Shocking, brilliant page turner!!!


Words almost fail me as I try to review this book. Browne is a gifted writer, I have read all of her books and I always think this by the time I finish them. I’m not sure what clicks in her brilliant brain to deliver yet another heart stopping, hold your breath till the end, page turning thriller but Sheryl Browne has done it again! The Family Secret is a stunning thriller and the way that Browne weaves her story together is spectacular.

This book will grip you immediately and by the last 20 percent shock you, scare you and make your heart beat right out of your chest!

Highly recommend reading this amazing novel!

The Family Secret by Sheryl Browne and published by bookouture is a stand alone, fast paced thriller with twists and turns I never had expected.
Claire has it all. A happy marriage, an adorable 4 year old daughter. She always wanted to be the perfect wife. But taking a look behind the scenes, not much is perfect.
Claire longs for a sister, her husband is cheating it seems, her father needs more assistance than Claire can give. She's exhausted.
And then Sophie shows up. And everything changes.
The Family Secrte is a unputdownable thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. I started reading and couldn't put it down.
The storyline is great and I loved the writing and the characters. It's a story of betrayal, lies, half-truth and revenge, masterfully crafted and beautifully thought out and told. 4,5 Stars.

This book fell a little flat for me, and I didn't think the story itself matched the synopsis. The book focuses on Claire, who moves home to take care of her father (who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's), along with her husband Luke and daughter Ella. Claire determines her husband is having an affair, and also gets a FB notification from Sophie, proclaiming that she is her long-lost sister, and has to work through who in her family she can actually trust.

I thought it was pretty easy to figure out what was really going on from early in the book, and I also had an instant dislike of Claire, who seemed to act impulsively and irrationally at every turn. I found it really hard to believe that anyone would handle these situations the way she did. The other characters also made decisions that didn't seem to be well thought through as well, though I felt like I understood where they were coming from more than I did with Claire. There was also a pervasive message throughout the book about how getting divorced can mess up your kids, and I felt like I was being preached to about this by the end of the book.

Overall, a fast read with some mystery as well as some twists and turns, but didn't really do it for me overall. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Sheryl Browne and her books are always dark and twisted. This one was good and held my attention until the very end. although I guessed the twist a third of the way through, it was still enjoyable to read the way some characters will do anything for revenge. Ruined lives fall to the wayside when the secrets are in the open.

I'm very torn on my rating for this book. It definitely had me hooked, and I wanted to know what happened. However, I couldn't help but think how this would have never progressed the way it did in real life and with people who had brains. The whole story is pretty obvious.

I was still happy to read this, and found it entertaining. My thanks to Bookouture, Sheryl Browne, and NetGalley.

Sheryl Browne has done it again with another gripping story. There were so many twists that I did wonder how all the ends could ever be tied up . Brilliant. Highly recommended

this is one of my favourite authors she never disappoint her readers . Claire is married to Luke and have a daughter .they move in to her fathers house Bernard has senile dementia .luke goes out one night and helps Anna but she is not all she seems and Claire chucks him out thinking he has had an affair .. Bernard has another daughter Sophie that Claire finds out when she contacts her the twist and turns in this book is brilliant once you start cant stop till the last page

As always Sheryl Browne manages to develop a plot which will from page one have you riveted to the story and unable to put it down. A recently discovered sister, a marriage in trouble, an elderly father with mental health issues. These are just the tip of the iceberg in this gripping new novel from Sheryl. She cleverly weaves a story that has the reader wondering how anyone is going to come out of this situation in one piece. Another five star read. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC copy of this novel.

I figured out what was happening about halfway through, then the book kind of fell flat for me. I didn’t like any of the characters from the beginning so that made for a tough read

The Family Secret is billed as being absolutely unputdownable and I totally agree.

I was captivated from the very first page and the tension slowly builds throughout the book. There’s twists and turns along the way to keep you entertained and also keep you slightly on edge throughout. 4.5 stars.

Brilliantly written, I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to previews The Family Secret by Sheryl Browne. This is a family drama with some suspense thrown in to keep the reader engaged.
This is a quick read with some secrets to discover. Not a fan of the main character, and somewhat predicable. 2.5 stars.

What a disturbing read! Imagine getting a relative you never knew about, invite them in, make them part of your life, and then suddenly you start to question everything you know about them..... Recommended.

Thank you Bookouture and Net Galley for an early copy of The Family Secret. The cover was nice, I figured out what who was who right from the beginning. The ending was very confusing, I am still not 100 % sure of what happened.

I am a big fan of Sheryl Browne Physcological Thrillers, so when I saw that she'd brought out "The Family Secret", I was quick to request it on Netgalley!.

As with all of Sheryl's Novels, they are easy to be gripped by from the start. The story follows Claire, her husband Luke, their 4year old daughter Ella and Claire's father Bernard. - With the addition of a "Sophie" a sister in law Claire never knew she had - added to the equation! This opens up all sorts of trouble in the storyline and spirals down the path from there on.

Fans of Physcological Thrillers will love "The family Secret" by Sheryl Browne.
It's not overly complicated and fussy, has enough plots and twists to keep you guessing, and it will have you turning pages until you reach the end!.
It's a 5star easy read from me!.

I liked this book alot. I picked out the first twist very fast from the beginning so that didnt surprise me as much as I would have liked. At times I got a little confused about what or who was talking and the relationship from person to person.

A really enjoyable read.

Claire is married to Luke - they have a 4 year old daughter, Ella. Yet, the marriage is not in the greatest place. Claire's family now lives with her dad who has vascular dementia. This has put a strain on Claire, who quit her job to take care of her dad. Also, on Luke - who lives in a less then perfect situation. Luke increasingly goes out to the pub to avoid it all, but he loves Claire and his daughter.

Luke meets Anna when he "rescues" her from her ex-boyfriend at the pub. They do not become intimate ; however; she becomes obsessed with Luke. A very hurt Claire is angry with Luke and his "friendship" with Anna. He is forced to stay with Steve, his boss on the construction crew.

In the meantime, Claire finds out she may have a half-sister and is intrigued enough to plan a visit. This, after Claire sadly realizes that she has to admit her dad to a live-in care facility. And that she probably has lost Luke, as well.

On her way to meet Sophie, Claire receives a call from Luke...

A superb story with great character development and style. HIGHLY recommend this to all!

Many Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley!

Try as I might I couldn't take to the main character so couldn't care less what happened to her, sorry, but this book was just not for me.I hope others like it more.

This book is a psychological thriller and catches the reader’s interest in the first chapter. Claire gives up her job and moves her family into her childhood home to care for her father who has dementia. Her husband doesn’t think the move was a good idea, and this caused a rift between them. At about the same time a woman contacts Claire and says she is her half-sister. It seems their father had an affair with her mother, who was killed in an accident. Things aren’t always as they appear. Although I figured out what was happening before the end of the book, it did not detract from the rest of the story. This is an exciting domestic drama, and I would recommend this book to anyone. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture. Opinions expressed here are my own.

I'm somewhat torn on this one. On one hand the premise was great, the cover looked inviting and I couldn't wait to get stuck in. But on the other hand it didn't live up the hype. At times it felt rushed, I wasn't keen on some of the characters and felt they lacked development. I did finish it and I'm glad I did, however it's not as good as her previous work.

Claire’s father, Bernard, health was deteriorating. His memory isn’t what it used to be. Therefore, Claire, Luke and Ella moved into her father home to take care of him. The stress of the family was getting too much for Luke and he slipped up. Anna seems to be normal until she wasn’t. Luke is now under investigation for murder. Claire’s life took a turn when a long-lost half sister, Sophie, contacted her out of the blue. Every family has their secret. What’s Sophie’s connection to this family?

It wasn’t hard to figured out what was the family secret. About 28% into reading the book, I had it figured out. It was almost too easy. The story didn’t have that hook or alluring mystery to keep my attention going. Sophie’s character seemed rush and her story was not told fully. The allegation to Luke’s affair and murder investigation had no merit. The whole story feels rushed. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.