Family dynamics...intrigue...a hint of mystery...maybe a little more mystery...loving...caring...this book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the electronic copy. This is a talented author who has written a difficult to put down book...thinking...wondering...realizing...don't miss this story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Nicole Trope for letting me read “The Foster Family” in exchange for an honest review!

That was an interesting read! Definitely has it pros and cons, but as far as being a story, it was a good one!

The beginning leaves us already puzzled, when a man finds a young girl in bad shape. She begs him not to call for help. He takes her home and helps her get better.

In the meanwhile we meet Elizabeth and Howard. A couple in their forties. Due to not being able to have kids of their own, they foster.
The family rents a vacation home in the town of Gilmore, Australia. The perfect time to relax with their young foster boy, Joe. Joe has been in an out of foster care, his mother being quite the tragic case. In and out of drugs, desperate for money.

Across the road lives Gordon, an elderly man in the early stages of dementia.

Then Joe disappeared while being outside. Police gets involved, everyone desperate to find the young boy.

Gordon witnesses the abusive nature of Howard towards his family. But nobody takes him seriously because he does not always remember things correctly anymore.

The story jumps back and forth between now and then and flashbacks to the young girl from the beginning. It jumps a bit too much for my taste, from one characters timeline to another ones. I am not sure anymore if it was chronological at all or if I just got confused by it.

Howard is clearly a despicable being. Elizabeth is unable to stop the abuse and bring herself and the boy to safety. It was hard to read and not seeing her do anything.

So what happened to Joe? Did he wander off? Did his biological mother come for him? Is Howard involved!? How is the mystery girl involved? At some point the different storylines melt together and it’s all explained.

I couldn’t really warm up to Elizabeth. I am glad she got her happy ending and stood up for herself. The best one was definitely Gordon, the elderly man and little Joe.

The story was solid and the writing fluent and interesting. I would have given it five stars, but I found the timelines done a bit too confusing, at least for me. Otherwise it was a solid story which I enjoyed!

Howard and Elizabeth are foster parents of 5 year old Joe. They take a getaway vacation and stay in a nice house near the water for 2 weeks. Their neighbor across the street, Gordon, becomes friendly with Elizabeth and Joe and has them over to see his birds. Howard is not as friendly. When Joe goes missing they blame Gordon. Gordon does have memory issues, but is he to blame?

I have read many books by Nicole Trope and this was an interesting story. I will give a trigger warning of physical abuse here. There were a few surprises and I did like the ending to this story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.