"Every choice we make in life has consequences, doesn't it?"
(Jackie Kabler)

"The Happy Family" by Jackie Kabler begins with Beth Holland. She is a divorced mom raising two children. Beth has always felt incomplete. Her own mom (Alice) disappeared when Beth was just ten years old. Feeling the pain of her mother's abandonment, her emotional struggle continues as a adult. She can't let go of secrets and guilt stemming from her childhood.

Thirty years go by before Alice tracks Beth down, and knocks on her door. Alice wants to make amends, and try to develop a long lost mother-daughter relationship. Beth forgives her mom, and in fact, is over the moon about a second chance for them to be close. Things go excepionally well for a little while. Beth's family and friends adore Alice and openly welcome her. As time goes on, Beth begins to notice that her friends are acting odd, and treating her different. They basically go out of their way to avoid Beth. Additionally, a stranger begins following Beth, household items go missing, and some very incriminating gossip is leaked about her.

While I enjoyed parts of this book, it was very slow in the middle. I was not a huge fan of the ending because it felt unrealistic. Thankfully, we are all individuals and have different taste in books. Please never let my reviews stop you from reading something you may enjoy. "The Happy Family" will be published January 25, 2022 by Harper 360.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper 360 for the free e-book in exchange for my honest review.

A gripping psychological thriller that I couldn't put down! It had many twists and turns, some predictable but still held me wanting to see how and why. I would definitely recommend!

This is a domestic drama with some criminal elements. I wanted to like this British mystery more than I did. Jackie Kabler is an author I have not read. I own a prior book of hers, but never found time to read it.
The main character, Beth, is riddled with guilt over an incident which occurred when she was in grade school. It is referenced throughout, not revealed until towards the end. Beth is divorced from Jacob, mother of two children, some sort of surgeon, has a housekeeper, Robin, and friends who are all older than her. Beth's Mum (Alice) abandoned her family thirty years ago. Despite therapy, Beth still struggles with feelings of being unworthy of love.
Out of nowhere Alice appears at Beth's door. Then strange things begin to occur in Beth's home and daily life.
The story was much longer than it needed to be, too much repetitive musings in her mind. It was not thrilling or fast paced, seemed to drag for me. Perhaps I simply read too much or am too perceptive, because I had most of the plot figured out early on.
On a positive note, there were many interesting and descriptive characters, the co-workers, neighbors, friends, her elderly father, her children and X-husband. There are certainly some thoughtful lessons to be learned, forgiveness, and relevant topics discussed. The resolution and ending were nicely tied up.
Many thanks to Jackie Kabler, Netgalley, and Harper One More Chapter for the advance digital copy of "The Happy Family". These are my personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.

I did not finish this book. I did not connect to the writing or the characters. This may be a better fit for another reader.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. A perfect family that is not what it seems. Then one day our main characters long lost mom shows up on her doorstep when she is at her lowest. She cannot believe the timing. Her father is dying and she needs her the most, never understanding why she left. Then weird occurrences start to happen. And her mother will do anything to protect her. Anything. A little predictable but still a very good read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Happy Family by Jackie Kabler, was impossible to put down. It was fast paced, full of action, and thoroughly enjoyable. The novel centers around Beth and the disappearance of her mother when she was 10 years old. Beth is now a successful adult with a family of her own, when her mother reenters her life. However, as her mother returns, Beth's life begins to unravel. It couldn't be related to the reappearance of her mother, could it? Beth's friends begin to drift away, her job performance wanes, and things are disappearing. What could be happening? Who is out to destroy Beth's life? There were many twists and turns in this book that kept me guessing. This book was fun to read and impossible to put down. This book is a must read for those readers that enjoy psychological thriller. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am not sure if I have ever reviewed a book before I finish it, but I am not sure if I can finish this book. I have struggled to hang in there for this long. The storyline is interesting enough, but the characters are horrible, I just cannot get invested. I am giving two stars for the storyline and putting this one aside. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is my 2nd by Jackie Kabler and I enjoyed her last thriller so I expected this to follow suit and am happy to say it did! I felt myself immediately drawn to this story and did not want to put it down. The main character Beth is a great main character in that she's naive, gullible, and incredibly frustrating which makes for an easy target in a domestic thriller. She is likable in the sense that you feel bad that she's so naive to everything and you want her to win anyway. However, get series of bad decisions coupled with a twist I did not see coming made her incredibly hard to like even when I was trying. I don't mind that in a thriller because I don't need to necessarily like the chapters to enjoy the path they go down. I was completely shocked by both of the twists in this and though the ending was quite satisfying. I enjoyed this one more than the last I've read by Kabler so I'm expecting even more in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper 360, One More Chapter for the arc of this book. It started slowly, and it was hard for me to concentrate on reading it. because I didn't really care about Beth. I liked her even less when I found out what she had done because it was horrible.
The book was all from Beth's POV and there was too inner dialogue much that I ended up skipping as the book went on. However. Most of the writing was good, and I will check out other books by this author to see if this book was an anomaly.
The story could have been great, but I had it all I figured out early on. I kept reading because I wanted to make sure I was right, 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Enjoyed this twisty domestic thriller that hosts a cast of great characters! Story plays on some of our basic human emotions and how far one might go to see those through.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

I really enjoyed this book! It was suspenseful with twists that kept me guessing. I rate this book a 3.5!

Beth’s mother had abandoned her and father decades ago. Since then many secrets have been kept. When her mother suddenly tuns up she is thrilled and can’t wait to make a connection. However strange things keep happening and all of the sudden everything is in a downward spiral.
This book was predictable and at times frustrating- first who invites a mother that left them 30 years ago to live with them immediately? And because I don’t want to give to many spoilers I will just leave it at the plot lines were obvious to me.
However it was a well written book and I do see how people might enjoy it as a light mystery read- it just wasn’t for me.

The Happy Family by Jackie Kabler is one great psychological mystery. Beth’s life was full of friends, two wonderful children and an ex-husband that she gets along with very well. Always in the back of her mind she longs to know the truth of what happened to her mother who had abandoned her and her father when she was very young. Also, her behavior as a young girl haunts her as through her actions of bullying, led to a disaster which she has never forgotten. Then……one day there’s a knock on the door, and low and behold it’s her long lost mother. Beth is thrilled to reunite with her mother, and everything is wonderful, until weird things begin to happen. This is a fast paced story you won’t want to miss.
Thank You to Net Galley, the author Jackie Kabler and the published Harper 360, for allowing me to read this novel for my honest review.

Enjoyed this book, even if I had it figured out in the first couple chapters. Characters are well written and it’s so easy to love and hate them all. Reads kind of like a lifetime movie, where even though you know what’s going to happen you are still interested in watching it unfold and don’t mind the time invested in the book. Beth has a secret and it follows her around everywhere. She has been able to bury it and move on with her life but worries constantly about it surfacing. Then one day her mother, who disappeared when she was ten shows up on her doorstep and every part of her life goes crazy. Who can she trust? Is she losing her mind?

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Jackie Kabler and Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

This is a fast quick read about a woman who discovers her missing mother and her life falls apart on all levels, including a threatening secret from her childhood that haunts her. I guessed the two twists as I read the book. Overall this was a light but very melodramatic and therefore not very believable, read, not my favorite, but would try reading another of her books

This was too slow-paced for me and was just ok. I was not surprised by the twists as I pretty much guessed them. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me the loan.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

We follow Beth, a divorced mother of two, she supports her family by working at a local doctors office. Beth visits her elderly father in his care facility as often as she can, when he recently brought up that her mother, who left when she was ten, would be turning 60 this year. Beth hadn't thought about her in awhile, it brought back memories of her past, things she opted to try to push away as it was too difficult to face, even though it haunted her dreams.

When Beth hears a knock at the door, she opens it to find an older women, her mother. Beth is in shock but so happy, she welcomes mum in, no questions asked and she moves in for a few weeks to help support Beth. During this time, many things begin to get weird for Beth, her friends stopped coming around, she was losing things, drinking more, and so many other unexplainable things. When these things started happening, you have an idea of who is to blame, but it will keep twisting and turning up until the very end.

Excellent story! Totally engrossing!. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Could not put this down!

When Beth was 10 years old, her mother deserted her and her father. Then, surprise, and knock at the door … dear old mum has returned and wants to make amends. After her newly-found mother moves into her home, Beth’s life spins out of control — household items get moved around, scandalous videos appear on the Internet, Beth‘s deepest secret is revealed and her children move in with her ex-husband. This is a slow burn of a thriller. It kept me turning the pages just so I could figure out who the culprit was (not who I suspected, by the way). I gave it a four star rating because it definitely kept me guessing and I felt compassion towards Beth.

The Happy Family
by Jackie Kabler

WARNING! Better sit a time to read this in a day. What a wild read. It, Filled with suspense, intrigue, and a cast of engaging characters. I flew through this book all day. It just kept getting more insane about what the hell happened. NO, You will not figure out the ending!! You will just have a jaw drop in the end. GREAT read!! Kudos to Jackie Kabler!!