present day. The peace of Hesterville is shattered when a music festival organised on Harold Baker’s farm brings with it drugs, unruly crowds and the kind of noise that disrupts sleep and destroys lives. The festival not only destroys the peace of the entire town but also shatters a family.
In the dead of night, when an exhausted George and Rachel Dixon have just fallen asleep after three days of unbelievable noise and sleeplessness, unaware that they have not remembered to shut the back door. Drug-addled music fan Vicki Robart, who is attending the festival along with her boyfriend, Russ Murphy, sneaks into the Dixon home to steal some food. Having given birth to their stillborn baby, who they named Lara, Vicki is a mess.
When she espies the Dixons’ sleeping baby, Emily, the grieving Vicki forgets about stealing food and steals the baby instead. To her marijuana stoned mind, the baby is Lara. Russ is torn between doing the right thing by returning the baby to her parents and keeping the baby and enjoying the joy of Vicki’s return from the dead.
Vicki doesn’t see her actions as ethically wrong. When Russ refuses to change his stance, insisting they return the baby, Vicki runs away with the baby and reconciles with her sister, Angela, with whom she has long been estranged. Angela and her husband, Kenny McAllister, accept her warmly and treat her well, but Vicki does not reveal the truth about the baby’s history.
The kidnap of baby Emily wounds her parents but there are other wounds that are healed. In time, good things happen to the Dixons. Helen Dixon, George’s mother, who was unfriendly towards Rachel and critical of her, cares for Rachel and is cared by her in turn. Both Mama Dixon and Rachel have lost children. This creates a bond between them. The birth of Rachel’s twins Henry and Hope four years after Emily is taken also gives the Dixons the family they yearned for.
When the truth is finally revealed, will the McAllisters and the Dixons be able to make their peace with it?

The story is written in the omniscient viewpoint. The pace is slow and languorous but the writing is all heart and emotion.

I was moved by the dignity of George, Rachel and even Helen in the face of sorrow. Rachel especially is a beautiful soul who prays that if she cannot find her baby, whoever finds her baby may love and care for her as well as she herself would have.
The resolution is slow, or at least it seems so to us now, where the most complicated of searches are all a moment’s work for Google. So we feel the frustration of not being able to find people back then. When Angela begins the search for Lara’s birth certificate, she sets out in search of Vicki’s former boyfriend, Russ. The search is old-fashioned, and involves that great bastion of the quest for knowledge, the library.

Because the tone of the book is hopeful, we know there will be joy at the end, but we feel a sweet sensation of impatience, hoping for a reconciliation.

The author creates a wonderful picture of a small town life, with its library and crochet and quilting clubs and casseroles. They are all inherently good people in this town. And it is good to know that good things happen to them in turn.

Better Lee Crosby has a way with pulling at your heartstrings. This book covers all the emotions and some feelings that you didn't realize that you had. Wonderful book!

Emily Gone By Bette Lee Crosby

A mother's worst nightmare happens the night of a music festival in Hesterville, Georgia . Rachael and her husband George have put their infant daughter to sleep for the night in her crib, only to wake in the morning and discover their daughter gone. Emily, their daughter has been kidnapped by Vicki Robert, a grieving and mentally unstable woman trying to replace the infant she lost. What unfolds is a tale of two women, who both love Emily, and their families coping with love, loss and a crime. In the following years, you see how forgiveness and love overcome loss and grief.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, Bette Lee Crosby and Lake Union Publishing with no obligation to review it
This is my honest review

Excellent novel full of many emotions, situations which make you feel close to the characters, understand their decisions, their lives and their pain. History full of suspense and at the same time full of love where the characters each with their dilemmas and situation will make you understand, and feel empathic with each of them. Without giving spoilers, the plot is strong and moving all revolves around a kidnapped girl and the passing of the years until something unexpected happens when it comes time to turn 18 and changes the lives of all the characters involved. I loved this wonderful book.

Wow this book was amazing. She is a first time author for me and I will be reading more. 5 stars all the way.

It's been forty seven years since the music festival. It's remembered for what happened to the Dixon family. Trouble was sensed before it begin. George was married and had a baby Emily.Emily is stolen in the night. The woman that takes Emily is grieving over a lost child. I liked the characters and the ending

Parent Worst Nightmare!!

This books tells about a parents worst nightmare. There is a music festival going on in Hesterville, Georgia. Rachel and George can hear it in their house. On the final night, a storm muffling the sound of the blaring music. Rachel puts her baby Emily to bed and goes to bed falling into such a deep sleep that she doesn't hear the kitchen door open. A young girl/lady Vicki whose baby was stillborn and she never got over it and she kidnap's Emily and calls her Lara [the name that was given to her stillborn daughter]. Vicki's boyfriend Russel try's to tell Vicki that the baby she took was not her baby and she had to give her back but, Vicki had her mind set on the baby being Lara. One day Vicki locates her sister Angela [who she hasn't seen or talked to in 3 years] and asks her to please come and get her and the baby, telling Angela that Russel was abusive and Angela picked her and the baby up. Well Vicki has a heart attack and passes away leaving Angela and Kenny [Angela's husband] to raise Lara. Lara gets accepted to a college in Florida. On the way to Daytona to meet up with Kenny, Angela's car breaks down and they end up renting a couple of rooms at a place which is owned by the Dixon's. The Dixon's have 2 teenage kids [twins a boy and a girl]. Then the girl noticed something on Lara and talks to her mom about it. What does Hope see? Do the Dixon's ever find Emily? What happens with Lara, Angela and Kenny. To find the answers you truly need to read this book. Bette lee Crosby did an amazing job with this book!! I truly enjoyed this book very much!!

The story grabs you right away. A very compelling read from start to finish. I've read a number of books by Betty Lee Crosby and I've loved every one of them.

I can't even imagine having a child stolen but in Emily, Gone, talented author, Bette Lee Crosby, has done an incredible job of portraying the emotions and reactions of a family whose child is taken and of the thoughts and actions of the kidnappers. So many twists to the story that interest is kept high and the pages almost turn themselves. It is an amazing journey of loss and grief, and hope and forgiveness for the three women whose lives are impacted by the kidnapping. Donna Postel does a great job of narrating Emily's heartbreaking story which makes for an enjoyable listening experience. I listened to a complementary copy of the audio book and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own.

Emily, Gone is such a heartbreaking read. I read it in two days and despite the subject matter I really enjoyed it. My heart went out to Rachel Dixon. I remembered exactly how it felt to be an exhausted young mother and with a music festival to boot disturbing her sleep, one can understand entirely how she fell into such a deep slumber. But when she awakens her baby daughter Emily is gone from her crib, and neither she nor her husband heard a thing. This is when her nightmare begins. We also experience this story from the point of view of Vicki whose young daughter died just a few months previously. She enters Rachel's house looking for assistance because of the storm and sees baby Emily asleep in her crib. One snap decision changes the course of these women's lives forever. Crosby is a very accomplished writer. She delves deep into the instinctive drive of motherhood and clearly portrays the loss, pain and anguish that they feel because of separation from the one that they love and the lengths that some mothers would do to fill that void. Her characters are realistic, human, relatable, making this story co plausible throughout. We can understand why Vicki did it perhaps but regardless of how relatable, even likeable she is., would we ever be able to forgive her? This was a good read from Bette Lee Crosby. I look forward to reading more of her writing.

This was a good story, I had a hard time reviewing it because it was such an emotional story filled with loss. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity.

This was a very moving and heartwarming story. I look forward to reading more books by Bette Lee Crosby. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.