Thank you to the publisher, MIRA, for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I kept putting off writing this review for as long as I could and now, I’m in a real time crunch. I’m tired,

uninspired and a headache is starting to form right behind my eyes and I just want to curl up on the couch and watch cartoons.

Yup, it’s one of those days.

I kept procrastinating on this review, because I don’t know what to say about it. I don’t know how I feel about it. Maybe I’m feeling slightly misled and confused about the story.

I had a different idea of what this story is supposed to have been about based on the little blurb that promoted it.

I kept thinking “alright, one more chapter to set up the stage for things to really pick up,” but that never happened.

At the end of the digital copy of my book there was a Q & A section with the author, who referred to the characters she creates as “messed up”.

That would make perfect sense after having read this story. Without giving too much away, I can confidently say that most readers will very soon find out that none of the characters are stable. They are all in their own way messed up and dealing with some stuff.

Regardless of that, I found the protagonist inconsistent. Her motivations based on her personality traits made little sense the further along the story progressed.

The secondary characters were interesting enough, but not very likeable.

When it comes to the plot of the story, I have to say I got lost. I kept asking myself what it was attempting to be. It got so tangled up in the protagonist’s self-reflections that most of the story got left behind.

This brings me to my biggest point of confusion. I was under the belief this was a mystery/thriller story, yet most of the book felt like a drama. I could see elements of the psychological thriller, but why did it focus so much on every single little thought the protagonist had?

There were big portions of the story that solely focused on the protagonist’s internal narration and nothing else. Then the reader would get a little bit of excitement to keep their attention long enough to distract them from abandoning the book altogether only to have a slow make-over happening.

I half figured out how the story would end way before it was over, and the ending did not really make up for the rest of it.

Overall, I’m giving the story some credit for me finishing it, but it wasn’t on-the-edge-of-your-seat entertainment.

I may suggest it as a slow burn sort of read.

I posted a Spotlight, per my Blog Tour Stop. I have not yet read the book, so I will come back and edit my review once I do.

This was a quick, amusing read that held my attention throughout. The characters were awful, awful people and I did not like any of them. I did find the twist to be predictable, but I don’t know if that will be the case for everyone. I didn’t necessarily love the ending but it possibly left room for a sequel.

Many thanks to Netgalley, MIRA and Hannah Mary McKinnon for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I never thought a book could have me feel all different kinds of emotions for the protagonist until I read this one. What do I mean? Here's a list of everything I felt for Eleanor, our main character: sorry, angry, upset, crazy, happy, and my list could go on with all of these opposing emotions. What a tale Hannah Mary McKinnon takes us on and what a ride she takes us on with Eleanor!

This story is told through Eleanor. She recently loses her father, the only parent she had a relationship with. She is estranged from her mother and sister and could care less about them. When a secret comes out on her father's death bed, her life changes.

Eleanor lives a single lifestyle, barely hanging on, and has a problem with binge eating. Her father's death catapults her and she ends up learning even more about her mother. Her mother comes around and tries to be nice, but all she wants is for Eleanor to give any money her father left her, to her sister. Mind you, her sister didn't even come to her father's funeral.

Oh, did I not mention the secret that she found out? Right...well, her father wasn't her biological father. Nope. And she found out she has a half sister. If you thought her mom and sister were drama...oh no, wait until you meet her real father and see how THAT plays out.

5 stars. Why? Because my opinion of Eleanor changed SO MUCH throughout this book, it was unreal. The ending made me angry, but weirdly I was ok with it. I'm still angry and upset over the ending, but any other ending really could have been a little more unrealistic. This book just takes you on a wild ride and I loved every minute of it. Such a great job by the author!! You won't regret picking this one up!

Talk about a wild ride. Story goes from dark crazy to suspenseful thriller! This could be a totally real story which really made it a difficult read for me.
Thanks Harlequin, Mira and NetGalley for the ARC.

I’m here with another book I’m conflicted about so I’m gonna try my like/dislike format and see if it works for me again.

What I liked:
✅ It was compulsive and addictive and read super fast, always a bonus for me in a thriller
✅ It was entertaining in a Lifetime movie sort of way with over the top behavior and questionable decisions
✅ The authors writing style is smooth and fluid and definitely easy to fly through

What I disliked:
👎🏻 As much as it was addictive there was a long wait for something big to actually happen, I was telling friends as I was reading, ok is something exciting gonna happen eventually? For me, not really.
👎🏻 The big twist wasn’t surprising for me, I saw it coming and was disappointed that I was right
👎🏻 The ending made me mad, I wanted some justice and redemption and there was just some eye roll worthy tie ups that I just can’t get past
👎🏻 Again with the ending, but it took a sharp turn into full blown, over the top and slightly ridiculous Lifetime movie status that was just too much.

So once again this did help me, I’ll go with a ⭐️⭐️💫 and say that I seem to be in the minority so I urge you to check out Goodreads reviews cause it has great ratings. It’s probably me not the book 🤷🏻‍♀️

I love a plot twist! And this book delivers it multiple times, masterfully. Eleanor finds out that she has a different father a few hours before the man he thought was her father died. And with that information, she goes on to try to find her biological father. But when she finds him and he doesn't want anything to do with her, she decides to try to befriend her half sister instead, without telling her about the relationship between them. You will love Eleanor. You will hate her. You will tolerate her. You will agree and disagree. It's a nice story, told in her point of view.

Sister Dear is the story of finding a perfect sister and getting too mesmerized by a fairy tale, which turns out to be more Grimms' than Disney's.

When Eleanor finds out she has a biological father and loses the one who raised her soon after, she just wants to know a little better her other possible life, in which she'd have a perfect sister, Victoria. But the snowball only grows bigger and she little by little manages to infiltrate Victoria's life to almost a best-friend status, without ever telling her sister about their real connection.

This was one dark trip. It partially reminded me of some 80's? 90's? movie in which the character pretends to be the other's best friend but she actually hid a secret. That and a few other details really misled me on what to think about Eleanor, our own main character here. Which was great because the plot twists almost disintegrated oblivious me.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say Eleanor is nothing like what you may think from the summary. She's actually one big klutz, doing things even she can't explain, like online-stalking her sister, stealing her ring from a restaurant bathroom, when she actually means no harm. Her actions would make me anxious, because we readers have read it all before, we know the stolen ring in the beginning will come back to bite her, and we can only wait to see how. At the same time, even when I couldn't relate, I did feel for her. Her mother, who is really her mother, isn't motherly at all, nor is her other (half-)sister, the one she was raised with, sisterly at all. Her one ally was her father and he not only has been lying to her but he dies before she knew what to make it of that big secret. Going after her biological one was only natural. This paragraph already got too long but I meant to say that I don't condone how Eleanor acted, but she did get a place in my heart, the poor thing.

The book is filled with characters I couldn't trust. Even though the beginning already tells us Eleanor will do something so extreme that will get her in jail, the others were the ones that made me wary. Which was fantastic, of course. But it was also how the writer played with me. I trusted so little her "cast" that she took me for a ride.

At the same time, I can't say the big plot twist came out of nowhere. Perhaps, I was so with Eleanor, I confess that maybe I didn't want to see what I had already felt. Nonetheless, it was a great spin and put all the dots in their places.

This is a book that will make you continue to read but I also feel it dragged. Maybe some of the twists could have happened sooner. What happens is you know hell is coming but it takes almost the whole book for that, and then everything happens at the same time. This was good because while you were still absorbing the first big revelation, the next hits you, but I feel the book would be more evenly exciting were they more spaced, maybe. I feel a lot happened but it was mostly in the final quarter, too much room building up before that.

This said, this was another great work by Hannah Mary McKinnon. If you're a fan of psychological thrillers that take their time weaving their traps on the readers, this is it. I can guarantee you the final blow(s) makes it worth it.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Victim to Villain. I didn't think I'd go for it, but it was a hit for me. This story was very dark and very twisty. Eleanor finds out that her father isn't her biological dad from him on his deathbed. She ends up searching out her real dad and befriends his daughter. I could never decide whether she was insane with anger and grief, or if she was always a bit twisted. Either way, I read this one night. It's a solid four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

First, I want to say that I am basing my review on this book being classified as a mystery/thriller. I do not think it properly fits that category. Until about 80-90% of the way through the book their wasn't much I would put into the thriller or psychological thriller category. Honestly, nothing really happened for most of the book. Yes, there is a surprise ending, but for a thriller I expect to be on the edge of my seat throughout most of the book.

Eleanor finds out that the father she knew isn't her real father at all. Her biological father is wealthy and had paid her mother to never reveal to anyone, including Eleanor, the truth. When her nonbiological father dies, Eleanor goes on the hunt to find out more about her biological family. She inserts herself into her half-sister, Victoria's life, and gets caught up in the wealthy lifestyle she leads.

I did not like Eleanor. She was plagued by self doubts, and spent most of the book making extraordinarily dumb decisions. A lot of the book was her being wishy washy on whether what she was doing was normal, or ok. It was not and so I tired of her real fast. I didn't hate this book, but it was not a favorite of mine. I seem to be in the minority, but I expect more from my thrillers.

Hannah Mary McKinnon, author of “Sister Dear” has written an intriguing, intense, edgy, and suspenseful novel. The genres for this novel are thriller, mystery, suspense, and fiction. The timeline is set in the author’s present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters and events. The author describes her characters as flawed, dysfunctional, complex, and complicated. There are betrayals, stalking, and deep secrets and lies that affect the characters.

Eleanor Hardwicke finds out at the hospice, just before her beloved father dies, that he is not her biological father. Eleanor has an estranged and dysfunctional relationship with the mother and her sister. Her mother has always favored the sister over Eleanor.

Eleanor does find out her biological father’s name and realizes that he has a daughter, Victoria, her age. Eleanor sees that Victoria is married, wealthy, and beautiful, and Eleanor knows what she wants. Eleanor becomes obsessed with her new family, especially her sister.

There is an OMG ending that I didn’t see coming, and totally was shocked! WOW!!! I would love to see Hannah Mary McKinnon write a sequel if possible. I would highly recommend reading this chilling thriller.

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. --George Bernard Shaw

While many of the reviews seem to be lukewarm for Sister Dear, I actually enjoyed it...for the most part. I'll start off by saying, though, it's not a thriller...well, at least not until the final 10% of the story. I'd probably classify it as contemporary/domestic fiction.

Told entirely from Eleanor's point of view, she was a character who grew up with an emotionally abusive mother, a sister who loathed her, and a father who wasn't actually her dad...a fact she discovered on the day he passed away. She was an incredibly sympathetic character--at first. However, upon meeting her biological father, she became vindictive and revenge-seeking, after which she decided that didn't suit her purpose, and instead became loving and helpful. She was so annoyingly wishy-washy, I had a hard time deciding how I felt about her as our protagonist.

The story was somewhat predictable. Actually, it was very predictable, yet I still enjoyed the journey. I'm not sure how or why, but it did work for me, despite my gripes. The conclusion left an opening for a sequel, and I do believe I'd check it out if it ever materializes.

Available for purchase on May 26, 2020.

**My sincere thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Dear Sister by Hannah Mary McKinnon is my second read from this author, and it was every bit as compelling as the first. This one is a bit of a slow burn, but it does get there in the end, with some twists and turns that you won't see coming,

Eleanor Hardwicke is shocked to discover that the man she has always believed to be her father is, in fact, not. When he dies, Eleanor searches for her biological father, only to find that a half sister occupies a branch on the newly revised family tree. Victoria has everything that Eleanor has always dreamed of, and Eleanor begins a mission to take what she believes to be rightfully hers.

Ms McKinnon's skill at fully fleshing out her protagonist is the strength of this novel, and attentive and thorough character development propels the narrative at a steady pace. This is clever and absorbing storytelling.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN - Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) for this ARC.

Holy Moly.

Hannah Mary McKinnon you continue to blow my mind.

I started this one late at night, expecting to read a few chapters and then head off to bed. Cut to 3am, I'm tearing though pages like it's a life or death situation. I'm 80% done and there's just no point in stopping now.

Minutes before Eleanor's father dies, she find out he was actually NOT her real father. She is shocked and devastated, but also determined to find her biological father and get some answers.

When she meets that man - rich and affluent, with the picture perfect family, she learns she was the product of an affair and he wants nothing to do with her. So she decides to secretly befriend his glamorous daughter and little by little ease into the life that rightfully belongs to her.

Eleanor was a fun one to root for. She's been knocked down so many times, you want her to get the happily ever after she deserves. I loved Victoria the half-sister as well, and genuinely hoped they'd become close and Eleanor would reveal their connection, and they'd all be one big happy family.

The build up was fast and I was hooked right in from the start. It's a fast-paced FUN story and the ending is SO BRAVE. I totally didn't expect it - I hated it and I loved it equally - and it was a refreshing twist on a thriller that I hoped would never end!

Not gonna lie. This book was a little bit creepy. It had me guessing until the end. And thankful I only have a brother. HA!

Blech. This should have been a slow burn but instead was just slow.

Eleanor was just....a miserable person and I could not WAIT until I was done reading about her.

This is more women's fiction but really - just overall bad.

Eleanor Hardwicke starts this book devastated that her dad's days are numbered as he is battling an illness and with a horrible relationship with her mother and sister, she is aware that when he dies she will be saying goodbye to a notion of family. Until she finds out that as he was dying he revealed that he is not her biological father and she actually has more family out there. She wants to find this other family and see if she can connect and grow how she has always defined family.

I went into this book with the cover that is presented ready for sinister and crazy right off the bat and this is more of a slow build and actually more of a family drama. The sinisterness comes into play at the very end and some great twists and turns, but this book is about family and trying to define family however you need to and what family can look like.

I liked how Hannah Mary McKinnon wrote characters. The character arcs are just genius. From where Eleanor starts to where she ends is just a great journey and yes it is fiction, but it was believable to see Eleanor end up where she did.

i was surprised when I finished this book that this was my first read of Hannah Mary McKinnon. Although this one didn't go as I had predicted, I still loved it and want to dive into her backlist.

Ooooooof this ain’t it, folks.

Throughout this book, Eleanor (our MC) transforms herself in every way from victim to villain, and I absolutely hated what she became. Also I hated how she treated her love interest, Lewis.

Liiiiiiike how could I feel for a character that deserved everything she had coming to her? Yes, there are some pretty good twists throughout, but overall I wish I would have DNF’d this. Yikes.

Looking for a very readable, tension filled, dramatic ending type of book? Then this is it! I have started to learn with all of Hannah's books to wait for that twisty, drama filled ending and this one I think was the biggest and best yet. I was nervous reading throughout it which I kinda loved. The book follows Eleanor who is reeling after her beloved father has passed away, but not before it was revealed to her that he was not her biological father. She begins to search for her father and along the way finds her half sister Victoria. Victoria has it all and the life that Eleanor has always wanted. Eleanor is determined to be a part of her life one way or the other. I really enjoyed this one and did not expect a lot of the ways the story unfolded. Hope you pick this one up! Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and to Hannah Mary McKinnon for a free review copy. All the opinions are my own.

I love love love Hannah Mary McKinnon. She once again hit the ball out of the park with this one. I did find the synopsis to be a tad predictable but the boom itself was phenomenal and completely came through. It had suspense, thrill, family drama.... All my favorite themes.