Thank you so much NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for allowing me access to this ALC in exchange of my honest opinion.
This audiobook is going to be released on Dec 3rd!
Gemma Jones, a high school history teacher struggling with anxiety, is haunted by the memory of the baby she gave up for adoption at sixteen. As her daughter’s eighteenth birthday approaches, Gemma suspects Katie, a new student with uncanny similarities, might be her child. While searching for answers, Gemma discovers the importance of finding peace with her past and herself.
I love the narrator Louise Williams, she gave a powerful voice to this character!
It was my first dip into the women's fiction's pool and it won't be my last, I enjoyed this story, very touching!

What an amazing story about women finding their strength and creating a family of their own!

Gemma is just sixteen years old when she makes one of the most difficult decisions of her life: to provide her newborn baby with a life Gemma knows she can't give her. Gemma herself has been in and out of foster care having grown up with a single mother who battled with bipolar disorder and addiction. Before Gemma officially passes her baby girl off to the much-too-kind social worker, she writes a letter to her baby; one she had practiced over and over again until she felt her words captured her feelings. Taking in the beauty of her newborn, Gemma knows that image of perfection will be one she holds with her forever.

Gemma is now 34 years old working as a history teacher when she meets a delightfully smart, unique, and inquisitive student named Katie. It seems Katie has the same passion for history that Gemma has and the two quickly form a wonderful teacher/student relationship.

Not long after meeting Katie, Gemma meets Erin at a yoga class. Erin instantly connects with Gemma after Erin lets a rather noisy and long "gust of wind" rip during the calm down portion at the end of class. While the namaste-esqe teacher and fellow students look horrified, Gemma realizes she has the same sense of humor as the students she teaches and collapses into a fit of laughter with Erin soon following. The two agree to get a coffee together after bonding over the humorous experience. Erin mentions her daughter is meeting her at the coffee shop and Gemma is shocked with Katie comes through the door and sits by her mother - Erin!

The three become close but Gemma can't help but notice that Erin and Katie look nothing alike. That's when she's told Katie is adopted. Katie has the same tall, thin build as Gemma and the same red hair. Using her connections at school, Gemma is also shocked when she finds out Katie shares the exact same 18th birthday as the baby girl Gemma gave up. Could it be?

Readers are also able to delight in the budding relationship Gemma forges with a fellow teacher - the handsome and swoon worthy PE teacher. Additionally Gemma has cultivated a closeness with a 65 year old woman (and the woman's dog) who lives in her building.

As Gemma's life begins to tilt and twist in ways she's tried so hard to avoid, she learns to rely on the others in her life. The approaching date of Gemma's birth daughter's 18th birthday brings up many emotions and thoughts of her own childhood. While she contemplates her daughter's life and happiness, she also begins to think of her own mother. Gemma wants her birth daughter to understand her decisions and that prompts Gemma to search for her own mother.

Is Katie the baby girl Gemma gave up 18 years ago? And if so, knowing she's friend with Erin, does she have any right to interrupt the close relationship Erin has with her adopted daughter? And will Gemma be able to find her mother? The mother who was also 16 when she gave birth to Gemma. How will the people in her life support her during this emotional time? Will they stick with her or confirm Gemma's worst fears - that she's "too much" and worth leaving behind?

This is certainly a FIVE STAR read! I have quickly fallen in love with the two other books I've read/listened to from Debbie Johnson this year - Jenny James is NOT a Distaster and A Very Irish Christmas. If you've not had the pleasure of reading any of her books, you must immediately find one! You won't regret it! I can't wait to explore the expansive catalogue of Johnson's other books and I'm not sure I can handle the excitement of future stories from her!

The story starts with a 16 year old giving birth and then placing that baby for adoption. Despite the character’s significant childhood trauma, she is a successful adult. She’s a likable character. Unfortunately the plot fell flat for me.

3/5
The opening really set up for a great book. Loved the flash back to laboring. The middle felt laggy and heavily worded. The ending fell flat as well.
Well narrated