Sandie Jones weaves anothe twisty domestic suspense novel.

This particular book focuses on a secret sister that just shows up one day and destroys the perfect family picture that everyone seems to have of this particular family. The woman who drops in unannounced, claims to be a secret daughter of the patriarch of the family, who is already dead. He can't defend himself, and his other daughters are on the opposing sides - one thinks it's a ruse, and another wants to make this new sister part of the family.

Everyone has secrets in this family, and little communication, as years of pent up anger has built walls. This new person came in and starts unraveling everything. Will the family fall apart or become stronger when all the secrets come to light?

The book is told from the two POVs - the two sisters fighting about this half sister. It's a great example of "you can't see the full story from one perspective." Both of the sisters need to sit down and just talk it out, but the domestic tensions are derailing that. Each perspective kept twisting things for me, the reader, going in circles and it was frustrating and seemed a bit disjointed as a story as whole. It kept jumping from one theory to the next.

It was however a fast read. Engaging as the drama kept unfolding. I like these kinds of books to have all the secrets just blow up in everyone's faces at least convenient times. And this delivered.

Fair warning TW just in case: Simon is abusive. As a character he was very stereotypical macho man, that needs to prove himself.

Overall not a bad domestic suspense novel. It wasn't as shocking, with all the go around of twists.. in the end it didn't surprise me. The first novel, with a crazy mother in law is still my favorite of Jones' novels.

Wow having a half-sister myself, whom we don't even speak, I was interested just by the cover and title! But boy, was I wrong. I'm sorry this book didn't work for me on many levels. So sorry, a little far fetched with the whole DNA thing going on. This book, I didn't like for other reasons as well. The characters I could not relate to, it dragged, and I'm sorry, just predictable.

I just could not relate to this book at all. I guess if you're into family drama, this one's for you. Sorry Ms. Jones, this is a least favorite of mine

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Half Sister is another twisty domestic thriller by Sandie Jones. I've been enjoying books like this where the conflict is not necessarily between boyfriend/husband and girlfriend/wife. This is a family drama that unfolds when two sisters and their mother are confronted by a woman claiming to be the girls' half sister by their deceased father. Who is she? Where did she come from? Who is lying? Who are the parents? I read this one quickly and I think you will too.

HUGE SJ fan here and today she releases her latest page-turning domestic thriller. Told in alternating viewpoints between sisters Lauren and Kate, this book exposes their family’s lies and secrets at every turn. So much drama!!

Sadly this was not one of my favorite books by the author. Things seemed a bit predictable to me and wrapped up a little too neatly but overall, a decent read.

Thank you so much to the author, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kate and Matt have been trying for some time to have a baby with no luck. Her sister, Lauren, is married to Simon and has 3 children. The sisters’ Dad died a year ago and is greatly missed. They enjoy having Sunday dinner at their Mum, Rose’s house.

One Sunday, a girl calling herself Jess stops by to see their Dad saying she is his daughter. She said she was put up for adoption at birth by her mother. The family is shocked and and Rose is furious at the girl for coming to their home. Kate does not believe her, but Lauren is more open to finding out more about her.

Thus begins a back and forth between sisters and their mother about the past when they were children. There is a difference of opinion of the sisters about their father with their mother insisting he was a perfect man.

Kate takes it upon herself to investigate Jess’s story and begin to find some cracks all around. Is it true what she says? If so, what happened?

The sisters arguing with their mother and each other gave me a headache. I was quite bored with the whole thing by the time we got to the ending which I felt it seemed forced. I have read this author’s books before and enjoyed them, but this was certainly not a favorite.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Half Sister by Sandie Jones is another affirmation that her body of work is a must read. I love the way she sets her stories up with instant intrigue and releases clues at the perfect time to keep the suspense rolling.
Sisters Kate and Lauren meet for lunch every Sunday with their mother, Rose. On one particular Sunday, a year after the loss of their father, a girl knocks on the door claiming to be their half sister. I’ve thought a lot about what I would personally do if this situation occurred to me. Would I be excited to welcome a new family member or would I be skeptical and dive into a full investigation of this new person with a bold claim? I absolutely loved how this story played out and how many scenarios crossed my mind.
The Half Sister by Sandie Jones is the perfect summer novel for anyone looking for a mystery to accompany them at the lake house or the back patio.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy.

I love all of her books and this one is by far my new favorite! It will keep you in suspense until the very end and I didn’t want to put it down!! I highly recommend this one!!

Thank you to @netgalley, @minotaur_books, and @sandiejones_author for the early digital copy of The Half Sister, which is out today—June 16th!

What would you do if a woman showed up at your house during Sunday dinner and announced she was your long lost sister? How do you go your entire life believing your family was this perfect little unit, and it was anything but?

I would question everything.

The Half Sister was a slow burn to start off, and definitely picked up in the second half. I was kept guessing until the end. Sandie Jones’ books are always enjoyable, and she’s on my “don’t need to read the back cover before I buy it” author list. I’m already looking forward to book #4! 4⭐️

The Half Sister offers up complex family relationships and a whole lot of twists and turns. Right from the start I felt the tension between the characters. I saw cracks in their façade and thought I might have a grasp on the plot. With Sandie Jones as the author I should have known there were many more secrets to be revealed.
The Half Sister is an engaging page turner you will not regret diving into head first. Highly recommend.

The Half Sister was a roller coaster of a book. At one point or another, I thought everyone was guilty! I didn't figure out the twist until the very end. The author did a good job fleshing out the characters. I was a little frustrated by the fact that no one in the book told anything to anyone else. But, that's what keeps the story going! I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this book in a quick, light suspense kind of way. I don’t think this book is an OMG, I didn’t see that coming kind of book but I do felt it kept me interested which is why I give it 3.5 stars. I thought I had it figured out but it was enough mystery enough to keep me guessing while figuring out the ending midway.
This book is told from 2 POV’s Lauren and Kate but also includes 2 other major characters Jess and Rose. Kate is a journalist who is a daddy’s girl, who has previously passed away. She is married to Matt and having fertility issues. She does not have a great relationship with her sister Kate who usually takes their mom’s side. Lauren is a midwife that is on leave to take care of her 3 children while her crappy husband Simon works. Lauren decides to upload her DNA into a genealogy app where she is matched with a girl named Jess. Jess shows up to their mom’s house one night claiming to be their half-sister and everything goes downhill from there. Their mom Rose seems to automatically deny Jess and any chance that she may be related to Lauren and Kate. Everyone seems to be hiding something and you just don’t know who to believe or what to believe.
If you are looking for a little mystery and suspense this is the book for you. It will not knock you off your feet or have huge twists but it does keep you entertained. I read this book pretty fast trying to figure out the mystery. I still would read anything by Sandie Jones. I am hoping for her to write something like The First Mistake which is my favorite book by her. I would like to thank NetGalley and Sandie Jones for this digital ARC.

Four stars! Thank you to Netgalley, Minotaur Books and Sandie Jones for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I think this is a tie with The Other Woman for my favorite Sandie Jones book. I was hooked from the beginning and didn’t really figure out the end until the characters did. This is a definite beach read must read recommendation from me. Lots of twists that are meant to throw the reader off that totally do just that.

This one had several surprises and kept me guessing for a good portion of the book. When I got a little over half way done, I was able to start making some predictions on the ending. Overall I enjoyed this one and give it 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Sandie Jones is one of my favorite domestic thriller authors. Her first novel, The Other Woman, shocked and awed me. I expected this one would as well.

While this was not a perfect thriller, I enjoyed following the dual perspectives of two sisters, Kate and Lauren. When a stranger named Jess arrives to say she is their half sister (from their deceased father), the two go into a tailspin with trying to figure out what is true and what is false. The cat and mouse game was intriguing, although slow at times. This novel was an easy read, perfect for plane rides or vacations. Jones writes yet another good thriller to satisfy fans of the domestic sub-genre.

This novel earns a solid 3 stars for delivering an enticing plot and keeping readers guessing.

This is not really a thriller until maybe the very end and I think that’s pushing it. It’s more of a family drama with a little mystery dealing with family secrets.

Two sisters—Lauren and Kate, who aren’t really close and each envy the other and their lives. One Sunday at family brunch, a woman appears at the door looking for her father—Lauren and Kate’s deceased father. Kate was especially close to her father and the journalist I’m her sets out to discover who this woman really is—even if it breaks up her family in the process.

This definitely is not a favorite of mine from the author. I was kind of bored with it in the first half. It did pick up in the end, but it was just a meh storyline. Both Lauren and Kate had great voices and I did enjoy reading about them, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What a thriller this is. Be careful when you want to find your ancestors giving your DNA can open Pandora’s Box.. on a Sunday lunch with the family minus Harry who passed away a few months before, a Sunday routine that was kept. Not a good atmosphere between the siblings. A knock at the door and a girl named Jess is at the door wanting to speak to her father which no one knew of her.
The sins of a father comes back to hunt the family. Jess finds the truth about her father, the death of her mother and everything about her pass. A good thriller.
Thank you NetGalley, St-Martin’s Press/Minotaur Press and Sandie Jonesfor the arc in exchange of an honest review!

3 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

So, you sit down for a family dinner with a sister you have not been close to in years, her husband whom you find to be a smug jerk and a Mother you can't remember ever being close to. The only thing worse than that? A surprise knock on the door from a young woman who is claiming to be your half sister. That is what happens to Kate. She refuses to believe that this girl is her Father's daughter and decides to use her reporter back ground to go ahead and find out the truth.

I just recently read another book by Sandie Jones and though this was well written I have to say The Other Woman was a bit sharper than this novel. I did think is was well written though there were very few really likable characters in this one. I did enjoy this book and think it is a very fun read.

I did not care for this book. I thought the synopsis sounded like it could be a pretty suspenseful and thrilling domestic drama, but it was none of those things and I did not care for it, or even the twist that was fairly obvious from the middle of the book.

This is the second book I have read by this author. While I truly enjoyed this one a lot, it was not a thriller and should not be in that genre. It was a family drama story that delves into some pretty deep issues at times. One being murder. One being DNA. One being spousal abuse. One being adoption and the foster care system. A touch on abortion also. This book has a lot going on and is a very good one to read.

Two sisters who have a bit of a rocky relationship, Kate and Lauren, have Sunday dinner with their mother each week. They dad died of a heart attack ten months prior and is a big part of this story. This day while the two sisters and one’s husband are at their mother, Rose’s, home a young woman, Jess, comes looking for their father. She says that through DNA she knows he is her father also and she only wants to meet him.

You will get to know a lot about Kate and Lauren. What Kate and her husband go through to have a baby. What Lauren is going through in her home-life having three children and a very crude, hateful, husband. Kate’s married to a wonderful man who dotes on her through thick and thin. Lauren is not so lucky. but neither sister really knows much about the other’s life inside their marriages. Lauren knows Jess via the DNA sight and knows things that Kate refuses to believe.

This is a very intense story about a family. What a mother will do to keep this family together. To keep secrets buried. To keep herself from facing some hard truths. These characters are likable with the exception to Simon, Lauren’s husband, who you will love to hate. What all of these women go through to get to the truth will keep you turning pages to find out. What happened 22 years ago that can possibly change everyone’s life.

The ending is perfect too even though I did figure it out. This is a very well written story and was quite enjoyable in many ways. It had the family drama that you may like. It had the love of a good marriage that we all like and it had some surprises thrown in that keep you wanting more. A page turner for sure.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SandieJones, #StMartin’sPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

I gave it 4 stars and highly recommend it.

Family secrets and jealousy, brought to light by a DNA match, pit sisters against each other when one brings to light a half-sister that shows up during Sunday dinner, shocking almost everyone. Lauren and her father had a contentious relationship, dating back to her teen years. Her sister, Kate, was the Daddy’s girl and is convinced there is another explanation. The journalist in Kate goes to work trying to uncover the truth, while Lauren accepts Jess without question.
Having read other books by Sandie Jones, I knew there was more to the story than the simplest answer and I was right. So many family secrets to unpack as Kate and Lauren move toward understanding each other and finding a relationship that they should have had over the years.
I enjoyed THE HALF SISTER. It kept me engrossed and turning pages. I liked the twists as each secret was explored and the intricacies brought to light and the ending was a satisfying wrap up. I started it at the perfect time and was able to read through it quickly. It will make you think twice about submitting DNA to the genealogy sites.
Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.
#TheHalfSister #StMartinsPress #SandieJones