There is nothing like the connection of love between two sisters and the bonds they share throughout their lives. This book is the story of two sisters, Josie and Kit, who are so close to each other growing up that it seems nothing would ever separate them from each other. Their bond is unbreakable, or so it seems. Secrets, heartaches, doubts, suspicions, and broken trust....will they be able to overcome so many hurtful events and find their sisterness again?

This story is about what can happen in life. Josie and Kit have a very awful and painful childhood with parents who are on the edge of neglectful. Josie and Kit come to depend on each other to survive and grow up. There is a wonderful character named Dylan who enters their lives and becomes a "big brother" and looks out for them. He has come from a troubled past himself. But events happen and their lives are turned upside down.

I fell into the pages of this book. It took me into the lives of these characters and wouldn't let me go. The narrative alternates between Kit's and Josie's points of view. As the story takes place in the current time, there are "flashbacks" to fill in the pieces of the broken lives they grew up with. Ms. O'Neal wove these pieces together like a masterpiece. My heart was broken for the heartaches and tragedies that Josie and Kit endured. It felt myself wanting to draw them in. To be there for them and heal their hurts. There was so much emotion in this book for me. I cried, I ached, I pulled for them to find their love for each other again. Would they be able to find it in their hearts to forgive and mend their relationship back to what it was?

I love the setting in this book. I felt like I have experienced Auckland and the beauty that it possesses. I was on the beaches with Kit and Josie. I was in the surf and feeling the solitude in the water surfboarding. I saw the landscapes and terrain. It was so descriptively written. A perfect setting for two girls who believed in mermaids growing up.

There was a bit of mystery written into the story, too. Sapphire House is intriguing. What happened to the famous actress, Veronica Parker, who was living in there? It was a thread throughout the book and a fascinating aspect to the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved being in the pages and connecting with the characters. I was yearning for them with all my heart. I went on a journey into the hearts and souls of these characters. It's one I'll remember for a long time.

I want to thank Lake Union, Netgalley, and Ms. O'Neal for the honor and opportunity to read this wonderful story. This is a five star read for me.

This is one the best books I’ve ever read. Everything was perfect. I loved how Kit and Mari/Josie could do easily fall back into the past. The story told of who they were and who they become. I’m glad they were all able to forgive and love each other again. I’m so glad Kit found love. I loved that Sarah found her person in Kit. I was so sad when I finished the book, I do hope there will be a sequel...I would love to read more about this family.
Posted on Goodreads, also.

You're Going To Want To Read This Somewhere Where You Can Cry. Wow. This is a tragic tale, all around. It is primarily about two sisters and the scars they share - and the lengths they will both go to try to overcome them. Amazing story, solid mystery (though some of it becomes obvious earlier than the actual reveal). This one will grabs you with the first line, has you tearing up a bit early on... and then can have full on water works through the last quarter to third or so of the tale. Light and airy, this aint - but it *is* one of the better, more intense dramas I've read this year. A remarkable contrast to O'Neal's 2018 book The Art of Inheriting Secrets. Very much recommended.

Kit is shocked when she sees her sister Josie, who she has believed is dead for the last 10 years, alive and running from a fire in New Zealand. These two had a dreadful childhood; their lives have been shaped by what happened to them as young girls. Josie chose to disappear and remake herself. Kit became a physician but she has a hole inside her. How they come together and heal is at the root of this novel, which has great descriptions of New Zealand (as it should!). There are men, both good and bad (and both at the same time) and perhaps more emphasis than you might like on a romance but nonetheless it does sort of work in context. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. A very good read.

When Kit Bianci sees her sister on the television, it came as a shock.... after all, she WAS killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. So Kit hops a plane for New Zealand to search for her missing sister. While Kit starts out angry that her sister would let her believe she was dead for the past 15 years, she ends up re-connecting and time melts away.
I love this author's books. Her characters come to life and you experience something magical with every book. This book was just as magical, if not more so. I fell in love with the characters and the settings. I highly recommend this enchanting tale!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The story weaves through the separate lives of 2 sisters trying to recover from a traumatic childhood and their fight to recover, and find life, love, trust and each other again. This touching well written book was an amazing read. I fell in love with each and every one of the characters and wanted to jump in the book and hug them. The writing was so good and the descriptions of the food and scenery made me feel like part of the story. The plot was so touching and had me in tears several times. I love books that make me feel, awaken my senses ....Touch my heart and soul. I would give this book a 10 if I could!
A must read and a joy to give this marvellous story a 5!

An emotionally gripping novel. I was invested in the characters from the beginning. The tie between the sisters and the family dynamic kept me reading. This book left me wondering if I could forgive my sister. A great read that I would definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed this book, I empathised with all of the characters (even those who typically would be seen as the ones in the 'wrong'- to escape a cycle of negativity they did what they had to do.). I loved the feeling of following an entire family throughout their history, not necessarily in chronological order, and getting an insight from everyone's viewpoint not just one key narrator. It also spurred me to try surfing last weekend for the first time- thank you Barbara O'Neal its just as wonderful as you describe! I recommend this book for anyone this summer, especially lovers of women's fiction or books with morality and moral dilemmas at their core.

Brilliant. This is a gem of a book about sisters and the relationship between them and the dysfunctional family they were brought up in. It is a very moving and very well written book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is the first time I have read this author and I truly loved this book. Kit and Josie's story is one of a kind that I haven't read before. Their stories are unique in their own way. I highly recommend this book. I now have a new author added to my list. GREAT READ.

I loved this book. What a beautiful story, Josie and Kit were best friends, sisters, soul mates. Until Josie dies in a terrorist attack. Or so they thought.

This is a story of Kit who not only goes on an adventure to find her sister she also finds herself. This book gave me all the feels, I laughed and cried and my heart hurt for those girls. Their family was not one of love and protection, their lives chaotic and sad. But that doesn't take away from the beauty of it.

What a fantastic book, it is beautifully written, descriptive and it sucked me in from the first page. This would be a great summer read!.

This book was a little cheesy for me. The love story and all the woah-is-me stuff were a little too much and I found myself uninterested & irritated. Kit and Josie definitely had horrible childhoods, but everyone needs to move on and move up eventually. I wanted to shake both of them.
The dialogue was well-written, though. The descriptions of surfing, Sicilian home-cooking, touring Auckland, and the art-deco Sapphire House create beautiful imagery.
I’d recommend this book to anyone into love stories, family drama, and interest childhood traumas. Could be a definite trigger for anyone who experienced childhood sexual or physical abuse, though.

I must admit I've only read one other Barbara O'Neal book, but I definitely need to remedy that as I loved the other book I read (The All You Can Dream Buffet), and this one was even better.

The story drew me in immediately with the very first line 'my sister has been dead for nearly fifteen years when I see her on the TV news', and it just got better and better as it progressed.

The story is about two sisters, Kit and Josie, and flips back and forth between their growing up in a very volatile family in California who have a restaurant on the beach, and the present day with Kit working as an E.R. doctor and of course the 'dead' Josie.

Once Kit and her Mother spot someone in the background of a TV report who they are sure is Josie, who supposedly died in a terrorist explosion years ago, Kit is persuaded by her Mother to fly to New Zealand and investigate.

The story is all about secrets, some really heartbreaking, family, relationships and childhood neglect, leading to Josie being the sister who went off the rails but reinvented herself.

There are some really great characters in this book and I was really happy that Kit met a great Spanish guy in New Zealand called Javier as she always seemed to be the sister a little bit out of the loop and left behind, but she finally realised how much she was loved and she did really have a great life, especially after their quite traumatic childhood.

Just a really fabulous, easy reading book with some great descriptions of New Zealand. I've never been there but it sounds absolutely idyllic and a place I'd love to visit. So a fabulous setting, really interesting characters, and a really intriguing story with a little mystery thrown in, what's not to like! A book I will remember.

Wow! I just finished this book, and still processing the story. I requested this book because it sounded interesting, and it did not disappoint me at all. I went from picking it up during little bits of time I had between things to I have to see when happens next. I honestly loved the character Kit, I could relate a lot to her on things that happened. I don't want to spoil the book at all.which is why I'm being vague. I loved the book from beginning to the very end. I want to read more of the author' and very soon!!

I loved this well-written, richly textured story. The descriptions and scenes were so vivid, it felt like I was there. All five senses were engaged - I could imagine how the food looked and tasted, how the scenery looked and sounded, how it felt to be there, and how it felt to be each of the main characters. I never wanted this book to end, and at the same time I wanted to rush through it to find out what happened next - and next - and next! Every time I read a book by this author I think, "Oh, this is the best book ever!" And then I read another one by the author - and fall in love with it too. I can't recommend this book highly enough, and I can't wait to read whatever the author publishes next.

What a fantastic read! I loved this story about sisters and their relationship. A true page-turner.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

What an amazing book. It is the story of not only sisters but a family. It's about the secrets and the effect they have on a person. The mistakes made and picking up the pieces of your life. To me, that is the heart of the story because each one faced the moment of decision, and put the pieces of their lives back together, the best they knew how.
We will travel their journey, and learn of the things that happened that made them make the decisions they did. As the book unfolds and we learn that through all the destruction, they basically saved themselves, created a productive life for themselves and then found each other again. I think the book will also give the readers hope if they are going through something. No matter what, don't let life destroy you, keep carrying on and picking up the pieces because, in time, they can come together once again and you will have that better life.

I loved this book!!! I loved the characters and the story!! I love to read about stories about sisters!! And this one did not disappoint!

I really enjoyed this book, especially how it alternated between the two sisters showing how events of their youth impacted each of them. Josie, as the older sister, did her best to shield younger sister, Kit, from some of the same horrors that befell her (of which Kit had no awareness of). I thought the author did a really nice job with the flashbacks into the past, slowly allowing the reader to piece together what happened when Kit and Josie were younger and giving a deeper understanding of why Josie chose to leave it all behind.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

This was the easiest review I have written in awhile. I LOVED every single thing about this book and I could not put it down. It is a story about two sisters who had a rough childhood with a lot of secrets between them- ones that changed the entire course of their life. Kit thought her sister Josie died 15 years earlier until she saw her one day on the nightly news alive and living across the world. The story then follows her to New Zealand on the search for her sister and shockingly, herself. Fantastic novel and I highly recommend. I can't wait to read more by this author.