This book was amazing.. Womens fiction is not my usual Genre but this book just swept me in. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. The two main characters, Beth and Ally, really spoke to me how we, as mothers, are just doing our best. Our best is not always interpretted by what we thought was good. Beth loved her son and Ally was taking care of Dylan and quietly dealing with her own unexpected family problems. So true on do many levels.... Things aren't always what they seem in someone's else's life

Wow. An amazing book. Told alternately between Beth, the mother who got her child taken away, and Ally the foster mother. Beth thought her son was placed into the perfect home, but it only appeared that way. Great story, really loved the characters.

May contain spoilers: Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC in return for a honest review. This was my first book by Kate Hewitt and I look forward to reading more of her novels. I really enjoyed this book. The book tells the story of two women, Beth and Ally. Beth is a single mom of a seven year old boy who has her son taken from her by DCF due to allegations of neglect. Ally and her husband are the family who take in Dylan as a foster child. I liked how the book went back and forth between both women, coming from their own points of view. Both women think they know about the other and feel they are quite different but in the end discover how alike they truly are. My only two criticisms are first on the use of the terms case worker and social worker interchangeably. I am a licensed social worker with a Master's Degree. Many of the case workers who work for DCF are great at what they do but they do not hold a social work degree. Maybe the ones in this book were meant to but that is not the critique. It is more the education that the terms are not synonyms. Secondly, I would have liked to learn more about Dylan's diagnoses. Sounds like he was on the autistic spectrum but that is not confirmed by the end of the book. Otherwise great book that I would recommend!

Another hit by Kate Hewitt. She is becoming one of my favorite authors. She has such a knack for writing in such difficult plot lines.

When Beth was young she had it all, a full ride to college, until one summer night..... Beth becomes pregnant and her sports scholarship is revoked. She temporarily moved in with her boyfriend, but that didn’t last long and her father threw her out. Dylan was a difficult child with many struggles. DCF had been called on them
in the past and then that one fateful day at the store when Dylan JUST wanted candy.

Ally, who is just just down the road has the “perfect” family in Beth’s eyes. Ally is just trying to do good by Dylan and Beth while she sorts herself out.

Will Beth sort herself out or will Dylan become another statistic in the system.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Finally, an author who understand what it’s like to be a mother! When You Were Mine, by Kate Hewitt, is such a beautiful and accurate portrayal of the unanswerable questions mothers have and a testimony to the sacrifices mothers make to do what they feel is best for their child. How do you know if you’re doing what’s best when so many choices have to be based on instinct? Is it even possible to love your child too much? Is it possible to sacrifice too much of yourself when it comes to loving and raising your child? Isn’t that part of what motherhood is all about?

Kate Hewitt does a brilliant job portraying the best and hardest moments of being a mother. When You Were Mine, by Kate Hewitt is sure to touch your heart, make you reach for Kleenex, and bring you insurmountable joy as you stumble along the way with Beth and Ally to find the answers to the hardest questions mothers face. When You Were Mine, by Kate Hewitt, IS the perfect guide to motherhood and raising children! Kate Hewitt’s undeniably truthful account of two mothers, the struggles they face, the depth of theIr love,, and the blessings and successes they find along the way will resonate within your soul long after you finish reading it.

Beth is a single mother, and has done her best to raise Dylan on her own without the support of family members or friends. Dylan has never been an easy child. Since Beth doesn’t have a good relationship with her father, her mother ran out on her when she was a teenager, and Dylan’s father left when Dylan was young, she’s left to fend for herself. She’s isolated herself from the world because it’s the only way she can manage her and her son’s lives. Dylan is prone to outbursts and screaming tantrums, has always shown high levels of anxiety, and is selectively mute, so she does the best she can to provide for him and meet his needs. Not knowing any other way to help him, she has built her life around his specific needs. She knows that showing him unwavering love is crucial to raising a happy and healthy child, so she has always done the best she can. It’s not that easy though, and it never has been. Despite her best efforts, and the facade she has created of a happy home life, the walls she so carefully constructed around their lives begin to crumble.

Although the Department of Children and Families is built on the foundation of trying to do what’s best for children, Beth is sure they’ve made a mistake when they remove Dylan from her home and place him in foster care. Once in the system, always in the system, so Beth has always gone out of her way to give them answers to placate and satisfy them. Since the calls about her and Dylan have always seemed to be exaggerated, in her heart she knows that she really is doing what’s best for Dylan. Sure, her parenting methods may seem over the top, but she would never dream of hurting him and has always raised him with undeniable love. How could the Department of Children and Families possibly think she’s done wrong by loving him too much? That’s most certainly not abusive so their intrusion into their lives must be a warped mistake. When Dylan is placed into foster care with the seemingly picture perfect family, Beth is left feeling lost, alone, confused, and terrified for Dylan’s well being because it’s impossible for this strange new family to understand his unique needs.

Ally has always felt secure in the decisions she’s made with her husband when it coms to raising her children. Although there’s no such thing as the perfect family or perfect parents, the home life Ally’s created and the happiness and success of her children are a testament to her being a good mother. With a daughter at Harvard and a teenage son who is largely recognized for his accomplishments, Ally decides that it’s time to help others in need as a way of sharing their good fortune and paying it forward. She know’s it’s a delicate topic with her husband because of his upbringing, but when he agrees with her about being a foster parent for Dylan, they know they’re doing the right thing. However skeptical they initially may be since Dylan is the first foster child they have ever welcomed into their home, Ally is determined to make a difference in his live. Neither of them are prepared for his entrance into their lives though, and his unwillingness to talk makes things harder than either of them has imagined. When Beth shows up at their home for her first hour of visitation, neither of them can understand why the Department of Children and Families even took him away from her to begin with. Sure, his behaviors are eccentric and his clothes not quite ideal, but that’s hardly an indicator of an unstable or unsafe home for a child. It’s obvious how much they love one another, and Dylan has never shown any signs of having been abused.

Throughout the course of Beth doing everything she can to meet the criteria set forth by the Department for reunification, she has several profound revelations and is also faced with some painful truths. When she discovers that Ally’s family isn’t as perfect as they seemed though, she questions whether Dylan’s care should be left to them. They can’t possible give him the love and care that she did. What she didn’t count on though was the strength of the bond Ally and Dylan would develop with one another though. After learning devastating news about Ally’s family, both mothers are faced with insecurities neither of them even realized they had or thought possible. Even greater a surprise, both mothers tentatively form an unspoken bond and gradual friendship. Unfortunately Dylan seems to benefit more and more from the love and care he receives from Ally and her husband, and starts to withdraw from Beth. The pain of his withdrawal and her inability to understand Dylan the way she used to be able to makes her question if Dylan really is better off with them.

The trials and triumphs both mothers from extraordinary different backgrounds are faced with will leave you questioning everything you’ve ever known when it comes to the bond between a mother and her child and the strength of love between one another. Is it possible to love a child too much? How do you cope when the bond you once felt with your child feels like it’s fading? What is really best for your child when there are two mothers who love him so fiercely that they are both willing to do whatever it takes at all costs to do what’s best for him? What is really best for him? Is it possible that the Department of Children and Families made a mistake when they took Dylan away from Beth? How much power does the court system have when it comes to determining what’s best for a child, and how can they even determine that when their scope of information is so limited?

Thank you Kate Hewitt, Bookouture, and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of reading When You Were Mine. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinions. When You Were Mine, by Kate Hewitt, is sure to be one of those books that you never forget! As soon as I finished When You Were Mine, I immediately rushed to purchase more books by Kate Hewitt!

This was an emotional book just showing how you think you're doing the right thing by your child, but maybe you're not. There were a lot of lessons to be learned. Very good

This is a no holds barred narrative of how hard parenting can be. A well crafted novel that draws you in, and has believable characters that you want to root for.

Single mother Beth loves her seven-year-old son Dylan with all her heart. He’s her world. But life with Dylan isn’t easy—and his emotional issues push Beth to her very limit. When a misunderstanding leads Dylan to be taken into foster care, she is determined to do whatever she can to get him back.

Mother of two, Ally has always dreamed of fostering—it feels like her chance to give back when she has been so lucky in life. But when Dylan joins their family, Ally finds herself struggling to balance his needs with those of her own children and husband.

Narrated in alternating chapters between Beth and Ally, this book very nicely covers the different problems that parents face during parenting. There is never something called as 'perfect parenting'. Each situation is different and every mother tries to give the best for their child.

In terms of the main characters, I did feel sympathetic towards Beth. Having to hear that the love and attention she exhibits towards her son is unhealthy and taking her son away to be put into foster care is something quite sad. Whereas, Ally's story in this book was more of a message that sometimes being perfect is not everything.

The ending was beautiful and made this book even more special.

Thank You to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Five solid glowing stars, hands down! I don’t know why I am drawn towards fiction based novels about children with troubled lives, should I be concerned about that? Maybe it’s not so unusual since there are so many books written around this topic? Regardless of how many there are, Kate Hewitt has such a talent at creating stories and characters that completely engulf you right from page one and keep you captivated page after page after page until you reach the very last page.

Parenting is by far the most rewarding achievement I have accomplished, and is the one I am most proud of. The feeling of love and attachment I have for my children is so intense and powerful, that I felt I could ALMOST relate to Beth and how she felt at times. I tried putting myself in her shoes while reading this and my heart ached. It also ached for sweet little Dylan. The emotions and decisions that Ally had to make truly caused ME to feel anxiety and uncertainty!

I loved reading this book and was so irritated and annoyed when I was pulled away from reading it to deal with real life stuff.

I highly recommend this book and this author!

I really enjoyed this book, and I think a lot of readers can relate to it as well.

Parenting is hard and even more so if you don’t have a good supposes system. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Beth is a single mother who loves her son Dylan, but due to his emotional issues, she struggles with raising him in a normal fashion and is often a bit overprotective. After a misunderstanding, Dylan is put into foster care while Beth is required to prove she is a git mother.

Ally welcomes Dylan into her home with loving arms but soon learns his issues are more involved than she had expected, and with her own family’s problems, she has more on her plate than she asked for. Both Ally and Beth are determined to do what is best for Dylan, but is returning Dylan to his biological mother really the answer? Or would he thrive under the care of a new mother?

This book really opened my eyes to what it’s like for parents struggling to raise their children and how a simple misunderstanding can explode into a parenting nightmare. The foster care system isn’t perfect, but in this case, Dylan lucked out when he was placed with Ally and her family. I think what I loved most about it was the camaraderie that developed between Ally and Beth, and how having Dylan in Ally’s home not only helped Beth get her life together, but it in turn helped Ally’s family grow closer as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3537518110

“Life is not easy, No matter how charmed someone’s life looks on the outside, on the inside everyone is messy and uncertain and afraid. Everyone needs help. Everyone holds possibility”.

This book ripped my heart out and then put it back together. A wonderfully written book with such insight.
This book is about mother and son, mother and daughter, parents, fathers, friendships and all relationships and the reality that not everything is what it seems.
This is my first book by this author and it won’t be my last, she will forever be on my TBR list !

Wow this book was amazing I was in tears reading it and loved it so much.
This story is such a good read and I recommend everyone read it



With thanks to Netgalley & Bookouture for the arc of this book in exchange for this review.

Lots to digest in this book but an overwhelming message of love and the lengths a mother will go to for the sake of her child. Being a single parent is difficult, but being a single parent of a child with behavioral issues is even harder. That is the case with Beth and her 7 year old son, Dylan. When well-meaning child protective services enters the picture and places Dylan in foster care, Beth has to prove herself worthy of having her son returned to her care. Beth’s life and abilities are strictly scrutinized but the foster family also has many problems despite the appearance of being a wholesome family. The book alternates between the voices of Beth and Ally (foster mom) and explores the dynamics of love, family, and sacrifice. Overall, a good and heartbreaking read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This an emotional and heartbreaking story about the pain and struggles of motherhood. The book drew me in right from the start, and characters and situations were very realistic. I loved this book, and I look forward to reading more of Ms Hewitt’s books. Most women would enjoy this story. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture. All opinions expressed are my own.

When You Were Mine is a riveting story that I couldn't put down. Beth, is a single mom, who is devoted to her 7 year old son Dylan. Dylan is a challenging child who often melts down and rarely speaks. Beth has catered her life to helping Dylan avoid the meltdowns, which is isolated the two of them from everyone. After Dylan's outburst at a store, child protection removes him from Beth where he goes to live with Ally Fielding and her family. The story follows Beth and Ally in alternating chapters. Beth doing whatever she can to get her son back and Ally learning that her perfect family might not be so perfect after all.

This author just gets better and better, a great read which I just loved from the very first page until the last. The stories about Beth and Ally were so sensitively written and I was just involved with their struggles and their families.

I can thoroughly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from Kate.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this brilliant book.

I loved this book! It focuses on Beth and her struggles with her child. Her son, Dylan, is taken by child protective services and placed with Ally and her family. Beth will do anything to get her son back and Ally wants to help but finds struggles in her own life.

This book was so good I finished it in one day. I loved the fight in Beth for her son and felt with her as she wondered if she’s a good enough mom. I was intrigued by this book to the very end!

A good book is one which keeps me reading into the night and keeps me thinking about the characters when I have to put the book down.

This novel achieved both of these.

Brilliant characters, fantastic storyline. Very real feeling. Highly recommended.

Beth is a single mother with a seven year old son who has behavioral problems.
She is struggling to cope and after complaints from worried neighbours her son Dylan is taken into care and put in a foster home.
The foster mother does her best with Dylan but is getting little help from her family.
Beth was someone who was hard to like. She was dismissive of advice and critical of others who tried to steer her in the right direction to get her son back.
I had mixed emotions with this book and found some of it hard to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this Arc.
A beautiful and heart rending story about a mother's love for her child. Some parts are bitter sweet. But it tells of the truth, love and sacrifices often felt in most families.