Mary gave brith to Hope when she was a young teenager. She was not able to keep Hope and ultimately abandoned her. After her husband passes away, Mary searches for Hope. Hope is now called Cathy, and the two women instantly connect. After seeing each other for some time, Mary introduces Cathy to her family, including her two adult children.

Mary's children are understandably shocked by the news,. However, Cathy continues to try to fit in with her long lost siblings. After Cathy's arrival, strange things begin happening to Mary. She seems to be losing things, a fire breaks out, and someone smashes a window. Is Mary losing her mind? Or is someone out to get her? Is Cathy really who she says she is or is she just trying to take Mary's money? Everyone seems to be hiding something...

This is a bit of a slow burner, albeit, with an interesting plot. Once the twists and turns started developing, it moved along a bit quicker. The final twist was super obvious. However, there is another twist in the epilogue that is much more shocking.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Very exciting book to read. I was hooked right from the beginning. The suspense. The plot was very well thought out. Very well written. Lots of twists and turns that ensure you won’t put the book down

Thanks so much for letting me review this book. the reviews and opinions are my own.

I highly recommend this book and its author has not read a bad book yet and this one did not disappoint. My only regret was not getting to it sooner.

With a really great twist at the end that for once I did not see coming and it was like wow ... it's been about a week since I finished this book and I have already told so many about it.
Just make sure before you start you are all caught up on chores and shopping The book was a rollercoaster of lies with was explosive finish a really easy read and a great read for 2023!

The synopsis grabbed me straight away. I loved how it kept me guessing right until the very end. The only downside it was repetitive in some parts. The ending was superb.

absolutely loved it with every fiber of my being! i mean i have been putting it down for sooo loong and its embarrassing to even admit that i thought i wouldn't like it. i was hooked from the first page itself and i thought i knew where this was going but boy was i wrong. it wasn't something that i will remember few months from now but it was a nice entertaining read and i enjoyed it.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. After the death of her husband, Mary decided to look for her daughter that she abandoned. Mary gave birth to her daughter alone at the age of 16 and no one knew that she was pregnant. She finds her daughter Hope, who was renamed Cathy, and they instantly fall into a mother/daughter relationship. There are so many secrets and lies that come out after Cathy meets her new siblings. I really enjoyed this book and I loved the twist at the end which I was not expecting.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book.
A very twisty thriller that kept me guessing at every point!!

Well, this was an interesting book. So many lies. Such deception!
Mary is a widowed 60 year old woman, with a dark secret. As a teenager, she gave birth to a baby girl, and abandoned the child in a phone booth.
The guilt never left her, despite having a long marriage, two grown children and three grandchildren.
After her husband’s death, Mary wants to find her long lost daughter. After contacting adoption services, Mary finally gets to meet her first born daughter, Cathy.
What follows is somewhat of a “ soap opera” of events, as lies are uncovered, threatening to destroy the entire family.
The book kept me interested, but at times, some scenarios felt like a bad stage play, with actors entering and exiting scenes, as the drama unfolded!
There was a huge twist at the end as well, but it seemed like an unnecessary after thought.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in return for my unbiased review.
3 stars

The first half of this one was a bit slow and could get quite repetitive but it did really pick up.The first twist I had mostly guessed but the epilogue reveal!! Wow did not see that coming at all.
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Every book I have read by this author, I have to put my day on hold especially as her books are always an excellent read! Karen's latest book was no different The Family Reunion by Karen King was an excellent book with superb twists and turns from the beginning that made it a great page turner and an all stop of jobs for the day!!! lol

I highly recommend this book. Just excellent, especially the ending!.

Big Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book from Karen King and I really enjoyed it. It's an intriguing and suspenseful thriller that you won't want to put down. I didn't see the twists and turns coming. The ending was a total surprise!

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and Karen King for allowing me to read this ARC.
This book had suspense and pulled me in from the start.
It was full of twists and turns that draw you in.
OMG that epilogue what the heck lol
Thankyou
5/5 stars.

What a book! It'll keep you gripped till the very end, with a unexpected twist. Karen Kings writing is impeccable.

This book will have you on your toes from start to finish! Karen king does an amazing job hooking her readers! If you are ready for a boom you Absouletly cannot put down

This was a slow moving suspense. I would’ve liked it more if the pace had been quicker. This was also another book where I didn’t really like any of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

That Epilogue… a twist out of nowhere that would blow your mind.

Mary had a beautiful life with her husband Paul and children Joanne and Jason. After the demise of her husband, and no longer having the fear of losing her husband’s respect Mary decides to revisits her fearful past. She has been hiding a secret from her family but now she is ready to admit and embrace it. Mary starts to find Hope, her first born, who she had to abandon right after birth.

Hope, now called Cathy comes into Mary’s life like a bright ray of sunshine. Mary starts feeling purposeful in life again. She wants to live all the lost years with Cathy. In all this, Mary chose to ignore all the strange things that have been started to happen. But was it just coincidence?

Mary lived alone in a sprawling six bedroom home, had a heart condition and was forgetting things lately. Mary’s family tries their best to bond with Cathy, but there is evident tension, jealousy and rivalry amongst the siblings and Cathy.

Prime reason for Mary’s children to suspect Cathy is the pace at which things happened between Mary and her. The instant bonding and indulgence in Mary’s Life decisions. But @ isn’t so easy to predict.

Told in a third person perspective, this book is set in multiple timelines. The writing style is tricky, easiest to read but fluctuating pace with too slow in places. Those short to medium chapters are a bliss for any reader. Overall an intense family drama and suspenseful plot.

But it seems like there are more secrets in this house than just Mary’s.

Make sure you read the book to the last word..

Mary gave away her baby when she was a teenager. Now her husband has died and she wants to find the daughter she has never forgotten. She is delighted to find her long lost daughter Cathy but her other children are not so thrilled…
The Family Reunion is a family drama and psychological thriller set in the UK.
Mary is devastated by the death of her beloved husband but thankfully she has her children to support her. Her heart is aching for her first child, a baby she gave birth to secretly then abandoned in a phone box. Mary never told her husband about Hope but now wants to find her long lost daughter. This is a huge shock for her other children Joanne and Jason, both of whom have secrets of their own…
There is an enormous emotional layering to this novel. Mary’s heartache is so easy to understand and imagine as she deals with grief for all she has lost. Cathy has also missed out on a great deal and Mary is eager to make amends but this creates a tension with her other children. Joanne and Jason have a believable sibling rivalry with each other and this is thrown into focus as they unite in their suspicions about Cathy.
Most of the book is written from Mary’s perspective so we clearly understand her feelings, choices and actions. There are other chapters which show other perspectives and the secrets that are being kept from other family members.
The psychological elements of the book come from strange incidents which make Mary feel unsafe. She fears she may be in mental decline but could she also be in danger? Cathy’s arrival signifies warning bells for Joanne and Jason as they feel their inheritance and relationship to be threatened. As further lies are revealed, it becomes clear that there could be darker motives at work within the family. The epilogue has a huge twist which made my jaw drop!
The Family Reunion is an intensely emotional novel with plenty of mystery and secrets.

Reading Between the Wines book review #23/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: The Family Reunion
Author: Karen King
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: I really liked how this book progressed and how confused I was about who was really guilty. But I did not really care for the ending. King really did have me second guess the truth throughout the book which I really liked and the best part was the last chapter of the book, a reveal I did not expect!

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Bookouture for an advanced copy of @TheFamilyReunion.

#TheFamilyReunion #KarenKing #Bookouture #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult
#thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult #WomensFiction #Biographies #Memoirs #NonfictionAdult #TrueCrime #AdultFiction #WomensFiction #TeensAndYA #OwnVoices #LiteraryFiction

Loved the cover, loved the story ! I thought I knew what the plot was but twists galore and an ending that I would never have guessed!
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. I can't wait to read more from this author

This book had so much potential, but sadly, it fell flat for me. The story itself was quite compelling - long lost daughter and mother reunite, daughter tries to figure out where she fits into her mother's already-established family - but the writing was surprisingly juvenile. There were themes and phrases that were repeated ad nauseam, such as the idea that the protagonist should have told her husband about her daughter before he died, because he surely would have understood. Or, the fact that she was so happy to have her daughter back in her life.

The book built to a climactic ending, which was alluded to from the beginning when the book began in the present day and then flashed back to all the events that led the characters to where they ended up. However, the climax seemed forced and kind of thrown together. There's "big plot twist" and then there's "where in the world did this come from" and this ending fell into the latter category. Overall, I just wanted to be done with the book because I didn't really care about any of the characters and, by the end, even the interesting parts of the story weren't enough to keep my attention any longer.