After the death of her husband, Mary reaches out in an effort to find the daughter she gave up when she was sixteen. No one has ever known that Mary was pregnant, that she gave birth alone at home, or that she immediately abandoned the infant in a busy shopping center. What she doesn't expect, or maybe doesn't consider, is the reaction of her other two adult children. Joanne and Jason are not pleased to learn that they have a older sibling, even less pleased to realize that she's going to get a cut of their inheritance. Except for a couple of touching scenes, most of the book felt flat. There are lots of characters to keep track of and most of them are focuses on getting what they see as their fair share of Mary's assets.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Family Reunion by Karen King
I liked this novel, I would say about 3 1/2 stars. This is the first novel by Karen King that I read and I would read more
The novel is about a woman in her 60's, Mary mother of two grown children and grandmother of 4. She has just lost her husband Paul, and has kept a secret from him her whole life, the story goes back to Mary's teenage years where we learn her secret

I like the principle of the story, I found the characters a little unbelievable at times, like a real person wouldn't really have done or thought that. Although the couple of twists that the author weaves at the end is great, she had me thinking one person did it, and bam, it was someone else. The characters were well developed and thought out. I enjoyed the story line and the plot. I would absolutely read more novels from this author

Thank you for the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Family Reunion by Karen King. The novel moved very quickly along. There was much conversation in the book,; not much reflection on the character’s parts. It was okay , but not particularly well-written.

Towards the middle of the book I pretty much figures out two of the plot twists at the end yet not all of them.

If you want a quick book that is certainly a page turner, than this book is for you.

Juicy and curious! I would have loved it more than I did if the twists aren't so obvious but it was pretty decent nonetheless.

Thank to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Mary’s husband Paul dies. Now she feels she can look for her daughter she abandoned years ago as she was to ashamed to tell Paul her secret.

She finds her daughter-Cathy and they connect and start spending time together. Mary isn’t lonely anymore as she had Cathy to spend time with. Her Children are suspicious of Cathy and fear she is only after the family money. Strange things start happening around the house.

Her past has caught up to her present. A slow burn of family secrets and second chances.

Sometimes when you are young, something very devastating can rock your world. It does not only effect you, but the rest of your family too. They change and not for the better and you run, run into the arms of someone you fall hard for and they convince you they feel the same way too. But that's not what it seems like when you are on your way to tell them something important and see what they are capable of...

You run again, away from them this time and you do what you have to do even though it breaks your heart in one million pieces at least. 

You cannot turn back the clock, but years later, you decide the time has come; Time to reach out ...

But how will your environment react to this...?

You want to do the right thing, but it seems like things are getting worse. Who is doing this to you or is it you loosing your mind?

And then there is still that ghost from the past. Your biggest fear is them entering your life again, making sure you keep their secret...

I really enjoyed this book. I had an inkling, but I was still not sure. I felt it was too obvious on the one hand, but on the other hand, it felt like it was the only option.

Did I score a goal or did I miss the ball completely? One guess... Indeed, I was wrong. ;)

It was a story about a manipulator playing games to get what they wanted, people lying and cheating and the main focus was on family. But as you know, sometimes things are not what they seem to be at all.

I liked it. 5 stars

Thank you

First I want to thank NetGalley and Bookoture for an ARC copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This was a decent quick read, but not my favorite book by this author. The main character, Mary, loses her husband and it is quick to see that her two children just want her to sell the house so they can get some quick cash. Mary has also never told her children that she gave up her first child and would like to reunite with her. Mary finds her daughter, Cathy, and after a while introduces them to the other two children. There is a lot of tension and accusations that start to fly right from the start.

While I did figure out the main plot twist on who was causing Mary a lot of stress and making her feel like she was starting to get early on-set dementia, I did not see the final twist coming. The whole family seems to be keeping their own secrets but as normal, secrets always have a way of coming out.

This is a quick read and will keep your interest, even if it was a bit predictable for me.

Took a while to get into this, although I did think the yearning for the adopted child felt authentic and emotional. A good read generally.

Do you ever truly know your own family?

Mary is grieving the recent death of her beloved husband. Her grown children, Joanne and Jason, mean well, but they are busy with their own families and lives and don’t have much time for her. Mary turns her attention instead to discovering the daughter she gave birth to as a scared young teen – the baby girl she abandoned. She hopes unburying this secret will help unburden her from the unrelenting guilt she has felt since that terrible day.

Although Mary is thrilled to reunite with Cathy, her long-lost daughter, the reunion creates tensions with the rest of the family. Joanne and Jason don’t warm to their new sister, and question her motives. And Cathy is harboring secrets of her own.

This is a fast-paced read, with lots of buried secrets. I liked that the story was told through alternating perspectives and moved briskly. It may have grown a bit too twisty for my taste at the end, but it was still a wonderfully engaging novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

This one was GOOD. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I really love a family thriller! 5 stars for me

Similar to other reviewers, I wouldn't exactly call this a psychological thriller, and would instead call it a family drama. For that reason, this book wasn't exactly my cup of tea. The character development in the story was great, but the mystery/ twists and ending did not read like a psychological thriller. I will say, I was happy with the ending as it tied up all the loose endings and did feel this book was well-paced. These days, I think most "suspense" novels could be about 50-100 pages shorter. I will give Karen King another chance and read her other work. I was simply expecting more twists and turns based on the genre.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this intriguing ARC.

Another great read from this author just everything I love in a book, a gripping family drama with interesting characters which kept me on the edge of my seat. I just couldn't stop reading this brilliant page turner and everything brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

Well done Karen King I look forward to reading more from you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending.

The Family Reunion by Karen King is a suspenseful, page-turning and thrilling read.

I know when I grab a book by King, I know I'm about to pull an all nighter!
The story was very well written, and it flows amazingly. It was a well-written story full of description.
Full of susspense and the tension that left me glued to my Kindle.
Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of it.
The characters were well developed, which made for an even amazing story.
I love how she keeps you guessing all the way through.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an exciting book and thought it was well written. The author did a great job with the characters. 4 star read!

Thank you for the advanced copy.

In an honest review, this book felt more of a family drama then a psychological thriller that I wanted. It was good story of a mother reuniting with her long lost daughter. But seemed to go too slow and I wanted more action and twists. The ending wrapped up nice with no loose ends, so that was great. But just not my cup of tea.

The Family Reunion is a character driven drama with some hints of mystery laced throughout. The novel follows a recent widow named Mary who decides to find the daughter she abandoned 40+ years earlier. She finds her daughter, now named Cathy and they agree to meet and get to know each other, including Mary’s two other adult children with her deceased husband. As everyone gets to know each other, there is jealousy, suspicion and family secrets are exposed and Mary doesn’t know who she should trust.

The story has an interesting plot, meeting your long lost daughter/family and how the family dynamics can change rapidly. While there is some mystery, this is more a story about family drama and relationships. The story builds rather slowly and while the ending didn’t surprise me, it did tie up some loose ends.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for sending this book for review considerations. All opinions are my own.

Although this book started off slow at the beginning it was a fantastic book at the end

First time author for me. I really loved the twists and turns on this book. It had a very surprising ending.

Thank you netball very for give me the opportunity to read this fantastic book. Loved it

Karen King did it again! This book was so good, I couldn’t stop reading. A woman has 3 children who, as the story progresses, we find out each one has many secrets. They all unfold in such a good way, and the twist at the end was so unexpected! 4/5 stars.

This is the first book I’ve read by Karen however I realised I have bought a couple of her books already & they’ve been waiting for me to read them! I will definitely enjoy them if they’re anything like this book.

This book was a really quick and easy read for me. It had lovely short chapters which is my fave!

The characters were okay, I wish they had been a bit more likeable, I ended up getting really frustrated with them.

The book kept me guessing and when I thought I’d figured everything out, proved me completely wrong. Bit of a jaw dropper!

There was a relatively happy (not sad) ending with another plot twist right at the end - I’d love to see a second book continuing the story, I think that would be great!

Thank you to Karen King, Bookouture & NetGalley for approving me for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!