Finding Ashley by Danielle Steel is a wonderful emotional standalone novel. We meet Melissa Henderson, our heroine in this story, who is content as she renovates her Victorian house, which she bought a few years ago that was in bad shape. We learn quickly that Melissa’s life fell apart 6 years earlier, when her 10-year-old son, Robbie died of Cancer. Her and her husband, devoted everything to try and save him, and after he died, their marriage fell apart, and they divorced; Melissa was devastated, moving to New England, giving up her writing career, and became a loner.

Though she does most of the work, she does have workers for difficult tasks (like a roof), with a local contractor, Norm helping her occasion. When there is a wild fire that threatens the area, Melissa is lucky that it was put out before it reached her home. Melissa’s estranged sister, Hattie is a nun, and especially since the death of her son, she rarely sees her; but learning about the fire, Hattie comes to visit her, and slowly their reunion will help rekindle their relationship and become closer. Melissa opens up to Hattie about how she became pregnant at 16, and their mother forced her to travel to a convent in Ireland; to have the baby, and give it up for adoption. Melissa talks about her grief and how terrible the nuns were to her, another reason why she hated when Hattie became a nun

Unbeknownst to Melissa, Hattie decides to get permission from her Mother Superior to travel to Ireland to see what she could find out, since all records were destroyed years ago. Hattie’s journey will not only bring her to the convent in question, and learn about the conditions at that time, and how the rich paid the convent for adopting the babies. But when she travels to meet a woman who wrote a book (baby mills) about the deplorable times back then, who happens to be a nun who left her vocation. Hattie heads back to America, with the name of three women who may have adopted Ashley.

What follows is a wonderful heartwarming journey, when Hattie will find Melissa’s daughter, and it is so emotional, I had tears in my eyes. We meet Michaela Ashley, who tried to find her real mother years ago to no avail; her adopted mother is a world-famous actress, who supported her search. Michaela was a fantastic heroine in her own right, as she was so happy and loving toward Melissa, as well as her family (husband, two kids, and adopted mother) who all open their arms to Melissa.

Beside the background story of the convent, making lots of money adopting out the babies, and treating the young girls badly, there was another background storyline. This was very much like the ‘me-too’ movement, as the Hollywood stars started accusing the men who made their lives difficult. There was also a tragedy that also brings Melissa and Michaela even closer.

Finding Ashley was a fantastic and engrossing story that pulled on many emotions. I loved seeing Melissa and Hattie reunited and together again after all those years. Melissa finding happiness again with a family, as well as a possible relationship. Danielle Steel once again surprises me with a different kind of story that was a masterpiece. You need to read this book.

Finding Ashley is the story of two sisters, Melissa and Hattie, who are still dealing with the traumas they suffered earlier in their lives. Melissa is a famous writer whose marriage fell apart after her son died, and Hattie is a nun who joined the convent to escape a terrible tragedy that occurred when she was an up-and-coming Hollywood actress. While Melissa and Hattie are estranged at the beginning of the book, they come together to mend the broken fences between them and to start the road to recovery. During the course of the novel, they open up to one another about the secrets that have shaped them as adults. Melissa reveals that she gave up a child to adoption many years earlier, and Hattie helps her to track down the missing child, "Ashley." Other storylines include a Hollywood tale about the #metoo movement, and a story about the controversial baby farms run by Catholic nuns.

I enjoyed getting to know these two very different sisters, and the book kept me entertained for several nights before bed. The biggest problem with the book is Steel's tendency to repeat the same information over and over. She's producing seven books a year at this point, so it's understandable if certain scenes are a bit rushed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Not sure how Danielle Steel does it! She writes so many books, each with very, very different storylines.. This story touches on the Me too movement, Hollywood, the Catholic church, adoption and more. What an imagination! This story is based on two sisters and the different directions that their lives take them. Childhood dysfunction and trauma. A story of how people come and go in our lives. Being functional after heart break, being open to change and acceptance and ultimately to happiness, Please keep writing these engaging stories! Thanks to net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the plot if this book. The finding your adopted child trope is one I usually enjoy, especially when it involves the churches in the UK or Ireland like this one did.

This is one of Miss Steel's better of her recent books but comes no where close to her older stuff. I found this really repetitive, especially the first chapters. And the writing itself was a little bland.

Overall an ok read and I have to remind myself that the author is chugging these out on a weekly basis and I so wish Danielle Steel would focus on quality and not quantity. I also really wish half stars were a thing.

I feel terrible. I love Danielle Steel's books - I have for decades! I always request the ARC and feel excited every time I get one. This book was not for me. It is ultimately the story of two sisters who become estranged over choices that were made in their youth. As they age and experience the ups and downs of life, they find each other again. This is when the story really begins - The younger sister is set to search for a baby that her sister was forced to give away as a teen.

I don't want to give any spoilers here but this book is very repetitive and quite cliche. There were many times that I wondered if DS had actually written this book. This story could have been finished in 100 pages....

We meet Melissa, dealing with the loss of her son several years ago; she is living in semi-seclusion and renovating a house on her own after divorcing her husband. She reconnects with her sister who decides to take it upon herself to find Melissa's daughter who was given up for adoption when Melissa was 16.

I don't want to give away spoilers of course, but this book deals with family, reconciliation, understanding, forgiveness, and yes, change. It shows you there is hope that no matter how bad life gets - there is hope for better times and second chances always!

The saddest part of this book for me to read, as a mom and grandmother, was reading about the loss of Melissa's son who died from a brain tumor at 9, I believe. He is already gone at the book's start, which I was glad for; I don't like to read books dealing with dying. That's my personal opinion/preference. But you see Melissa grow in her relationships and pick up her life's pieces - and she comes out happy and fulfilled!

I've been reading Danielle Steel for over 30 years - and I will continue to do so until she stops!

Stop!!! This book is mad-good! Couldn't put it down. Sofa-material. Ride-the-cushions-stuff. Danielle Steel knocked this one out of the park. No spoilers here, but let's just say the main character travels to Dublin and other places, and a little girl is involved. Enough said. It is different than Lady Steel's other books, which blows the readers away. Different is good. The topic. The characters. The places. 278 pages of juicy goodness that makes the reader drool for this writer's tale to unfold; hence her almost-billion books sold. The tale seethes of goodness from page one until... let's-get-to-its-ohmygod!-end. You'll curl up with a good beverage and the tale ... and be blown away by this one. Differently loved! Kudos to DS. Wow! She "Steel" has it.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and discuss this book. i am a huge Danielle Steel fan but I was not able to finish this book. First, Melissa is very unlikable. I know she has had a huge loss with the death of her son but she is unlikeable. Second, as a mother of an adopted child, I would not want someone to "seek" her out for answers. Third, the fact that Melissa went off to a convent has nothing to do with her sister becoming a nun. I have tried three times to read more and I just can't get into it.

Danielle Steel's "Finding Ashley" focuses on a woman named Melissa who has hidden herself away in a fixer-upper home in the woods to escape her grief from the loss of her son. She has walked away from her marriage, her life in the city, and a successful career as a novelist because she can't bear the memories of the son she lost.

It seems that Melissa is doomed to a life of depression until her sister, a nun, challenges her own beliefs to help Melissa track down the daughter she was forced to give up for adoption. Along the way, a number of contemporary issues are explored, from issues with the Catholic Church to the "Me Too" movement.

Steel fans will root for Melissa and her sister to find happiness. Some readers may not enjoy the storyline involving the Catholic Church. This book presents a few twists and turns along the way and is an easy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a galley in exchange for my honest review.

Finding Ashley is about 2 sisters dealing with the hardships that they were dealt early in life. Melissa found herself pregnant at age 16 and was forced by her parents to go to a convent in Ireland to have the baby and then give it up for adoption. A few years after returning home, her parents died and she was responsible for her younger sister, Hannah. Without summarizing further, there are many subjects touched upon in this novel: corruption, in The Church, sexual abuse, dealing with the death of one's child, locating and find a child who was given up for adoption, and moving forward in life when dealing with adversity. I wish that Ms. Steel had focused on one or two of these topics instead of lightly dealing with so many. I wanted to know more about The Roman Catholic Church's role in adoptions. At times, the story was slow and repetitive. All in all a good read! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Melissa Henderson was sixteen when her mother forced her to give up her daughter for adoption. She was sent to a bleak convent in Ireland to have her baby and left two weeks after giving birth. All she knew was that the child was called Ashley and would have a loving family in America.

Fast forward to the present. Melissa rebuilt her life, married, had a son and was a successful, best selling actor. But tragedy struck and, at the age of ten, her son died from a brain tumor. She and her husband divorced and she has been living a lonely, hermit-like life in the Berkshires, renovating her old house. Although she has been estranged from her sister Hattie for years, after a forest fire threatens her home and her life, Hattie reaches out to Melissa. Hattie is a nun and Melissa is her only family. After their meeting, when Hattie understands how devastating the Ireland experience was for her sister, she decides to search for Ashley herself. The search takes her from Ireland to California as she follows her own intuition and vague clues. Meanwhile Melissa slowly becomes less solitary and is tempted by a new relationship.

In Finding Ashley, Melissa and Hattie also find themselves. They begin to understand the reasons behind the life choices that they have made and, as they do, their relationship is strengthened. Danielle Steel writes beautiful fairy tales. You know that everything will end well and along the way, there will be gorgeous homes, meals and clothing. It’s escapist, readable and always satisfying. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Danielle Steel for this ARC.

This is a wonderful book about two sisters, Hattie and Melissa, They had lost touch, but then a wildfire brings them together, and they weather the storm that is life. Melissa tells her sister that she once gave up a child for adoption, and to surprise her, Hattie goes all the way to Ireland in search of her niece, thirty-three years after she was given up for adoption. Danielle Steel never disappoints!

This is another great book from Danielle Steel.

So many different emotions are dealt with throughout the book. We find out loss of family members, loss of relationship with a sister, and a family secret can affect someone for many years, yet that time can heal wounds bringing with it healed relationships, secrets shared and resolved and new found love.

You do not want to miss reading this one! I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Random House - Ballentine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and give my honest review

Nothing like a Danielle Steel book for themes on empathy, humility and tenderness. I often find her books to have a sort of caressing effect, especially on days when I have had a really tough day at work. Her books mostly have a central theme- which is- to find your voice!

Danielle Steel new books 2021
Finding Ashley is her latest book to be published in 2021 April. The book narrates a simple tale of a loving mom Melissa, her sorrows on losing an offspring to cancer and her longing to find her other lost child.

The Plot
Melissa Henderson lives a life of solitude. Nestled in the foothills is her rural home- a rather Victorian styled house, where she spends all her energy renovating and setting up. Melissa’s solitude stems from the tragedies that she has seen in her life. Having lost her young son to cancer, plus a marriage that ends in divorce, her life seems to have lost its purpose. A once thriving writer career as well has been abandoned by her.

When a wild forest fire breaks out and seems to threaten her home, Hattie, Melissa’s younger sister, gets in touch with her, after years of being away in a convent. Over an evening conversation, Melissa opens her heart out to her sister about the pain she carries and the fact that she was once an unwed mother. However, the child that was born out of wedlock was given away for adoption. Pained to hear this from her sister, Hattie decides to help her out. And thus she embarks on a journey of finding Melissa’s daughter- her Ashley. Will she find her? What would the emotions that play be like? Finding Ashley is yet another emotional saga of Danielle Steel. Read it if matters of the heart always give you that tug.

The Review
Finding Ashley is a contemporary drama of two strong women. It displays the strength of the human spirit and how it can go to any length to chase something that seems to be impossible. It touches on the universal-spiritual thought that when God closes one door he opens the other. Danielle Steel has put in all her energy and focus on Melissa, the protagonist. You can feel her pain as you read about her abusive childhood. Much as the plot may seem to be fairly simple and straightforward, the complexities in the relationships are well portrayed. Don’t expect any twists and turns in the plot though, rather I would say, expect the expected. The pace of the plot may seem to be slow initially, but it picks up over the course of the book. It’s a Danielle Steel so expect it to have oodles of teary moments. A remarkable read though, I must say; emotional to the core.

Quotes from the book
“It’s like a kaleidoscope, all the bright pieces get shaken up and form a new design periodically…It all happens the way it’s meant to, even if we don’t like it at times. But there is always a new chapter.”- Danielle Steel, Finding Ashley

The Verdict
Finding Ashley is simple, sweet and heart-warming. Danielle Steel fans are surely going to like this.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While Danielle Steel has become one of of my auto read authors, I haven’t enjoyed some of her more recent releases as much as some of her older books. This story, Finding Ashley, changed that for me. I was drawn into this story in ways I haven’t been with Steel’s books in such a long time! In this book, we follow two sisters on their paths to reconciliations and journey to finding who they really are. So much is revealed to them in this book. I loved the characters in this story, and I felt for them so much as they were dealing with all that happened to them. I felt as if I really knew them and were sympathizing with them. This was such a good read!

We meet Melissa Henderson as she is working on her house in the Berkshire mountains in Massachusetts for the past four years. She is good with being in the country away from her former life in New York and away from the people around her ever since her son died and her husband left. Four years ago she also left behind a successful career in publishing. She has also pushed her sister Hattie away every since she left Hollywood and became a nun. Melissa is fine with relying on herself and keeping herself busy with her house and keeping most of the people in town at a distance except when she needs advice about her house. Her supporters are Phil who owns the hardware store and her contractor, Norm. After a fire comes close to burning down her house, she gets a call from her sister. She goes to see the trial of the arsonist who set the fire on purpose and finding out that not only was he just a child, but also the conditions of his life makes her start to think about her own life and how drastically it could have changed had they not had each other. It prompts her to invite her sister for a visit. During this visit, truths come out which sets into motion a series of events that changes the lives of both sisters forever. Each sister goes on a personal mission to learn the truth about things from their past hoping for it to heal enough to bring them back to each other again and lay the past to rest.

Danielle Steel always manages to bring complexity to her characters and we find many layers to her characters. They are not always what they first appear to be and you find out more about them as you start peeling away the layers. What events from their past formed who Hattie and Melissa are today? Will letting them out and finding out the truths help them, or would it just have them relive the past and bring up more pain? Will they be able to move forward enough to let others in and create a brighter future? Going on a journey with these sisters kept me turning the page to see what they learned and what would happen to them.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Delacorte Press for this privilege.

I am a big Danielle Steel fan and have read many of her books but this one stands out from her usual books to me. I love how this one was written and how Danielle Steel poured her heart into these characters. Such a great read once again!

Melissa Henderson has had a great career as a best-selling author but when her 10 year old son gets cancer and ends up dying, everything changes for her. Melissa can't put anything into her marriage anymore and her husband ends up filling for a divorce. Melissa decides to move and buys a house that takes up most of her time now. Melissa keeps herself busy by renovating the home.

When a wildfire threatens her home and it ends up on the news, her sister Hattie calls to check on her. Melissa and Hattie have lost touch. Their parents' died at an early age and Melissa being the older one ended up taking care of Hattie and raising her. When Hattie decided that she was going to become a nun, Melissa got upset and hasn't really talked to her sister much since then. There are reasons that Melissa doesn't care for nun's.

Melissa and Hattie end up reconnecting and Hattie visits Melissa at her new home. Hattie knew that her sister had gotten pregnant at an early age but she did not know all the details. Hattie makes up her mind that she has to find the child that Melissa gave up when she was 16 years old. Melissa feels that she has nothing left really to live for and if Hattie could find that child, maybe, just maybe she would be able to help her sister have more hope to live for something.

The journey that Hattie takes is one that will cause her to re-evaluate her beliefs and what she is doing in her own life. Will she find the child that Melissa gave up(or had to give up) all those years ago? You will be drawn into this story from the beginning and won't want to put it down until you are done. A great read that had lots of heart in it!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

This is my 42nd Danielle Steel novel. My first was “The Promise” back in 1977; I was a big Danielle Steel fan and could not wait until her next novel was release. However, I now am more selective not the annual reads as “back in the day”. It seems the stories were soo similar, or perhaps my reading taste has changed. Psychological thrillers are now my typical “Go to” novels. .
I still have a soft spot for Ms. Steels stories as there have been some recent gems such as "The Dark Side|" as well as ‘The Neighbors”.
In this story the main character Melissa Henderson is a middle aged author, grieving mother, and recently divorcee and is trying to heal by staying in seclusion and renovating her 100 year old Victorian farm country home.
She gets a call from her sister Hattie, who is a nun living a religious life in a convent.
These two have not communicated with each other in years.
Years ago ~ 33 to be exact… Melissa got pregnant at 16, her parents put her in a convent where she would have her baby and give up for adoption ~ (thus the finding Ashley).
Controversy is that the nuns sold the “Adoptive Babies” for large amounts of money and not as a chartable thing!

.Hattie is concerned not so much about injustices done but she is willing for help find her niece.

As a mom of two adoptive daughters, this story got my attention. Neither my husband nor I ever hid the fact that our daughters were adopted and told them as much as we knew ~ which wasn’t a lot!

Story is okay not one of the “gems’ I mentioned earlier. Nor an “epic” story! But is okay!!⭐⭐⭐

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for this early release granted to me for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 27, 2021

Loved reading the amazing and engaging story written by outstanding, phenomenal author, Danielle Steel. When Melissa's son died of cancer six years ago, her life, marriage, and writing career ended, and her whole life's focus was renovating a house for herself. When Melissa was 16 years old and pregnant, her parents sent her away to give birth to her daughter and give her baby away. Even though all of the records have been burned, Melissa's sister, Hattie, a nun, wants to try to find out what happened to Melissa's daughter. Read the highly recommended and wonderfully written with engaging characters and a riveting storyline filled with forgiveness, heartbreak, mystery, and love.
I reviewed a copy of the book through NetGalley.

This was not my favorite Danielle Steele book but I still enjoyed it. This is about 2 estranged sisters and how they make their way back to each other and what they each have been through in their lives.