The blurb had me at Single White Female meets Joe of You.

This book was a page-turner! It’s always tough to give full reviews of books with twists and turns without spoilers. But I will say that I typically enjoy family psychological thrillers and this was no exception. One secret was revealed early on which I’m a fan of – it moved the story forward instead of letting the reader guess about everything.

The writing was done well and very atmospheric with interesting characters. You could feel the desperation in Eleanor’s life and while she certainly had her faults, she was still a character to empathize with at times. Characters that I can connect with are important to me and this story gave plenty of opportunity for that.

My one issue was that this was narrated in the first person by Eleanor and that is not my favorite narration style – strictly personal preference though. I was thoroughly captivated and while this was my first book by Hannah Mary McKinnon, it will not be my last.

Thank you to MIRA Books and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and promotion.

OᐯᗴᖇᐯIᗴᗯ: Eleanor isn’t close to her mom and sister. Only her dad. Then she finds out an awful truth when her father dies, that he wasn’t really her father at all. Desperate for answers and a connection to a family that actually accepts her, Eleanor goes in search of her real father.

ᗰY TᕼOᑌᘜᕼTᔕ: There was a slow build in this novel. I'd like to think of myself as pretty intuitive about twists, and possible plot turns, but I didn't see this one coming at all. The subtle way McKinnon told the story set the reader up for a perfect shock at the end! This novel is yet another reason why Hannah Mary McKinnon is an auto-buy author for me!

ᖇᗩTIᑎᘜ: ★★★★

Thank you to Harlequin MIRA and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I've never read a Hannah Mary McKinnon book so I wasn't sure what to expect. Her latest, Sister Dear, is a psychological suspense novel that has a crackerjack ending that shocked me. (And I'm not easily shocked.)



As the story opens, Eleanor is visiting her beloved father at his hospice. When she arrives, she hears her estranged mother, trying to get her ex-husband to leave all his money in his will to their younger daughter Amy because, after all, Eleanor is not his real daughter.



After Eleanor confronts her parents, she runs out of the hospice and ends up getting attacked by a mugger outside her apartment building. Her handsome upstairs neighbor Lewis rescues her, but she is seriously injured enough to end up in the hospital.



While there, her father passes away and Eleanor is bereft. Her mother and sister are allied against her as they have always been, and Eleanor feels like she has no one.



She finds out that her biological father is a highpowered real estate developer, a man her mother worked for years ago. Eleanor confronts him, and he tells her that he never wanted to have anything to do with her and still doesn't. He threatens her if she comes near his family.



But Eleanor's curiosity gets the better of her. She follows Victoria, her father's only child, to a restaurant, and listens in on her conversation with Victoria's mother and cousin.



Victoria is everything Eleanor is not- beautiful, thin, wealthy. She turns heads wherever she goes. Eleanor applies to assist Victoria set up a website for her new company, and the two women become friends, although Victoria has no idea who Eleanor really is. Victoria loves having a new friend, someone she can trust.



As Eleanor insinutates herself into Victoria's life, I wondered where this story would go. Eleanor not only works for Victoria, but also for Victoria's husband. Eleanor's life is getting better- a good job, a boyfriend, she has lost weight, and changed her hairstyle to look more like Victoria. Lewis warns her that the longer this goes on without Victoria knowing who she really is, the harder the fall will be.



Sister Dear kept me interested, but the ending of the story knocked me out of my seat. I literally gasped and nearly screamed out loud. McKinnon takes us on this journey with Eleanor, and where we end up is somewhere we couldn't have guessed. She sprinkles the story with breadcrumbs that lead us to some things we can guess, but the ultimate reveal is a corker.



If you like to be surprised by the ending of a novel, pick up Sister Dear immediately.



Thanks to MIRA for putting me on Hannah Mary McKinnon's tour.

Reeling from the loss of her beloved father, Eleanor decides to search for her biological father. Since her relationship with her mother and half sister are tenuous at best, she is desperate to find a loving familial bond to replace the one she had with her dad. But how far will she go to find that bond?

Is Eleanor as unhinged and unreliable as she seems, or is there someone even more sinister? This twisty and dark story sucked me in from the very first pages. Even though I can't say that I was totally shocked by the ending, I definitely was entertained throughout and would recommend it if you're looking for a quick, suspenseful, distracting read!

3.5 stars

Location: Portland, Oregon

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Well written and full of suspense. Watch as Eleanor spins out of control chasing something that doesn't belong to her. Something she thinks that she deserves. In your seat reading that revs up this tense story and just keeps getting better and better. Happy reading!

Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Mary McKinnon and Harlequin Books for allowing me to read this ARC. This is my honest opinion.
It was not your typical strong heroine main character. Elenor was pretty broken in self image from the influence of a cruel mother and sisters treatment all of her formative life. The devoted love of a father helped but he was not strong enough stop the treatment and subsequent damage the mother wielded to Elenors self image.
I felt sorry for Elenor in the beginning but soon was mad at her for her choices that seemed out of character for someone who got out of her mothers clutches, built her own home business and was doing fairly well. I mentally yelled at her. I didn’t think someone with her history would actually suddenly become a psycho stalker type.
Discovering a total falsehood of who she really is, knocked her for a loop but really wouldn’t turn her into what was portrayed.
This story portrays insecurity, childhood mental abuse, desperation and add to that ultimate rejection and sociopathic personalities. My sense of right and wrong screaming NO way.
I had to take a few days before I wrote this review after reading Sister Dear. I was shaking my head and screaming inside WHAT?! when I finished.

"SISTER DEAR is a highly impressive diabolically plotted psychological thriller of betrayal, obsession, and greed. A dark, edgy devious game of cat-and-mouse manipulation. Trust me, you will NOT see this jaw-dropping twist coming! Top Books of 2020 and glowing 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟."

I have been a massive fan of author Hannah Mary McKinnon and her previous work; however, SISTER DEAR is like no other. "Freaking Awesome!"

Addictive, shocking, wicked, and deliciously entertaining.

I read around 200-300 thrillers a year, and SISTER DEAR is "stand-out" and at the top of the list. A brilliantly crafted "unputdownable" heart-pounding thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end. Your loyalties are assured to switch a few times while reading.

Eleanor has not had an easy life. She and her mom and sister Amy do not get along. However, she has always loved her dad. They are very close. He has pancreatic cancer, and his time is near and in hospice.

As the book opens, Eleanor overhears a shocking conversation between her mom and dad. Her dad is not really her dad? How could this be? Why didn't someone tell her? The one-man she has loved and respected? She is shattered.

She leaves in a rush, upset, and walks home without her purse or phone. She is attacked, and her hot upstairs neighbor, Lewis, rescues her. In the meantime, she is in the hospital, and her dad has passed. She never got to say her goodbyes.

But a nurse has a message from her dad before he passed. A man's name, Stan. Could it be her real dad? She is curious and looks him up online, and he is successful and wealthy and has a picture-perfect wife and daughter.

A daughter, Victoria which is close to her age. She is beautiful, sophisticated, and glamorous. Everything she is not. Eleanor has an eating disorder and low self-esteem due to her mom's and sister's verbal abuse her entire life.

She has a half-sister she wants to get to know. Eleanor becomes obsessed with being part of this family. She wants what she should have had. She must figure out a way to get it.

After all, she is a web designer, photographer, and artist. Stalking social media, following the family, she figures out a way to approach her about doing a website for her half-sister's new interior design business.

It starts with a wedding ring she finds in a restaurant bathroom. She is getting closer. Does she want revenge, Victoria's life, or does she want to be her sister and be a part of a real family?

Soon Eleanor thinks she may just have it all.

But what if Victoria discovers who she is? She begins to develop some confidence, a website design business, a new friend, a sister (even though she keeps that to herself), and a new hot boyfriend, Lewis, who owns a gym.

Too good to be true?

She lets her guard down. She thinks she knows what she is doing and has it all under control. What she would give to be a part of this glamorous and successful family. However, things are not as they seem, and the grass is not always "greener."

Trust NO one!

Razor-sharp writing, believable and relatable characters, and ones you will root for. When I reached 92% WTH, I was literally blown away. I knew something HUGE was coming but had no clue how this would turn out. Brilliant!

I loved Eleanor's character and Lewis. She grew so much during the book and think readers will root for her.

For some reason, I am strongly reminded of The Affair (favorite) TV series (as to why I am thinking a series all the way to the next generation). I see future books for past character's history: Sylvia, Bruce, Stan, Madeleine, and future Eleanor, Gemme, Victoria, and Lewis— I see a juicy "revenge" story in the making. (please)!

I was reading SISTER DEAR at home and listening to The Wife Staker by Liv Constantine, while in the car. Talk about stalkers and 360 head-turning twists— it was a double high adrenaline heart-pounding reading experience. Thriller fans, this is a "must-read!"

Hannah is at the "top" of her game with SISTER DEAR. A powerhouse to watch. Fans of Jennifer Hillier, Mary Kubica, Heather Gudenkauf, and Kimberly Belle will devour this gem! (all favorites)

A special thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

Blog Post: #JDCMustReadBooks

Readers, there is a fabulous Q&A with the author (for all of our inquiring minds) and a reader's guide included at the end of the book. An ideal choice for book clubs and further discussions.

PS. Hannah: I hope you made an A ++ in your course, Plotstormers with WritersHQ.co.uk. 😍 You are a walking success.

BLOG TOUR: SISTER DEAR

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Thank you to Lia Ferrone at Harlequin Trade Publishing for inviting me to the Blog Tour.

https://wendyreadsandwrites.blogspot.com/2020/05/blog-tour-sister-dear-by-hannah-mary.html

This book starts out with out main character, Eleanor, losing her dad. Her dad is her rock and her safe place to fall especially since she isn't close to her mother or her sister. However in the process of saying goodbye to her father she finds out that the man before her isn't her real father after all and no one ever planned on telling her. Feeling her whole world crumbling around her she decides to go off and find her biological father. After a long search and some back and forth feelings about going through with it she does manage to find out who her real father is and he also comes with a half sister named Victoria that she never knew existed. It isn't long before Eleanor must know everything about her sister and curiosity turns into an obsession. I was hoping that this book would move a bit quicker than it did especially considering the subject it seemed like something that I would just soar through however parts of it were pretty slow. I did find the concept quite interesting though and that is what kept me coming back to this novel. I really liked the characters in this novel they were well written and very three dimensional, which makes for an interesting read. The ending was great it really made up for the slower parts of the novel. Not a bad read I just wish that it held my interest more in the middle. Wow I cannot say enough good things about the ending of this book it is what ever good thriller strives to become.

Title: Sister Dear
Author: Hannah Mary McKinnon
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Beauty. Wealth. Success.

She’s got it all.

And it all should’ve been mine.

When Eleanor Hardwicke’s beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by a gut-wrenching secret: the man she’s grieving isn’t really her dad. Eleanor was the product of an affair and her biological father is still out there, living blissfully with the family he chose. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks him out, leading her to uncover another branch on her family tree—an infuriatingly enviable half sister.

Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. All of it stolen from Eleanor, who plans to take it back. After all, good sisters are supposed to share. And quiet little Eleanor has been waiting far too long for her turn to play.

This wasn’t a good choice for me to read. Despite the excellent writing, I did not like any of the characters. Eleanor was creepy and obsessive and kind of crazy. Her family was awful. She makes horrible choices and doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Self-destructive is her life story, along with feeling sorry for herself. This didn’t end like I expected, which was nice, but it didn’t make up for my dislike of the characters.

Hannah Mary McKinnor was born in the U.K. and now lives in Canada. Sister Dear is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Mira in exchange for an honest review.)

A sinister and twisted tale of dark secrets, dangerous obsessions and devastating secrets, Hannah Mary McKinnon’s creepy thriller Sister Dear takes sibling rivalry to alarming and horrific depths.

Eleanor Hardwicke adored her beloved father and the bottom was wrenched away from her world when her dear parent passed away. Wracked by grief, anguish and despair, Eleanor thinks that life couldn’t possibly get any worse for her – until she discovers an earth-shattering secret that pulls the rug out from under her and completely and utterly destroys her: the man she is grieving was not her biological father and that she was the product of a torrid affair. Eleanor is absolutely devastated: her father is still out there, living with the family he chose when he didn’t think twice about rejecting her. Eleanor is not about to let this rest and when she seeks him out, she uncovers yet another surprise: she has a half-sister Victoria who leads the sort of life Eleanor would give her right arm to lead. As she discovers more about the half-sibling she never knew she had, Eleanor becomes consumed with a desperate desire to have the life which had been handed to Victoria on a silver platter.

Jealousy becomes a constant companion for Eleanor when she learns that her half-sister has everything she has always wanted. Not only did Victoria have the perfect childhood which had been denied to Eleanor, but she has a beautiful home straight out of an interiors magazine and a handsome and devoted husband who worships the ground she walks on. Eleanor could have had this life if her biological father hadn’t rejected her and she is sick and tired of being on the outside looking in. She wants Victoria’s life and she is determined to do whatever it takes to have it. What lengths will she go to to lead the life she has always wanted? Sisters are supposed to share, but while they are supposed to care and support one another, they are certainly not supposed to put each other in harm’s way…

Will Eleanor secure the life she has always wanted? Who will pay the ultimate price for Eleanor’s obsession? Eleanor? Victoria? Or both?

Mary Kubica and Shari Lapena fans will not want to miss Hannah Mary Mackinnon’s Dear Sister! A twisty page-turner where the shocks and revelations keep on coming, Sister Dear is a nerve-twisting and heart-pounding thriller readers will not want to read in any empty house. Hannah Mary Mackinnon delivers chills and twists aplenty in a mesmerizing thriller that is impossible to put down.

Terrifying, tense and thrilling, lock the doors and switch the lights on because Sister Dear is an exhilarating rollercoaster ride that will keep readers on a knife’s edge throughout.

I may have ended up at a 4, but MAAAAN, Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon was so hard to rate! Based on how fast I read it, how addictive it was, and how it completely shocked me is a 5, but the end just made me want to rip my hair out in frustration.

Straight off the bat, my heart was breaking for Eleanor when her dad dies. Who knew I would start this book out in tears?! However that quickly turned into being obsessed with trying to figure out how everything was going to play out. I thought that the pace was really steady, but I would definitely call it a slow burn. The slow burn aspect did not stop me from reading it in 1 day though!

I saw some readers say they saw the big twist coming, but I am certainly not one of them. Sister Dear was twisty, shocking, and just plain out-of-this-world unbelievable. This is exactly how I like my thrillers, but if you are someone who wants a believable ending maybe pass on this one. I really connected with Eleanor and her body imagine issues, and I was happy about the way the author handled it and added it to the book. It made Eleanor more relatable for me, even if she does make some interesting decisions.

Sister Dear may be unrealistic, but it's so much fun. Now where's my follow up book?!

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with an advance review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and MIRA Books for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

The idea of finding out that the person you thought was your father really wasn’t is absolutely heartbreaking. The fact that Eleanor had to find out on her “father’s” deathbed that the person that she thought was her father the entire time – well he did raise her so he was the father that actually meant something to her – wasn’t the father that had any sort of DNA tie to her and chose to pretty much abandon her for another family. I get that feeling and it’s painful to hear at any age, whether you’re a child or a grown adult like Eleanor is. It is also sad that Eleanor had to find out that she was the product of an affair, which is also another issue that she will have to deal with and process.

Then when Eleanor finds out that she has a half sister Victoria that has a seemingly perfect life that should have been hers, the real personality comes out to play. Things don’t turn out to be pretty, and that’s where the thriller part of the book shows its ugly head. Envy can be a real monster and it shows when this book starts to show Eleanor’s mental decline when she deals with her thoughts on Victoria and the differences between how they grew up.

I feel like this book got really intense and made me think about what would have happened if the shoe was on the other foot. Would Victoria have reacted the same way if she was in Eleanor’s place? Was Eleanor just really suffering from what happened with the loss of her father figure and jealous of what Victoria got to grow up with and dealing with everything else that happened in her life? And what would have happened if she had just talked with Victoria and made her feelings known rather than hid behind her jealousy?

I don’t know how to feel about this one, but I’ll definitely be thinking about this for a while.

This is the second book I have read by Hannah Mary McKinnon, and it didn’t disappoint! From the beginning of the book, it was a page turner. It is hard to write a review of the plot without revealing details that came together in the end. Eleanor has started her own web design company and goes to visit her father, Bruce, who has cancer at the hospice house. During this time, we also learn that Eleanor has strained relationships with her mother, Sylvia, and her sister, Amy. When she arrives, she overhears a conversation between her father, Bruce, and her mother, Sylvia where Sylvia says Bruce isn’t her father. All of that happens in the first two chapters, and the book really picks up after that. I was surprised by the ending, although I suspected some parts of it. McKinnon did a great job tying everything and everyone together in the end. I highly recommend this book!

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I wish to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for an opportunity to read and review this book. :)

This was my first book my Hannah Mary McKinnon, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I read the description offered on Net Galley, and saw the overall star rating on Good Reads, but didn't read any reviews before I started on it. From the beginning, the build up was for something terrible to happen. You could feel it. As Eleanor walked and walked, you knew that that would be the day, you know? We knew something was going on with her dad, her favorite person in the world. That her world revolved around her dad. I didn't get the full thriller vibe from the book, not even suspense. Maybe just a plain old mystery? I don't know.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and the writing style. But it didn't feel like a suspense/thriller to me. More of a women's fiction maybe? It's not an 'everything happy and we live in the clouds with rainbows and unicorns' kind of book to be sure, but the thriller/suspense genre gives me a much different expectation. Had I gone in without knowing it was to be a thriller, I might have enjoyed it more. But overall, it was a very compelling read. I finished it in less than 2 days, wanted to see what would happen next, what would be resolved, how it would work out. But also felt let down that there wasn't more of a thrill. If that makes sense. Or maybe I have just read far too many thriller/suspense novels and have a different expectation.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is new to the thriller/suspense genres, or someone who is looking for a compelling, page turning women's fiction sort of book.

Just WOW! I absolutely could not put this book down! What a beautiful job of weaving a great domestic thriller.
This book hooked me from page one and left me jaw dropped by the last page. Deliciously dark and twisted with so many unexpected turns it was hard to catch my breath! Any yes, many times I was talking out loud to this book! Really super engaging. Highly recommend. Wish I could give it more than 5 stars!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wowowowowowow. How do I explain how mind-blowingly incredible this book is without spoiling it for you? Truly a jaw dropper and I am deeply unsettled in the very best of ways. This psychological thriller is one of my favorites of 2020. ⠀
⠀
Eleanor has a lot of baggage. Her mother and her sister treat her horribly. She’s been emotionally abused, body shamed and ridiculed her entire life. Her only ally, her dad, is dying of cancer. She overhears a conversation he has with her mother on his death bed. And, it turns out, he’s not her biological father after all. Reeling from the loss of the father she knew, Eleanor decides to investigate and learn more about the family she never had the chance to know. They’re the picture perfect family: beautiful, successful, and affluent. Eleanor is full of raging, insane jealousy. Jealousy that makes her seem a little crazy. After her biological father coldly explains he wants nothing to do with her, Eleanor pursues a relationship with her half sister, Victoria. Of course, she doesn’t divulge that they share DNA. Not yet. But the more Eleanor peaks into Victoria’s life, she sees it’s not so picture perfect after all. Nothing is really as it seems. ⠀
⠀
Captivating. Chilling. Rollercoaster. So many insane twists I have whiplash. If you liked Verity, add this to your TBR pile.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⠀
⠀
Sister Dear is available tomorrow - Tuesday, May 26th! ⠀
⠀
Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have my review posted on my goodreads and Instagram @mollfranbooks today (5/25/20).
⠀

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 & 𝙈𝙞𝙧𝙖 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬!
————
On the way to visiting her dying father at the hospital, Eleanor overhears a conversation between her parents that this man she grew up knowing as her father is really 𝐧𝐨𝐭 her father after all.

Having lived all her life with an abusive mother and step-sister, Eleanor tracks down her other family in no time thanks to social media. Once she meets her real father face to face, he makes it clear that she is nobody to him. In a fit of vengeance and also longing for a real family, Eleanor cleverly begins ingratiating herself into her new step sister’s life without revealing who she really is.

As a reader, you of course see a train-wreck coming from a mile away. But in case you thought which direction this is going to go, be prepared to be 𝐣𝐚𝐰-𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥-𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝! The ending was just 𝐨𝐮𝐭-𝐨𝐟-𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! I have such mixed feelings from that ending! I 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 the ending but I’m also gutted, angry and sad. 5 glorious stars to this epic domestic thriller!

This is Hannah McKinnon’s fourth novel and now I need to check them all out from my new auto-buy author! 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬! Book comes out on May 26 so be sure to pre-order your copy!
——————
Review posted on Instagram on May 20, 2020
Review posted on Goodreads on May 20, 2020
Review will be posted on Amazon on May 26, 2020 when review access opens.

"The police didn't believe me."


› Sister Dear begins with a chapter from the present then we time-warp to fifteen months before the incident. Eleanor is a thirty-year-old website designer living in Maine. Her father has pancreatic cancer and is in hospice. Eleanor's mother treats her like crap while Eleanor's sister, Amy, is their mother's golden child.

› Eleanor discovers her parents have been lying to her for her entire life. Her father isn't her biological father. Her biological father is in fact one of the richest men in town. On the way home, Lewis, Eleanor's sexy-gym-owner neighbour saves her from an attacker in the parking lot. The next day Eleanor finds out her father died. She's wrapped up in a whirlwind moment where everything in her life is falling apart. So she does what every main character would do and decides she wants to know more about her biological father. While learning more about him she learns about her half-sister, Victoria, who she becomes obsessed with. I don't want to say any more than that because this is a mystery so you'll find out what happens between Eleanor and her new "family".

› Sister Dear is being marketed as a thriller, but it's really just the last 10% that I would consider a thriller. I wouldn't call it suspenseful either, definitely not psychological suspense or thriller. It is a mystery told completely from Eleanor's point of view, and if you don't like Eleanor (like I didn't) then you may not enjoy the way this story is told. I love the premise, and writing itself, but I'm not a big fan of the plot or ending.

› Trigger warning for: sexual harassment, weight issues, emotional binge eating, death, grief.

› Final Thoughts
• Sister Dear is an over-the-top mystery with an unlikeable main character about family secrets, betrayal, loss, love, loyalty, and revenge. If you read a lot of mysteries then you may not find the plot twisty and surprising, however, if you are the kind of reader that doesn't usually figure out what's going to happen before it happens, then I do think you'll find the ending shocking.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sister Dear by Hannah May McKinnon Reviewed on May 24, 2020
I went into this not expecting much. I read a few reviews and saw they were mixed.

I liked the first part and it was oaky and then … my book ADD set in as it became blah... blah... blah... I know it was character building!


Then it became … Wait a minute... What is going on? Then it became “Wow, what just happened?
I was totally on the edge of my comfy reading chair reading via my tablet. I got a couple email messages pop up. I quickly tell them I cannot respond as I am reading a psychological thriller and have to finish!!!!
This starts out a bit of a sleeper but does NOT disappoint.
My first Hannah Mary McKinnon novel and am looking forward to her next story!

BTW: She gives us a hint of what is next at the end of the novel in interview. I always enjoy reading the Author Notes& Acknowledgements as I love knowing the author’s insights ~ how they put together a novel is always a fun.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Books for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 26, 2020