In the fall of 2014, I fell in love with an utterly charming novel called The All You Can Dream Buffet. Since that time, author Barbara O'Neal has been on my radar, and while her books aren't auto buys for me, I almost always end up reading them eventually. Her latest novel, When We Believed in Mermaids, is truly spectacular, a true testament to the unbreakable bonds between sisters and the healing power of love in all its many forms.

It's been fifteen years since Kit last saw her older sister Josie. The two had been estranged for several years before their last meeting, and they never got the chance to mend fences because Josie died in a terrorist attack in Paris not long afterwards. Ever since that day, Kit has done her best to move on from the various horrors of her past - and believe me when I say she lived through some truly horrendous things. Her life is going well for the most part, though she'll always bear some scars, both physical and mental, as a result of what she and Josie endured as children.

One evening, Kit catches a glimpse of a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Josie in the background of a news story out of New Zealand. Obviously, the woman can't be Josie since she's been dead for years, but something about the woman's face keeps nagging at Kit, and so, against her better judgement, she decides to journey to New Zealand in hopes of discovering the identity of the woman who looks so much like her sister.

Unfortunately for Kit, learning the truth proves more difficult than she hoped it would be. The city she's staying in is beautiful, and it brings numerous childhood memories, some good and some painful, flooding back. Suddenly, Kit wonders if uncovering this woman's identity is really worth all the mental anguish she's suffering, but she figures she's come too far to turn back now.

What follows is a story that is sure to break your heart, but also make you smile. It sounds like a contradiction of the first order I know, but When We Believed In Mermaids made me feel so many different things all at the same time. Kit and Josie lived through some horrible things, and my heart broke for them again and again, but there's also a glimmer of hope that shines through all the sadness, something that reminds the reader that good things are always possible even when life seems incredibly bleak.

The story is told from alternating chapters, from both Kit's and a woman calling herself Mari's, perspectives. It's not a spoiler to let you know that Mari is actually Josie, who faked her own death and is living under an assumed name for reasons that will become clear as you read. Both women have inner demons to conquer, and each is forced to reconnect with a core of inner strength they haven't had to call upon in years. I loved that they were able to save themselves, rather than waiting for the men in their lives to sweep in and rescue them.

If you're looking for a steamy read, this is not the book for you. It definitely has romantic elements, and the characters do get their HEAs, but the romance takes a back seat to the complex relationship between Mari and Kit. There is one explicit sex scene, but even it doesn't qualify as steamy in my opinion.

The novel possesses a very strong sense of place, something I'm always happy to run across. The descriptions are so vibrant, making me feel like I was experiencing the sights and sounds right along with the characters. I've never been to New Zealand, but reading this book gave me a taste of what it might be like to visit.

I loved pretty much everything about When We Believed in Mermaids. The characters are so damaged but so resilient at the same time, and the writing is beautiful and lush, enabling me to sink into the story with ease. If you've never read a Barbara O'Neal novel, or even if you have, pick this up as soon as you possibly can. You'll be delighted with this compelling story of two women struggling to come out on top of difficult circumstances.

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This is one of the most heart wrenching books I have read in a long time. The subjects in this story are so realistic and heartfelt that it had me in gut wrenching tears. Especially toward the end. It’s one that will definitely keep you turning the pages and grabbing the kleenex.

Two sisters who are almost totally dependent on each other. Parents who for the most part are not available for them. A young boy who comes along and keeps them straight. Josie and Kit, the sisters who believe in Mermaids. Who believe in each other. Who have faith in the universe in many ways.
Then one summer it’s all torn apart.

This book will have you torn in ways you will not forget. It’s very realistic the way the author describes the things that happen. A young girl’s anguish. The things that happened to her at such a young and tender age. It’s not right. Children are meant to be happy and carefree. Free to run and play. Explore and live. But for one sister it’s a nightmare. For the other it’s innocence. One has no idea what is happening to the other. Then when they get older one is gone. Gone in such a horrific way. But is she really? Is she safe and sound and finally at peace with her life? Kit looks for her sister after seeing her on the news and finds more than she bargained for. She learns so much in such a short period of time too. Some good and some not so good. Actually a lot not so good but better now.

Josie had to take the chance she took. It basically saved her life. I was very upset with her for a while. Until I read her story. Then my heart broke into a million pieces for that little girl. The little nine year old who went through what no child should have to go through. I felt her pain. I truly felt it. I’ve lived it and know what she felt. The shame of it. The horror of it. It made her into a person she didn’t want to be though. I felt so sorry for her. When she “died” she was able to live again. To build a beautiful life with a beautiful family. One she richly deserved.

Kit didn’t believe in love. Not the soulmate, heart beating fast, earth shattering love that some of us do believe in and do have. It takes a trip far away for her to finally feel the earth move. To feel the waves of desire that touch your very soul. The beauty of true, unspoiled, heartfelt love. The kind of love that only comes once in a lifetime. If you are lucky. She finds so much on this trip and finally finds herself too.

I don’t know what to say other than this is a great book with a heartbreaking and then heart mending feel to it. It’s one that takes the reader on a ride that they will both love and hate. Love the good and the feels, hate the hurt and heartaches. It’s written is a way that pulls at your heart quite a bit. It did for me. My eyes are so swollen from crying. This book may should have a warning label attached.

It has great characters. Great scenery and will make you feel like you are actually on the waves with both Kit and Josie. You will feel so many of the feels in this book. I actually had to lay this book down a few times and breath. Deep breathing to calm me down. It hit me right in the heart. Hard!!

Thank you to #NetGalley #Lake Union Publishers for the ARC of this book.

I give it a high 5 stars and highly recommend it with a warning to stock up on kleenex. I promise you will need them.

This is a beautifully written story of two sisters and their very dysfunctional family and lives. The Bianci sisters are wonderfully crafted characters that you can’t help but root for. They will leave you frustrated at times but also leave you wanting to know more.

Barbara O’Neal has developed characters in this story that are easy to identify with and a storyline that will keep your attention all the way to the end. The story is heartbreaking in parts and joyful in other parts.

This is a new to me author and I’m so appreciative of being able to read this wonderful story. I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it. I was able to read this book in one day because I didn’t want to put it down.

Thank you #netgalley and #lakeunionpublishing for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. The opinions above are my own thoughts and feelings about this book.

I adored this book, tumbled right into it and rolled around. It's emotional, hard, and resilient. I loved the writing.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I liked that each sister's story is unfolded in alternating titles. Kit's romance is lovely. And the mystery of Josie is engaging. It is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming.

I am so pleased to be able to recommend this novel from Barbara O'Neal. When We Believed We Were Mermaids pulled me in from the premise; woman spots the sister on the news she thought died 15 years prior. The plot takes us forward and back in time so that we see the events, actions and reactions that led to sisters taking different paths. The character portraits are first rate, the settings are spectacularly drawn, and the story itself riveting. If you like novels that strike an emotional chord, WWBWWM will definitely deliver. I'd definitely read more from Ms. O'Neal.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

I received this book "When We Believed in Mermaids" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I have to say that I was torn between 4 and 5 stars but the end really pushed it up to the 5. I loved this book and the characters, the storyline was excellent. I felt right there - part of the story. Beautiful heartwarming emotional tragic.

Moving story about sisterhood, love, and learning how to let go of the past in order to live fully in the present.
O'Neal has a gift for reaching deep into the soul and breaking the reader's heart and then mending it again. If I have one quibble about this story was that the backstory wasn't revealed fast enough for me, I wanted to know more quickly about the things that shaped the sisters as they were growing up, and some of it was only hinted at until almost the end.
Other than that, this is a wonderful story told from the points of view of the two sisters, allowing the reader to feel their aching loss of each other and their anger and betrayal, as well as the love that survived it all. Although their experiences are unique, the emotions behind what happened resonated with me and my own life experiences.
Recommended for those who like emotionally heartfelt and occasionally heart wrenching stories of family and love.

Kit is shocked when she sees her dead sister on a newscast of a tragedy from half way around the world. With encouragement from her mother, she heads to New Zealand in search of answers. Mari (Josie)has a new life and she’s happy. To survive, she killed off Josie and started over, putting her past behind her. The sisters were close as children, sticking together through a turbulent childhood of neglect. Kit’s journey to find answers about her sister leads her into a journey of self-discovery, flashing back to her past and realizing what is missing from her life. Mari is on the same journey to reconcile her past and find a way to reintegrate her mother and sister into her life, while trying to figure out how she is going to explain to those she loves why she felt the need to take on a new identity.
My heart broke over and over for Kit and her sister as we learn more about their childhood and how much each had overcome. The characters were so well-written, they conjured a gamut of emotions in me, but ultimately I was rooting them both on. I love the way O’Neal put the story together, and her descriptions of the settings were beautiful.
This is a great one to sit back with and pass a summer day. Grab everything you need because once you start this one, you won’t want to walk away.
#whenwebelievedinmermaids #barbaraoneal #lakeunionpublishing

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I really liked this book.. After thinking her sister, Josie, has died in a terrorist attack, Kit sees her on a news report from New Zealand. Immediately, Kit decides she must go and find out what is going on. When Kit arrives in New Zealand, she begins to investigate and find out if her sister is alive. Along the way, she meets a man who helps her and becomes her love interest. This is the story of how the sisters reconcile and come to terms with their bad childhood. The author is a master at descriptive writing-I felt like I was really at the beach. Good family drama story!

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

I LOVED this book!! I was hook right from the beginning. The characters, story and writing style- so pretty much everything. I now need to go visit New Zealand. It sounded amazing. I loved Kit. I'm surprised how well she did in life with the childhood she experienced. She loved her cat so much and even wanted her mom to stay at the house with him, so he wouldn't feel abandoned. Loved how she FaceTimed with the kitty. I can understand her anger with Mari. Josie was definitely hard to like. Although her drug and alcohol use were how she dealt with with happened to her at such a young age. Josie and Kit's parents were simply awful. They didn't actually do much parenting and let their children run wild. If it wasn't for Dylan, I'm not sure what would have happened to the girls. He was only a few years older and had just as many problems.

I loved how the story alternated between Kit and Mari. I definitely recommend the book. I was sad to see the book end. I loved reading about Kit and Mari. Finding out about their childhood was heartbreaking, especially what happened to Josie. I wished she would have talked to someone, although I don't think her parents would have helped much. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was an excellent book with a very different premise. I enjoyed the way the story was told alternately between two sisters that had been apart for several years, one presumed dead. It's a story of heartache, forgiveness and renewal. I really enjoyed the authors style of writing and highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Lakeside Publishing, the author and NetGalley for an arc of this book.
This review is my own unbiased opinion and deserves 5 big stars!

This was a 5 star read all the way for me! Ms. O'Neal's writing is superb! The book is about family dynamics, addiction, lies and deception and false perceptions. It is a dual point of view--the view of two sisters who have been separated by oceans and lies for ten years. Kit didn't know Josie was alive...and that's how Josie wanted it. If Kit finds her, it may mean the end of the life Josie has built for herself in New Zealand. The life she has now is the life she's always wanted and she won't give it up--no matter what.
When We Believed in Mermaids was striking in that the description of New Zealand by Ms. O'Neal was done in some miraculous manor that also revealed the souls of the two sisters. She somehow made you FEEL the place through each of the sisters. Every tree, every flower, every ocean breeze and every wave was vitally important to the women in this book and how they responded to life. Every bite of food and every sip of wine became an integral part of them and Ms. O'Neal made me feel as if I was experiencing all the joy and all the pain right along with them.
The men in the book (alive and dead) demand their own importance. They play a vital part in the lives of the sisters. I didn't like them all, but they were the emotional outlets for the women; a necessary slice of their lives and they helped make them who they became.
These were two of my favorite lines in the book: "She was the worst mother of all time. She was the best mother of all time." Aren't they all?
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Kit was working in the ER when she looked at the TV and saw her died sister of fifteen years. Her sister Josie was supposedly killed in a terrorist train attack in France. On the TV there was a live coverage of a nightclub fire in Auckland and the woman on the screen looked identical to Kit's sister. Kit decides she is going to go to Auckland and find her.

The book is told in two perspectives Kit and Mari, which is her sister Josie. She stole someone's identity and is going by Mari now. She is married and has two children and loves her life. While Kit is an ER doctor and is very lonely. When Kit gets to Auckland she is on her search for her sister and she meets a man who she can confide in and talk to about her sister and they end up having a romantic relationship.

This is a very character based book you learn through the two perspectives about their childhood and what made them into the people they are today. I honestly can't believe Josie would leave her family high and dry and fake her own death. Leaving your family to grieve over you and your not even dead. I kind of think it's selfish. And poor Kit I would be pissed if I saw my dead sister alive. At first I though Kit and Javier, her love interest was kind of creepy. He was kind of mysterious, but after getting to know him he was a really nice and genuine guy. Kit definitely deserves someone good in her life for everything she has gone through. I felt the book was beautifully well written and recommend if you are into family dramas and character driven books.

When We Believed In Mermaids is a beautiful but heartbreaking story centred on the relationship between two sisters. As the past catches up with them in the present it’s time to decide what is unforgivable and what can be forgiven.

It took a while to get me hooked as I found some of the early decisions a bit unbelievable but once I was transported to the beautiful beaches of New Zealand I didn’t want to come back.

I loved the gorgeous descriptions of the settings and the complexity of the characters. O’Neal has a delightful way of drip feeding details.

I must admit I found it slightly repetitive and disjointed in places but that’s bound to happen when switching between two different characters and various moments in time.

When it’s not tugging at your heartstrings it’s a little bit cheesy and a tad predictable in places but isn’t most of the best chick lit?

I really enjoyed it and if you like your summer reads filled with secrets, sadness and suspense then you will too.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. As always all opinions are my own.

One night while working in the ER, Kit, happens to glance at the tv an there in the background is here sister Josie, who died fifteen years ago in a terrorist attack. The resemblance is unmistakable. The news footage was from a club fire in Auckland, and soon Kit hops on a plane to go in search of Josie, whom she has believed to be dead all this time. With this new discovery, Kit is forced to confront the demons of her past. Revisiting old memories of her and Josie spending their time pretending to hunt for mermaid treasure and pirate booty, the lost boy that became apart of their family, and the tragedy that has haunted the both of them their entire lives.

This novel is told from both Kit and Josie’s perspectives. At first I struggled with the concept of Josie abandoning her life and starting over, but slowly I began to understand why. Both points of view show how they handled the same events in such different ways which really added to the story line. I ached for their loss and cheered for their successes and I really wanted kit to find her. Kit also has a romance interest through her journey in Auckland which I think added more to the story line. Such a beautiful and emotional story of sisterhood bonds, tragedy, healing and forgiveness.

4.5 stars


When we believed in mermaids is a beautiful and also heartbreaking story about two sisters that went through a lot of difficult moments in their lives.
The story is very well written and will keep you engrossed in its pages without even realising where the time has gone when you finish reading it.
The story itself it's sad and heartbreaking because it deals with so many triggers situations for many people but it could easily be a reality for any contemporary family as well, not only fiction. From the abuse of all kind to the heartbreaking story of thinking and living one's life believing that your sister has died in a terrible attack.
There are so many well written descriptions of the surroundings that you really feel like being there in the book with the heroines and live their story in person.
I'll definitely recommend this book to my book friends for a more than a summer read.

I give this book a strong 4.5.

When I read the summary, I thought this was going to be a somewhat dark, fairly light mystery. It was not, and that turned out to be a good thing because I really liked this much more serious book a lot.

Kit -- an ER doctor who loves to surf -- lost her sister and best friend, soul mate, really, to a train accident 15 years ago. Until she sees her on TV. And their mother sees her, too. So Kit travels across the world to try to find her. This isn't an entirely happy, upbeat novel, though. There's a lot of different kinds of abuse discussed throughout. Alcohol and drug addiction are big parts, as well. But ultimately this is a love story that is so different from other love stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc to this book. It has not influenced my review.

When We Believed in Mermaids is an engrossing, turbulent, and poignant book about two sisters, Kit and Josie. When the story begins, Kit is shocked to see her sister in the background of a news broadcast from New Zealand, thousands of miles away from their home in California--especially since Josie had been killed 15 years earlier. When she goes to New Zealand to find her sister, Kit unknowingly sets off a chain of events that will impact her own life, as well as that of her sister and the life she has built. Kit and Josie were such complex, fascinating characters, each of them reacting to the pain of their childhoods which left them emotionally scarred. The flashbacks in the story give so much insight to the horrors of their childhood; the neglect, the abuse, the addictions. But they also show us the love the two sisters had for each other, the closeness they shared until it all went horribly wrong. The setting of the book was fantastic, from the beaches of Santa Cruz to the beauty of New Zealand. And the surfing! The author's descriptions of the girls as they surfed from the time they were children made it feel like I was in the middle of those waves with them! The pages of this book are filled with love; love between sisters, the love of children for their parents, steadfast love, and new love; and how love can somehow withstand everything that gets in its way.