His Secret Child by Cole Baxter

The story had a sad start but it also an exciting beginning. There was a woman claiming she's your sister. But was she really looking forward for this sisterhood or was she aiming for the inheritance or other even more unthinkable reason?

With an average-paced of the story, the relationship between the characters moved relatively fast. The secrets between the families created a compelling content. The unexpected twists and turns made the story even more page-turning!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for my copy.

Pub date: Aug 20, 2024

Another brilliant book by Cole Baxter. He knows how to pull you in from the very first page and keep you hooked until the last one.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
If you like a twisty family drama with back stabbing, lies and of course a murder, then this book is for you!
Rose’s father dies suddenly and a girl comes forward claiming to be his daughter. Her family is awful to her and welcomes the new girl into the family. You won’t want to put this down once you start reading.
Thank you Bookouture for inviting me to be part of the Books on Tour for “His Secret Child” by Cole Baxter. I can’t wait to read more books by him! Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#HisSecretChild #Cole Baxter #NetGalley #Bookouture #BooksOnTour #BookLove #Bookstagram #NewBook #ILoveBooks

If you enjoy family drama, this novel revolves around an intense inheritance conflict that evolves into a murder mystery. I appreciated witnessing the main character’s growth and developing a stronger decisiveness. However, she repeatedly insists that she is not interested in wealth and expresses that it’s overwhelming for one person to handle, frequently mentioning her charitable donations and distinguishing herself as the sole family member uninterested in wealth. It became exhausting to hear about this constantly, making her presence unpleasant. There were moments when I almost found myself rooting for the killer.

This book was so good! A great psychological thriller that had me hooked. The suspense level it this books was fantastic! I read it in one sitting. Could not put it down. Will be reading more books from Cole Baxter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of His Secret Child by Cole Baxter. Well once again I found myself reading a book that was constantly repeating the same thing over and over again. I have trouble tolerating books like this. The main character also kept asking herself questions, or making statements to herself in almost every paragraph which then also added to the repetitiveness of the story. Remove all of that and the book would be one third of itself. It was not a thriller or even a mystery, more like a drama. This was my first book by this author. A 2 star rating from me.

Secrets have kept this family from being close. When Mr.Blaisdell dies family comes out to claim what they all believe is theirs.Ava walks in and demands an inheritance she claims is rightfully hers….only Ava has secrets of her own. She wins over the family she has always wanted until suddenly her brother becomes sick and ends up in a coma. Rose is determined to find out what is real and what is made-up to get her family back on track. What secrets have her parents kept from her all these years and why does Ava want to expose her.

Loved how everything came at the right time to keep the story interesting. When you think you get the plot the story turns.

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.