Member Reviews

Moment in Time by Suzanne Redfearn, is the sequel to In an Instant. I have read both outstanding books. They can be read in order or as a standalone. I enjoyed the first book more, but Moment in Time is a worthy read. Reading both books in order is icing on the cake!

Moment in Time picks up 8 years since a devastating accident altered the lives of Chloe and Mo. Both girls are now grown and share an apartment in San Francisco with their good friend Hazel. Hazel goes through a devastating ordeal when a roofie is slipped into her drink and she is raped. Mo and Chloe support Hazel's recovery, but soon after Hazel disappears. Mo and Chloe will stop at nothing to find Hazel. But will it be enough?

Moment in Time will be published March 8, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, for the honor of reviewing this wonderful story of friendship. Suzanne Redfearn is one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend all her books.

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Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Suzanne Redfeam. I got this book as a "Read Now" on NetGalley and I have to say I am so glad. I really enjoyed the read and it was nice to get the opportunity to read it early. Very touching topics in this book but things should be discussed to let people know that they are real and other people have the same issues as well. Easy to read and it will keep you reading if you like hard hitting books.

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3.5 Stars. Eight years after a life-changing, tragic accident, twenty-six-year-old Chloe and twenty-four-year-old Mo, along with their roommate Hazel, are figuring out life together in San Francisco. One devastating evening, Hazel is sexually assaulted, and flees town. After her rapist is found drugged and beaten, Chloe and Mo become more concerned by Hazel’s disappearance, and set out to track her down.

I was so excited that this novel features Suzanne Redfearn’s past characters, Chloe Miller and Mo Kaminski, the older sister and best friend respectively of Finn from her book “In An Instant”. Despite the eight year time jump, I felt like the characters lacked maturity and made very poor decisions, which was a bit frustrating at times. I really appreciated the attention the novels draws to the societal issue of drug-induced {and non-drug induced} rape and sexual assault, and the lifelong trauma and mental health issues these victims endure. Be sure to read the Author’s Note at the end where Redfearn explains how she came to write this story.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for my gifted e-ARC!

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I loved In An Instant earlier this year and was so excited to see a sequel on NetGalley. Suzanne Redfearn is great at expressing tough emotions in her characters. Some horrible life experiences so well written but not overly explained. You just feel it. The story made me both laugh and tear up with out feeling like she was forcing the emotion. This could have been a hard topic to read about…but wow I loved this! Definitely looking for more by this author.

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I absolutely loved In An Instant. While this doesn’t pick up where that one left off, this does catch up with two characters, Mo and Chloe, eight years later. They are friends, living together with their roommate, Hazel. The roommate has gone through an extremely traumatic event. It’s impact on the friends devastating. And following a confrontation, the repercussions are detrimental. Except for when life got in the way, I couldn’t put this down. All three women are extremely interesting characters, each with flaws and secrets. Mo and Chloe have lingering emotional and physical trauma from the incident eight years ago and that plays a significant part in their thoughts and decisions. They want to help their friend, but seem to have differing views on how to do that. They are both running, it seems like they can’t catch a break, lies and secrets keep compounding and their decisions are not the greatest. I wanted to yell at times. I was even frustrated and shaking my head. But this was so good!

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I have enjoyed two of Suzanne Redfearns previous novels, In An Instant and Hadley and Grace. I like that she incorporated several characters from both books into this one as well. I believe there is another novel that she included characters from. However, I had such a hard time remembering who was who and trying to remember the fullness of the plots of the previous books. I think for this one, even though the character who's thoughts we were reading, name was at the beginning of each chapter, it was hard to keep the storylines separate. I think the way each was written didn't have enough differences to really feel a nuance for each character. It just took me way too long to remember who was who and what had happened with each one. There were parts where I would get lost in the story in a good way and times where I was just trying to make sense of it all. The book deals with rape and victim drugging so be aware if those are triggers. I still enjoyed this story from Readfern but it is my least favorite so far.

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After reading and loving In An Instant, I knew I would read anything by this author. When I found out she was publishing a sequel, I was beyond excited. Although this one doesn’t have the same premise as In An Instant, it does have the deep, emotional writing that I fell in love with. It does discuss sexual assault as well as GHB so make sure to check for trigger warnings before going in to this.

I loved revisiting the friendship between Chloe and Mo as well as getting snippets of the previous accident and how that has shaped their lives 8 years later.

Overall, I adored this book and will definitely continue picking up this authors books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Moment in Time is a follow-up to In an Instant with two characters the focus of Moment. It is not necessary to have read Instant but it is highly recommended to read it before starting Moment. Moment mentions the events of Instant, but skipping it would be missing out on a life changing event for both Mo and Chloe. It is now eight years later and they are all grown up in their mid-twenties. They are now (sort of) roommates along with Hazel. We also have Ruby a stray dog who steals the show!

Trigger Warning: Moment deals with the date rape drug GHB, rape, and several “what would you do” scenarios and their effects. After being raped Hazel disappears and Mo and Chloe try to find her, and many complications arise. Hazel is a minor character that we unfortunately don’t get to know, but we are fully invested in Mo and Chloe after their survival eight years ago. I enjoyed their continuing story and Redfearn also includes characters from her other novels. You won’t have needed to have read the previous books other than Instant, but I say read Redfearn’s other novels. I have only missed out on one of her previous novel’s Hadley and Grace.

We do have a little bit of insta-love that develops and the reader also sees how important the friendships are to these young women and how far they will go for each other. I enjoyed the ending which seemed to wrap things up nicely. I wish we had more of Hazel in the novel as she is the victim and we don’t see how she handles the after effects of her situation other than what is implied.

Be sure to read Redfearn’s author’s note to see where she came up with the idea for Moment.

Many thanks to the author for sending me an e-arc via Netgalley.

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What a powerful book! Suzanne Redfearn writes stories that will bring out all the emotions in you. You will be sad, angry, sympathetic, and in love. This is the story of three friends. When one of the friends has a tragic event, the other two do everything they can to help even if it means following their friend to a different state. Along the way, the two friends have their own adventures.

At the end of the story I wanted to stand up and cheer. The message at the end is exactly on point. I loved the characters and related so much to them. They are strong women, each in her own way. I read the book in one day because I could not put it down!

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I loved Suzanne Redfearn's riveting novel "In An Instant", I still recommend it to people! But this follow-up?.... After having lived through the circumstances in the previous novel, I would've thought the characters would be more mature. Instead, they seemed to have regressed, and continually made an already terrible situation worse.
I didn't love this book, but I didn't stop reading it either. The plot moves at a fairly fast pace, and adeptly links the side stories together. Overall, the writing was good but the characters could have been more intelligent. The author's note at the end was the most compelling part of this book.
*Thank you Lake Union Publishing, Suzanne Redfearn, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Thanks to Net Galley and Lake Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
I haven’t read In An Instant by this author but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
It’s about date rape, friendship, boundaries, trust, revenge and love.
Date rape is a tough gritty topic, but the three girls, Mo,Chloë and Hazel, are bound together by friendship, Hazel is the victim of a horrible assault, Chloe and Mo make it their mission to get to the truth.
There is a simple but very surprising twist at the end. A great read and well deserving of 4.5 stars

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The mystery in this plot kept me reading, but it was not memorable. The characters felt very immature and made terrible decisions that only a younger person would make. Not my favorite by this author.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I requested this book from Netgalley because I absolutely loved In An Instant and I was I was pleasantly surprised to find this was a continuation of Chloe and Mo’s story. Although this story was very different than the other book, I really enjoyed this story. I definitely didn’t see the plot twist coming which is always great! I read this pretty quickly because I wanted to know what happened next. Overall I would definitely recommend. Thanks Netgalley for this ARC!

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Suzanne Redfearn chose to tell the continued story of some of the characters from her book “In an Instant” and to give us a glimpse into what the effects of their horrific crash in the mountains might have on their lives today. It is not necessary for you to have read the first book in order to understand what is going on in this one. The author gives just enough of the backstory to whet your appetite for the previous book, but not enough to spoil it for those who haven’t yet read it. This is a tale of friendship and the extremes that friends will go to in order to remain loyal to their friends, even if there is an element of mystery and mistrust in their actions. Even though the ending could’ve been a bit tighter, and the fact that there’s a character in the story that I don’t quite get the purpose of, I really did enjoy the book. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

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Three friends and roommates have been living and loving San Francisco when one night two of the three go out to celebrate a work accomplishment, the one night will change their lives forever. Mo and Hazel meet up with some of Mo's friends and Hazel is sexually assaulted and Mo and Chloe vow to avenge what happened to her.

A hard book to read as a serial rapist has gotten away with this so many times due to a "lack of evidence" and to watch these two friends try to find the best solution to help Hazel, but also to find justice. This book took so many twists and turns and I think I even gasped at one moment! A story of women friendship, a little mystery and revenge all wrapped up in one cover and ended up being an extremely wild ride.

I have only read two Suzanne Redfearn's book, but after this one I will automatically read her books, no questions asked! She created three women characters that were dynamic and interesting and she showed how woman can and do show up for each other for the little and the big things. While the subject matter was hard to read at times, I kept reading to see how these women would come together to bring evil down.

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When I was approved for an ARC of Suzanne Redfearn's newest novel, I was very excited, as In an Instant was one of my favorite books in the last year. I read this new book in practically one sitting; it is a quick read and a page-turner. Moment in Time is only my second novel by Suzanne Redfearn, but it will not be my last.

Moment in Time features many characters from previous novels by Suzanne Redfearn, and showcases Mo, Chloe and Kyle from In an Instant as main characters. It was exciting to catch up with characters from a book I loved and to see how they turned out as young adults, eight years following the blizzard. An appearance by Ruby, a stray dog rescued by Chloe, is a charming addition to the story.

The premise of Moment in Time, the rape of a roommate and the aftermath, puts the characters into a "what would you do?" dilemma,while illustrating the difficulties prosecuting when date rape drugs are used. Friendships and past traumas play a role in the decisions the women make as they try to come to terms with what has happened, and the responsibility they may feel for events. As loyalties are tested, some of the choices made by characters seemed a little far-fetched, and I found myself questioning what I would have done in the same situation.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and e-ARC of Moment in Time. The opinions in this review are my own.

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A moment in time, makes you think, how much it can change the rest of your moments for the rest of your life. Now this isn’t the first book in this series, but the author does bring you up to date.
This read shows a very dark subject of date abuse, there is the use of GHB, and quite a bit of violence!
We put faces to the people involved and get deep into their lives, we also see friends whom are there for one another, and feel guilt for their part in what happens to their friend.
This became a page turner for me looking for answers, and was I surprised, yes, and I did guess wrong.

I received this book through Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this eARC. As you're about to see, it was provided in exchange for an honest review. It is going to be released on March 8.

I was beyond excited when I saw that my request was approved for this one as In An Instant had been a 5 star read for me and I had relatively enjoyed Hush Little Baby. This one though fell oh so flat for me. The blurb does say that it's by the author of In an Instant but doesn't really stress to the reader just how important a recent reading of that book (or a spectacular memory) would be in understanding the characters and how they interacted in that original book. There's some explanations in places but I almost got more confused with those. They also call Chloe "Clove" and "Clover" in places but not enough to have either of those actually recognized as a nickname and I honestly started wondering if it was a typo in places.

Also, if date rape is at all a trigger for you, steer clear of this one. There's just a whole lot that would dredge up memories/trauma.

I'm sorry but I have this as a 2.75/5. So deeply disappointed.

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The power of friendships….. Mo and Chloe, two characters from the amazing In an Instant by the same author are now twenty-somethings living in San Francisco. Mo has started her own media company and Chloe is a veterinarian. Their lives are torn apart when their roommate Hazel is sexually assaulted and disappears.

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4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.

What an amazing novel. With characters featured from her other novels, Suzanne Redfearn brings a story that has tough topics but handled in a forthright and honest way. I couldn’t put it down.

Mo has grown up to run a successful media company. Her latest infographic is creating quite a stir, gaining notice from CNN. She is scheduled to have an interview with Jake Tapper the next day. So Mo wants to celebrate. She and her roommate Hazel visit a local pub where they run into an old acquaintance of Mo’s. Mo and a horribly shy Hazel agree to sit at his table, but then Mo gets a call from her husband Kyle who is currently overseas. When Mo goes outside to take his call, she leaves Hazel, looking rather uncomfortable, at the other table. By the time Mo returns, Hazel and her former friend have left the pub. Mo thinks nothing of it initially, but when Hazel calls much later to ask to be ‘picked up’, Mo starts to suspect something is amiss.

Meanwhile, Chloe has become a vet, but after the breakup of her previous relationship, she is homeless and broke. Turns out Eric ran off and drained their joint savings account in the process. So Chloe is spending most nights at Mo’s. Only Chloe has a tendency to bring home dogs, and there are no dogs allowed in Mo’s building. When Chloe gets a late call to rescue a pup, she has to bail on going to the pub with Mo and Hazel.

Mo picks up Hazel, but realizes that she’s not only drugged, she’s also likely been sexually assaulted. Mo immediately takes her to the ER, and Chloe joins them there. Mo is incensed to think that her former acquaintance could have done this, but who else? Life takes a turn for the worse when Hazel disappears and Mo confronts the acquaintance to accuse him of rape. Things start spinning out of control and everything that the three women have might be gone quicker than they could have imagined.

This is an amazing book. Bringing back Chloe & Mo from In an Instant allows us to see what they’ve accomplished and how they survived from the trauma of that novel. It is not necessary to have read In an Instant, but it helps to know where they’ve come from. Apparently there are other characters that appear from other novels as well. Now I want to read all of Redfearn’s novels to find the backstory.

There are definitely some heavy topics in this book. Sexual assault, trauma, and animal neglect are just for starters. However, Redfearn makes it easy to devour this novel. Life is dirty and she isn’t afraid to tackle topics that other writers might shy away from. So well written and fast paced, not a dull moment to be found. Worth every moment of this read.

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