This is certainly not my first Hannah Mary McKinnon book. I jumped at the chance to be on the Harlequin/MIRA blog tour for the new release just to get my hands on a copy. If you haven’t read any of her books, just know you are always in for a totally emotional story with a shocking twist at the end that leaves you reeling, and guess what….. McKinnon may have outdone herself here.

It’s a simple tale, Eleanor is brought up with a terrible childhood by a horrid mother (Eleanor is a total mess). When her father dies (the only person who ever cared about her) she finds out she is not even his real daughter. This poor girl goes off to find her real daddy who ends up being a pretty well off guy and he tells her to get lost and wants nothing to do with her. So then meek little Elle finds out she has a half-sister, Victoria, and she decides to befriend her, maybe become BFFs, that kind of thing, because Victoria is pretty well off herself, except without letting her know they are sisters. But things seem to take a twist we never see coming, and this family drama becomes a lot more of a twisted thriller, and at some point wonder to yourself who in this story is fooling who?

Fast paced and hard to put down, McKinnon does it again with her family based thrillers that pull all the punches right at the end. She knows just how to write her characters with enough depth that you become temporarily engrossed in their lives, and knocked out cold in the end when the punch lands you square in the face and you NEVER saw it coming. How McKinnon keeps imagining these brilliant 5 star reads is beyond me, but I’m all in lady, keep them coming! You cannot miss this one! This will keep you up all night turning the pages. Yes 5 stars! A must read.

Eleanor is living a plain-Jane life on her own in the big city. What she lacks in beauty, style, and success, she makes up for with the close and loving relationship that she has with her father. That is, until he passes away and she discovers, quite unexpectedly, that the man she believed to be her father is actually....not.

Eleanor is crushed. Especially when she learns that her biological father is alive and well, and living right down the road. He is rich and successful, with a loving wife and gorgeous daughter of his own. Eleanor makes it her mission to seek out her new family, especially her half-sister. When they finally meet, Eleanor is dismayed to see that Victoria is everything that Eleanor is not....rich, skinny, and successful, with a gorgeous husband to boot. Eleanor makes it her mission to seek her claws into Victoria's life, trying desperately to claim what should rightfully be hers.

Eleanor and Victoria become close very quickly, and what was once an attempt on Eleanor's part to insidiously insert herself into Victoria's life soon becomes a friendship of sorts. However, Eleanor has not forgotten what she has lost over the years. And she won't let Victoria forget either.

Such a great book! The author does a fantastic job weaving in plot twists and turns. I was hooked until the final chapter, and my jaw dropped several times. Sister Dear had me hooked from page one, ultimately left with the question......where does evil truly lie in a family?

Wow wow wow!!! Sister Dear really blew me away with this twisted plot! Thrilling and captivating read I couldn't put down and read in a sitting!! This is a must read book no doubt and I look forward to reading more books by this author! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

{Thank you so much to @harlequinbooks and @netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review}

Hannah Mary McKinnon has really wowed me with her latest book, Sister Dear! This was the first book I’ve read by her and it won’t be the last.

This one started a little slow for me, but it was very easy to become invested in the characters, especially the main character, Eleanor. My heart continued to break for her, but I never fully trusted her so I was very skeptical of everything she did and she became such an enthralling character. I also loved the budding friendship/romance between Eleanor and Lewis and it was a really refreshing part of the storyline.

But the suspense ya’ll was what made this book. When reading suspense/thrillers I love to try to guess the ending or what is going to happen (usually unsuccessfully), but McKinnon has a way of writing that lures you into thinking you know what’s going on just to take you completely by surprise. Toward the end, I was able to guess a little bit about the ending, but it still wowed me! It was a jaw-dropping ending that I am still reeling from. It did bother me a little that the ending was left open to interpretation a little bit, which I’m usually not a fan of (it reminded me of the ending to The Turn of the Key), but it was still amazing!

Check this one out for a twisty women’s fiction suspense/thriller!

4/5 stars!

Eleanor was a character I wanted to wrap my arms around. I felt like not only did she deserve a hug, but she needed a hug! She didn't deserve the crappy way she was treated for every day of her life. I hate to sound so cliché but it wasn't fair to her. It's even worse to be treated so unjustly by your own mother, your own sister. I really found Eleanor to be a relatable female character. Her plethora of mental health struggles alone made her a character most women will relate too. Her constant struggle with self-esteem was a vicious cycle. I think her food issues made her a character a lot of women are going to understand. There can be such a love-hate relationship for women with their food.

Putting all of that aside, Sister Dear shows her struggle to maintain her mental health while trying to find those family relationships she has always dreamt of. She's really had a tough go of it lately and it seems like anything that can go wrong, will, and does. We get to see Eleanor at her breaking point. Now I didn't exactly feel like Sister Dear was a thriller or even suspenseful. I feel like it's more of a psychological women's fiction... is that a thing? It should be, because even though it wasn't what I was expecting, I enjoyed it a lot. It was a quick story that was bursting at the seam with emotions and struggles.

I recommend Sister Dear if you like to dissect and think about the human mind, nature vs nurture and all those psychological aspects. I do, I have a degree in psychology after all. However, if you're going into this thinking it'll be a whirlwind thriller, I'm sorry to disappoint but it won't be.

I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that... my opinions.

Eleanor is heading to the hospice to see her father, when she overhears a conversation between him and her mother. She and her mother have never had a good relationship, but the conversation she hears stops her dead in her tracks. The man she has known as her father her entire life is not her father. So who is and will he want anything to do with Eleanor? When Eleanor finds out that she also has a sister, she decides to try to meet her father that way. The things she finds our in her quest to find her father will shock you.

Thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

You already know how much I enjoy a good psychological thriller. This one was very good. It was hard to put down and it had so many twists and turns. Take a look at the face I made when the big twist hit.

What would you do if you found out that your whole life you had been lied to about who your father is? When Eleanor finds her sister, she thinks she can befriend her in order to find out more about her father. When she finds out why she has had no contact with her father, she's not sure whether or not to be more upset with him or her mother. Eleanor is a character you will love and want to smack at the same time. Some of the decisions she makes are not very good, but the outcome will leave you wanting more.

If you have never read a book by Hannah Mary McKinnon, I suggest this is the one to start with. I will be going back to read the rest of her titles and I look forward to what she will bring us in the future.

A riveting read - gripping, with a plot that pulls you in from page one and characters that feel real.
Love this author!

This new psychological thriller was an intriguing read. It didn't stick with me and was a bit slower for me to read. The characters were interesting and made you want to find out the strange family dynamics that lead to the heart of the story. I think readers that enjoy women's fiction and are beginning to get into psychologic fiction will appreciate this story.

Just before her father dies, Eleanor overhears him say that he isn’t her father. She’s left with just the name of her real father. She follows him and discovers his family. When he doesn’t want anything to do with her, she reaches out to his daughter, Victoria, to design her website. Eleanor doesn’t tell Victoria that they’re sisters while becoming friends with her. Eleanor wants to steal the successful life Victoria has, which Eleanor could have had if her real father had acknowledged her.

This story started out as an intriguing thriller. It took a little while for the real suspense to start. The middle of the story seemed like a light romance, with Eleanor getting into a relationship with her neighbour. In the last quarter of the book, the pacing sped up, becoming a suspenseful page turner.

I was so shocked at the ending. Looking back on the notes that I had written while I read it, I had gotten the story completely wrong. The ending made sense, but it was unexpected. I’m always pleased when I’m surprised at the ending of a thriller.

This was a great, slow burn thriller.

Thank you HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A twisty book about sisters, half-sisters to be precise, who met for the first time where one wanted what the other had.
My first book by this author, I loved how the first part lulled me into a safe zone where relationships were getting forged. Then I reached the last third if the book where intensity and pace of the book shit up with twists and excitement rolling over me leaving me all flabbergasted at the way the author could turn the book around.

Overall, a fun twisty read. I love it when characters have secrets.

Half sisters separated by circumstance meet by chance, and the burgeoning friendship leads to all kinds of complications and a chilling ending.

Eleanor had a strained relationship with the sister she knew as well as her mother, and her beloved father died in the beginning of the book. She's out of sorts, lost, and hoped to find family in the biological father she never knew. He isn't interested in her, either, but forging a relationship with his daughter Victoria gives her a sense of purpose again. She ignores a lot of her actual job (really? A web designer wouldn't check her spam folder?) and gets caught up in a life she thinks she should have. Unfortunately, it's nothing like what she thought it would be, and she's not the smart woman she thought she was.

The final third of the novel had so many twists and turns, I couldn't put it down and couldn't believe what I was reading. Whatever I thought I knew about this story was proven wrong, until we get to the shocking conclusion.

Thank you to Mira Books for this copy of Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon for review on Netgalley.

Sister Dear is quite the ride. A psychological thriller that will have you guessing the whole way through. When Eleanor’s father dies, she finds out she was actually the product of an affair. Estranged from her family and struggling, Eleanor seeks out her real father to find he has a daughter as well. Victoria has everything, she’s beautiful with a lovely home and husband. Eleanor wants to be a part of that family and will do anything to get it.

Eleanor was a big old mess and spending the whole book in her perspective did get to be a bit much for me. It was a fast read but in the middle I found myself struggling to push through and watch this lady get herself deeper in. It was compulsively readable though and the ending was completely out of nowhere in the best way. It was hands down the best part of the whole book.
Definitely a great binge read if you are looking for something to grab for the beach, though it can get dark in a few places. Strong content warnings for disordered eating, emotional abuse and the death of a close family member from cancer.

My Review: Meh... But The Ending Was Decent

The Pros: What worked for me

The story moves at a fast pace so there really isn't much of a dull moment
I liked how the author stuck to her guns when it came to the ending; it made this story stand out from the rest.

The Cons: What I didn't like

There was very little, if any, character development. The story rushed along so quickly that I never got the chance to connect with the main character. It also made her run of bad luck seem extremely far-fetched and unbelievable.
I also didn't buy into the whole "terrible mom, terrible sister" story element. Maybe it was because both the mother and sister were more caricatures than fully-developed characters, but there just didn't seem to be any rationale behind their hatred for Eleanor.
The author kept mentioning Eleanor's weight and I thought this would play some role in the story - but it didn't. It was essentially useless and added nothing to the story.
Maybe I read too many thrillers but I found the plot obvious. It was easy to pick apart[spoiler] the original revenge plot because Eleanor's character just never showed that level of deviousness required to mastermind something like that.[/spoiler] Things were also too much of a coincidence for it to be believable for me.

I think I definitely need to take a break from all of these thrillers because I'm able to figure them out right away. While I loved the story idea, the execution of this novel didn't work for me. The ending really saved things, allowing me to rate it 2/5 stars.

My first and definitely not last, from Hannah Mary McKinnon! First of all, yes, it is extremely over the top, but I mean that in the best possible way. This was so much fun to read! Eleanor's family is at the very top on the dysfunctional scale, especially her Mommy Dearest. Her only support is her Dad. He has just died, leaving the name of her real father. Eleanor goes in search of him hoping for a loving family and gets way more than she bargained for. The story does start a little slow and as it progressed, I had a few ideas where this was headed. None of those were correct and it was even better. That's a good book to me! Suspend belief and strap in! You won't be disappointed!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon.

When Eleanor loses her dad, her world is crushed. Not only was her dad her strongest supporter and ally, but she just learned a devastating secret about him. Her volatile relationship with her mom and sister leaves her nowhere to turn, so she begins digging into her family secrets, and find more than she bargained for.

I'll never forget reading a book by Roxane Gay and being admonished for writing off books with unlikable characters. Why must the characters be likable for us to buy into the novel? It might make it easier to invest in what happens to that character, but unlikable characters also add some heat and spice to a story.

Having said that, I didn't find any of the characters very likable, Eleanor included. But, it was still a fun book with all sorts of surprises. It was written well and even left you wanting, but in a good way.

DNF at 10%. This is a very dramatic story and gets right into the action. However it felt over the top to me and after reading a bunch of reviews, I’ve decided to stop here. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Sisterhood?

This is my first book by Hannah Mary McKinnon and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I will say that I picked this book off the Netgalley because the blurb was very intriguing. However everything that the blurb said and everything I thought would happen in the book was completely not what happened or an extreme stretch from what I expected. Which for someone who reads as many thrillers as I do was a great surprise and gem of a read so I give the author lots of credit for being able to surprise me.

Eleanor Hardwicke has not had an easy life. Her mother and perfect younger sister belittle her at every opportunity and when her beloved father dies, she is left adrift. Finding out that he was not her biological father, Eleanor imagines starting over with a new family, her other family. Her father Stan wants nothing to do with her, but her sister Victoria might be another story. Victoria is the complete opposite of Eleanor; she has a father that offers her every advantage possible yet wants nothing to do with Eleanor. This has enabled Victoria to lead a privileged life and become who she is today. Why shouldn't Eleanor have some part of this fairy tale life? So when a stroke of luck happens and Eleanor finds out that Victoria needs a websites she goes above and beyond to try and befriend Victoria so she could at least have a relationship with one person from her new family even if that person has no clue of her existence..

She can’t believe that her plan worked and she not only has a job that is paying money and she can afford her bills but under a guise of a web designer she can finally feel like she belongs somewhere and doesn't feel like a black sheep. The more time that passes the harder it is to tell Victoria and the more she likes her and Victoria genuinely seems to like Eleanor and the risk of losing it all is too great. As Eleanor gets drawn deeper into Victoria's perfect world, the facade she has built of the perfect life starts to look a lot less perfect. But helping Victoria comes with a price. A price that might be more than she ever thought possible.

What I will say is that this is one of those books where the explosive ending is not one that you will see coming. You will also learn to love and hate some of the characters very early on in the book but every person and every act is perfectly placed to make this a great read. I apologize for my delay in reviewing this book; I enjoyed this very much and would read more books by this author in the future.
I received an arc from Harlequin Trade Publishing through NetGalley.

This book threw me for a loop! What a ride! What started out as a slow paced, detail oriented but interesting story eventually picked up and had a series of little twists that kept hooking me even more! The characters were so well written, and there was even a reverse You vibe I was getting. I really enjoyed this book and was completely wrong on how it would end. Love when that happens!!

Holy crap was this book good! It's hard for me to sympathize with any character usually but I really felt for Eleanor. And that mother of hers....wow! Edge of your seat, I could not put it down until I finished. AND THAT ENDING!!!! I've recommended this at least a dozen times in my book group already! Thank you so much! I can't wait to read more by this author

Hannah Mary McKinnon has proved to be the master at building the tension in her last novel. This dark, twisted and brilliant story weaves the suspense into a web of perfect secrets, but it’s the ending that will leave you completely under McKinnon’s spell. I was hooked, gobsmacked and enthralled from start to finish. If you’re looking for that book hangover feel…this is not to be missed!

From page one, I was drawn in, connected with the characters, tagged along for every single scene and then BAM…that ending. I didn’t see it coming at all! WOW! For me, I love twisted reads that play with not only my emotions but with my mind and that is exactly what this book does!