I particularly enjoyed this, it’s a great psychological thriller that keeps you guessing and racing to turn the pages.

I really enjoyed a previous book by Jackie Kabler so I jumped at the chance to read another! Her books are so fun and addictive! Kept me on the edge of my seat, twists turns and oh so exciting! And that ending I did NOT see coming. Thank you so much, can't wait to read anther by her!

A mother love can blind you to reality. This book had some unexpected twists and turns and was very well told. I really liked the story line in this. I did find many parts of the book were predictable and easy to guess what was actually happening and I did find the main character infuriating at times as I found the behaviour unrealistic. However the story was very well told and the idea behind it was fantastic. It has good bones. Overall a decent read.

Beth, a single mother of two children, has just been reunited with her mother that she has not seen since she left when she was 10 years old. We learn that Beth has a dark secret as strange things begin to occur and Beth's life is turned upside down.

I was not abhuge fan of this book. I feel as though the twists and turns in this were spelled out early on. The writing was so choppy and repetitive that I did get bored reading through to the end. Honestly, I almost wanted to DNF this one. Looking back, this book was a series of mundane and repetitive conversations with Beth to every character in the book. The remaining 10 percent of the book was Beth just telling all of her friends the same story...individually.

It wasn't for me, but I give it three stars because it wasn't cemetery awful. May be a good jumping off point for someone new to psychological thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

The first thing that struck me about this book was the main character is divorced, usually we find in novels that the main character being divorced means they are unsettled and not really coping. This is different. Beth Holland is getting things done. A really refreshing thing to read,

The slow burn of this novel and the whodunnit, worked better than many novels I have read of this type purely because we started off knowing a good amount and whilst I found Beth a little naive and prone to making the wrong deductions, it was wonderful.

A really satisfying read.

Jackie Kabler does it again with another of her psychological thriller books. I’ve read “The Perfect Couple” and I enjoyed it very much. This time, I did not just enjoy it, but also had unstoppable anxiety feelings while reading it, in a positive way of course. I couldn't guess “whodunnit” and at the same time I’m thinking “how come I missed the clue?”

Beth Holland, a single mother, has a settled and happy life with two children and best friends around her. Until one day, a woman knocked on her door and told her that she was her longgone mother, Alice. Unexpectedly and also grateful at the same time, she welcomed her in her house and also her life. But, things started falling down one by one, her dark secrets also reappeared in her dreams, mysterious events keep happening around her, and make her lose her friends one by one. Until when this will happen, and isn't she supposed to be happy?

It was a fast-paced read, although had a slightly slow burner at the beginning. I liked how the author successfully built the tension feeling of mine reading every chapter, so it kept me engaged. The main character had me “bite my nails” on how she reacted for every mysterious and devastated moment that occurred around her. Maybe this is why this book is being categorized as a “psychological thriller?” :)

If you enjoy and also looking for fast-paced psychological thriller reads, I recommend you to check out this book. Thank you to One More Chapter, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. All of my opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

I found this book quite slow to start but the twists and turns kept it going to the very end . Well worth a read.

This book was crazy! So many twists and turns. I could not predict the ending until the last chapter. The storyline was a little over the top, but the author does a great job making it seem very realistic!

I felt so bad for the main character, Beth who was elated when her long lost mother walked into her very blah life. Beth couldn’t believe it! Her mother who had walked out over 30 years ago wanted her back. Of course Beth would welcome her back into her life with open arms. But then things start to go awry, things seem out of place and Beth swears she is seeing someone follow her around. Is her mother who she seems? Just who can Beth trust?

The beginning of the book was slow for me, but I read the last 60% in one evening. It was like a car crash in slow motion, just helpless to watch it all unwind. Personally, I would struggle letting someone in my life that easily, so I struggled with that concept. But that aside, a great thriller! Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

Beth may be divorced, but we don't start the novel with her life in taters. Instead she's settled into her new single life; she has a working co-parenting relationship with her ex Jacob, two children she adores, a successful career as a practice manager, and close friends. Beth is the posterchild for a woman moving on with her life after her husband has left her for another woman..

But t's not the recent past that Beth has to worry about. It's her childhood.

Kabler has written an engrossing thriller that takes enough twists and turns to keep you engaged, even if you've figured out some of the larger reveals. While I did find Beth to be naïve in the classic horror film way - "why on earth would you do that??!" - her character development was well done. As Beth slowly unravels, you can see the way Kabler is intentionally pulling at the threads.

I enjoyed this book, and to me it was a fairly quick read. I only wished it had hit while the pool was open, as this would have been perfect sitting out in the sun with a cocktail in hand. Thank you so much to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this ARC of The Happy Family, by Jackie Kabler in exchange for an honest review!

I have read other books by this author, and The Happy Family did not disappoint, it was a very fast paced read, though predictable at the end. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Happy Family by Jackie Kabler.

Beth is elated when her long lost mother has returned to her life after walking out when Beth was ten. Eager to reunite with her mother, she invites her to stay and to help with the kids. But shortly after her mum arrives, strange things start happening, the heat not turning off, the new trampoline falling apart. But strange quickly turns to sinister, and Beth starts to wonder if someone knows about a secret she has kept to herself all of these years.

I can't say a whole lot more about the plot of the story, so I'll say this. It was fairly solid, and kept me engaged. My biggest criticism is the pace. It can draaag, especially towards the end, and ESPECIALLY because 90% of it's readers have probably figured it out. Otherwise, fun and easy suspense novel!

Clever! What a cool storyline … and that twist!

Practice manager, Beth has a happy life, two children she adores, a great job she loves and good friends (although all her best friends are much older than she is, around the same age as her mother – 😉 read into that what you will). And, talking of mothers, Beth’s mum walked out on her and her father some thirty years ago when Beth was ten.

After divorcing her husband, Beth not only has a good relationship with him but also with his new wife. Her dad is in a fabulous care home and enjoys being there, and Beth visits him often. She works hard, but has help from Robin to do the school run and keep the house clean. Everything is peachy.

And then, a knock at her door turns her life around, upside down and inside out. The woman who says her name is Alice is none other than her mother, complete with the three hearts tattoo on her neck. Beth is stunned, delighted, loss for words one minute and gibbering like an idiot the next. Her mother has returned.

After inviting her mother to stay a few days (at first), Beth can’t wait to tell her friends and family – even her dad – that Alice is back in her life. Everyone is thrilled for her, and totally accepting of Alice.

Weirdly, almost instantly strange things start to happen. Beth loses her keys a lot, the heating system goes bezerk, “accidents” happen and tempers start to fray as Beth seems to be losing her grip on everything, alienating loved ones … and drinking too much. When everything seems to be going wrong, Beth is glad to have her mum around for support.

There are lots of twists in this story, and just when you think things can’t get any worse for Beth, they do. A long-held secret – something which, since their move to Cheltenham after the childhood incident, only Beth and her father are aware of – suddenly has reared its very ugly head. Beth looks in danger of losing everything and everyone close to her until someone totally unexpected comes to her rescue – yet another fabulous twist. Who is Beth’s saviour? Well, while the twist is hugely surprising, it’s not too difficult to join the dots and find her guardian angel, though Beth does make a meal out of that task!

Overall, a compelling and addictive read that I raced through. Admittedly, it sagged a little in the middle as Beth’s paranoia spiralled out of control repeatedly, but the ending more than makes up for that. As does the witty dialogue and hilarious “menopause” chats she and her friends have at the beginning. As the title says, Beth really did have the happy family.

If you enjoy psychological or domestic suspense, then this book is for you. Give it a shot. You won’t regret it.

3.5 stars

The first time ever that I read something by Jackie Kabler. This is the story of Beth, a single parent to two, who had a childhood without her mother. When she was ten her mother disappeared.

Then one day Alice unexpectedly reappears in Beth’s life again. She welcomes her mother with open arms and they quickly build a relationship. But strange things start to happen to Beth, which leads her to question everything her life was about up until now.

It was a suspense read with a satisfying ending.

Thanks #NetGalley and #HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this ARC

Super fast-paced but also a slow burner! Does that make sense? The story revolves around something that happened in childhood. I felt for Beth and all the stuff that happened to her. It was relentless! I could see what was coming but the twists still felt pleasant. First book by this author and I am sold!

Well ... if you thought you had a complicated family life, I'm guessing you have very little on Beth, the protagonist in Jackie Kabler's The Happy Family. As you can imagine, 'happy family' is very much a misnomer, at least as far as Beth is concerned. If her family history wasn't difficult enough - a mother who absconded when she was a child and a father with dementia - her current, seemingly balanced home life is about to see some upheaval of the likes she was in no way expecting.

I think stories where a family member turns up unexpectedly are always going to set me, as a reader, on high alert. This was very much the case when Beth's mother, Alice, arrives on the scene after a rather prolonged absence. In spite of the separation, she falls into family life with her daughter quite easily, making up for lost time and getting to know her two young grandchildren as well as bridging the huge gap with Beth. That's the positive bit. And also the point at which things start taking a somewhat sinister turn.

Now I can't lie, I never really trusted this new found family happiness, perhaps because I am a very cynical person, with a chequered family life of my own, so I am naturally suspicious of anyone, or anything that seems to be too good to be true. But things aren't that straightforward, at least not in the way the author has twisted the story played upon the uncertainty of Beth's own behaviour and personality. She's a troubled soul, perhaps with understandable 'mother issues'. Her circle of friends are limited and certainly older than she is, and she isn't entirely comfortable in her own skin, plagued with self doubt driven by her mother's decision to leave her behind.

How much of what happens in the book is down to Beth's own paranoia, or perhaps her over indulgence in the off tipple or two after work, is hard to tell, but it does keep you guessing. With those around her are not beyond suspicion, and each has their own character quirks. There is also a shadow hanging around Beth. At least, she thinks there is - again, this is played carefully so you are never quite certain. Always just on the edge of doubt.

Now the book does explore the subject of gaslighting and also mental health, both obviously with Beth's father's decline and also covertly, by exploring Beth's slow decline in terms of confidence and self doubt. It is a slow building situation, always keeping you wondering about who, if anyone, is really twisting the knife and whilst I was pretty sure where this was going (see above comment about cynicism and suspicion), there is enough evasiveness amongst all of Beth's friends to keep sowing those seeds of doubt. Even Beth herself isn't always in the clear, and as we slowly learn, has her own dark secret that she is desperate to keep.

With mystery, tension and a completely dysfunctional family unit that actually makes me feel a little better about my own, this is book that fans of psychological thrillers are sure to love. Watching Beth's slow decline into doubt and self destruction kept me completely hooked to the page and has made me curious to go and see what else the author has to offer. Recommended.

Alice left her ten year old daughter and husband years ago. Now a knock on the door gives Beth a great surprise. Her mother is back! She is so excited. Then things go horribly wrong. Her job is in jeopardy. Her child are in danger and a strange man seems to be following her. How could such a happy time turn so fast to terror.
A great psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end.

Thoroughly enjoyed that, a definite keeper. A book that once I started I could not put it down until I finished it!

Wow, following Beth's journey as she feels like she is being followed and slowly losing her mind had me on the edge of my seat.

A highly thrilling and addictive read that I would highly recommend. I found myself like Beth guessing everyone and forgot tong key points. The man watching Beth did creep me out a little and once or twice I caught myself glancing out my own window.
I highly enjoyed Jackie Kablers writing style it kept me on my toes.

A gripping read where a childhood secret threatens to derail the present. Really unexpected ending, thumbs up.