A journey to find a long lost sister, a town that never forgot this missing child and couple small twists. The plot is what drew me to this book. As much as I really wanted to love it, the redundancy put in by the main character was a huge draw back to me. The story overall was good though and I would recommend giving this book a read. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

🌊Confusing and main character problematic🙁
3.5🌟 stars

This standalone psychological thriller set at the English seaside kept the mystery alive until the conclusion but just did not thrill me. I am used to the author's Gina Harte police procedurals that speed along. This one caught my eye because it was about a missing child and I do love a story with innocent children who need saving. But it did not grab me at the start and was not a pageturner until the climax. There were so many red herrings and twists that I found it confusing and had to give up guessing and surrender myself to the revelations at the end. And the end result really was 75% totally unexpected.

Kate, the lead, was not a character who garnered my sympathy. Too reckless, illogical and nonchalant about letting her husband carry the bag for child rearing while she lied her way into doing her own thing, keeping secrets and repeatedly making foolish choices in her search for the truth about her baby sister's disappearance. It's difficult for me to root for a character when their actions turn me off or regularly make me roll my eyes. Kate did both.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Bloody hell! This is a corker of a novel!!

It’s no surprise that I read this standalone by Carl Kovach as I absolutely love the Gina Harte series which is one of my favourite crime police procedural sites.

The book starts out with a background chapter depicting what we know in the blurb. A child is missing but who is to blame. The prologue really pulled me in. It’s likely working with children, that made this an intriguing read and made me feel uncomfortable as I read about the baby that disappeared.

I felt anxiety reading some of the chapters, they literally made me gasp as some parts were revealed… I might have cried a little at the end.

This book was an absolute gem of a read. Perfect as a summer read.

It’s full of intriguing characters and handfuls of red herrings! The twists were fabulous and have to say I’m becoming quite partial to Carla Kovach’s stand-alone psychological thrillers.

If you love her crime novels you absolutely will love this!

I’ve read other books from this author and she never ever disappoints. It’s a tale of a missing family member who disappears suddenly and changes lives. It’s so well written and so good I read deep into the night and then when I woke up next morning I picked it up to read immediately. Just such a good read.

"Find Me" is an addictive page turning book. It had me reading long into the night because A) I was full sure I knew where the book was going, and B) I had to know what would happen next! Needless to say it turns out I had no idea where the book was going or how it was going to end but boy was it good! It's an emotional, suspenseful and edge of your seat kind of book!

What would you do if your baby sister was thought to of died but was never found?

This story is a sad tale about a family on vacation only to come back home one member short.
It’s a story about a sister who will stop at nothing to find the truth but even at the expense of her own husband and children? The read is worth the ending.

I really really wanted to love this book but it was just okay for me I did love the setting for this book a mystery in a small seaside village but I felt like the story just dragged at some points also the protagonist was so back and forth about her thoughts and opinions it got frustrating one minute she's this way the next shes totally opposite! I might try this author again but for this one it was only okay.

Name of Book: Find Me
Author: Carla Kovach
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: July 14, 2022
My Rating: 3 Stars

While on vacation, young Kate begs for some ice cream. While she and her mother go to the store; baby Jess and dad wait on the pier. However, when they return they find dad dozing and baby Jess gone.

Now on the twenty-fifth anniversary, Kate receives a note stating they know what happened. Kate has always been troubled by what happened, so jumps at the chance of getting to know the truth.

I ended up liking this story but at first has a hard time with Kate her worries were over the top.
However, finding the truth indeed set her free.
As always I love the author’s notes and Acknowledgments ~ a must read for me!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this eGalley!
This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form. Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 14, 2022

Another strong thriller from Carla Kovich. This is a standalone novel concerning a child that vanished into thin air, your worst nightmare! Well plotted, I did find that it got stuck for a little while whilst I was impatiently waiting for some clues or leads to come to light. Certainly kept my attention throughout though.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Having read all the DI Gina Harte books written by this author; I was keen to read this standalone. It's a good story and I mainly enjoyed it, although I did find, at times, there were periods of repetition. I didn’t particularly warm to Kate, who has become fixated with the death of her sister 25-years earlier. That event has shaped her whole life, turning her into an overprotective mother, I understand this to a degree but found it hard to accept the way she behaves, given that she was only a toddler herself when the event happened.

I did enjoy reading how Kate’s relationship with her dad developed - a nice touch. I thought that the side characters were well developed, and I also loved the descriptions of the setting - this really helped to create the atmosphere of a seaside town.

I wasn't particularly shocked when the truth was revealed, as I had figured that's what had happened on that fateful day. I was however not expecting the ‘secret messenger’ to be who it was - an exciting and unexpected twist. All in all, a solid four stars from me.

It is a nice and twisted book about a sister who died 25 years ago, and the other sister still cannot let go of the case. She wants to know the truth. It is a well-written book, and I like the ending, but quite frankly, one thing I do not like in books is a whiny woman who cannot let go of the past. To be honest, do not much care for them in real life either. This is what spoiled the book for me. Otherwise I am sure I would have loved it, but because of the main character it was too much for me. If whiny women who are obsessed with the past do not bother you, then I absolutely recommend this book to you!

I'll be honest - about halfway through the book I was prepared to give Find Me 2 (maybe 3) stars. I had a hard time with the dialogue, finding it forced, and the repetition of certain characters' thoughts was frustrating. I also found it difficult relating to the main character, especially as she was only a small child when the initial incident occurred. I had a hard time believing that she would be so obsessed 25 years later. With all that said, I'm giving Find Me 4 stars. In the end, I liked the characters, particularly those of the village , and found the drama filled ending to be very entertaining. I especially enjoyed the development of the relationship with the dad. The author did a great job with the side characters and the setting. Overall, I'd recommend Find Me, with the caveat that the dialogue can be a bit painful at times.

Who would not be upset to learn a child is missing? This is the tale of true crime and/or crime shows on television. Sometimes...good, happy endings...sometimes the opposite. This author has woven a story that is a cannot put down...the characters, often unusual in a mystery, are actually quite likable...some of them. Their lives are real life...happenings that could happen...did happen...might happen. This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review, and I thank the publisher for sending it to me electronically. I enjoyed the book...not that it is a cozy, fuzzy read to be enjoyed...I might say I liked reading the book...don't miss this one...

Find me by Carla Kovach is a standalone book from the author. I have been a fan of the authors Gina Harte series. So, I couldn’t wait to read this.
Twenty-five years ago, Kate’s sister Jessie died feared drowned while on holiday. Her father was looking after her at the time, but her father has a drinking problem, and he had a bit too much to drink. They never found her body. The incident had a knock-on effect with the rest of her life. She is now married with two children, but she is so overprotective that they are not allowed anywhere, and they are not allowed to visit friends.
So, when it comes up to the 25th anniversary of her death Kate gets a message from the page that has been set up for Jessie. That they know what happened that day. Kate needs to follow through and find out the truth what happened to her sister. So, she goes to Loos where the incident happened. Even though her husband Damien thinks that it is someone trolling her. But when she receives another message, she is adamant that she must find out what is going on.
Thank you Bookoutre for a copy of Find Me. I did quite enjoy reading this, but I didn’t think it was one of her best. At first, I got confused of who was who, because the characters where quite like each other and only become clear towards the end. The protagonist was quite annoying because she didn’t listen to other people which ended up of her being in all sorts of trouble. But it is still worth the read. 4 stars from me.

This is a little hard for me to review. First, I didn't care for the main character, she was a little over the top. If she was the mother of the missing child I would understand some of her choices. However, she was the sister and a child at the time at that and would not fully remember everything. Second, this was a bit slow and not quite intriguing enough for me. But, the ending was good and quite a bit surprising for me and the story in itself was interesting and well written. I'll give this a solid three stars.

I love Carla Kovach’s books so I was eager to read this one. Kate was a well written, three dimensional character, who I cheered for, even if I didn’t always think she made the best decisions. All of the characters kept me guessing and I never quite knew who or what to believe. It was a great stand alone read!

Loved this story of a woman who’s life is changed as a child when her baby sister goes missing presumed dead. As an adult she has not given the search for the answers of what has happened but it is destroying her family and her fear is damaging her children. When she is contacted by a mystery person who says they know the truth she must face the past to try and get to the bottom of the story once and for all. This is a great read.

Overall, I have to say that this book kinda just fell a bit flat for me. It was a little predictable, but I’d still recommend it.

Kate's whole life has been affected by the loss of her baby sister Jess twenty five years ago and she has always strived to find out the truth of what happened that day on holiday, when her drunk dad was left with the baby and they came back to her gone, later to be presumed drowned off the pier.
It's a good story and is very easy to read and it was gripping, hence why I flew through it. To be honest I disliked Kate from the start, she is fixated on the death of her baby sister to the point that she has become this insane, over protective mother, she doesn't let her own daughters have a normal childhood for fear of anything happening to them. It's understandable yes, but she's over the top and the way she's fixated on it all, she could only have been a toddler herself when it happened so she would barely have any memories of this sister, so the whole over the top need to mourn her constantly and turn her families lives upside down, is frankly a bit ridiculous to be believable.

Every time Kate thinks she has figured something out or someone, she becomes obsessed with them and won't let it go. She's not a nice person and will step on anyone or upset fragile people to get what she wants. She constantly puts herself in danger and tells no one, like duh 🙄 u can clearly see where it's all leading too.
The outcome wasn't a surprise, however, the one messaging her was a massive one.
The town itself had many characters living there and not many of them the nicest people, too many secrets and lies among them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in return for an honest review.

In one moment so many lives can change. This book illustrates the long term and far reaching impacts a tradgey can have. Cala takes us on a journey, following Kate who lost her sister when she was a baby, the impact emotionally/psycologically it has had on her, her parenting, work and relationship. In her search for the truth and answers to what happend that day 25yrs ago she puts herself in danger, but in the end, she gets her answers and closure.

Thank you to Netgally for the chance to read this ARC of Find Me. Having read all of Carla's books in the Detective Gina Harte Series and loving them (most my reading is in the mystery/suspense romance space) I was keen to dive into this stand alone book, while overall I enjoyed it, it did not have me as hooked and rivited as the series.

I have to flag that I was recovering from a mild case of COVID when I read this book which may have impact my focus and engagement. I found it hard to get into the book at the start, but maybe I was just being impatint wanting more clues and secrets to be revealed earlier, so felt the pace was a bit slow and meandering, but once secrets did start to come out the pace picked up and was gripped to see how it would all come together.