Valerie, a widow living alone in an old Victorian house, is beginning to forget things and to worry that she is turning into her mother who had early onset Alzheimer's. Her grown children are also concerned and try to help her in very different ways. Growing up with Valerie, who pursued a career as a vocalist for a local band, while leaving the children with her alcoholic husband at night, these two grow up to be sociopaths. The descriptions of Valerie's relationships with her children are spot on as she seeks to keep the peace between the two of them and with her. Her attempts to smooth out all their troubles leads her to discover their true natures, and finally brings her a measure of peace. This was an excellent read that I could not put down.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy to read and review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Harlequin Trade Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Suspense, twists, turns, mystery and intrigue.

Just wow! The twists and turns in this book were just fantastic! I loved the thrill of this story and felt so connected to the characters. I could not put this book down!

As soon as I saw Amber Garza’s name and this STUNNING cover, I knew I needed to drop everything I was doing to binge-read her latest novel.

Valerie has been forgetting things, and living in an old Victorian house with a rumored haunted past soiled with tragedy, her daughter worries about her being on her own. Feeling lonely, she asks her adult son to move home. When a local woman is found murdered, Valerie begins questioning everything she knows about Hudson.

Has Valerie enabled a monster? Is a monster now living in her home?

This book is fast-paced, and I loved the originality throughout. Garza expertly intertwines tragedy from the past and present to tell a story that I did not see coming!

What’s the meaning of an auto-buy author? For me, it means that if I know this person is coming out with a new book - and I manage to get my hands on it - I will drop just about ANYTHING to read it right then and there! Garza is just that for me, and I loved this one. This one pubs on December 13th and is going to be a perfect fall/winter read (You may want to leave on the lights).

Thank you HTP Books/MIRA and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is a sad book with a sad theme...plot...the characters are sad...this book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. Written by a talented author, the story moves somewhat slowly, at times, but that is real life...it reads like a memoir...a true story...yet fiction also...a mother with regrets...or maybe she should have more regrets...a son who is bitter...a daughter who blames...a dad gone...memories...life as we know it...puzzles...this is a cannot put down until the ending...

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝."~𝐍.𝐊. 𝐉𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧

With Alzheimer's running in her family, Valerie is concerned when her memory starts to fail her. She lives alone in a big Victorian house that she always thought was comfortably haunted by the ghost of the little girl who lived there before. The truth is, it's haunted in a different way. In another life Valerie was part of a successful band and spent many nights away from home, leaving her husband and two children to fend for themselves. After her bandmate and lover Mac died and her neighbor's teen daughter died in a suspicious accident, Valerie finds herself alienated. She is blamed for Mac's death, and her son Hudson is blamed for teen girl's death.

After sleeping on various couches and going months without a working phone, Hudson returns home to care for his fragile mother. Soon after his arrival, the still-grieving neighbor makes it clear his presence isn't wanted; then a girl with ties to Hudson is found dead. Worse still, more death will follow.

Is Valerie altering the past to make Hudson seem not responsible for all that he's being blamed for, or is the truth far worse than what she will let herself believe?

Memory is always a funny thing, especially when our children are involved. I can't say I was surprised with the direction the story took, but its execution was well done. Valerie was an easy character to sympathize with, and I thank the publisher and NetGalley for giving me early access to this title that publishes December 13, 2022.

Ever since I read When I Was You, Amber Garza has been on my radar and I am always looking for her next book. She combines edge of your seat suspense with domestic and psychological drama that keeps you turning the pages far into the night. I always know to clear my schedule for the day when I get one of her books.

This is told in present day and in flashbacks, though some of the flashbacks we aren’t exactly sure who the characters are in present day which adds to the intrigue. Valerie has started forgetting things and is sure she is following in her mothers footsteps of early onset dementia. Her house is too big and it just doesn’t seem safe for her anymore. At her daughters suggestion she decides to have someone come live with her, her semi estranged son, not exactly who her daughter wanted. When Hudson returns, the past becomes present day as the neighbors make it known he isn’t wanted there. But why? And when a few streets over a murdered young woman turns up, Valerie starts to wonder how well she really knows her son.

As always I highly recommend this book and hope everyone puts it on their holiday gift lists!

A Mother Would Know is another page-turning thriller where characters find out their family members are worse than they thought. Valerie, a former rock star, traveled to build her career, while her husband, Darren, raised their children Hudson and Kendra, through the haze of an alcohol Band-aid. Now, after Darren's death, as Hudson and Kendra are establishing themselves as adults, Valerie is living alone in an old Victorian house rumored to be haunted. The novel moves back and forth between Valerie's memories of her career, and the lives of Hudson and Kendra as they deal with anger at the mother for allegedly abandoning the children for her rock and roll star. A suspense-filled tale that will engage readers who enjoy messy families and nosy neighbors.

Valerie lives alone in her big, old house. The house rumored to be haunted after a tragic incident many years before. Valerie is a little forgetful and also a little lonely. It seems like the perfect solution to ask her adult son, Hudson, to live with her. Valerie may be pleased Hudson is home, but her neighbors aren’t. Truth be told, Hudson himself seems unhappy, moody, disengaged and frequently absent. When a local woman is murdered, Hudson is the prime suspect, even though there is no evidence linking him to the crime. Valerie is quick to come to her son’s defense, but even she begins to grow distrustful; could her son have been capable of such a thing – and what part did her parenting play?