I loved the person perspective and the way the story was written from the different perspective. The story unfold and you don’t know where it’s going to go, was hook from the start. Loved if

I thought I had an idea about where this story was going and what angle the main characters had! I was wrong.
Brilliant book, very well written

Absolutely excellent. Twisting on the spot. Mind bending storyline.

When the realities of a past life come back, a tale is woven of many points of view. Which one is true?

Delaney on great form again!

Susie and Gabe are successful musicians, live in an amazing house and are enjoying life. Except for the fact they are unable to have children.
Susie, however has a daughter who was given up for adoption.
Out of the blue Susie is contacted by the daughter. Little does she know the upheaval and distress this will bring to her and Gabe. It will shake their relationship to the core and test them as never before.
Can they survive this and will their lives ever be the same again?

My Darling Daughter by J P Delaney is an outstanding story of a young abused teenager girl called Skye or Anna. Skye was adopted by a family who already had a son, they changed her name to Anna. Anna lived with the family until she reached her teenage years and her challenging behaviour meant that they gave up on her and passed her onto her birth mother and husband.
Throughout the storyline the young woman challenges all of the adults that she comes into contact with until she ends up in residential care. She leaves that home to move into her birth father’s home. Unfortunately for Skye he was a drug dealer when she was conceived and is a more successful drug dealer living in London. This time she attaches to the wrong adult and life goes badly wrong for her.
Highly recommended

✨This book was just okay. It kept me fairly intrigued and I did want to keep reading to find out what happens but there wasn’t anything that wowed me.

✨I wasn’t able to emotionally connect with any of the characters which was also probably why it was just okay for me.

✨I found some of the chapters just rambled on and could have gotten to the point a-lot sooner. Sometimes rambling is helpful to the story but for me this hindered it.

✨I feel like the story just sort of ended. I’d been waiting for an exciting twist or something but it never came.

✨I did enjoy the chapters from the different characters povs but the daughters name constantly changing was so annoying. Why did it need to change that many times🤦🏼‍♀️.

✨Overall it’s a quick, easy read but nothing to write home about.

Susie Jukes receives a message out of the blue on social media. The message is from Anna, the girl she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago.

Susie is living a very different life now to what she was living in the past. She is happily married to her husband Gabe and when Anna describes her uncomfortable home life with her adoptive parents, Susie welcomes her into her life with open arms.

All appears perfect but is Anna covering up secrets? And does Susie have some of her own?

I have read and enjoyed books by J.P Delaney before so I was very excited to start reading this one. Told from the perspectives of three main characters, Susie, Gabe and Sky, My Darling Daughter is a fast-paced psychological thriller which will leave you on the edge of your seat.

The characters are fully dimensional and very well developed. We see them as they are now, discover about their pasts and experience every emotion with them as this journey takes them as a family on an emotional rollercoaster. They all come across as very real and complex humans. None of them are black and white which makes them easy to emphasise with and ultimately champion them.

Each chapter is short which I loved as it contributed to the fast pace of the book and made it easy to read- it was an incredibly difficult book to put down as I kept telling myself ‘just one more chapter’.

The main theme of the book is adoption. You can tell the author did a lot of research as he really shined a light on the complexities of adoption and fostering. It was interesting to hear the perspectives of different people who have experienced the system – not only Susie, Gabe and Anna but also Anna’s adopted parents, Gabe’s friend who fosters - and understand this topic from a range of views. The detail of adoption added to the authenticity of the book. Other themes in the book include socialisation and the importance of the role of family, the #metoo movement and forgiveness and second chances.

Overall, a strong 5 stars J.P Delaney does a fantastic job of conveying difficult and traumatising topics with the upmost respect and yet tells them an exhilarating way.

I love JP Delaney , this is my third novel and it did not disappoint!

Susie and Gabe are happily married, live in a beautiful farmhouse and both have successful careers. They have struggled with fertility and Gabe lost his own daughter to illness some years ago.

Out of the blue the daughter Susie had adopted when she was a teenage, contacts her through social medial. A fantasy come true or is all not as it seems?

Delaney as usual, had me completely absorbed from the beginning. The story is as usual expertly told. There was a lot of information re child psychology and a lot of over explaining which slowed the plot down a wee bit. However, this was still a brilliant read and one I’d recommend!

Susie Jukes is trying to make it work in her band, she is happily married to the amazing Gabe who has done the music industry in his youth and was successful. Together they live a pretty good life. Then Susie gets a message out of the blue from a 15 year old girl Anna/Sky who believe Susie is her birth mother. After meeting there can be no doubt they have finally found each other, but the main reason Anna reached out is because she is deeply unhappy at her home. Anna describes a uncomfortable strict living environment but not all is as that seems. Anna has her own secrets and seems to know everyone else's, using them to control the narrative, the story soon takes a dark turn.

I really enjoyed this story, there's parts that are really heart-breaking and left me on the edge of my seat. J.P certainly knows how to write a great thriller.

The characters were all really well done, and I loved the relationship between Susie and Gabe, it was strong even after everything they've been through and that was a real highlight for me.

This was a quick read for me, I read in a day and I think that's down to the great storytelling. I didn't want to put it down as I needed to know what was going to happen all the way through.

Another great read for me by J.P Delaney

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Found this quite a disturbing read but still enjoyed it.

This book explores many themes, adoption, the #metoo movement, family dynamics

Susie thinks having her daughter, Sky who she gave up for adoption as a teenager. back in her life will complete her family especially as she and husband Gabe have been unable to have a family of their own.

But Sky comes with 15 year old teenage angst and then some.

Susie wants to do everything she can to make up for the adoption but she could risk losing everything, with her husband Gabe paying a high price.

This was a really thought provoking read.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

When Susie Jukes is contacted out of the blue by the daughter she gave up for adoption fifteen years before, she is initially elated. Happily married to Gabe and with a mostly wonderful life, Susie's only regret is that she and Gabe have never been able to conceive a child together, and when her firstborn claims she is desperately unhappy with her adoptive family, Susie thinks that there might be a second chance for them all.

However, the more closely Susie and Gabe draw Anna into their lives, the more obvious it is that something is very wrong. Does Anna really want a family, or is she after something much more sinister?

I really enjoyed this twisty and well written thriller. It's well paced with a few genuine surprises, and some genuinely moving moments amidst the drama. Would definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, who granted me a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a compulsive read that grabbed from the start and kept me hooked throughout wanting to know the outcome. When Susie is contacting by a fifteen year old girl Anna/Sky claiming to be the child she had had adopted she is shocked and also thrilled at after all this time being able to have contact with the daughter she never thought she would see again. From the start there are problems as Anna/Sky is unhappy with the couple that adopted here and Susie is desperate to help despite some reservations from her husband Gabe. Well from then on this story becomes one that goes from bad to worse and I just couldn’t put the book down.
It’s a touchy subject but JP Delaney gets it just right and treats the story with great sensitivity whilst also making it a damn good read.
I liked the characters they were well written as was the story it was different to what I was expecting and enjoyable and I forward to more from the author who is a favourite of mine.
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Susie Jukes receives a message on social media from a girl called Anna who claims to be the daughter she gave up fifteen years ago. With Anna claiming she's living a horrible life Susie feels she needs to step in and do something to help with the guilt. The agree to meet and once Susie hears Anna's side of the story she feels she needs to get her away but is everything Anna telling her true?

I adore everything J.P Delaney writes and this was no exception, fast paced and gripping I didn't want to put it down. We follow the perspectives of Susie, Anna and Susies husband Gabe and it flowed and worked well and I felt I always knew who was narrating at the time. There were several twists and turns in this book which added to the enjoyment of the story.

This book handles some very sensitive topics from miscarriage to county lines to abuse so beware before entering.

I highly recommend this was a very enjoyable fast paced read.

Suzie and her husband Gabe are successful musicians trying unsuccessfully to have a baby. Suzie is contacted on social media by Anna, the baby she gave up for adoption 15 years earlier hen Suzie was 20. They get together with Anna and are shocked by what Anna tells them about her adoptive parents, and get sucked into Anna's web wanting to help her. But is everything what it seems? The story alternates between Suzie, Gabe and Anna's points of view and in addition to being suspenseful the story touches on a lot of serious, weighty topics that make this a little more deep than the usual psychological thriller.

I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly this was this author's weakest book so far. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, but it's just missing that unusual intrigue that I normally experience from this author's books. I may not have loved this read, but I did like it. Suspenseful and a book full of disturbing secrets!

Overall a good well written plot with interesting characters but unfortunately this one didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, not like the previous book from this author and I found it hard to get into the storyline.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for this ARC.

My Darling Daughter by JP Delaney

Synopsis
Out of the blue, Susie Jukes is contacted on social media by Anna, the girl she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago.

But when they meet, Anna's home life sounds distinctly strange to Susie and her husband Gabe. And when Anna's adoptive parents seem to overreact to the fact she contacted them at all, Susie becomes convinced that Anna needs her help.

But is Anna's own behaviour simply what you'd expect from someone recovering from a traumatic childhood? Or are there other secrets at play here - secrets Susie has also been hiding for the last fifteen years?

Review
Fairly easy read, the problem with stories like this, the characters make stupid decisions and are very naive which makes it hard for me to be sympathetic.
The author had clearly done alot of research on adoption which I appreciated.
Overall I enjoyed it but it didnt wow me.

Rated 3/5

Thanks to Netgalley for a advanced copy in return for a honest review.

Another pacey, thrilling novel from Delaney that I could not put down! With short chapters, it is so easy to promise yourself “Just one more” with My Darling Daughter, until you find yourself an hour on, with no chores done, fully immersed in the story with no intention of stopping. This was the perfect read for a summer staycation (even if I am not behind on the housework!) and sure to delight fans of Delaney’s past work - The Girl Before remains my favourite!

Susie and Gabe are a successful couple, both in the music industry.
Susie gave up her daughter for adoption fifteen years earlier and has never had any contact from her, until a message on social media.
Anna, or Sky, is a very troubled teen and what begins as a seemingly nice reunion takes a dark turn.
I didn’t like Sky’s character at all, she was such a piece of work. Yes, she had a difficult start in life but seems to shun all support and thinks she’s above everyone.
I liked Susie and Gabe but did find Susie really naive, to the point it was a bit annoying.

It is easy enough to read with short chapters. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the main characters, so you see their perspective on what’s happening. Overall 4 stars.