His Secret Family by Ali Mercer

☆☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 347 pages
Published September 11th 2019 by Bookouture
About the Book:
It’s a beautiful day for a wedding. White roses scent the air and the summer sunlight streams in. A spoon chimes against a champagne flute and the room falls silent. And there he is – my husband – getting to his feet to propose a toast. He’s still handsome. His new wife is next to him, gazing upwards, oblivious. I’m not supposed to be here. All these years in the same town and I had no idea until I saw his name on the seating plan. He lived with me, once. Loved me. Small-town memories are long, but the people in this room don’t want to remember. They say the healing is in letting go, but after what he did, he needs to know we haven’t gone away just because he’s shut his eyes. So I take Daisy by the hand and step forward from the shadows. He notices us and his eyes widen. The champagne glass falls from his hand and smashes. Then he sags forward, making a terrible sound – a sort of strangled scream.

This book was weird, wicked and wonderful in all the right ways. It wasn't at all what I was expecting but I really loved it nonetheless. His Secret Family is nicely paced with suspense right from the opening chapter. As I read the first few pages, I feared the story was going to be overly sentimental, but I was soon reassured this would not be the case. The characters were well thought out and the topic of merging families raised intriguing questions and even stirred anger in this reader (This is no Brady Bunch). I loved how unique the plot-line was and what made this book an exceptional read, to me, were the chapters told from different perspectives and from various time-lines. It was very engrossing, making me want to continue to turn the pages until three o'clock in the morning.

I adored this novel. Absolutely, one-hundred percent adored it. This is my second read by Ali Mercer and she writes so beautifully, I will definitely be reading all her books. His Secret Family packed such an emotional, powerful punch, one that I don't think I've felt before that I'll always associate with her novels from now on. Exquisitely written, highly emotive page turner.

Thank you NetGalley, Ali Mercer and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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