Bring a box of tissues. This story is gut-wrenching and every mother's worst nightmare. It happened during a music festival; too many people and loud music. When the Dixon family finally got to sleep they were in so deep they did not hear the person who got into the house and stole Emily.

Vicki, who lost her own child to stillbirth, was the one who took Emily and ran off to raise the baby as her own. But circumstances changed somewhat, Emily ends up getting raised by Vicki's sister, and then you start to wonder when or if these families will be able to tie up the loose endings of this abduction.

I always love reading Crosby's books because she always writes stories that give you a heartwarming feeling of love, family and secrets. She tells a story that makes you angry, makes you smile and finally makes you believe in love again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to read this book before the published date, as this has been one of the best books I have read in quite a while. While the setting of the book started in the '70s, and normally I'm not a fan of books that are set back in the past (even if it's just a not so long ago past), the story started out with a bang, and truly ended with the same BANG!! This is an amazing and intense read, and I couldn't put this book down from the moment I started in.

The story was very intriguing, and kept me thinking throughout the whole book. I don't want to give anything away, but the author knows how to let the reader experience grief within the pages of the story, and allows the reader the opportunity to understand each side of the story. By the end of the book, I couldn't imagine the love and pain from both families portrayed in the book.

Based upon this book, I now have a new author to read, and I appreciate NetGalley and the Lake Union Publishing Company for this.

This book is one of Ms.Crosby’s best that I have read, and she carries the story out with her usual dedication to developing the characters into people that we truly care about. It begins with the people in Hesterville “just knowing” that this music festival being held outside of town (that the townspeople were against having) was just going to bring nothing but trouble. And that it did. When the Dixons woke up to find their baby daughter, Emily, missing from her crib, the life-shattering story develops. Besides the Dixons, we meet the man and woman who take the child, the man and woman who raise the child, the mother-in-law who goes from choosing to be on the outside, to bringing the family togther again, and the sheriff who spends years tracking down every lead to find the child. But tucked into the main story is also the story of the love of family and the strength drawn from each other during times of crisis, and how life truly does move on. A signature style of Ms. Crosby is that she digs into each character and finds the traits that make them who they are and allows the reader to really see into that character. This is another of her books where she chooses to show that there is true goodness and compassion in people. This story pulls you in to the depth of emotions of all concerned in the disappearance of a child and the lives that are changed dramatically because of that. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. I received an ARC in return for an honest review, which this has been. #EmilyGone#NetGalley

This book was heartbreaking as you traveled through the years with Rachel and George. I can’t imagine losing a child. The ending g is incredible. I recommend this book for anyone. It was amazing

I really enjoy this author's books. This story was a pull at the heart strings. There are so many moving parts to this story that each have different emotions. Crosby really breaks down each character and helps you to visualize their role in this compelling story of loss, family and forgiveness.

Oh my gosh, Bette Lee Crosby has really outdone herself! After having read several of Bette’s books, I have to say Emily, Gone is my favorite so far. I think it’s a little different than anything she’s written before, maybe a little more intense and perhaps that’s why it grabbed my attention like it did. It’s a story surrounding the abduction of an infant and goes on to tell what it’s like for all the characters involved and how they carry on with their lives. You really grieve right along with the birth parents although at the same time you can almost understand and feel for the woman who did the kidnapping. It’s a very emotional story with a lot of heartbreak so be prepared with tissues on hand. If you enjoy reading women’s fiction with family drama then I’m sure you will love and devour this book. I know I did! I can’t recommend it enough. I had the pleasure of obtaining an arc from NetGalley but have full intentions of buying a physical copy for myself upon release day. That way I can share with my reader friends and family. I’d like to thank NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and author Bette Lee Crosby for allowing me the chance to read this early and give my honest opinion.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and I wasn't sure if I would be able to read this book because a baby was kidnapped but I was drawn to it so I read the book. This book was such a heartfelt story, even from the start where Emily Dixon was kidnapped, I felt like Bette Lee Crosby could tell the story calmly. Rachel Dixon put Emily to bed and then went to bed. When she woke Emily was gone. Vicki Robart was leaving the music festival and decided she needed food so she stopped at the Dixon house to see if they would give her some food. The door was unlocked so she walked inside and saw baby bottles and then went and found the baby and took her. She named the baby Lara. Vicki hadn't seen her sister, Angela for 3 years but she went to her sisters and her sister let her move in with the baby. Vicky got a job and she went to work one day and wasn't feeling well so she left work and had a heart attack and died. Angela and her husband raised Lara. The story continues on and Angela and Lara were traveling and their car broke down. They ended up having to spend the night at a bed and breakfast which happened to Rachel's. Bette Lee tells us how Angela found out what her sister had done, Rachel discovers Lara is her daughter and Lara has to figure out what she wants to do. Bette Lee does it as she always does and gives you a chance to walk in other people's shoes to know what others go through. I am glad I read this book, I came away with a lot more understanding.

1971, Georgia

Rachel Dixon is tired. So very tired. The last couple of days a music festival has been playing at a nearby farm. The music has kept her small family awake for days. Weary and ready to drop she puts her six-month-old daughter, Emily, down to sleep in her crib and finally sleeps herself. Only to wake up to a nightmare - Emily is gone! No longer in her crib, where could she be?

Vicki Robart is at the music festival numbing herself from the grief of losing her infant daughter months earlier. Leaving the festival, the night of a terrible storm, she enters a home hoping to find some food but instead finds the answers to her prayers. A way to fill the void in her heart, she makes a snap decision which will change lives forever.

Bette Lee Crosby does not shy away from tackling difficult subjects in her books. She does so with grace and charm. She does not lay blame in this book and leaves that up to the reader telling both women's (families)stories. Her characters are likable and relate-able. She also writes about relationships touching on marital relationships, sibling relationships, friendships, etc. and does so in this book as well. Often, she has older female characters who are there to provide strength, wisdom, insight and love to the younger characters and I appreciated how this was true in this book as well.

What makes a family? How do love and faith help people heal? What happens when the truth comes out? Could one forgive someone of taking their child?


Well written, thought provoking, moving, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Another solid book by this Author although I thought the ending was tied up a little too quickly and nicely. Grab some tissues and dig in!

Thank you to Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The first page drew me in. I could feel the rumble of the music and feel the sweat of the crowd. This is a story I will remember. The tears flowed while reading. Each twist and turn of the lives of the characters brought more emotions to the surface. I could feel the pain of all of the parents at each moment. A great story. Bring the tissues. I received a complimentary copy of the book. No review was required.

A beautifully woven story of love, loss, forgiveness and faith. My heat broke for all the women in this story; all struggling to survive the loss of a child in more ways than one. Bette is a great story teller and weaves these characters together beautifully. Have a tissue nearby! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

A wonderful heart rendering story about love and lost and faith. You'll read how people want to believe the best of everyone. The ending will warm your heart. Joining two families into one that makes everyone happy

The mantra of this beautiful heart-filled novel is "If you believe, prayers can come true."
Bette Lee Crosby has an amazing ability to pull my heart right into the pages of her stories. This book did just that!
An awful thunder storm, in the middle of the night. Her Mom and Dad sleeping in the next room, and Emily is abducted and just gone!
How do you go on as parents who lose their only child? Do you ever forget or stop caring and thinking about that precious baby? Do your prayers change?
How do you learn to trust, love and go forward each day?
A remarkable journey of two families whose lives will intersect because of one sweet girl.
Excellent!
*Tissues were needed.*

This story will keep you interested. Every time I thought something should happen it did not! Great read makes one think about their life and safe it really is. I would recommend this for a book club or for someone who wants something new to read. Very fast paced story. Loved it!!!

Let me first say that I love Ms. Crosby ‘s books and she did not disappoint with this one. This story was heartbreaking for me. A mother’s grief over a lost child is horrendous. I had such empathy for both Vicki and Rachael. This book was unique and unforgettable. You will not want to put this book down and you will savor it long after you are finished. Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Well written heartwrenching story.Faith and love help a mother get through the darkest days of her life after a tragic event, yet this story is about so much more more.. I couldn’t put this one done until I finished it and it was well worth the night of sleep I lost..

What a beautiful book - I felt so many emotions reading this book. It is absolutely captivating.
I was given this book from NetGalley for an honest review -
An outdoor concert comes to a small town where everyone knows everyone and doors are left unlocked.
And on this stormy night a baby is stolen from her crib..
Follow along as the years go by in the search for baby Emily -

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Emily, Gone” by Bette Lee Crosby, Lake Union Publishing, April 30,2019

WOW!! Kudos to Bette Lee Crosby, Author of “Emily, Gone” for writing such an amazing, intense, intriguing, captivating, entertaining, dramatic and enthralling novel. This is a novel that tugged at my heartstrings. There are layers and coincidences, twists and turns, and unpredictable events in this novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Mystery and Suspense. The author describes her colorful and dramatic cast of characters as complex and complicated. The time-line of the story starts in 1971 and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters and events in the story. The story originally takes place in Hesterville Georgia.

In 1971 in Hesterville, Georgia , which is a very small town, a music festival arrives with thousands of people. Bette Lee Crosby describes vividly, the sounds, sights, smells, and atmosphere. This takes me back to the seventies, and I can hear the loud music. Something happens one night during the music festival that changes the Dixon family life and the other residents in Hesterville Georgia. It is every parent’s nightmare. When Rachel Dixon wakes up in the morning, her baby girl Emily is gone.

This is such a compelling and intense book that I couldn’t put it down. I read this in one sitting. I can easily see this being made into a screenplay and movie. I love the way the author describes the importance of family, friends, community, love and hope. I loved and cried at the ending. I do hope that I read more about the characters. I would highly recommend this novel for readers who enjoy a thought-provoking and suspenseful story.
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Gripping. Beautiful. Haunting. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. I laughed. I cried. I did not want to put it down!

It’s 1971, and a music festival rolls through the quiet town of Hesterville, Georgia. On the last night, 6 month old Emily Dixon disappears from her crib. The collision course of events that transpire as a result of one woman’s selfish, impulsive decision to take what didn’t belong to her will stay with you long after the book ends.

My emotions took a wild ride while reading this book— I experienced heartbreak, anger, frustration, happiness. I didn’t want to finish, but couldn’t wait to see how it ended at the same time. This book will definitely stay with me for a long time.

Sorry but this book wasn't for me and I ended up doing a lot of skim reading just to get to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book was not for me. I tried to continue reading it but unfortunately I had to give up
A real disappointment