Wow. What a book it had me gripped from the start and found it very emotional to read and didn't want to put it down. Although the pace of the book was fast it was still easy to follow. Will definitely read more from this author in the future.

To be the author's debut novel, All the Lovely Pieces did not disappoint! The story unfolds through the perspectives of three different characters: Drew, Michael, and Caroline.
Drew is a young woman who is on the run with her son, in hopes of avoiding her abusive husband, Adam, from finding them. Michael is Drew and Adam's son and does not know much about his father because his mother took them on the run when he was a small child. Caroline was Michael's nanny and Adam's lover, but she is being locked away from the world; she believes it is for her own protection, but is it?
When these three storylines merge together, everyone's secrets will be exposed and the truth will be revealed.

In this wonderful new book we meet Drew Baker, a young mother who has escaped, with her child, from an abusive husband. She never gets truly comfortable in one town, if something seems off she packs her son and their things up and moves on. The two have recently settled down in a small town and Drew soon realizes that living in a small town people ask a lot of questions. She doesn't quite remember what happened the night she left her husband but she fears that she has done something that will send her to jail. Drew would love to be able to clear her name and live without fear but isn't sure how she can accomplish such a feat. Her son is getting older and starting to rebel against all the rules, he wants answers that she just can't give him, which terrifies her to no end. Drew soon learns that secrets can only be held for so long and that the past can resurface at anytime. Follow along with Drew on her harrowing journey, see if she can clear her name and show the truth about what she experienced at the hand of a sadistic husband. Will she set her self free from all the secrets that she has hidden or will she end up in a worse place than she started. This was a thrilling read that had me guessing from beginning to end, I loved the intricate web the author weaved while telling Drew's story. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

#AllTheLovelyPieces is a debut thriller by the author J M Winchester, she usually writes romance books under a different name. I have been reading lots of thrillers lately but this was my first in terms of psychological thriller.

Drew is on the run along with her nine year old son Michael. She is escaping from her abusive, controlling and a monster of person her husband, Adam, is. He is rich and powerful and the CEO of a tech company. He worked his charm on Drew and before she knew it they were married and she was pregnant. But she later comes to know about his controlling and abusive behaviour. And is determined to run and save her son. After many attempts she finally succeeds, but there’s something she’s left in the room which she knows will be enough to catch her.

They are always on the run. Never at one place for long enough. Now they have come to Liberty. It’s a small place and Drew wants to find some answers which she knows she can find here. But the place is warming, and friendly, and however hard she tried of keeping herself and Michael isolated from the people she couldn’t. She is in love with Parker and pregnant again. But she knows she needs to find the answers soon enough.

The story progresses from the view point of three people - Drew, her son Michael and Catherine (about whom you will know when you read). Though it’s only Drew’s thoughts which are more important, Catherine and Michael’s thoughts helped me know about them as person.

The story starts with a bang, and goes on like that. It’s a fast paced, racing thriller and will keep you on the edge. It was hard to put it down for me. The tension is held on to the end, with a lot of twists and turns which will keep you hooked.

It’s a take on the escape of woman and her son from an abusive relationship rather than the relationship itself, which I found great. Though I would have loved if there had been snippets from Adam’s perspective also. And maybe, just maybe, something from Parker’s as well at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for accepting my request and giving a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.

Drew is running. She can’t stay in more than one place otherwise he’ll find her...but she comes across this town that holds so much potential and so much danger. Can she stay out in one place and keep her and her son safe? Does she handle uprooting her small life that she has unwillingly started in this small town? Can she find the answers she needs in order to survive?

Guys. This book had a definite creepy vibe to it. As you all know, not a super big fan of the books that have too many perspectives. This one had three. So it wasn’t that over the top and I loved how the author organized it. The main character is Drew and the author touches on two other characters and I think it gives the book more character. You see how all three characters tie in to each other and also how they are evolving as the story goes on. I definitely didn’t see the ending coming which is always a plus. I was frustrated with the it but I can’t say much more otherwise I’ll give it away 😂 I am kind of hoping the author does a sequel though just by how it ended and it had definite possibility. Hoping to read more from this author and I definitely recommend!

I loved this thriller and was hooked from the beginning. The author did a great job setting everything up, showing the fear the main character Drew was feeling. Not only did Drew fear her husband but she also did something the night she fled but has no memory of what she did. While running & trying to protect her son she was also trying to remember what she did. This book kept me on the edge of my seat.

Excellent psychological thriller! It moved at a fast pace with twists and turns throughout! Well-developed characters and plot. Highly recommend!

All the Lovely Pieces by J.M. Winchester

Told from three viewpoints we here from the mother on the run, her son and a woman held captive by Adam, the man Drew and Michael are running from. After nine years and seven states Drew has decided to settle for a bit in Liberty, Missouri. She is a bit paranoid and always looking over her shoulder while Michael is looking forward to having friends, going to school and being “normal”. Drew is NOT relaxed about letting Michael out of her sight but she is in Liberty for a reason. My gut feeling when I found out that reason was that she should have kept running or just plain hidden.

Anyway...Drew makes a few friends, talks to a psychologist and takes a lover. She continues to have trust issues and worries. Michael is curious about his father and unsure what to think of the new man in his mother’s life. While the two are doing their thing in Missouri we hear the voice of Catherine, the nanny and captive of Adam – her life is miserable and she has more than a bit of Stockholm Syndrome. And Adam is definitely a bogeyman to beware of. I don’t think there was one redeemable think he did or said in the book. I have to say I liked how he got his comeuppance.

As I read I had mixed feelings. I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters in the book. I felt that Drew wasn’t taking care of herself or her son while on the run and I wondered how she actually managed to provide for them over almost a decade. I felt that all of the characters were a bit “flat” with not enough backstory to make me feel I knew them well enough to really care about what would happen to them. Michael, at nine, was rather creepy. I couldn’t tell if he was “normal” or a creep in the making. I guess I wanted more backstory, more about Adam and why he was as he was, and perhaps an epilogue to let us know how things turned out for everyone in the future.

The story is brutal and graphic with abuse, murder, rape, kidnapping and psychological trauma aplenty. It is twisted in more ways than one. I am on the fence as to whether I would read another book in this genre by this author. As it is her debut book and is well written I do believe I would try another to see how it compares with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tomas & Mercer for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2-3 Stars

I read a lot of the reviews before I picked this book. 99% of the readers were wowed, even the 1% couldn't really pick anyone thing they didn't like, just wasn't their type of read. Well, I am definitely with the 99%. This may be her first thriller, and it most definitely is not a happily ever after book, but she knocked this one out of the park!
A victim of daily horrendous physical and mental abuse, a young, disillusioned mother must take her newborn baby and run as far and fast as she can. Moving often, never making friends, keeps her and her son alive and away from her husband. They live this way until the child is 10 and demands a more stable home life. Yes, you can see this coming...the husband finds them. JM Winchester has given her readers an excellent book with a great back story and interesting, compelling characters. All this combined with excellent writing combines to make this one of the best books I've read in awhile!

I love her romance novels, and I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but she absolutely surprised me. She did an excellent job with this dark and twisty thriller, and I can't wait to listen to the audiobook now that I've read it.
I'd like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and J.M. Winchester for allowing me to read an early copy of it!

This book was another one of those books that grabs you and keeps you in its clutch until the very end. It’s a thriller and that is simply stated.

What would you do if you fell in love with someone that had money, power and the ability to control every aspect of your life? For anyone that wished to be rich, you realize you’d rather have nothing to break free abuse, torment and psychological terror that has become your life. And even more so when you find out you’re pregnant with a monsters baby.

I read from the viewpoint of different characters, by chapter and I was dying to see who was up next to tell me what was happening throughout the book.

When Drew has to make a life on the run with her baby Michael, living off a bag off money and fake identity documents, she’s afraid to stay put too long. Because Adam, the husband she’s rescuing her baby and her life from has the power to find her. Laying low just long enough to not get acquainted with anyone or make any friends. Constantly moving place to place, raising her son Michael in a rather less than desirable childhood than he deserves.

But slowly fragments and pieces from the past come together, truths come to light and terror has just begun. Sometimes psychopath behavior may even be passed down genetically to the child.

When Drew gets caught making a life out of guilt for her son to have a normal life, she begins to let down her guard just enough to allow murder, mystery and the power of love tell a story of its own. So many intertwined stories, each that will have you at the edge of your seat. Read the book now!

(Also posted on my GR account!)

4 stars for being an awesome read!

The blurb for All the Lovely Pieces was kinda... bland. Sure, it's ominous, but it's also a cookie-cutter blurb in this genre. Thankfully, the cover was good (I really love it) and the story itself was great.

There were a lot to unpack in this book: domestic abuse, murder, gaslighting, and mental health (although the latest didn't get to be addressed fully).

Drew's story was one of those 'I told you so' story. She got involved with a dangerous man (in more than a way) then she had to run for her and her son's lives. When she reluctantly settled at a place, she was forced to recounted her nightmares in order to move forward.

Fine, it was hard to sympathize with Drew at times. She was frustratingly slow-witted and for someone whose on the road often, her fight-or-flight sense was nonexistent. Of course, I had to remember than she was abused, but for once, I wish she could be stronger and more sensitive in the book.

However, I'm really liking the plot, the pace, how the story unfolded... I wish I could get more of Drew's background that made her distrusted her parents (other than what she said so) and the story of Catherine.

Also kudos to the ending for leaving me satisfied.

Oppressively Dark Beginning. This book is *so* dark in the first half that it almost doesn't have a choice but to lighten by at least a shade or two in the back half - and even then, that shade or two brighter is about all you ever really get. I don't want to give too much away in this review, but if you have issues such that you can't or won't read books that contain any level of domestic abuse or rape, you're going to want to skip this one. Beyond that, the front half of this book in particular screwed with my mind so much - easily one of the more powerful books on that level that I've read in quite some time. To the level that I didn't want to finish it, but knew I needed to for this review - and even then, I knew it was a 5* book *because* of what it was doing to me and its excellent editing. I honestly don't know if I'll ever read another book under this name from this author, but this one is very much recommended.

Talk about a compelling tale! J. M. Winchester brings us the saga of a psychotic Seattle software billionaire with exactly enough money to allow him all the room he requires to satisfy his unusual needs. I have never met a billionaire nor a psycho, but this one is scary as Hell and much too authentic.

Drew is his first wife, Michael his first child. It takes Drew a while to see that the 'security and protection' Adam provides for her is based on perversity - but as soon as she finds she is pregnant that abuse intensifies and becomes unmistakable. When sugar no longer works Adam turns to brute force, and before the pregnancy reaches term she is a prisoner in her bedroom, though the rumors in her household point to her as the crazy one. Drew is alert for a chance to escape, which finally happens when she is within weeks of delivering her son. Straight she goes to the nearest police station - but she is wild-eyed and beaten-up and the police believe Adam, that she self-harms. Where he had slit her wrist repeatedly several weeks before only adds to his story.

After a 'home' delivery that almost kills Drew, she knows that now that Adam has his child her life is over, and the life that Matthew will have would be no life at all. This time when she escapes she and her child go directly into hiding. Successfully hiding. For nine years...

This is an entertaining horror story, told well. It is one I am happy to recommend to friends and family.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, J. M. Winchester, and Thomas & Mercer publishers. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this story of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

<blockquote>“All the lovely pieces fall to the floor . . .”</blockquote>

The first thriller for J.M. Winchester. It’s hard to believe her usual genre is romance. It really was time to let out that dark and twisted alter ego. Fabulous job...can’t wait to read more!

Winchester takes her time, as she slowly reveals each main character’s connection in this crazy and intricate storyline. The mysterious Catherine was an elusive puzzle piece that she dangled for quite some time, before finally revealing her spot.

Drew and her son are hiding from her abusive husband, Adam. Not just your “typical” abusive husband. This creep is vile, depraved and he’s a very powerful, successful billionaire. He’s not someone who is easy to leave behind and erase from your life.

They have been on the run since Michael was a baby. They never stay in the same town very long, they don’t form friendships and they don’t talk about their past. But Drew picked Liberty, Missouri for a reason. She’s tired of running, and she believes someone here can help her.

<blockquote>“I’m not judging. I’m jealous. No one’s skeletons are as fucked up as mine.”</blockquote>

J.M. Winchester wrote this thriller like a pro and I’m ready for her next book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and J.M. Winchester, for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

<b>My Rating: </b> 4.5 ⭐️’s (rounding up)
<b>Published:</b> August 6th 2019 by Thomas & Mercer
<b>Pages:</b> 320

<b>Recommend:</b> Yes!

4.5 stars -

"All the lovely pieces fall to the floor…"

*whistles* Damn, what a wild ride! It’s been a minute since I’ve read a good psychological + domestic thriller. I was excited to read this because of the slew of good reviews from other people who had ARCs and I have to say, it definitely lived up to the hype. I lost count of the number of chills that ran through my body as I was reading. From page one, we hit the ground running. There are no dull moments in "All the Lovely Pieces". Really. Absolutely none.

Drew is a single mom on the run from her demons (well, just one demon really), trying to give her son as normal of a life as possible. All the lovely pieces she’s tried to arrange over the past 9 years have slowly started to fall into place but then, as things are starting to feel safe and normal for once, all the pieces start to fall apart, bit by bit.

The domestic abuse was difficult to read, not necessarily because of the content matter but because of how attached I felt to Drew. I felt her pain and her struggles and it surprised me how much I connected with her on an emotional level. This is one of those rare books where it’s easy to emotionally connect with each character in one way or another.

It's dark and gritty but if you’re in need of an edge-of-your-seat thriller that you won’t want to put down, this is the book for you.

This differs from the usual woman-fleeing-abusive-husband thriller in that you get some perspective from the son she sought to save. Drew took Michael and left Adam when Michael was a baby. Now he's ten and he's tired of the moves- and he doesn't understand what's at stake. Drew makes the decision to settle them in Liberty and to open up a little, not a lot, to others. This is, as you might imagine, a mistake. Remember when reading the Michael section that he's 10 and like all 10 year olds, either out loud or in their heads, has attitude. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Nicely twisty and fast paced, this is a good read.

This was my first book by this author and I will gladly read more if she continues down the thriller genre path! All the Lovely Pieces is a debut psychological thriller by this author and I was impressed!

Drew escapes her evil, abusive husband and and takes their baby son with her. On the run for 9 years, she feels she can never let her guard down or trust anyone. They never stay in one place long and she is always looking over her shoulder.

This is a fast paced domestic thriller that will keep you turning the pages! Dark and twisty! 4 stars!

A big thank You to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

Well, yeah, this was such a good thriller! So dark and so twisted!
Being a huge fan of thriller and mystery books I had to pick this one up and read it and I wasn't disappointed at all! I think the plot is very good, the action is fabulous, even the characters blend perfectly in.
All the right pieces in the right places!
Be careful though! The book is also huge in controlling alpha males and abused women in relationships. Even though the book is more focused on the escape of the woman and the child.

Drew Baker is on the run with her son, Michael. If Adam finds them, he will surely kill her. Fear is palpable from the beginning of this new suspense novel. Drew has moved several times since she ran away from her home in Seattle nine years ago.

Michael is an introverted ten-year-old boy who never makes friends at each new school. Drew makes sure not to leave an impression on any place they land. The extreme focus of blending into the background includes her choice of a small wardrobe consisting of only beige clothing. The novel opens in a new town, one that Drew is especially wary of, the place where her husband, Adam, was born and raised. Trying to find answers to what happened to her and to what forced her to commit a crime, is the pressing issue she must resolve. Finally, she is ready to face any consequences to figure out why her life turned into a nightmare shortly after she married Adam.

Meanwhile, back in Seattle, Adam moves on with his life as CEO of successful tech corporation, living life with status and whatever else he wants. He wants his son back and has always had people out looking for Drew and Michael. I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning. At first, I thought the situation was the tragic story of spousal abuse and perhaps, even child abuse. JMW has something much more complex and dramatic in mind for her readers.

All the Lovely Pieces is a book for all seasons but uniquely a well-written heart breaker when you have some free time to read it in one or two sittings, as I did. Thank you, JMW for a great book and NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC (August 6th).