Alice and Richard are happily married and about to achieve their lifelong dream - giving up their jobs to sail around the Mediterranean on their own boat. But shortly before they are due to leave, a young woman, Sally, appears on their doorstep and says she is Richard's daughter, given up for adoption by his former lover. After he gets over the shock, Richard is welcoming to Sally, but Alice is unsettled. Discovering that Richard is a father is a painful reminder of her own desire for a family and her inability to conceive. But this is what makes her wary of Sally, or is her intuition trying to warn her that something much darker is happening here?

There are a few subplots, but they are all connected and tied up neatly by the end. There are plenty of twists and I was hooked in this gripping read. The pace is fast, and I couldn't put this book down, I needed to know if Sally was really Richard's daughter. I liked that the second half of the book was basically the same as the first half, except that it's told from a different perspective. This was my first read by the author, but it won't be my last.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #InkubatorBooks and the author #JJBurgess for my ARC of #TheAdoptedDaughter in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book didn't hold my interest.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I had very split feeling over whether or not I liked this book, there were parts I loved and just wanted to keep reading and there were other times I thought it was very repetitive and found I was reading whilst also skipping lines as I had read them in previous chapters (word for word) of the book.

Richard and Alice have been together for 20 years, now they have both retired they are planning on sailing their boat around the Mediterranean Sea. Shortly before they are about to leave a young woman named Sally turns up on their doorstep claiming to be Richards daughter.

Alice is weary of Sally and her attitude towards her is very frosty. Richard and Sally take a DNA test to prove they are in fact father and daughter but as the book progresses it seems that Richard is hiding a lot of secrets, however unbeknown to him Alice is right onto him and is all to aware of what he is up to.

As I said above there were parts of this book I loved, for example it was packed full of twists and turns, many that I didn’t see coming. At the same time I did find on occasions it fell very flat and some parts could have been rewritten slightly so readers weren’t reading exactly the same thing which I found a little tedious.

Thank you to NetGalley the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

I didn't really know what to expect from The Adopted Daughter. This was my first book by JJ Burgess. The book is written in the POV of the two main characters, Alice & Richard, and flows nicely throughout the story. It was a relatively easy read with enough twists to keep you interested and guessing!

Alice & Richard are a happy couple about to set sail & travel the Mediterranean, as different things begin to unfold from each character, you start to get the sense that something isn't exactly what it seems to be! A girl shows up at their door claiming to be Richard's daughter, which is an utter shock to Alice, who always wanted a family of her own. Alice's friends seem to be trying to warn her of questionable activities of Richard's. As they are waiting to leave on their journey, numerous incidents keep happening to make Alice question things.

Overall I thought the book was well written. There are enough twists & turns to keep the story engaging. The story has a good plot and was done really well by JJ Burgess.

My only question was in the naming of the book, I didn't think The Adopted Daughter fit the story, but other than that, a really good read that I would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Inkubator Books Publishers for an advance copy for my honest review.

Thank you NetGlley and Incubator books for the chance to read this book. I didn't love this book. Parts were rewritten word for word from earlier chapters. The time frame jumped way too much. The ending left much to be desired. It was confusing and there seemed to be no resolution. There were some grammatical errors (span should be spun - misused several times). Yes, it was intense when Alice comes to the realization of what her partner Richard has planned with his adopted daughter/mistress and she's out for revenge. It looks like she got it but nothing tells me if it's happened or not. Not a favorite. 3 1/2 stars

Wow! This book started off with a bang and had me gripped. It's plot was fast paced and very engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

As I stated, the book had me engaged at the start. However, Part II was difficulty since it was so redundant. I understand what the author was trying to do but it was difficult to read again with minor differences.

All in all I did enjoy the book and I would recommend it to others. I gave it a 4 star rating.

This was my first book by JJ Burgess but certainly won’t be my last.

The blurb had me excited to dive in and I was certainly not disappointed. The book was well written and I enjoyed how the book flowed.

The twists and turns within the book kept me hooked and I throughly enjoyed reading this gripping story!

I look forward to reading more from JJ Burgess.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in order for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book although I did feel that the ending seemed quite abrupt. I didnt think the title fitted the story .. In spite of that criticism, I did enjoy the story and would definitely recommend it
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

This was a fun read. Written well, characters developed well....the only problem was that I knew VERY early exactly how it would play out. And not long after that, I knew - let's say - Part 2 of the twist. But it definitely was worth reading and I would certainly read another book by this author!

This book kept pushing the limits, which is what I love to see in a thriller! There were so many moments that I wasn’t expecting, and I loved every second of it. There is absolutely no way you’ll know what’s going to happen at any point, but the author still manages to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. Thank you!!

I'm A fan of Burgess and have enjoyed their books before. This one wasn't in my top favorites. The plot was interesting and the characters fell developed, however, the writing was so repetitive and chalk full of unnecessary fillers. I'd Luke to read this again after an editor has gone through it.

Alice and Richard have left their jobs and are ready to set sail in the Mediterranean. Shortly before, leaving, Sally shows up at their doorsteps, claiming to be Richard's daughter. As the book goes on, we learn more about Richard and Alice's relationship and the secrets Richard is hiding.

Overall, the plot line was interesting. It is a very quick read. The first half is definitely better than the second half. It was not bad, but for the reasons outlined below, it was a "meh" read for me.

I found Part II of the book extremely repetitive, to the point where the exact wording was used from Part I! It was very annoying to read the exact same dialogue again. I do not think the title suited the book, either. Although the adopted daughter is part of the book, she is not really the main part nor what the book is really about. It is about Richard and Alice. Further, the synopsis of the book is completely off. I expected this book to be about the adopted daughter and perhaps some shocking revelation about her. Not the case at all.

I also did not care for the ending. It was a bit rushed and not satisfying at all.

Thank you Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exhange for an honest review.

Spoiler Possibility: Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of The Adopted Daughter. First off I do not think the title truly captures what the book is really about. It is a part of the story but I feel the title is a bit misleading to what I as the reader expected the book to be about. That being said it was an interesting story about a couple who were planning to go off sailing around Europe after their retirement. Richard the husband retired (not by choice) and his wife Alice left her job that she enjoyed to agree with Richard. Richard is not who who claimed to be and the more the book goes on the worse he became. The reader can not help but feel bad for Alice as she really was taken advantage of by an ungrateful husband. She almost met her demise but fortunately prevailed and Richard was found out for his wrong doings. It was a quick read.

Alice and Richard are about to (literally) sail off into their retirement when a woman appears on their doorstep claiming to be Richard's daughter. Is she who she says she is?

After the first two chapters I was struggling to get into it, but it did pick up and I ended up really enjoying it.

I enjoyed the different point of views, and the story had a good number of twists to keep me entertained. I loved Sally as a character - I thought she was just fabulous.

My only feedback is that I found the title of the book a bit misleading. I am struggling with the word "adopted" and how adoption fits into the bones of the book (the secret daughter? the mystery daughter? the surprise daughter?) - I was waiting for Richard and Sally to adopt her.....but that may just be personal preference!

Overall a great easy thriller. Highly recommend

This book totally freaked me out! It was scary and gripping. I couldn’t put it down! A must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

The Adopted Daughter by J.J. Burgess is a mystery thriller novel about Alice and Richard, a couple who are about to go into their retirement sailing round the Mediterranean sea.

Then a week before they go a young woman knocks on the door called Sally saying she is Richard's daughter who he did not know about.

As a reader I found this plot book gripping with all the twists and turns which make for a great novel from this genre and would recommend it to any reader, however due to the way this book is written some people may have some difficulty with the novel.

Firstly the story is told through Alice a majority of the time with Richard having the odd chapter every now and then,

The multi perspective of the story is not what may turn some readers of but the way that the story jumps in time for example you get a chapter from Alice’s point of view, the a number of chapters down the line you will get the same scene in a chapter through Ricards point of view, or even through Alice’s again but as a reader you know more information.

This is done really well by the writer J. J, Burgess which means as a reader it is easy to follow where you are in the story due to their writing,

Mystery/thriller that was not really about an adopted daughter at all, but about a violent and evil man and his clueless partner. Alice and Richard have been partners for 20 years, he is a college professor in botany and she was his assistant. Now 56, Richard has decided to retire and bought a boat that he and Alice will sail around Europe. Only as the couple are packing, a young woman named Sally shows up insisting she is the daughter of Richard and he never knew about her because he thought his old girlfriend had an abortion. I thought the book would be about this young woman and her connection to the family but this was a very, small portion of this book.Instead of being happy about retirement, Richard seems distracted and frequency drinks a lot and begins appearing with lots of bruising and injuries.

Richard is hiding a lot of secrets from Alice and we find out pretty quickly that he is an awful person. He doesn't care about Alice at all and is very interested in an inheritance she is about to receive. The novel takes place in the week or so before the couple is about to depart on their trip and it repeats all the events with Alice not knowing and then knowing more information. I grew tired of reading the same things over again and Richard never seems like a real person to me. There are twists to the story but we find out most of them at the beginning of the book so there aren't any real surprises except on how this would end. This just wasn't very exciting to me and I would have liked a more nuanced story. I would have also have liked more background on both of characters rather than just repeating the same scenes. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Adopted Daughter.

3.5 ⭐️ Whew what a rollercoaster!! This book was full of twists and turns. I felt at times that I was reading a movie script, the story was very detailed and thorough— almost too thorough at times! I loved the character development of Alice! The reason for 3.5 stars is because I felt as though parts of the story were redundant but other parts were in need of more development. It was a great beach read!

Another great book, it had everything in it and I didn’t expect the ending, one of my favourite authors to date

Richard and Alice are happily married and preparing to set sail on their lifelong dream of giving up their dreams to sail the Mediterranean on their boat. However, just after they leave, a young woman named Sally appears and says she is Richard’s daughter, given up for adoption by a former lover of his.

This book had me enticed from the very beginning, wondering where the storyline was going to travel. There were FANTASTIC, unexpected plot twists, which made this reading experience even more enjoyable for me. I think as a reader, we got to see Richard’s true character exposed with an ending that I also did not expect.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy (ARC) of The Adopted Daughter by JJ Burgess.