#FuturisticFriday review: Almost Missed You by Jessica Strawser

Photo Credit: St. Martin’s Press

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Almost Missed You

Summary: Violet and Finn were “meant to be,” said everyone, always. They ended up together by the hands of fate aligning things just so. Three years into their marriage, they have a wonderful little boy, and as the three of them embark on their first vacation as a family, Violet can’t help thinking that she can’t believe her luck. Life is good.

So no one is more surprised than she when Finn leaves her at the beach—just packs up the hotel room and disappears. And takes their son with him. Violet is suddenly in her own worst nightmare, and faced with the knowledge that the man she’s shared her life with, she never really knew at all.

Caitlin and Finn have been best friends since way back when, but when Finn shows up on Caitlin’s doorstep with the son he’s wanted for kidnapping, demands that she hide them from the authorities, and threatens to reveal a secret that could destroy her own family if she doesn’t, Caitlin faces an impossible choice.

Told through alternating viewpoints of Violet, Finn and Caitlin, Almost Missed You is a powerful story of a mother’s love, a husband’s betrayal, connections that maybe should have been missed, secrets that perhaps shouldn’t have been kept, and spaces between what’s meant to be and what might have been. Continue reading →

The Girl Before by Rena Olsen

Photo Credit: Putnam Books

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Girl Before

Summary: In this powerful psychological suspense debut, when a woman’s life is shattered, she is faced with a devastating question: What if everything she thought was normal and good and true . . . wasn’t?

Clara Lawson is torn from her life in an instant. Without warning, her home is invaded by armed men, and she finds herself separated from her beloved husband and daughters. The last thing her husband yells to her is to say nothing.

In chapters that alternate between past and present, the novel slowly unpeels the layers of Clara’s fractured life. We see her growing up, raised with her sisters by the stern Mama and Papa G, becoming a poised and educated young woman, falling desperately in love with the forbidden son of her adoptive parents. We see her now, sequestered in an institution, questioned by men and women who call her a different name—Diana—and who accuse her husband of unspeakable crimes. As recollections of her past collide with new revelations, Clara must question everything she thought she knew, to come to terms with the truth of her history and to summon the strength to navigate her future. Continue reading →

The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette van Heugten (+ giveaway)

Photo Credit: Goodreads

This book was sent to Traveling With T in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Tulip Eaters

It’s a regular day for Nora. Work and then going home to see her mother and her sweet baby, Rose. Until Nora gets home to the worst nightmare she’s ever experienced. Her mother, shot in the head. And a strange man, dead. Both of those incidents are alarming enough- but even more- where is the baby? Did someone kidnap the baby while her mother was being killed? Are the 2 incidents connected?

Nora, frantic with worry about her baby, only knows that she must find her child. Her life is not worth living if she cannot find her child. As Nora is packing some things of her mother’s away- she finds a metal box. And the box changes everything that Nora knows about her parents. Nora finds out a deep secret- a secret that she never wanted to know. Slowly, Nora begins to realize that the murder of her mother and the kidnapping of her daughter are linked- and have to do with the past, with a life before Nora.

Nora boards a plane to Amsterdam, to find answers to the questions she found in Houston, TX in a metal box. To find out if her parents were what the secrets in the box suggest. Once in Amsterdam- Nora finds out that there are people there- people in high places- who will go to incredible lengths to keep Nora from her daughter- all in part of a payback for the acts Nora’s parents committed against them. Can Nora find out what happened in Amsterdam years ago? Can Nora find her daughter? And will Nora’s former lover, Nico, help her or break her heart again?

Secrets, lies, and betrayal- Amsterdam is filled with those 3 things. Nora must solve the mystery to find out why her daughter was kidnapped, to even have a chance of finding Rose.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts

This is my first Antoinette V. Heugten book and I enjoyed this story. The reader knows pretty quickly why Nora’s mother was murdered- what her secret is. But, as the reader joins Nora- the reader finds that while some fairly key information was revealed in the first 100+ pages- not all was revealed- and that’s why you keep turning the pages.

There are a few twists- some are slightly predictable, some are not. There are a few things about this book that the reader can nitpick- timing of some scenes- but for the most part- enjoyable.

Some of the characters are not as well-drawn out as the others or perhaps the characters that are more memorable to me had evil personalities which added an extra layer.

This story has themes of betrayal, secrets and lies- but wove throughout is a theme of forgiveness. Forgiveness and understanding for yourself, for others.

*This book was sent to Traveling With T from a publicist in exchange for a fair and honest review. Above thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Giveaway details:

Check the Rafflecopter Link for 1 copy of The Tulip Eaters (US only!) Giveaway runs from 1-8/1-14.

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