My Little Girl
By Shalini Boland

I am a fan of Shalini Boland’s stories. I was excited to have received an ARC from NetGalley & Bookouture and I thank you both for this.

Jill was grateful to be able to take her granddaughter and her friend to the traveling fair in town. Claire doesn’t let Jill have much responsibility when it comes to Beatrice. Jill is getting older and is more of a nuisance than anything. Plus she is friends with Ollies ex-wife. Thanks to Ollie for not being up to going to the fair and unbeknown to Claire, Jill ended up taking the girls to the fair.
While at the fair Jill takes a call from Laurel, Ollies ex-wife. Jill cuts the call short but not short enough. As she sees Beatrice’s friend, Beatrice herself is no where to be found. She vanished into thin air and no one saw the little girl in the red dress.
Who took the little girl? Could it have been the jealous ex-wife? Could be a client of Claire’s who has a crush & send death flowers?
I really enjoyed reading this as well as all of Shalini’s stories. She has a way with psychological twists.

Again, thank you to NetGalley and bookouture for the ARC for my honest review.

Claire and Oliver are living in a parent’s worst nightmare. Their sweet daughter, Beatrice is missing. Beatrice vanished without a trace while attending the fair with her grandmother, Jill. She is riddled with guilt for not being more aware and not keeping a watchful eye on Beatrice. Feeling responsible, Jill organizes a search party in hopes of finding her sweet girl. Everyone is under the veil of suspicion and trust is in short supply. Who took Beatrice? Was it an unhinged stranger, or is the culprit someone near and dear? This story is intriguing and compelling and kept me reading late into the night. Shalini Boland perfectly paced this twisty tale. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my copy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My little girl is about a girl who goes missing and the complex family within it. So many possibilities and a real who dunnit which kept me guessing till the end!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Shalini Boland and Bookouture for an early read of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

I have read all of Shalini's books and while this was more of the easier ones to figure out pretty quickly, it truly didn't disappoint.

This is the exact type of suspense novel that I love to read when it comes out, and I was able to get through this one in one day, and loved it a lot.

If you need a good suspense driven book, grab this one.

Love Shalini Boland’s writing style, it’s fast paced and an easy read. I normally struggle to work out the plot and I’m left guessing until the final twist. Alas this one was a little predictable, still a great story, characters and good read.

Really enjoyed this book. Although I guessed quite early on whom was responsible for kidnapping Bea; there were still a few enjoyable twists. Definitely worth reading.

I love Shalini Boland's thrillers--they're so twisty and fast, with one surprise coming after another. Even with the relatively small cast of characters in this story of a missing child, I was still guessing who was to blame right near the end. Recommended!

As a fan of this author I was excited to see a new one! I really enjoyed the writing style in this book. The twists and turns kept my attention throughout. I will definitely be checking out other books by this author and I would recommend this book to friends and family.

Another brilliant book from Shalini Bolland and I think this was one of my favourites. This book is about a mother’s worst nightmare, the abduction of her child. Jill has taken her 7 year old granddaughter Beatrice and her friend Millie, to the local fair. Whilst having fun in the Hall of Mirrors, Beatrice disappears. When Claire, Beatrice’s mum, is informed of her disappearance she is very upset and angry with her husband Oliver, Jill’s son, as he was supposed to be taking the girls to the fair as Claire considered Jill to be too scatty to be trusted with them. They are even more confused that there are no witnesses or sightings of Beatrice. What can have happened to her, has she been abducted? Jill and Claire start their own investigations and as Oliver starts disappearing hours on end and his ex wife Laurel, turns up Claire realises that someone is lying to her and some one must know where Beatrice is. The story is told from Claire and Jill’s point of view with a few chapters from the kidnapper. This is a tense and gripping read as the family deal with Beatrice being missing. The tension builds with so many twists and turns and a totally unpredictable ending that makes this book an unmissable read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This author never disappoints and I am a fan of Shalini Boland and enjoyed all of her book. so when My Little Girl
was available I had to rearrange my day and put the Do not Disturb sign on my door, takeaway menus ready for later..........Shalini's books are one of the best authors out there and If you have never read any of her books Where have you been? This latest book is gripping and with lots of twists and turns throughout
When seven year old Beatrice is having a great time at the local fair with her loving grandmother, then Beatrice goes missing. Claire Nolan, Beatrice's mother then receives a panicked phone call, telling her that her seven year old daughter has gone missing ,a parent's worst nightmare.........The nightmare begins.........

Where is she?

Has beatrice been kidnapped and by who?

This brilliant book is told is told from the point of view of the mother and grandmother,

WoW......What a book............I was hooked yet again and read it in one sitting.

Big Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for my advanced copy,

The book started happily with this cool family that looked so cute. A wonderful grandma Jill, out at the fair with her granddaughter Bea and Bea’s little friend as well. Everything was explained in detail, and i got to start liking grandma Jill. Bea is totally adorable and cute to begin with. I was taken aback when it all turned upside down. In the midst of people in the park, Bea disappears. Vanishes into thin air. The search for her begins.

I like how the author opened this perfect family dynamic. As each chapter progressed, their problems increase. Jill apparently is not on good terms with her daughter in law, Claire.

I sympathized with Jill a lot, as being in her situation must have been horrible. Everyone seems to put the blame on her. Poor woman was just trying to have a regular outing with her granddaughter. The disappearance alone is enough to drive her out of her mind, but everyone seems to put the blame on her! I’d say she’s a tough lady, even though there were times she couldn’t take it anymore.

As for Claire, she comes out as sort of a controlling lady especially at the beginning. I disliked her attitude towards Jill, it felt terrible. That was before i came to realise that Claire is not as harsh as she seems. I began to understand her then. She’s a mother blaming someone else for her daughter’s disapperance because in a way she feels responsible. Even though she couldn’t have known what could happen, to her, it still feels like she could have avoided it. If only grandma Jill didn’t take her sweet Little bea with her.

As with every thriller, this was quite full of suspense. And has the usual whodunnit. In this case, who kidnapped Bea. I had a bunch of guesses, all of whom were not the kidnapper. At a certain point towards the end, I realised who the kidnapper was even though I didn’t want to believe, it just seemed credible. And i truly wished the whole family opened their eyes sooner. Maybe this whole mess wouldn’t have happened in the first place. The one person whom they never suspected, who was with them through it all turned out to be a monster.

Finally, I was just so glad that Bea was safe and back home at the end. This whole ordeal also brought a tremendous change in Jill and Claire’s relationship. They understood each other better and realized they didn’t give each other a chance before. The ending was completely out of this world! It gave a very chill vibe and i think there might be a sequel soon!

Much thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Shalini Boland for this ARC copy. I enjoyed reading it.

This psych thriller had some good and bad points. The good: some truly tense moments, great interspersed third-party perspectives, and a few unforeseen twists. The bad: there were long passages where not a lot happened other than characters fretting about what was going on. The author did throw in enough red herrings that I found myself suspecting pretty much every character at one point or another. I liked that I was kept guessing. There were some uneven and inconsistent parts (for example, a text message being received and seeing the actual text message versus being told that a text message had come in). I felt sympathetic toward Jill, didn’t like Claire, and didn’t get the attraction of Ollie. It was still a decent read if a bit longwinded. For a full review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of the book.

Jill agrees to take her granddaughter Beatrice to a fair when her son Oliver is caught up with some work not informing her daughter-in-law Claire. Just for a moment, Jill gets distracted from a phone call from her ex-daughter-in-law and Beatrice just vanishes from her sight.

Claire is furious with Oliver and Jill when she heard the news because she doesn't trust Jill with her child and Oliver was supposed to take Beatrice to the fair. She goes frantic and does everything possible to find her child. Jill and Oliver stand by her in her search but they both are hiding something from her. And then there is Oliver's ex-wife Laura whose behaviour creates suspicion about her.

With increasing suspicion about Jill, Laura and Oliver and not even a single clue about her daughter will Claire pull herself together to find the whereabouts of her daughter?

We get so restless even when there is a small scratch on our babies then how does a mother feel when her child goes missing and there is no news if she is alive or not for weeks. This domestic thriller has these emotions portrayed brilliantly.

The story with strong characters, plot twists, mystery and a lot of suspense is a perfect book that will keep you on the edges of your seat till the end. I enjoyed this book so much and I recommend it to everyone who loves thrillers. Looking forward to reading more books from the author.

My Little Girl by Shalini Boland

I Loved this book!!!
From the very first chapter I knew I was going to enjoy the story.
I could not put the book down as the story kept me on the edge of my seat.
The drama and suspense are excellent. I have read many of Shalini Boland’s other books and I think they are all fantastic.
I loved all the characters and could easily relate to them. I loved the little girl, Bea, and couldn’t wait to find out what happens to her in the end.
I would like to thank Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Very very absorbing thriller with many suspects and a missing child at the core of it. My favorite trope, as some of you might know.

Claire received a call about her daughter going missing in the fair when her scatty MIL was watching her. A moment of distraction and life changed for the entire family.

Author Shalini Boland knew the tricks of the trade. Writing a thriller, one needed to be partly a magician using the sleight of hands to keep us distracted. This book too had those red herrings and blind alleys and hidden clues.

But guess who was a brilliant Detective? You are right… 😂 😂 ME!!

I wore my Detective hat and used all my talents of reading a thriller to perceive the words between the lines. And it was pretty easy to get to the perp. And I guessed the motive too… Yayy go me!! I think I read too many thrillers… 😂 😂 What do you say?

Written at a brisk pace, the story had interesting moments. This, I would say, was one of the light reads, keeping to the border of suspenseful mystery, without going to the darker side.

A light, fun read… Exactly what I needed to keep my mind distracted.

This is only the 2nd book I've read from this author, the first being one I wasn't so keen on, however I am so glad I had the chance to read this one through Netgalley as I am now off to search for all her other books!
This one kept me hooked right from the beginning and I read it in one sitting.
The story is told from two points of view, the mother and the grandmother of a missing child. It is tense but flows well.
I'd definitely recommend

Jill takes her granddaughter Beatrice to the fair to discover that she has disappeared, now to find out why it happened and who did it. A slow paced thriller full of mystery and suspense.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

Jill, grandmother to Beatrice, takes her and the little girl's school friend to the local fair. The girls are having fun in the House of Mirrors when Jill takes a phone call. When she looks up the friend is there but Beatrice is missing. Panic stricken and feeling guilty Jill is desperate to locate the child. Soon there are Police on the scene and Beatrice's parents Claire and Ollie join Jill in an anxious, agonising and hand-wringing wait to have their precious Little Girl found and returned to them.
Suspicion and blame abound as Claire, who never really trusted Jill was competent enough to look after her granddaughter, sets out to search and ask questions. She gets herself in a whole heap of trouble, accusing a neighbour and Ollie's ex wife, hippy dippy Laurel of abducting Beatrice. There are a fair few characters who could be guilty which makes this a tense and exciting read, the kind of book where you tell yourself 'just one more page' and then find yourself at the end all too soon.
This is also a novel about family and friendships. Jill's husband died so she is lonely and desperate to see her son Ollie more often, but he seems preoccupied and remote. Claire thinks Jill prefers Laurel to her and rumours are rife about a local choirmaster and one of Claire's patients also appears to be behaving in an odd manner.
The urge to get to the truth and discover the culprit and whether Beatrice is safe or not fuels the reader to read on and on.
I have read many of Boland's books and class myself a fan of her writing. This did not disappoint and my actual rating is 4.5.
Thanks to Shalini Boland, the publisher and Netgalley for the hoped for and much appreciated access to read this thriller.

I love this author however found this book a little underwhelming. The premise was unoriginal and I found myself skimming over the words at times. I much preferred 'The Other Daughter'.

What a wonderful thriller... loved how the chapters always left me wondering what was coming next. This is a fast paced story that left me shocked at the end!!

4.5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this early edition of My Little Girl in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review will be posted on my Goodreads account.

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12409011-donna-beiderman

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