Twists and turns; kept me wondering who I could trust! Family secrets, name changes and murder; what more could you want in a mystery. My only criticism is the Scottish slang; I struggled. It made the Johnsons sound like they weren’t all that intelligent (which maybe was the intention) but struggled to read and connect with their conversation. Making me think that they were so unintelligent there was no way they could pull off some of the schemes they did. Otherwise a fanatic, dynamic, mysterious thriller.

A great book with a well developed characters you care about. The description drew me in and did not disappoint.

A really good book that I very much enjoyed. Strong characters and a fascinating storyline make for an exciting read. Highly recommended.

From the description, this was going to be just my favorite kind of book! And it sort of was...except that the writing did not engage me and I found it very put-down-able. I mean it was okay, the basic plotline was intriguing, but I wasn't really drawn into any kind of flow of the story. It wasn't easy reading for me and I got frustrated because some of the suspension of belief was just too, too much.
The language didn't bother me at all, and I think maybe my expectations were too high going in, as this author is new to me personally.
I may try again with this book some other time, but to be honest despite the thrilling plot line I just could not get into it and ended up skimming 70% of it.

Reading some of the other reviews and noting how many of them used the exact same sentences/verbiage/phrases, I'm wondering how many people truthfully finished this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for a slow burn of a thriller? Then you need to get your hands on Watch Over Me by Jane Renshaw!

I love the premise of this book, take a look:

Flora and Neil are happily married, but they can’t have children so decide to adopt. And when Flora meets little Beckie it’s love at first sight. Deep in her heart, she knows they’re meant for each other, destined to be mother and daughter.

When Flora officially becomes Beckie’s mum, it’s like a part of her that’s always been missing is finally in place. She is complete, every day filled with purpose and joy.

There’s only one problem. Beckie was taken from her birth family, the Johnsons, because they have a history of violence and criminal behaviour and so are judged to be unfit to care for a child.

But the Johnsons don’t agree. As far as they’re concerned, Flora has stolen their little girl and they are determined to get her back. They’re very smart, utterly ruthless – and they have a plan. One that will turn Flora’s life into a living hell and push her to the very edge of insanity.

This wasn’t a super intense page-turner, the characters weren’t especially loveable but I enjoyed the story as a whole and if you want to give this book a whirl, I think you will enjoy it.

This book is FREE with Kindle Unlimited here!

I’d like to thank Inkubator Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Watch Over Me’ by Jane Renshaw in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Flora and Neil adopt two-and-a-half year-old Beckie and immediately fall in love with her
but the major problem to their happiness is Beckie’s birth family, the Johnsons, who would all be in prison if the police could get enough evidence to put them away. Lorraine Johnson, the matriarch of the family, thinks the Morrisons have stolen their little girl and intends getting her back where she belongs, and will stop at nothing to destroy the couple who’ve got her.

After reading what other reviewers have said I opened ‘Watch Over Me’ with some trepidation but I needn’t have worried as Jane Renshaw has written a novel that’s fantastically gritty, disturbing but compelling. The strong and sometimes undecipherable Scottish accent has been used effectively to differentiate between the foul-mouthed Johnsons and the educated Morrisons and although there is a fair amount of bad language it’s entirely in keeping with the characters. I became so engrossed in the story that it made me feel uncomfortable at times, proof of Renshaw’s ability to create a scenario that’s so lifelike I felt it was really happening. I didn’t expect to enjoy this novel as much as I did and I have no hesitation in wholeheartedly recommending it.

The cover of the book and description is what drew me in at first because I've never had the chance to read Jane Renshaw's other book Poison, but I'm a sucker for thriller type books and couldn't wait to pick up this one. I'm glad I got a chance to read her new novel and plan to see what else she publishes in the future! Thank you to @netgalley and @inkubatorbooks for allowing me to read this early readers' copy in exchange for an honest review. The prologue of the book with the child laying on the grass with an arrow through her and the mother finding her was enough to make me want to read more. I had questions already built up even before I started the book. Likes: In the book, I really liked how the author chooses to use a simple-minded voice for the biological grandmother Lorraine Johnson, from this you can tell just how unstable she was to be raising a child and that she has below-average intelligence. It gives the reader the feeling of siding with Ruth in not feeling guilty for taking Bekki away from her biological parents even though she did lie about her identity. I liked the flow of the author's writing and the build-up of what the Johnsons were capable of and how far they would go to get their grandchild back and lastly, how the author threw numerous curveballs in the plot just when you think you know what's going to happen. Dislikes: How the book has a slower start and jumps a few times to 5 years ahead, etc. I think some of the information was unnecessary and could have been omitted. Who's really the woman pretending to be Ruth Innes? As long as the adoption agency doesn't run a deaf certificate background check on her and sees that the real Ruth died fourteen-years-ago in a house fire when she was only six and she gets the child she has always wanted she doesn't care who she has to pretend to be. She has always wanted to be a mother to a little girl as long as she can remember and came close before she miscarried her own baby. The child Bekki whose two and eight months that ”Ruth” adopts has been taken away from her biological family because she was believed to be malnourished, neglected, had vitamin D deficiency, had several cuts and bruises to her face and body, and the mother had stabbed the father in a psychotic episode and is on trial for murder not to mention the whole family has backgrounds of criminal records. For instance, the grandfather was found guilty of locking one of his rival drug dealers up in a dog cage in his own filth for a week while also chopping off his fingers and ear lobe and forcing the man to eat it. The court is told that Bekki is to have no contact with her biological family until she is eighteen if she so chooses because it's found to be in her best interest. The book jumps five years in and to the Johnson family trying to kidnap their child back by coming up with a scam to fool the courts into giving them Ruth's address and phone number.

I will rate Watch Over Me by Jane Renshaw a 1/5 stars. I tried to give this book a chance, but the writing style is utterly dry and boring. I couldn't get into the dialect at all and just like some of the other reviewers have mentioned, one of the characters (a lady at that) drops more f bombs than I would like to read. I don't mind curse words at all in my readings, as I even have a few in the books I have published, but geez, it was a little much for this story. I gave up by chapter 6. This is a disappointing DNF.

4 Stars from me

Well if this isn't the sweariest book I'll read this year then I'll eat my f***ing hat hen.

Packed full of F-words, heavy Scottish dialect, casual violence (and good old fashioned hardcore violence and murder), Watch Over Me is humdinger of a story.

It is a book that needs you to suspend belief a little and just go with it - I think if you can successfully do that then you will love Watch Over Me.

There are some superb characters in here - Lorraine, Saskia, Caroline, Beckie, Aylish to name but a few (most of the Johnson clan deserve a mention to be fair although I did get a little lost at times are there are a few of them!). I do wish that Flora and Neil had had a bit more about them though, I couldn't really find myself bonding with Flora unfortunately - Jeez what does it say about me that I preferred Lorraine to Flora?! Don't answer that...

There are so many layers to this book and lots of twists, turns and surprises - if you like a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes then this is the book for you!

I found this book quite slow to get going but once it did it was good especially the last 25% of it.
Hard to understand the Scottish dialect and slang sometimes which made for hard reading.
An interesting portrayal of adoption and the life that follows.
Lots of twists, turns and unexpected events make this book a good thrilling adventure as you follow Flora through the different characters of her life and realise that not everyone you meet in life is as they seem. Learning who can be trusted is invaluable.
Not the ending I expected!

I absolutely love discovering new author and Jane Renshaw is definitely a new author for me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Watch Over Me' but more about that in a bit.
Well what a bunch of characters we have in this book. On the one hand we have Flora, who is keeping secrets and not exactly telling the truth on certain matters. She is apparently happily married to Neil and they adopt a little girl called Beckie. I can honestly say that I didn't take to either of them at all. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was about them that I didn't like. However, I am suspicious of everybody and believe nobody so I might be seeing things that aren't there. Now for the Johnson family. What can I say? Other than they should be given a wide berth and avoided like the plague. Adoption is a thorny issue with families who don't agree with the plan but the Johnsons are in another league. I can't say that I took to them at all. Never mind setting off alarm bells, they set off a factory full of alarm bells for me. They are threatening, intimidating, confrontational and very argumentative. Would I have allowed Beckie to go back to them? No I wouldn't.
'Watch Over Me' certainly took me back to my former worklife and brought back a lot of memories. I used to work in Childrens Social Services and although I worked in admin I still had something to do with individual cases and cases of adoption. I frequently had to liaise with families, who weren't all sweetness and light. I witnessed some pretty distressing behaviour and saw good social workers reduced to tears because of what they had to endure from families on their caseloads. I can certainly say that working at Childrens Social Services was an experience and I certainly expanded my knowledge of rude words.
I was hooked on this story from the moment I first picked the book up. From the moment I picked my Kindle up until the moment I put the Kindle back down, I was completely under this book's spell. The book had developed a hold over me and it was a hold that I wasn't willing to break. I read the book in less than 48 hours which is good going for me. I think part of the reason I loved this book was because of the memories that it brought back and I was also intrigued to see in which direction the story was going to go. I found the book to be unputdownable. The book wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I didn't want to miss a single second of the story. The pages turned over increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out how the story concluded grew and grew. All too quickly I reached the end of the story.
'Watch Over Me' is extremely well written. The story starts off slowly but it soon gathers momentum much like a snowball going down a hill. Other reviewers have commented on the use of Scottish slang but I absolutely loved it! I read 'The Broons' in the 'Sunday Post' and we used to have a very good friend, who was from Glasgow and so I was used to hearing and reading Scottish slang. Parts of it aren't that far removed from the North East England dialect, which also helped in my understanding. The story is told from the viewpoint of the adoptive parents and also from the viewpoint of the Johnsons. I did wonder if this way of telling the story might prove to be confusing but I needn't have worried because the different chapters interlinked and the story flowed seamlessly. There is also the issue of the repeated use of bad language in this book but again having worked in Childrens Social Services, I am used to being sworn at very frequently. Jane certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and she gradually draws you into the story. Once she has you in her grip, she will not let you go. The author uses such vivid and powerful descriptions that I really did feel as though I was part of the story myself.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Watch Over Me' and I would recommend it to other readers. Please be aware though that there is very frequent use of bad language so this book might not be for the easily offended. I will definitely be reading more of Jane's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Although this occasionally ventured into the outlandish, I have to say that overall, I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller!

In addition to being a great story, the book also left me questioning my own ideas about adoption; identity; and familial relationships (nature vs nurture). I didn't mind this aspect at all as these concepts were seamlessly included in the story and the book was never heavy handed with its message.

Many thanks to Inkubator Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This was a very intriguing read!

Net Galley, is it acceptable to give a bad review, or would you prefer we leave none, in that case? I have asked you but not received a reply. So here goes: I absolutely could not finish this book. Not only was it confusing to me for quite awhile, but in good conscience, I couldn't read any further because of the language. It was SO offensive to me! One reader did a count, and the word that bothered her the most was used 505 times! Even once was not comfortable to me but not enough to make me quit. But when the "F word" occurs more than once in the same paragraph, too much!

If you're around people who use frequent profanity, it's possible that you'll enjoy this book. Hence, 3 stars, rather than 1.

This was a slow burner suspense where things came to the zenith only in the last 70%. The shocks were plentiful, and that made reading enthralling.

Flora wanted to be a mother and life was beautiful when Beckie was adopted by them. But she had been taken from the Johnsons for negligence by the courts and they wanted her back. Flora and her husband Alec moved away, changed their names, yet the Johnsons followed.

My first book by author Jane Renshaw, I loved knowing the loving family that Beckie had. The author's writing brought the threat of Johnsons alive in the words. The book exploded in the last half which had me at the edge of the seat.

And the reveal at the end had me gasping in joy at the way tjr psychological games were played by all of them. Secrets were cleverly hidden until the end which made it rocking. But there were 2 serious niggles. The dialogues of one of the characters was written with Scottish accent so I didn't understand most words. The glossary at the end was difficult to refer to in an ebook. And the work F**k was used 505 times.

The last part blew me away so that made it worthwhile. Recommended with a caution. The book was worth 4 stars, the swear words cost it a star

The book was very exciting. Right from the word go I was hooked. I couldn’t put it down. It was fast paced. Fantastic twists and plot. A real winner

I really wanted to read this book but the use of the "f" word so many times over and over, that I cannot give a review.

Wow, this book was absolutely amazing! I could not put it down. It’s told from several different POV, and the voice of Lorraine is written in the original dialect. This added a dimension to the physical description we are given of her. Adoption is a regular theme now in books, but this could be sold with the strap line “adoption with a twist”! I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author! An excellent read, thankyou NetGalley

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Was not sure what to expect with this book but this was an excellent page turning read and had me hooked right to the end. Would recommend.

Although this took me a minute to get into ,I enjoyed it . The only problem I had was understanding the Scottish dialect but it didn't detract from my enjoyment . Becki after an abusive start to life is adopted , her birth family do not accept this and they were pretty scary in their efforts to get her back . Well written and exciting

A terrifying thriller set in Scotland.
After an horrific tragedy as a child, Flora is finally happy with her husband. They're planning to adopt, and as soon as they see Beckie, they know she's meant to be their daughter. But Beckie's birth family consider her stolen, and they're not giving her up without a fight.
This was a fantastic read. I suspected a certain character shortly after they appeared, but I didn't guess the way they were involved. I really enjoyed following along and figuring it out.
The Scottish dialect gave me pause in some spots. There's a glossary included at the back, but flicking back and forth in an ebook is difficult. However, I figured evevrything out from context. 'Neb' and 'chib' gave me the most trouble, but I guessed them after a bit. ('nose' and 'knife', if you're curious.)
I also thought the final confrontation was over very quickly. However, I loved the fact that it had a lasting impact on Beckie and the others.
This is an excellent read and I thoroughly recommend it to any thriller fans.