Emly, Gone is a suspenseful novel that kept me wanting to read more since the first page. A sad story about the kidnapping of a 6-month-old infant that has you following the pain and heartbreak the family went through, as well as the sadness the kidnapper experienced that led her to do what she did. You follow along as time passes and Emily's kidnapping keeps affecting multiple lives. The writing is amazing and you can sincerely feel the pain felt by each person involved. I read this book in 2 days as I could not out it down and I NEEDED To find out what happened to little baby Emmy. A must-read! Just be prepared to cry.

Rachel Dixon put her six month old daughter to bed one night, the last night of a huge rock concert being held at a farm near her house. She got up the next morning and the baby was gone. Vicki Robart was a concertgoer who couldn't get into the music because she hadn't come to terms with the loss of her baby girl a few months before. In a momentary impulse, she grabbed baby Emily from her crib and took off with her boyfriend. This started a journey into heartbreak for two families which is poignantly depicted in Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby.

A good novel, although a random occurrence suddenly ties everything up in a neat and somewhat unbelievable bow at the end. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Emily, Gone had me captivated from its first pages until the last ones because of the superb storytelling of Bette Lee Crosby. The book starts in the small town of Hesterville, Georgia in 1971. The Dixon family lives close to Baker field where a music festival takes place. Vicki and her boyfriend Murph are attendees at the festival. A very stoned and hungry Vicki asks Murph to stop at the Dixons house, so she can steal food. What she ends up doing instead is kidnapping Emily, the Dixons' baby. We follow what happens to the lives of the Dixons and Emily for the next 18 years.

Grief, heartbreak, compassion, forgiveness, and healing are some of the themes that are tackled so beautifully in this novel. The book tugs at your heartstrings. The characters are drawn expertly and I felt like I knew them. I was so engrossed in the story. I kept visualizing myself sitting in the front porch with Rachel and mama Dixon and crocheting along with them and listening to Mama Dixon's advice and wisdom.

When you sit down with this book, please know that you may not be able to put it down. I was curled up on my couch with my Kindle glued to my hands for hours.

Mother's who lose a child for any reason feels the emptiness over the loss and grieves forever! This is protrayed in the amazing book Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby.
Rachel Dixon, a mother who takes her baby into her room and places her into the crib at bedtime! She then goes to her room to sleep herself. The next morning, Rachel finds her baby gone from the crib and home.
Vickie Robert loses her baby through death. This loss drives her to do the unthinkable and kidnaps the baby, Emily!
The lives of these two women and also Vickie's sister, Angela are changed forever by Vickie's action.
This book is a page turner, can't put down read that shows the motherly love of these three women, well worth reading! I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Copy of this book!

The year was 1971 and there was a huge music festival right outside of town. The people at the festival were all hippies and there were lots of drugs to take and share...what they didn't have was enough food and since there were more people at the festival than expected, the small town of Hesterville had bare shelves. In a small house not too far from the festival, as the crow flies, live the Dixon family - George who owned the hardware store in town, his wife Rachel and their 6 month old baby Emily. The noise from the music festival was so loud that they couldn't sleep and Emily kept them awake with her crying. When the baby finally went to sleep, George and Rachel both fell into a deep sleep and never heard Vicki, come into their house looking for food and leaving with Emily. When Vicki's boyfriend, Murph, found out that she had taken a baby, he panics and doesn't know what to do. Vicki had recently lost her baby during pregnancy and was convinced that Emily was really her baby. When George and Rachel get up in the morning, they can't believe the Emily is gone. "He saw Rachel standing beside the empty crib. her eyes were wide with horror, her face a ghastly white and her entire body shaking as she choked back the sound of a sob." (loc 416)

Will George and Rachel ever find Emily again or will Vicki and Murph raise her as their own? This book is full of twists and turns and lots of tears. Bette Lee Crosby can write family drama better than most authors today and she does a wonderful job of presenting both sides of an issue. I cried with Rachel at the loss of her daughter but I was also sympathetic to Vicki and Vicki's sister, Angela. Rachel is convinced that Emily is alive somewhere and prays that she is with someone who make sure that she is safe and happy.

This is an intense book that will keep you turning the pages, hoping and praying that Emily will be returned to her family. It's also a wonderful story about importance of family and friends; love and hope. It is a book that will make you feel the pain of a mother with a missing child and her attempts to go back to living her life. It will make you cry - not just at the end but several times throughout the book as families are formed and re-formed. It was a wonderful 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 have read so many books by Bette Lee Crosby and have loved them all, but this by far is my new favorite of hers.
I grew up in the 60's and 70's in a small town and could really relate to this story starting in 1971. I could also relate to the main characters right away and their emotional feelings became mine. I didn't want to put this book down and read it in two sittings, finishing it in the wee hours of the morning.
If you're looking for a well written book by an excellent author do yourself a favor and read this one. You'll be on the edge of your seat like I was, trying to figure out how it might end. This book deserves 5 stars!
Thank you to the author and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read an arc of this book, which is to be published on April 30, 2019.

I received this book "Emily, Gone" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. Sometimes it's the title of the book that catches your eye, sometimes it's the cover or the author. For me with the book "Emily, Gone" - it was all three. I loved this book and the characters were amazing. Extra points for the German Shepherd "Bruno" in the story (my favorite dog). This book was just what I needed to read. I can always count on Bette Lee Crosby to write an amazing story. An amazing heartwarming story that you won't want to put down until the last page is read.

Somehow I keep picking up stories of children being kidnapped told from multiple points of view recently. This book however, really stole my heart. It was so interesting to hear the story from the different viewpoints of the parents and the kidnappers. To learn what made them do it in the first place. I don't want to give anything away but this story truly brings you on a roller coaster ride and the ending is so worth it.

I received an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby is an intensely emotional story, four tissue boxes for sure. Relatable characters, easy paced, descriptive narrative. Recommended.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book prior to publishing date!
Emily Gone was such a great book and I couldn’t wait to get back to reading when I wasn’t reading.
It starts with a baby, Emily who on one late night early morning a desperate woman sneaks into the home of Emily’s pArents and she. She sees Emily she believe it is destiny that the baby is hers so she quietly sweeps her up out of her bed while the parents are sleeping, sleeping so sound because they haven’t been able to rest with the musical festival in town. .
When they wake up to find Emily gone they are in shock and have no clues to where she is. Rachel Emily’s mom never gives up hope that she will see Emily again. This is a heartbreaking story of loss, family, strength, desperation.
It gripped me from each page and brought me to tears at times. This was a good book and I want to read more from this author. Again thank you for allowing me to read this early.
Publishing date is April 30, 2019.

Emily, Gone is the perfect remedy for a book hangover. This seemingly heart-breaking tale turns into a heart-warming tale. At times, it is predictable, other times, quite surprising. Gone, Emily is a story of heartbreak, incredible grief, and a strong faith that leaves you with a smile.

There are some details that are simply unbelievable but this is a work of fiction and the story asks you to look at the best in people as opposed to finding the negative in our world. Go ahead, read this book - I think you'll be glad you did.

In a small town, where everyone knows everyone, and citizens don't worry much about locking their doors in the night, George, Rachel, and baby Emily Dixon drift off asleep to the sounds of the ongoing music festival just up the road at a nearby farm and welcoming the thunder in hopes that the festival will dwindle. Exhaustion takes over, an neither George nor Rachel hear the sounds of the nightmare yet to be revealed.

Numb to reality because of the loss of her baby Lara and a few many hits of marijuana, Vicki Robart sways to the music succumbing to her grief. Her beau, Russell Murphy sees the telltale signs in her eyes and suggests they hit the road and find something to eat. Vicki demands he stops a the up the road from the festival, so she can find something to eat. The house is dark, the inhabitants clearly asleep on this stormy night. But, what she finds inside satiates a greater void as she slips back into the night...

Vicki's choice alters their lives... This book is about grief, hope, and finding forgiveness in the most difficult of times.

Thank you to Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my gosh! I so loved reading this story! Emily, and all that went on in her life were so real to me. As a mom myself, I felt all the fears, and heart aches of these moms. I fell in love with Mama Dixon, even if I didn’t like her in the beginning. She was an integral part of the story. Bette Lee Crosby has once again written a brilliant, heart filled story for us, her readers. Have been recommending this book as I’ve enjoyed reading it. Thank you Bette for this amazing book. Thank you Net galley and Bette Lee Crosby for allowing me the privilege of an early read.

This is a story that tugged on my heartstrings in so many ways. The lives of so many people were altered on one summer night as a sad and grieving woman stole something that was not hers and disappeared into the night. What happens from there is a whole lot of grief, growth, love, and forgiveness as the story unfolds.

Emily, Gone is a very moving story of hope. The twists and turns in this book hooked me from beginning to end, and I experienced every emotion while reading this book. I love the way the book flowed, and the stories of each character had me wanting to know more. Bette Lee Crosby is an amazing author, and I highly recommend this book!

I really really liked this book. I loved how it should both families journeys, and especially Rachel’s growth. It flowed flawlessly. Great book.

There is nothing like the feeling of picking up a Bette Lee Crosby book to read. When I do, I know I'm in for a deeply emotional and heart tugging story that will take my emotions all over the feelings map. As I opened the pages of this book, I felt like I was meeting with an old friend and she was going to take me on a storytelling journey and she sure did! Emily, Gone is a book I couldn't put down.

If this book doesn't tug at your heartstrings, I don't know what will. Each progressively turned page brought me deeper into the heart of the story that drew rawness to my emotions. The horror of waking up in the morning finding little Emily gone was excruciating. Who would have taken her and why? The self blaming for not being there for Emily broke my heart. The yearning for a lost child was heart wrenching. This book took me on that proverbial roller coaster ride from heartache, to desperation, to despair, to a shocking turn of events, to hope, to forgiveness, to faith no matter what the situation or outcome.

Ms. Crosby has such a great way of putting wisdom in her books that reach into my heart. I come away from her books with words that I can apply to my life and use to be a better person. I love that. Her works feel personal and I feel connected to them. Each character has flaws just as we all do. Each character has emotions that in ways I could relate to. Ms. Crosby developed each character completely to create a story that pulled me in.

I'd like to share a couple passages that are indicative of Ms. Crosby's gift of writing:

"People make mistakes, and things happen-not because we want them to or don't care, but because life is a whole lot less than perfect."

"Fear settles in your heart the day you learn you're gonna be a mama, but somehow you stumble through doing the best you can, always hoping it's good enough."

I came to the end of this book knowing and feeling I had a true Bette Lee Crosby book experience. I loved it! I want to thank Ms. Crosby, Lake Union, and Netgalley for the absolute honor of getting to read this book.

I am sure this book will stay with me the rest of my life. It left a tattoo on my heart. What a compelling story and so scary for any mom or grandma. Ms. Crosby has created a masterpiece with this book. Loved it!

I finished this book this morning. With tears (the good kind!) and my heart full. I wanted to hug the author for letting me read yet another one of her stories. Bette Lee Crosby never disappoints and I feel each book is better than the last. All amazing tales of people that could be us. The good in the world I wish we had more of. Extended families. Funding the peace in life’s tragedies. She always makes me feel so good and I can never get enough of her characters. This is an amazing tale of life. The ups and downs. The little moments we get that get us through. The random moments that change us forever. I loved this book. Thank you!!

I received an ARC of this book and just finished reading it. Bette Lee Crosby is an amazing story teller. This is a story about family, love, and survival through heart breaking events. It tells of an act of impulse that touches so many lives. It is a great tale of compassion and forgiveness as well. I loved this book. The characters will stay with me for some time to come.