Family secrets are the driving force of this read. Johnny Eagle, married to Heidi for more than 30 years dies from a second heart attack while out one day. Heidi and their two daughters are grief stricken. Heidi finds a picture taken on a street that he sent her just before he died. She knows it has meaning...but what. As she investigates the street secrets are brought to light. As the story continues more family secrets emerge and become overwhelming for Heidi. My favorite character was Max who seemed so real and such a special friend. Wishing this family peace as they merge into a new family. Many thanks to Amy Miller, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book, to be published on January 21st.

I was drawn to this one as it seemed to fit into my favourite genre – domestic drama/thriller. I also absolutely loved the cover – the bright colours and the broken plate. The broken plate signifying a perfect facade that is in fact damaged or broken in some way.

The narrative focuses on Heidi, and the mysteries, lies and secrets that hide within her family.

I have loved getting to know the characters in this one. They were all flawed in some way, but were also relatable on some level. My favourite character was probably Scarlet – she seemed to be the most brave and although hot headed on times, she understood what she had to do in the best interests of her family.

There were many unexpected twists and turns, typical of some of the best domestic fiction I’ve read. I have loved seeing this family grow & adapt to the new changes.

This has been a heart felt, dramatic read which I have devoured quickly. I would recommend this book to fans of Amanda Prowse, Sam Vickery and Nicole Trope.

An emotional read with a lot packed into it. This is a well written story but I wish it had been longer. There was so much happening that more could have been written about.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

Second opportunities. They can be sometimes quite hard to give and the one who receives it can feel rather pressured: you have to be up to the task.

This is what Heidi Eagle is asking for. A second chance.

The story starts with one of the worst things that can happen in life: the death of a loved one. In Heidi’s case, her husband Johnny unfortunately dies at the age of 54 of a heart attack.

Heidi’s world, understandably, crumbles all of sudden. Without Johnny she feels lost, without a purpose. If your husband is missing, your life partner, your best friend, is suddenly gone. Their marriage lasted 25 years, and a dozen more before marrying.

If this were not tragic enough, there is a fact that troubles the already troubled world of Heidi. When she is given her deceased husband’s belongings (the ones he had with him when he died in the street), she switches on his mobile and there, she can see a draft message from her husband addressed to her with a photo, but unsent. He did not have enough time to send it to her before dying.

Suddenly, Heidi becomes obsessed with the message. She tries to understand why his husband wanted to send her a photo of the street close to where he died.

This mystery haunts her so she decides to walk the street of the photo up and down looking for an answer. However, she seems to find none. Tired, sad, and depressed, she goes inside a coffee shop and there she spots one of the worker, a waiter. But, she cannot believe what she is seeing: the waiter looks almost exactly like her deceased husband.

SECOND CHANCES

After this discovery, her life would turn upside down AGAIN. However, she will be able to ask for a second chance to someone she thought lost forever. She could have the possibility of meeting this person, try to connect with him, and to recover all those lost years.

However, Heidi has to fight against that lost time as well as against misery and bad decisions, and the reluctance of the other person.

In addition to this, this second opportunity changes the life of everyone close to Heidi: of her two daughters, her mother Rosalind, her friend from old times Max, literally everyone.

“MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS”

The concept of family is very present in the book. Families are always complicated. The majority of them have their own cross to carry in the form of secrets or bad actions committed a lot of years ago.

However, Heidi tries to stay positive, in spite of her two daughters, specially Scarlet and her cold and distant mother, Rosalind. Nonetheless, and after all what Heidi unleashes with her discovery, she would finally understand her mother and learn why she behaves in the way she does.

In the end, family should always be there, no matter what. And this seems to be the motto by which Heidi has tried to live, perhaps as a way of compensating for her past mistakes.

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT “THE DAY MY HUSBAND LEFT”

In the words of the author, Amy Miller, learning from past mistakes is a way to move forward, not lingering in the past. And this is what the protagonist, Heidi, is trying to do. Even if it is hard, she just looks to the future, also as a way of recovering from the dreadful blow of losing her husband.

Maybe this loss could be the force that Heidi needed to change her life. Perhaps a death can originate something good, a new life that Heidi was maybe desperately looking for.

The story is full of examples of what it is to grieve someone in a very realistic way. We have all suffered losses in our lives, of course. But not every author has the sensibility and ability to write about it in a credible, emphatic way.

Therefore, we should be able to give people a second chance. It is the perfect way to develop and be a better person. As Heidi and her husband Johnny had been giving a second chance to furniture in their upholstery workshop, repairing vintage furniture, she also deserves a second chance. I find it a very beautiful metaphor, using upholstery for the act of giving second opportunities.

As a final thought, I was absorbed by the story of “The Day My Husband Left”. I found myself liking all the characters (including Rosalind whom I disliked a great deal at the beginning!). I wanted to know more about their happiness and future.

For all of the points explained here, I would fully recommend this book.
__________________________________________

Thanks to the publisher, Bookouture, the author Amy Miller and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of “The Day my Husband Left” in exchange for an honest review.

Heidi finds out that life’s secrets have a way of being found out and are often repeated. Heidi’s husband Jonny arranged for a birthday surprise that tore the family apart when Jonny died suddenly of a heart attack. But love and trial and error brought the family back together.

In The Day My Husband Left, Heidi has lost her one true love but discovered he had been somewhere she didn't know about the day he went..... Eager to solve the mystery, family secrets are brought to life, eager to be out on the open. I loved the storytelling and how every character had their own part in it. A truly heart-warming story of love, loss and reunions!

I thought this book had a clever idea, but the book had such a dark tone to it that I felt depressed when it was over. Heidi, a 50 something year old woman, becomes a widow at the very beginning of the book. Her husband, Johnny, drops dead of a heart attack at 54 while he is in another town scouting work for their furniture remodeling business. After she collected his belongings from the hospital, she realizes he had one unsent text message to her. It was a street scene picture in the town he was in right before he died. She realizes this must be him sending her a message - but she needs to figure out what it is.

Heidi & Johnny have two daughters - Zoe & Scarlet, both in their late teens. Heidi's mom lives nearby as well. And Heidi & Johnny's best friend, Max, also works with them. Max & Heidi dated for a year before Heidi & Johnny married - Max had recently lost his wife as well. It seems nothing good ever happens to any of these characters - we are just told about ominous things one after another. But then the real kicker is the message Johnny was trying to send Heidi - it was supposed to be her birthday present and it was a surprise. And it seemed to be the most troubling of all.

The book was well written and it flowed nicely. It was an easy book to finish in a day. But it didn't leave me with a warm, fuzzy feeling at the end - which is obviously not a requirement of all books. However, this book did make me think a lot - which is a positive attribute.

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.

Loved it!!! Such an emotional book. I LOVED "They Call Me the Cat Lady" so I was excited to read this book. It didn't disappoint. Loved the characters, story and writing style. There were so many secrets. Rosalind, Scarlet and William were hard to like. Each of them had their own problems. I couldn't understand Rosalind's reaction to Heidi wanting to meet William. Of all people she should understand. Scarlet was so judgmental and rude to her mother. Heidi didn't always handle everything properly, but she was still grieving the loss of her husband. She should have told her daughters immediately, when she discovered the two new family members. It might have made things easier. Heidi was definitely in over her head with William. He needed so much more help than she could provide. I thought she might come home one day and everything in her house would be missing. I enjoyed reading about all the characters and getting to know them. Tuesday was a great addition to the family. Three generations keep making the same "mistake." Finally it's not being treated as a horrible secret that needs to be hidden away.

Definitely recommend the book. It's about family relationships, grief, loss, love, forgiveness and so much more. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

At present it seems that Heidi is happy with her life, shes got a her loving husband with adult children, their business is upholstering furniture,

That is, until one day her husband goes out but doesn’t come back home. Learning that he’s dies of a massive heart attack, leaving her a mystery photograph.

When she discovers the photograph and what it means, she visits that place and there she uncovers family secrets.

I enjoyed reading this book and the way the characters were shown to be.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A tangled web of long-held family secrets are revealed throughout this novel. Healing, forgiveness, and redemption prevail.

The book is not like the title implies. Just goes to show that you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
Heidi's husband dies suddenly and in the aftermath many secrets are revealed. This is a book about family relationships old and new. How would you react to finding out you have more family than you knew? Would it change the family dynamics? The Day My Husband Left makes you think about these things and more. A quick and easy read.

Thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for the arc

The Day My Husband Left by Amy Miller was not what I was expecting from the title but I did enjoy it. I liked the characters and found the story emotional. It's not the sort of book I would normally read but I am glad I did as I feel it is a story that will stay with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

The Day My Husband Left is the story of a middle aged couple, Heidi and Johnny Eagle. One day, Johnny has a heart attack and dies, leaving his wife, Heidi, reeling from his death. Heidi struggles to cope with life without Johnny, but one day discovers a draft message on his phone along with a photo. Heidi feels like it's Johnny trying to leave her one final message, and so begins the journey for Heidi to uncover the mystery.

While the premise of this book sounded great, the story didn't really match the description of the book. The husband never "left," he died. I seemed to really struggle after I got about 30% into the story. I would find myself trying to talk my inner reader into picking up the story to finish it and find out what happens, and the inner reader in me didn't really want or care to. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and with some of the decisions Heidi made. She didn't come off as someone I would enjoy reading about and I found the story to be extremely predicatable.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinion.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read, with engaging characters at first glance. However, I found the story a bit off-putting on the whole - there was so much sweeping awkward subjects under the carpet going on, that it was a minor miracle that so many loose ends were (kind of) resolved at the end of the book. The cover is misleading, like so many others I was expecting a mystery and suspense, instead I got a family drama about dealing with death, loss and family secrets. It was okay, but not what I was expecting.

Heidi and Johnny were high school sweethearts a long time ago. They became pregnant, and while they wanted to keep him, Heidi's mother Rosalind was adamant that the baby be given up for adoption. Heidi and Johnny drifted apart, but later reunited and were married for 30 years and had 2 daughters.

Johnny suffered one heart attack, recovered, and then one day, suffers another that ends his life. Heidi is left bereft and searching for answers. One of the last things on Johnny's phone was a photo of a small cafe, and Heidi had no idea why the photo was taken, maybe it was a mis-dial? Unable to leave the mystery be, Heidi goes to the cafe and sees a young man who looks very like Johnny, and realizes this is their long-ago adopted son.

The rest of the book deals with the struggles of integrating William, the son, into what is left of her family. Her mother, Rosalind, deals a blow of her own when she reveals she also had a child who she put up for adoption. Pretty soon the family meets Tuesday, the adopted daughter.

There are a lot of coincidences and drama in this family, but at the same time, it all gets wrapped up pretty quickly. I'm not sure that is realistic considering the amount of lying and misrepresentations, but that's how the author chose to portray it.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

I went into reading this book thinking it was going to be a mystery about a husband leaving his wife and family. Was a little surprised to find out why he “left.”
I found this story interesting though I didn’t connect to any of the characters. The plot seemed a bit far fetched with both mother and daughter to be hiding such big secrets.
Heidi strikes me as being a very smart lady but acting quite scatter brained. I liked Max the most.
I can truly say....this story is certainly full of family turmoil and drama.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a story of a young girl who gave her baby up for adoption because she was too young to raise him. She maintained a relationship with the father and after he died, she found out her had found their son. She starts on a journey to reconnect with him.

I had a very hard time getting into this book because I did not enjoy it. The plot sounded very intriguing but I did not enjoy the writing. I know many people will enjoy it but I couldn’t get into the story.

A woman struggles with balancing her family's needs when secrets are finally brought in the open.
Heidi's beloved husband, Johnny, has a fatal heart attack while out on a job. He has a draft message on his phone to Heidi - q picture of the street shortly before he breathed his last breath.
Heidi is convinced Johnny was sending her one last message. She struggles to find the meaning - until she finds a man who is the spitting image of her husband.
Heidi needs to decide how much to share with her daughters. When seeking advice from her mother, Rosalind shares her own dark secret.
I felt for Heidi as she tried to save everyone around her - William, her son, dealing with addiction, struggling to be a father. Her daughters' anger and grief. Her own half sister. A lot going on in this book. And it just kind of ended without any resolution. They are all on their way, but it felt as though it was all swept under the rug.

What a rollercoaster ride this has been. It sucked me in completely. It is one heart warming story that I could not put down.
THE DAY MY HUSBAND LEFT is flawless and beautiful. It is one story about second chances, third and may fourth ones. It is a story about hope, righting the past wrongs and making peace with oneself. I was reduced to tears at times and I laughed out loud on many occasions.
I cannot recommend it enough

Really enjoyed this book, took me a little bit to get into it but what a lovely heartwarming story. Brilliant style of writing