If you’re look for a gripping read filled with twist and turns, unlikeable characters, characters you grow to root for, family drama and secrets and a large amount of money. Grab this one! Publishing today Aug 20th
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC

Baxter has quickly become one of my go to authors when I'm in need of a quick thriller fix. I think His Secret Child is my fifth of his books I've now read and I plan on reading many more.

The book flows at a moderate pace, gathering speed and suspense the further we venture into the story of Charles and his 'family'. Is she his daughter, is she not?

I found myself immediately hooked by the plot and binged it in an afternoon it's that good. I love a book with a clever plot twist or two and suspense that builds as we head towards the penultimate pages and the final sting in the tail.

Brilliant book. Enjoyed it immensely.

His Secret Child by Cole Baxter was an engrossing mystery that will keep any reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish.
Cole Baxter’s writing skills are truly remarkable. The author's gripping plot that immediately grabbed my attention and kept me engaged throughout.

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

His Secret Child
by Cole Baxter
Pub Date: Aug 20 2024

His Secret Child is a domestic suburban drama full of psychological thrills. A good read with a great plot and likable characters. A very interesting novel that I highly recommend.

Synopsis: I stand at my father’s funeral, tears rolling down my cheeks. Someone puts a hand on my shoulder, pulling me into a hug. As I look into the face of a woman I’ve never seen before, she whispers something that shatters my world. “He was my father too.”

Many thanks to #HisSecretChild #NetGalley and #Bookouture for providing me with an E-ARC of this book.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers then this is the book for you. The characters are dark, mysterious and greedy. Who in the family is guilty!! Or is revenge the motive. A fast paced mystery.

So good! Thrilling psychological thriller. Pulled me in right from the start! I loved it. Great story. Twisted and suspense filled. Definitely worth the read! Enjoy, I did!

This was such a dark and twisty read, as soon as I started I knew this was a book that I couldn't put down until I knew the truth.

This was a wild and crazy ride with many bumps along the way. Money definitely did not buy happiness for the Blaisdell family; it only put a target on their backs. There is distrust on all sides. No one in this dysfunctional family can be trusted. There are literal fistfights, verbal sparring and threats of every kind. It was a free for all. The money brings the claws out in this cast of characters.

Rose is the only decent person in this entire cast of characters. I especially liked her when she started standing up for herself. She was too kind and brilliant to let others dictate what her life should look like.

I had my suspicions about various characters, but the depth of depravity was shocking all the same. This book was completely addictive. I could not put it down.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I felt like this book was very predictable, and the first half was repetitive, though the second half picked up. The story centers on Rose, who is reeling from her father’s death when a stranger threatens to expose secrets about her family that she wasn’t aware of.

The first half of the book is heavily focused on Rose’s internal narrative, and what dialogue there is seems both repetitive and stilted. Rose herself wasn’t super likable to me; I just couldn’t relate to her. The action picks up in the 2nd half of the book and the pace moves faster, but I saw all the twists coming from a mile away and I kept waiting in vain to be truly surprised. There were a couple things that didn’t make sense to me but I think the ending tied up loose ends for the most part.

Overall, this one didn’t really do it for me and I don’t think it will be memorable for me later. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Bookouture for a copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Cole Baxter is a thriller author with many titles under his belt.
His Secret Child is his latest tale.
A good read with elements of great.
When the patriarch of a very wealthy family dies, suspicion is cast among the rest of them.
At the funeral a mysterious woman no one knows is present.
Who is she?
Rose, the loving daughter believes Ava is lying.
Ava has just announced that the deceased is her father too.
As time passes, Rose is determined to find out the truth and prove Ava is telling lies.
Who in the Blaisdell dynasty is behind it all…….
A favourable premise, a decent plot, lots of interesting characters and a massive tangled web of deceit.
My only issue was when it’s all revealed, it’s no surprise, it’s kinda obvious from the start.
A domestic suburban drama with moments of psychological thrills.
Some people will do anything for money……

This story kept me enthralled the entire time. This was a great mystery/thriller, the plot twist and revelations were done perfectly. I found it to be predictable especially the part with Adrian but I was still invested in finding out the truth. The mom managed to really piss me off a lot to the point that at the end, I found it hard to like her even with her change of attitude. I found it very hard to believe that the family would easily believe Ava without getting proof for themselves l, especially if she was gonna get money that they wanted.

Overall it was hard for me to put down and I’m glad to say I really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend everyone to try this one out.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

I am now a fan. Literally everything that I have read from this author has entertained me so much, and I’ve finished in, like, a day.
I loved the scenes that Baxter painted throughout the book—the action sequences that were towards the end, my God. I couldn’t put it down. I loved it.
I’ve read What She Forgot and The Anniversary, but this one read a little bit faster, and it didn’t stall at all at any point.
 
It was better than watching a movie. I loved Rose, I loved Gregory, I loved Melinda, and I loved Joey. I just loved every character that we spent the most time with, and this is one of those times that I don't really like written reviews because I can't quite convey the emotions that I want with just words. I need you to see my facial expressions, to hear what kind of voice I’m talking with for you to actually grasp how much I enjoyed this.
 
Sometimes I’ll say that my only issue with a book is that it wasn’t longer, so I could have enjoyed it longer, but honestly, I feel like this book was just the right length. I wouldn’t change anything at all from it except, maybe, the cover because I feel like it didn’t really convey the actual synopsis because the “secret child” is a grown woman and not a toddler, so I would just change the cover because I was expecting something like a secret affair baby was going to disrupt this family’s life, but it wasn’t; Ava was an adult.

Some people will say that it was predictable. Baxter shows his cards early on in the book; since the very first appearance of the antagonist, you know what is going to go down. I don’t really measure if I guess a plot twist or not towards my reading experience, nor does it impact my rating, so if predictability is something that you don’t like in a book, you may not enjoy this as much, but I still think that it’s a good read.

This is not the first book I read from this author and I enjoyed the read. I love the writing style, the plot and twists. This particular book may not be my favorite of Cole Baxter, it did seem a bit repetitive/slow at times, but overall, I really loved how it played out and I loved the ending even more !! I will be reading more of this author, for sure.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The story centers on Rose, who uncovers the existence of a secret sister, Ava, following her father's death. I found this book challenging to engage with, primarily due to the character development and pacing.

Rose, in particular, was a source of frustration; her tendency to make assumptions rather than asking questions led to repetitive scenarios and a stagnant story arc. The narrative seemed to cycle through the same settings and issues without significant progression, which made it difficult for me to remain invested.

Additionally, the character of Gregory, who had the potential to add depth and intrigue, unfortunately did not deliver as expected. The plot had the opportunity for numerous twists but ended up feeling far-fetched and confusing at times. This book struggled to capture my imagination and left me hoping for a more dynamic execution.

This booked started off good, there where some parts I was like ok, you can only say the same thing so many times in different ways. Then as I got more into the book. Boom, the suspense and twist happened and had you questioning yourself if you know who did it. First I thought the mother then the brother, then I was like nope the aunt. So who did it? No spoilers here read it and find out. It was a good book!

A psychological thriller, His Secret Child (2024) by Cole Baxter is the happenings when the patriarch of a wealthy family dies. From its opening scene with the monthly dinner gathering, the underlying hostility and jealousy are apparent as an unnamed person ponders dark reprisals for family members. The next morning, when the father is discovered dead from a heart attack, the family regathers to argue over the division of his enormous fortune. Told by his daughter Rose’s perspective, a surprise guest at the funeral announces a major secret, setting off further family dynamics and consternation. As Rose decides to prove her father was killed, another family member's tragedy places the family in danger, as each member looks out only for their own best interests. An engaging suspenseful tale, with a warm rosy ending, making it a three and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Bookouture and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement.

His Secret Child: Standing at my father’s funeral, a strange woman whispers to me “He was my father, too.” Is Ava really here to join our family or destroy it?
This psychological thriller had so many twists & turns that my head was spinning! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc.
A must-read!!
5 stars

After her family’s New Year’s Eve party Rose gets news that her father, Charles has passed unexpectedly. Her father is worth a lot of money and suddenly all his family is coming out of the woodwork looking for an inheritance they feel they are entitled to, including a woman claiming to be his daughter. After Roses brother ends up in the hospital with a similar condition to what killed her father, and after receiving threats from her new sister, Rose is determined to figure out what is going on before it’s too late.

His Secret Child was the first Cole Baxter book I’ve read. As someone who reads a lot of mystery/thriller books I was sucked into this one. However, early on I had a lot of twists figured out. With that said, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There were characters I loved, characters I hated, and characters I felt indifferent toward. I thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

His Secret Child by Cole Baxter, When The book starts we meet Rose who is reluctantly attending the Blaisdell New Year’s Eve party in despite it’s her family‘s party she wish she would be anywhere else. She’s always been different from the rest of her family she has a job as a book editor and lives off her income despite her father owning a billion dollar company and she having access to her own fortune this is why she apologizes to her fiancé Adrian for having to attend the shindig. So the next morning when she gets a call from her distraught mom Thelma telling her her father is dead into come home right away rose is floored. Rose is aware that with her ne’er-do-well brother and distraught mother she will have to step up and take care of business somethings she does her best to do right but the day of her dad‘s funeral a woman shows up claiming she is his illegitimate daughter in a rightful air to any inheritance. Her name is Ava and Rose remembers going to college with the woman and despite Doctor Ava having a DNA test there’s something Rose just doesn’t trust about her despite the rest of the family who welcomed her in with open arms even roses mom which really drives Rose crazy. Before long it is obvious the money is not all this supposed sister wants because when Rose tries to offer her a settlement she refuses to take it and also turns the tables by blackmailing rows. It doesn’t take long for Rose to realize when Ava said she wants everything… She meant everything and will not stop until she gets it that is unless someone stops her. Rose has always been seen a spineless especially to her family but they haven’t seen anything yet. When her brother is found unconscious seemingly of the same thing that killed their Dad it seems someone is out to kill roses family and for rows enough is enough. Can Rose stop whoever is murdering her family and this intruder who claims she is a rightful air? I have said it before and I will say it again cold Baxter‘s books are getting super super great so much better than the first ones I read by him this book is so twisty and complex and despite the eye rolling moments it was still a great well put together book. My favorite new thing about these better books is before when someone would say something absurd and so obviously untrue but yet usually the main character would act like that is so true and then cower in fear to this information but in these new better books there’s always a voice of reason who will state the obvious… I probably am not explaining myself well just know this book is awesome and I definitely recommend it!#NetGalley, #Bookoucher, #ColeBaxter, #HisSecretChild,

My Goodreads review:

Thank you Netgalley for the copy of this book!

Truly a whirlwind & page turner until the end! Rose’s father dies of a heart attack & with the type of money their family has, of course it’s going to bring out the worst in people. I loved the character development for sure.

I would definitely recommend this to others if they want a quick, fast paced family thriller.