The last words by her father reveals a 29 years old secret. It will affect a lot of people but is it worth to discover the truth?
What a great story this is. This story has so many twists and turns. I really enjoyed it.

Not Their Daughter by Laura Elliot is a highly recommended domestic suspense novel following a woman's search for the truth about her family.

Gabrielle (Gaby) Grace lives in NYC is an AM shock jock for NY Eyz with a call-in show called "Gaby's Good Morning Wake-up." She returned home to Trabawn, Ireland, just sixteen hours before her father's death from cancer. At his death bed the last words Gaby's father Dominick said to her was "I stole you."

When Gaby asks her mother, Cassie, why she delayed informing her about her father's health until the end and what his last words were, she became angry and then deflected the inquiry. Gaby has had a contentious relationship with her mother, Cassie, for years and left home as quickly as possible when she turned eighteen. Her younger twin sisters, Jessica and Susanne, love her, but are so different from her and know nothing about the comment made. At the wake she reconnects with a long time friend, Killian Osmond, who came to support her. Cassie is an alcoholic and after drinking heavily that night, yells at Dominick for leaving her to clean up his mess. What mess, Gaby wonders.

Later, Gaby finds a newspaper clipping that she believes is a photo of her father, who has traditionally tried to stay out of all photos. She asks Killian about it as he works for the Bayview Dispatch paper. The man's name is Cormac Gallagher, a detective, and he is next to prominent politician Aloysius Russell. While researching these names, Gaby comes across the story of a baby girl, Isabelle, who was stolen from her crib as a newborn infant twenty-nine years ago. Could Gaby be the baby?

All of this and much more happens early on in the novel, grabbing your attention and increasing the desire to keep reading as Gaby tries to untangle the mounting number of secrets and get answers to her questions. There are plenty of twists along the way and the search becomes even more convoluted as answers don't come quickly and even more questions arise. Readers will have to set disbelief aside several times, but interest in reaching the final denouement will make that easy.

Gaby is a fully realized, sympathetic character and you will want her to find closure and move on with her life. There is a whole lot of drama that needs to take place before she even comes close to some semblance of the truth. The action unfolds like a soap opera, with twists and new information that keep the pages turning and the melodrama going until the final twist. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

“I stole you” Gaby’s father’s unexpected last words impact will echo through her mind even as she tries to dismiss them as a simple mix up of words by a dying man. But his last words haunt her, and upon reflection might explain why her mother hates her. Determined to get to the truth she begins to dig into the past with no idea how far her journey will take her.
This was intriguing and kept me wondering what was going to happen next. It is a suspense/mystery book so I won’t go into too many details as I really enjoyed the pacing of the reveals of information. Thank you to @netgalley @bookouture and for letting me have an advanced copy for review. Look for #nottheirdaughter on release August 30 2024.
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Such an exciting and thrilling read that kept me hooked all the way through with its twists and turns,

This was my first book by Laura Elliot, it will not be my last. She is a master at writing a gripping suspense. From the blurb this book sounds simple enough. The story itself is full of deception, corruption and what lengths are taken to hide a secret. Cleverly written by several points of view fills any questions you have up until the end. Can heredity mold you into becoming a strong woman ? I believe in this case it can. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Heartfelt family drama with some danger sprinkled along the way. Across two continents, a long-ago secret is about to be exposed and will rock the families as well as their communities. Well told and very descriptive.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this one,
It had everything I love in a good book
I adored the characters and finding out their secret their lies and their stories,

Firstly, thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for my ARC copy.

I was all over this book as soon as I saw the cover and the blurb. I read this in 3 hours, I just couldnt stop.

If you read this and think you have figured it out - think again! The element of surprise and suspense was brilliant.

Character development, story development and detailing were absolutely spot on.

I feel like this is an author I will get behind in the future, and look forward to reading their previous and future works.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Not Their Daughter’ written by Laura Elliot in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

As Gaby Grace sits at her dying father’s bedside she hears him whisper ‘I Stole You’. Gaby can’t grieve until she confirms he wasn’t saying ‘I love you’ so carries out a DNA test on herself and her parents. On receiving the results, the action Gaby takes will test the love she has for her family to the hilt.

‘Not Their daughter’ is a compelling family drama where three-month-old Isabelle Russell was abducted twenty-eight years ago and the information that Gaby has recently been made aware of holds has the capacity to destroy two families. The story unfolds as Gaby travels between her work in New York and home in Ireland seeking the truth, and comes across individuals who want to silence her. As she struggles to come to terms with family loss and rekindles a past relationship, the tension increases until the conclusion is reached and the truth revealed. This is a story with a cleverly conceived plot that has suspense, twists and turns and so many unexpected circumstances that it’s been impossible for me to put my Kindle down and stop reading. This is the first novel I’ve read by this author but it certainly won’t be the last.

Really enjoyed this book. I have read Laura's books before and they are incredibly emotive reads and this one was no different I found it incredibly immersive

Thank you for the opportunity to review

OH MY GOODNESS! 5 FULL stars!! Laura Elliot does it AGAIN and there is no denying the skills! This book kept me hanging on with every word. Every chapter was one exciting thrill after another! Turns and shocking secrets kept my mouth on the floor! This will be on my bookshelf VERY soon!

A little slow to start but stick with it as it gradually picks up pace. Some twists and turns along the way and an excellent ending.

Twenty nine years ago a newborn was gone from her cot
Am I the missing one
I grew up and my father who was dying told me that he had stolen me
I thought what has happened to me
I have to find out
I had an ARC

Not their Daughter was a novel that was filled with lots of twist and turns. This book will keep you guessing until the very end.

OMG I have just finished this book! Wow! Couldn’t put it down at all! I’m shook ! What an ending! Was totally invested in all the characters. I didn't want it to end just a fab book!

The plotline really interested me and I was really engaged with the first few chapters.
 
For whatever reason, the book lost me, my interest waned and I just lost the connection with the story.
 
A real shame, as I was intrigued by the whole plot idea.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Gaby has always felt a sense of disconnection from her family, a feeling that intensifies after the death of her father, who cryptically uttered the words, "I stole you" on his deathbed. This statement leads her to question her identity and her place within her family. In an effort to uncover the truth, she decides to take a DNA test without informing her relatives, hoping to find answers that could explain her feelings of not belonging. As she grapples with the implications of her father's words, she confronts the complexities of grief and the bonds of family.

The narrative unfolds as Gaby navigates her emotions surrounding her father's death, her tumultuous breakup in New York, and her family's dynamics. Despite the predictable plot that echoes common themes of stolen babies, the character development and emotional depth of the story resonate with readers. While some may find the storyline familiar, the unexpected twist at the conclusion offers a surprising turn that challenges Gaby's understanding of herself and her family. Overall, this novel explores profound themes of love, loss, and the search for identity, making it a compelling read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the pace of this thriller & the story/character development so much! Multiple times throughout I felt a connection to a few characters which made the book that much more enjoyable. Not your typical thriller either - which was awesome.

Gaby is back home in Ireland after getting news her father is sick with cancer with not much time left. She gets home and gets 16 hours with him before his death. His last words to her were not “I love you” but “I stole you”.

Throughout the story Gaby is trying to come to terms with what might be the truth about her real identity, the loss of her father, a horrible break up in NY, and the dynamic of her family.

The ending of the story was not what I thought or expected at all- it was a wild twist I would never had expected!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fantastic read and I really went on a journey with Gabby to uncover the truth of her dad's dying words. Heartfelt and emotional but also thrilling, it wasa perfect mix of the two. A really engrossing and fabulous read.

Wow! What a gripping and immersive novel. It was easy to connect to Gaby and become invested in her quest to discover the truth of her birth. The emotional depth and analysis of family dynamics kept me hooked.
I didn't want it to end and will look at reading more from the author.