Sophie and her little sister Julie grew up with their mother and lost their dad when they were very young. Some years later their mother married again, and they ended up with a new stepfather James, a local politician who to the outside world is respected and loved by his local constituents and members of their community. It seems he can do no wrong in their eyes he is charismatic, charming and pays people the kind of attention that makes them feel like they are of great importance to them.

But James is not a nice man, and this is evident by the way his stepchildren feel towards him, their mother seems to be oblivious as to what may be happening to her daughters. Julie has always been the favourite daughter and Sophie has always felt second best. Her mental health is suffering, and her life is very unhappy.

Years later Sophie marries Elliot and moves countries so that Elliot can expand his career. Sophie who now has a five-year-old daughter Emma cannot believe it when she finds out James is living in her local town and now, she is after revenge.

I found that this book dragged, the story is a slow burn and maybe it was because it is such a depressing topic, but my mind kept wandering and I was wanting it to hurry up and end. By the time I got to the conclusion I was more than ready to put the book down and move on to something else.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own. 2.5 stars

A real page turner.
How can one man get away with everything he did.
A really sad storyline with well written characters.
I felt emotionally drained at times and have given five stars for a read not to be missed.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This had a realistic concept and thought the twists were wonderfully done. The characters were everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of this. Lorna Henderson was able to weave a tale of suspense and enjoyed how realistic the characters were.

Sophie has returned to London from Sydney with her husband and daughter. Her stepfather is a politician, and she confronts him about what he did to her in the past.

This to me was a very slow burn novel. Sophie's story is very sad, as she turned to her mother for help in the situation and was not believed.
Her mental health suffered as a result, and was blamed for her actions.
All she wanted to do was protect her sister.
Why do the rich and powerful get away with so much?

There should actually be a trigger warning at the beginning of this book, while it does not graphically describe what happened to Sophie, some people may be triggered by the subject.

A very emotional read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books | Choc Lit for the opportunity to read this book.

Lawd Sadie Ryan! I have read ALL her books! I haven't read one I didn't like. This one? This one takes the cake topper! You wants a story that's sad? Twisted? A little sadistic? Read this book!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes the characters were a tad hard to connect with, some characters made you just sad. She wanted revenge. Did she get it? Read it to find out. 😏

Thank you Net Galley and Joffe books for this eArc. I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting story and it held my interest. I would read more books by this author.

i posted this review on Goodreads. 4 stars.

I just started this arc and let me just say that I love this psychological thriller so far! I am enjoying listening to my copy of The StepFather by Lorna Henderson. This is my first Lorna Henderson book, certainly won’t be the last!!!

The Pub date or this book is on November 12,2024. I am so excited to listen more to my copy of this arc The Stepfather is a good psychological thriller so far. I can tell this will be a 5 stars for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Joffee books for my copy of this arc. I hope to work more with this publisher when it comes to books so that I can review more arcs in the future and get to preview the book before it is released to the world to enjoy!

Thank you NetGalley and Choc Lit for the eARC.
A woman traumatized by her childhood by an abusive stepfather tries for revenge, but every time she meets him, she loses her courage.
It is a depressing story at times, but has enough going on to keep compulsively reading. Good story.

Everyone respects my stepfather. But I know who he really is! Great read! Maybe a few triggers in this book! It has suspense, intriguing, mystery, murder, child rape, though not descriptive, gaslighting, and a few crazy twists and turns! The story was very interesting and kept me glued! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and Choc Lit for sharing this book with me!

Enjoyed the plot and it’s full of twists. Grabbed me from page one and didn’t let go!
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.