I really enjoyed this book, the story was intriguing and it kept my interest from the beginning.
Stella has always regretted her family's decision to leave the Evergreen Island, she has nothing but happy memories from their time there. She never understood why they left in such a hurry, but one night a news story about the discovery of a body near her old home on the island makes her question her parents motives.
The story is full of twists and turns and family intrigue, I definitely recommend.

Loved this book, why did the family have to leave Evergreen island so fast and never return? What happened to the family once they left?
I normally don't like stories that jump around timelines but Heidi writing makes it so ease to follow and enjoy. Didn't see the end coming at all.

I found this read intwresting and the story unusual.. the story kept me entertained and the characters were all well written and easy to visualise. I was not gripped by the take but it was pleasant to read and I would recommend it.

A great read,ful of twists and turns I especially liked the character o.f the family counsellor and her family dynamics. Secrets abound in this book right to the end. Who will be the keeper of these secrets.

Why did Stella and the rest of her family have to leave their home on Evergreen in the dead of night? Why did her best friend, Jill, never answer her letters? Who was responsible for the burying of the recently discovered body near their property all those years ago? Twenty five years later, Stella decides to find out the answers to those questions but not everyone wants her to find out.

The story is told from two viewpoints with Stella providing the modern viewpoint, whilst her (now dead) mother, Maria, speaks from twenty five years ago. The book had a strong start but I found it didn't hold my attention as well as I thought it would. It is well-written, but I don't think that I would read it again.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Random House UK / Cornerstone, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Stella grew up on a tiny island just off the British mainland and had a seemingly idyllic childhood – think The Famous Five but without the racism. Then one day – completely out of the blue – her Dad decides that they all have to leave, despite the huge storm that makes it totally unsafe to travel. Despite the fact that the family survive the ferry crossing to the mainland, they’re oddly changed by their move. Stella’s parents split up, her brother moves away and severs contact, her mother dies. She has no idea what happened and longs for her picture perfect childhood home. Then one day she spots her old house on the news – it seems that a body has been found buried in the garden. Stella is both horrified and intrigued and as she struggles to understand the implications of the discovery, she realises that it’s not just human remains that have been uncovered – it’s a web of family secrets too.

I really love the way that Heidi Perks writes. Her descriptions of the island and it’s inhabitants were brilliant and I could see the kind of utopia that she’d created – all children doing wholesome activities like climbing trees whilst their mothers baked bread and hung out the washing. There was a real risk that her setting could have felt too old-fashioned for the 1990’s but it was just the right side of modern but cozy.

The family exodus takes places in the first chapter and my heart was absolutely in my mouth. The writing was so tight and the situation so dangerous that it really kicked things off with a bang. It opened up numerous possibilities for the reasons behind the family needing to urgently leave and I loved how I was immediately drawn into the novel, inventing my own theories as to what had happened straight away.

As the book progressed, the tension built brilliantly and there was a good number of red herrings thrown in to the twisty turny plot that kept me constantly re-evaluating what I thought I knew. I loved the way that island setting slowly moved away being safe and secure to being smotheringly claustrophobic once secrets started to be revealed. I actually struggled to put the book down, so much so that I put off doing some major household tasks so that I could sneakily finish it off. Sorry bathroom ceiling, you’ll have to wait for that final coat of paint!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Come Back for Me and thought that it was a thoroughly engaging read. My only issue with the novel was with the name of the island – Evergreen. Guess what I was singing in my head every time it was mentioned…

As a child Stella Harvey lived with her family on a small island called Evergreen off the Dorset coast. She loved her life in the close knit community and her freedom to roam the island with her friend Jill. However, one night when she was eleven, her family flee the island in the middle of a storm, never to return. Now twenty five years later, estranged from her father and brother, she hears on the news that a body has been found just next to her old house on the island. Wanting to reconnect with the people on the island and find out why her family left so abruptly she decides to return for a visit. But she soon finds out that not everyone is pleased to see her.

Recounted through Stella's eyes a child on the island and later as an adult trying to find out what happened to make her family leave, this is a very compelling story which starts of slowly but gradually ramps up the tension as the mystery deepens. Long kept family secrets are revealed as the plot twists and turns to its dramatic conclusion. Well written with a good sense of the atmosphere of the isolated island setting and the complex characters Stella knew as a child but now sees through an adult's eyes.

Whilst I enjoyed the writing and the start of the story and the twist when it finally finally got there the story was long winded. I found myself skipping pages just to find out the end

Stella Harvey had an idyllic childhood, living with her family on the tiny, remote island of Evergreen off the coast of Dorset. Eleven years later this is all came to an end when, during a violent storm, they all pile into a boat and head for the mainland. Flash forward twenty-five years and Stella, now 36, is a counsellor living in Birmingham, her older sister Bonnie (who hated island life) is married and lives close by, and Daniel their brother, who seems to have “issues” has left home 18 years previously and is now living in Winchester. Maria, their mother is dead, and David their father, who had left Maria and taken up with someone else, has Alzheimer’s.

Are you still with me? Good.

Now Stella has never forgotten that perfect childhood and hankered after returning to the island for many years. However when a body, which has been buried for years, is unearthed, Stella feels compelled to go back, because not only is this a dead body, but it has been found in (or jolly near) to their former back garden. So, off she goes, hoping to catch up with an old bestest school friend, Jill, who promised faithfully to write when the Harvey’s had a new address. The fact that Jill has never once contacted her during the past 25 years is irrelevant, as Stella feels confidant that all will be explained when they meet up, and become bestest friends again. . If she was expecting the islanders to greet her with the Welcome Wagon she’s in for a disappointment; some don’t even know who she is, and all are suspicious of her.

I can’t continue with this; I’ve tried to get into it, I really have, but I don’t like any of the characters, especially Stella. My burning question is this – if she loved the island so much, why hasn’t she ever gone back, if only for a short visit? She only lives in Birmingham, for heaven’s sake – it’s not as if it’s a fortnight’s trek through the Amazon. This alone irritated me so much.

The book lacks pace, but the earlier part about Stella’s childhood were so descriptive I really thought I’d get on with the rest of it. Unfortunately I don’t care enough about Stella, who the body is or who put it there and why.

What can I say? Well if you like thrillers with lots of family secrets then this is definitely the book for you. Secrets have a habit of coming out in the end no matter how much you try and bury them. Who would've thought that a body being found in a remote island would stir up so many secrets and bring painful memories to the surface.

Thank you net galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. This is another film or tv adaptation opportunity.

Come Back For Me by Heidi Parks is a 3.5 star read.
Stella Harvey is a successful family counsellor, a decision she came to later in life, at 36 years old she sees in the news that a dead body has been found along the edge of the garden at a house she lived in 25 years ago. Remembering how her and her siblings were dragged out in the middle of a storm to go live of the mainland, she’s spent the last 25 years wondering why they left and never went back. After the body is found Stella makes her way back to the island to see what’s going on and if she can find any of her old friends, after her brother gets arrested for murder, he admits to the killing but Stella isn’t convinced so she pokes around trying to prove her brother is innocent but there are some secrets better left hidden, will Stella make it off the island alive??
I had such high hopes for this book, I’ve previously read other books from this author and loved them but this book didn’t grab my attention the same way and I found myself wanting to skip ahead to see if it got better. Just because this book wasn’t my favourite I would recommend that other readers try it for themselves.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Heidi Perks for this ARC in return for my honest review.

This is the second novel I have read by this author and it was another excellent read.

The story is told from two viewpoints; one is t from the 1990s on a secluded Island, Evergreen, with a few inhabitants where everybody knows everybody else’s business, and the present day. Stella, the central character tries to piece together what happened when a body is dug up on Evergreen on the border of the garden of the house her and her parents, brother and sister used to live.

Her determination to undercover the facts lead her to find out family history, which she does not want to hear or tell her sister. As the plot deepens, twists and turns she discovers that she is not welcome back on the Island. People who she thought were her friends turn against her.

Excellently written with an unusual storyline which kept me enthralled all of the way through until the end.

Great read, highly recommended.

Great book full of twists and turns. Really good read with a great ending. Telling the story of Stella and her family who fled the island of Evergreen the tale flips between current events and the past.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. It was an enjoyable read and the characters were well written.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for the opportunity to receive an advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It gripped me early on and was an easy read that I didn't want to stop everything for but which I nevertheless was "finding time" so I could sit and read.

The plot was intriguing and clever and the author's words were teasing. I found myself being drawn in and just as frustrated as Stella as she returned to the island to get answers.

I did find the "past" chapters a little confusing and hard to follow but ultimately they added to the enjoyment of the book as the denouement reached it's conclusion.

I can't decide if I thought the book had a suitably satisfying ending. The denouement isn't revealed in one fell swoop but instead slowly which made the book even more enjoyable but I do feel that whilst the ending was perhaps appropriate, there was something missing that I can't put my finger on..

One thing I particularly liked about this book was the author who was clever in how she got you to engage with all the characters.

THIS is a read worthy of being on your holiday reading shortlist.

Come Back For Me is an intriguing and compelling psychological mystery about a young woman who is drawn back into her childhood when a body of a young girl is found on her family's former property on an island south of Poole. The novel is fast moving and draws the reader immediately into the story of a family fractured by secrets and lies in a closed community.

There was something about the cover that enticed me to request this books.

There was something gripping form start to finish, I've never read a book quiet like it.

Danny and iona are written in such away that it all twisted but that thrill of the book.

Thanks for letting me have a copy.

Having loved 'Her One Mistake" I couldn't wait to read this latest offering from Heidi Perks. Yet again the blurb is enticing without giving away too much.
The story begins with the Harvey family leaving their home on the small island of Evergreen in the midst of a storm, risking life and limb.
The story moves to the present day and to the youngest of the family, Stella, who still pines for the home of her birth. Slowly between the present and the past the mystery evolves. The characters are well-portrayed, well-rounded and the family relationships - and breakdowns - are unfurled. Then, just over half way through this story it takes off with twists and turns all the more surprising as the pace of the story takes off at double the speed of the first half.
Not only is this another page-turner but it also explores just how much of the truth people really want to know, especially within families.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Heidi Perks and Random House, Cornerstone for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This story started with a bang and I thought it was going to be really good. Unfortunately, for me, it got quite slow and drawn out in the middle.

I did enjoy the past and present plotline but I just found it a bit long winded.

The twist was a good one when it finally got there.

All families have secrets but some are deadlier than others.

After a body is dug up near Stella's childhood home, she goes on a quest to discover what really happened. Despite being warned off, she is determined to uncover the truth, but when she does, it's even more shocking than she could have imagined.

Gentle in tone, there's something about this book that sucks you in and makes it impossible to put it down until you know what happens. It's an easy read that nevertheless poses many difficult questions to show that things are rarely black and white.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.