Two women. Two stories. And the twisted fate that links them.

Brooke Meredith, an artist who resides in the tiny village of Aberfach by the sea, leads a solitary life. Christina Hale, a physiotherapist, lives in London with her loving husband and toddler twins. Brooke has hesitatingly embarked on a romantic relationship, but her past trauma makes her cautious, not to mention the strange turn of events that have begun to occur around her. Christina has just ended an extramarital affair, but it doesn't seem like her paramour is going to walk away quietly.

Set in different timelines and locations, the vastly different lives and stories of the two women, narrated in alternating chapters, initially confuses the reader. While the individual stories themselves are compelling, for a major part of the book, you fail to connect the dots. The suspense in the plot is not in your face - more like a lingering sense of something not right - and it is this feeling that urges you to sink deeper into the story. The climax, where the two storylines converge was quite an aha! moment for me. 

Both Brooke and Christina are well-etched out and flawed characters who are dealing with their own share of grief and trauma in their own respective ways. I do wish though that more had been mentioned about the character Alice, since she turned out to be pivotal to the suspense reveal.

Overall, initially confusing but evolved into an unexpected, yet satisfying suspense story. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant read by Victoria Jenkins. I loved the pace and tension of this book and how it all came together for that big reveal at the end. Victoria writes beautifully and I really loved this one. Five stars from me.

This was a good read although I was confused a bit about the characters. It was like someone saying "their best friends wife's aunt's second cousin" in a conversation. I kept having to figure out how people fit into the story. The overall premise was really intriguing and I did enjoy the alternating points of view.

Solid psychological thriller with two concurrent stories that collide in a spectacular way! Definitely a one-day read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Brooke’s life is no picnic. Her family is dead, she has a traumatic past, and she is a struggling artist in a remote coastal town. She rents out her family home during the summer months but not many people venture to cold and dreary town the rest of the year. But her life changes one day when she meets newcomers Oliver and his young son, Finley.

They are looking for a place to stay and Brooke offers her rental. But tragedy hits just hours later when her studio burns to the ground. Unable to pass up the income from her rental she insists that Oliver and his son still take the house.

Brooke becomes obsessed with learning more about these mysterious individuals and a relationship starts to bud between her and Oliver. But her past starts to resurface and things are no longer as they seem.

Here’s another fast passes thriller for you. I really enjoyed this story and it was well pieced together. I did guess correctly on the big plot twist but there were so many pieces that I didn’t expect along the way.

There was a slight issue with timings that had me confused and also gave away the big plot twist as well but I can’t say more without giving away spoilers.

The New Family is fantastic - The description had me hooked and with every page I read I just wanted to read more. I didn't actually put this one down once I had started and that ending was something I did not see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

A bit of an interesting read, not the first time I’ve read something with the same storyline but I noticed that a couple of events in the story didn’t exactly happened like how the premise initially stated them. But, it didn’t actually ruin anything so it wasn’t a big deal. Something I could just ignore.

It was an OK book. The twists were crazy and sometimes a bit ridiculous, how the characters were connected and how their lives got tangled up with each other, although everything happened too fast, (almost like rushed) when I reached the ending.

I love how the author played with the timeline and introduced the readers to two different characters with their own grief and struggles.

Thank you to Bookuture and Netgalley for this! Cheers!

** TRIGGER WARNING** This story contains domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Brooke is delighted when Oliver decides to rent her old family home with his three year old son Finley. Finally, someone to bring happiness to the rundown house across the street. They seem like the perfect tenants, but Brooke is a little unnerved when they move in with just a single bag between them. Where are their belongings? When Brooke asks Oliver about his past, he quickly changes the subject. Her best friend tells her to leave it, after all, Brooke has been through enough trauma in her life. But Brooke can't shake off the feeling that something isn't right.

You will have to suspend your belief a few times whilst reading this book. With relatable female protagonists, it's east to get caught up in the story straight away. There's two stories, Brooke and Christina's. two timelines with two mysteries. The story is told from Brooke and Christina's perspectives and in alternating chapters. This is a cleverly crafted story where the tension slowly builds. Both women have had their own struggles. The two stories eventually merge together seamlessly in this well written and addictive read.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #VictoriaJenkins for my ARC of #TheNewFamily in exchange for an honest review.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: November 16, 2021

SUMMARY:
This is the story of two women: Brooke and Christina...both have had trauma in their life, both have lost people important to them. Where one is a fulfilled wife and mother (or is she entirely fulfilled?) the other seems to be afraid to fully embrace life. What do these women have in common? And what will happen when a new family moves in just across the street?

PROS and CONS:
Such a fast paced, and honestly, such a well written book! It was entirely captivating. The two different timelines, and vastly different lives of our two heroines had me wondering what the two had in common. The ending brings everything together and it was well worth the read! Victoria Jenkins’ books don’t seem to get a great deal of notice...I sincerely hope this changes because this is a good book and I’d love to read more from her!

READ IT?
Yes - if you’re in any way a fan of the abundance of psychological thrillers out there today (yes please!)...then you’ll love this one!

4 Stars

This story has a familiar time jump in POV and storylines. Brooke is down on her luck until Oliver and his young son rent her family home. That is the current timeline. Then we have a year earlier a completely different story about a new mom of twins. How do they relate? Read this story if you want a story full of psychological thrills and this will absolutely blow your mind.

There is a good story here but found the story very confusing and I lost track of the characters and timelines,I usually really enjoy this author so will look forward to her next book

I’d like to start off by saying thank you to Victoria Jenkins, Bookouture and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

I’m not really sure what to say about this books there were parts that I loved and really enjoyed and other parts that I didn’t enjoy and found really confusing.

I think this book would have worked better as 2 separate books, it was told from Brooke and Christina’s point of view and I found it difficult to get my head around the ending the way the 2 stories fitted into one. I did however really like Brooke as a character I really warmed to her and I found my heart went out to her as she strikes me as someone who doesn’t seem to have a lot of luck in life. Literally the day she finds someone to rent her old family home off her, her own home that she’s currently living in goes up in flames. Poor Brooke is desperate for the money so allows her tenants to stay but there’s also the fact that Brooke doesn’t want to go back to ever living in that house again.

Unlike anyone else who’s ever rented off her Brooke found an interest in her tenants Oliver and his son Finley however there was a lot of mystery around them. Finley doesn’t speak and every time Brooke try’s to talk to Oliver about his personal life he changes the subject. There’s a lot of fear that Brooke noticed coming from Finley and she becomes convinced that he is in danger however as someone who’s had a difficult past is Brooke being over cautious towards him.

There was a lot of suspense in this book that I really enjoyed however at times I did find the pace a little slow but that being said it wasn’t a bad read. I certainly recommend it to someone who is looking for a thriller that is easy to put down and come back to.

The New Family by Victoria Jenkins is a very highly recommended psychological thriller.

When Oliver and his three-year-old son, Fin, decide to rent Brooke's family home along the coast in south Wales for several months, she is thankful to have the income of a longer term rental during the off season, especially after Brooke's studio is burned in an act of arson. The Father and son were staying at an area B and B so they can easily move in quickly. It doesn't hurt that Oliver is a handsome young man who seems to have had a sad past, much like Brooke herself.

In London over a year earlier, Christina, a new mother of twins is trying to cope with being a mother. She loves being a physiotherapist, but feels she is losing herself. Adding to this is the fact that she feels sick all the time, is having difficulty sleeping, and is struggling with in her marriage to Matthew. She starts a brief affair with Joel, but ends it with determination to work on her marriage. After she ends the affair, Joel begins sending her messages threatening her that it's not over.

Both Brooke and Christina are well developed characters. They are very different women and are depicted as such. Each of them has a distinct individual personality and are struggling with different problems in their lives. They both are unable to control events happening around them, or experiences from their past, and this makes them both realistic but flawed people.

This well written novel follows these two completely different narrative threads with mysteries set in two timelines. Both women have had struggles in their past and are trying to the best they can under trying circumstances. Throughout almost all of the novel these two stories are separate, but both narratives are fraught with tension and the foreboding feeling that something nefarious is going to happen. The dual plots both move at a quick pace and are equally engaging and compelling. Beyond the two mysteries in these dual story lines, is the underlying mystery of how these two stories are going to merge. They do merge and in a manner that is unpredictable until it is about to happen. 4.5

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Bookouture via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

OMG OMG OMG. Run…do not walk…to read this psych thriller.
Do what you must do. One-click it, buy it, find it…READ IT!
I am not exaggerating when I say that this psych thriller is one of the best I have read in recent memory. It has absolutely everything a person could want in the genre.
The author does a masterful job of laying out plot threads that are seemingly unrelated. The connections only become clear when the author is ready for them to be revealed.
The structure of the storytelling helps this parallel narrative. The chapters alternate between Brooke in 2019 and Christina in 2018. For at least half the book, it is not apparent how the two are related.
I mean, the reader knows that they are (they have to be). But the author gives up no clues before it is time.
I literally had an “AHA” moment when I saw the first connection. I think I even yelled it, startling the cat that was curled up next to me.
That is how involved in this story I became.
I can’t talk too much about the plot because I really do NOT want to give anything away. I know I am repeating myself from previous reviews, but if ever there was a time to go into a book blindly, this is the one.
It is difficult to talk about how fantastic the book is without giving details, but seriously, I don’t want to blow any surprises.
What can I safely say? The way that Brooke uncovers what is really going on is natural and fits the story. She is not a superhero – in fact, she is someone overcome with grief and guilt.
But she has good sense. And her artistic eye allows her to see details that other people may miss. Even with that, though, she is still piecing together parts of the puzzle on the very last page.
And what an intricate puzzle it is.
By the time all is revealed, the reader is as breathless – and as blindsided – as Brooke is. There are even moments where you will want to flip back to earlier pages, wondering if you missed something.
Chances are you probably did. But that is by design. And the author did an excellent job of those types of “hidden in plain sight” clues.
Honestly, I know that I am rambling. But I am trying to think of other things that can sell how great this psych thriller is and how you HAVE TO READ IT!
If you are a reader who likes to make note of theories throughout a book, this is one for you. I must have at least a dozen in my notes. They kept changing with new pieces of information. And only parts of a few of them are correct.
In re-reading this review, I realize that it sounds hyperbolic, which is unusual for me. But I can’t say enough good things about it.
Go read this psych thriller now. I mean it. Straight to the top of my best reads of the year list.

The New Family
by Victoria Jenkins
A dropped jaw psychological thriller. I read it too fast. I was wowed and the ending had me just shocked. Kudos to Victoria Jenkins.

**Slight spoiler alert!**

I enjoyed this story a lot, but this is the second book I have read recently where the synopsis doesn't match the story. For most of the book, over half of the book, Oliver and Finley and Brooke get along well. Brooke is not suspicious of them. She doesn't think something isn't quite right. She wonders what happened to Finley's mom and when she talks with her friend about it her friend is just like well have you asked him? You will never get to know him if you don't talk to him. Which she does and he immediately answers her questions. When Finley draws the house on fire Oliver doesn't "snatch the drawing away the moment he sees it." He talks to Brooke about how he is concerned for Finley. How Finley has nightmares, but he doesn't know the details as he won't talk to Oliver about it. For most of the story Brooke likes Oliver and Finley and they come off as a nice, normal family with a bit of an unfortunate past. Just like Brooke. So having the synopsis set it up as there is something fishy about Oliver made me keep thinking he was fishy. That something is not right even though for at least half the book everything was fine. Or Brooke thought it was. I mean she doesn't even get a chance to tell anyone that she thinks something is off with them before the big ending happens. As soon as she starts worrying for Finley it is the end of the book! So...not quite an accurate synopsis and kind of spoiled the book. Maybe I would have been just as suspicious of Oliver if I hadn't read the synopsis beforehand, but I don't know since I did. Oh well.

So this is the story of Brooke and Chistina. Brooke who had something happen 16 years ago that has affected her life ever since. Brooke who doesn't really get close to people. Who doesn't have family left. Who no one believed so long ago. Only now Oliver and his son Finley moved to town and she likes him. She likes them. Can she open up to them?

And Christina, whose story takes place over a year prior to Brooke. Who is struggling with being a new mom to twins and figuring out who she actually is. She has made some mistakes, but she wants to make her marriage work and be happy. If only she could figure out how.

These two stories don't really seem to intersect, but of course things come together in the end. I enjoyed how everything played out, how we see both of these women and the struggles they are facing and how they try and figure everything out. It was a fun read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Brooke is happy to rent her cottage to a single father and his small son not only because she needs the money but because she finds she likes Oliver and Finley. Finley is a very quiet boy and Brooke begins to grow closer to him and his father but something feels off about them. Oliver never mentions his wife or what has happened to her and Finley never mentions his mother. Tensions build when Brookes home and studio burn to the ground and police believe it to be arson.
The story is written in the perspective of two different women and it's not until the explosive end that the connection is finally revealed. This book kept me reading all night to finish, the twists and turns kept me trying to figure out what was happening and where it would end. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Well this was brilliant. I’ve read this in one day, a perfect way to spend a rainy November Saturday.
Two stories, Brooke’s and Christina’s, both intriguing. Brooke lives on her own, in a tiny village in South Wales, the sole survivor of her family, battling with her past. Christina lives in London, a wife, a mother to twins, with a sad family history. Two simultaneous stories, told in alternating chapters. At first there’s no relevance between them and each could be a good read on their own, but then the stories collide!
A great physiological thriller.

Oh wow, what a brilliant book. It grabbed me from the first page until the last. I just couldn’t put it down. Such a good book. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher. I found this story way too confusing as it-felt like multiple storylines put into one. . I was looking forward to this book too. I was disappointed. I will however read more of Victorias books.

My thoughts and opinions are my own and isnt influenced by other reviewers