This was a great book with quite a few shocking surprises that were much appreciated. I would definitely recommend this to someone who loves a good book about family secrets.

Wow! What a story! I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. You learn in the beginning that Jonah wants to find his birth parents and that Luke doesn't. The story that unfolds of the lies Lena told to keep her boys safe is so well done. I highly recommend this book.

A beautifully told story that's at times very hard to read. A victim of domestic violence hides out in a remote area with her two adopted sons. Lena Blackwell finally feels like she has a little bit of room to breath and doesn't have to spend every second looking over her shoulders, but that all changes when her eldest son decides he is going to go look for his birth parents. This a door that Lena cannot allow to be kicked open because what waits on the other side is dangerous and deadly.

Anyone interested in books about dysfunctional families and secrets is going to enjoy Dark Rivers to Cross. The plot moved fast, and I enjoyed the setting in the woods. Reeves was able to create a sinister atmosphere when describing Davis and his actions, as well as the fear the other characters felt around him. Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of this book to read. It was good and suspenseful just started off very slow.

This book is one that most mystery books fans will really enjoy.
The plot had so many twists and turns I couldn’t put the book down
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery or thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC!

Author Lynne Reeves comes at you hard and fast with this book. Told from several points of view and at several different times, this story of a mother's determination and love doesn't let up the whole way.

I love a mystery, and I love a surprise ending.but I am learning that I don't love a domestic thriller. The major issue I had with this book is that the MAJOR PREMISE of this surprise ending that apparently all books of this genre are required to have ever since Gone Girl, makes absolutely no sense. SPOILERS: How are you going to pass off twin boys as one being two years younger than the first? Even ONE year!? It doesn't make sense. It was easy to get lost with the timing of the events in the last 50 pages of the book. The brothers are at a party, and then suddenly one is trying to find the other with no segue. Something that should take hours, also takes minutes. Also descriptions of people don't remain consistent and it is very distracting. In one paragraph the antagonist is doughy and round, the next, emaciated. The ending was very much told and not shown. There was also a random love triangle interest that was unnecessary and almost distracting to the main plot. I also really hated the whole twin telepathy thing...come on. I think major edits might make this book more readable.

Honestly I found the premise of this book completely ridiculous and overblown. It was a fun enough book if you sorta closed your eyes and ran through it...but don't look too carefully or it stops being believable and completely falls apart.

A well written novel with a great storyline. Lena Blackwell runs a River Lodge with "Coop" her friend and her two 'adopted' boys Jonah and Luke. Lena has built her life and the boys around with a history of lies after she escaped from a domestic violence situation. The story develops as Jonah searches for his own history with help from a reluctant Luke who feels he is where he happily belongs. Highly recommened read to all contemporary, mystery, thriller readers and well worth five (5) stars.

This novel was a great read. After reading the synopsis at first, I placed my " not liking this genre " mindset aside, and suddenly grew high expectations for this book. I must say, author Lynne Reeves did not disappoint.

Every character was relevant to the plot and in their rightful place. However, in the beginning I didn't like our protagonist Ms.Lena Blackwell too much. She came off as stiff to me. Then, as what she's been through and trying to cover up was fleshed out further within the novel, her frame of mind became understandable.

The arcs were believable and the themes presented dealt with real serious issues, domestic violence, mental health and family.

There were times while reading, the depth of certain phrases made me pause, and think; " He has become preoccupied, intimate with his own cruelty."

The ending was more than satisfying with no questions left unanswered, and at no point was the story dragged.
I highly recommend this engaging novel , to those who will route for mentally strong mothers, that sacrifice their comfort and even their lives, to protect their children.

HAPPY READING!❤

In this novel a mother and her two adopted sons live in northern Maine, where she runs a river lodge with the help of a caretaker. One of the sons wants to find out about his biological parents while the other is not interested. The mother is keeping secrets for the protection of her sons but it will all eventually come out. Abuse and violence are involved. Well-written story with fleshed-out characters who make decisions I could understand but not always agree with.

Dark Rivers to Cross is a story that follows Lena Blackwell and her two sons, Jonah and Luke, who, together, manage Church's Overlook, a successful river lodge in Northern Maine. Comfortable where he is, Luke's peace and quiet is upended when his adopted brother Jonah decides to go on an excursion to find his biological parents. Determined to thwart Jonah's mission, Lena's own plan is thrown into chaos by the arrival of old friends. Little does she know, Jonah has already gleaned enough information to set in motion a lethal reckoning. Luke may not want to know where he came from, but he's caught between the hard truths his brother is determined to expose and the devastating secret his mother is desperate to keep - at ANY cost.

I want to preface this by saying that I did not NOT enjoy the book, however, it just wasn't a hit for me. It's a 3.5 star read. It was fast paced and I breezed through it on my Kindle!

I found many of the plot twists to be predictable, leaving me with, 'okay, it's him', instead of, 'OMG IT'S HIM'.

I really enjoyed Lena's character! I thought she had GREAT character development and in the end, she turned out to be one of my favourites! We love a strong female lead.

Overall, I found this book to be thrilling, fast-paced, and PACKED with twists and turns! If you are a fan of any of what I just mentioned, then I would recommend this book for you.

This title will be released on November 8th, 2022.

Thank you once again to @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this!

Dark Rivers to Cross is a novel written by Lynne Reeves and published by Crooked Lane Books. In this novel, the story begins in Boston in 1993 with the Winslow brothers, who work in the same hospital and are medical professionals. Winfred and Marli Winslow are happily married and have no children. Davis Winslow is married to Carolina Bennett. Unfortunately, their relationship is not healthy. Carolina was hospitalized for cuts and bruises frequently and once for a miscarriage.

In Maine, nineteen years later, Lena Blackwell runs a river lodge called Church’s Overlook Inn. Lena is the mother of two adopted boys, Jonah and Luke. All she ever wanted to do was to protect her boys from their painful past. What dark secret is Lena keeping from her boys? Lena became very nervous when Jonah asked questions about his parents, and her pleas to leave the matter fell on deaf ears. Luke enjoys taking the guests on hikes and on the kayaks, not sharing the same concerns about his parents.

Coop is the maintenance man at the Inn and is ten years older than Lena. He is protecting Lena from all she was hiding, and they became good friends. Coop is Lena’s confidant, and she shares her secret with him.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and it kept me in suspense until the end. This book’s exceptionally well edited and has a strong plot. Very well done. I rate this book five out of five stars.

Thank you NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for The Mothers Secret by Katheryn Croft. This book is more the works/genre of women’s fiction than a thriller. Quick read. Slow start then had my full attention but the ending ended in a rush.
The story is told in Eve POV in both past and present chapters. After four miscarries Eve finally has a child, Kayla. She can not bond with her daughter and picks up and leaves when Kayla is 3 months old. She returns 2 years later wanting to be in Kayla’s life/mum. From the storyline we know Eve has a secret that is eating at her. Is the secret preventing her from bonding with the baby?
Eve’s husband, Aiden, has moved on while raising Kayla for the past 2 years. He has a steady girlfriend that Kayla calls Mum. He loved his wife and was very hurt with her sudden walk out. Of course, now present time, he fights to protect his daughter, and not want Kayla hurt by Eve. But. . . . She is Kayla’s mom……
I give this book a 3/5 star rating. I think if it didn’t end so rushed I would have given it a 4 star. Again more women fiction vs thriller.

This was a good read! The story was interesting, it was fast-paced and I loved the multiple perspectives. Trigger warning for domestic violence. I loved this book.

Overall, a pretty good novel that didn’t quite live up to the hype that seemed to be building. The climax was actually a bit anti-climactic. But I did find that I was anxious to uncover more to the backstory which unfolded easily.

flew through Dark Rivers to Cross, finding each session with this book enjoyable and compelling. Author Lynne Reeves gently reveals the story of a woman, Lena Blackwell, who has escaped domestic and family violence. Her book shows how choosing to use violence against your spouse is also a parenting choice, as the violence has long-running ramifications for her children. It also shows the lengths the non-offending parent will go to in order to protect her children, and how in doing so, that she often pays a price in the mother–child bond when she is forced to choose between safety and honesty.

One thing Dark Rivers To Cross does very well is describe the state of hyper-vigilance women escaping domestic and family violence experience: "you should be able to draw a deep breath. Yet your lungs won't fill, and you wonder if perhaps your body senses traces of him clinging to the drapes, worked into the fabric of the sofa." The abuser is omnipresent, and women like Lena often use rituals to help them cope with inhabiting a world where the perpetrator of violence walks around unhindered. This book also describes the way women experiencing domestic and family violence learn to read and navigate the moods of the violent perpetrator: "By being conciliatory. Keeping her voice calm and low. Orchestrating every movement with fluidity."

The mystery element of the book comes as the children age and become more curious about their origins. It's all wrapped up in a well-expressed book where the landscape, particularly the waterways of the Penobscot River, is as much a character as Lena and her boys, Jacob and Luke.

A very good book with very intrrguing characters. there where moments my heart broke for these characters and some of the choices they made along the way. Thought it was very well written and i would definitively read more from this author in the future.

Dark Rivers to cross is an emotionally thrilling read! I never knew those two things could go together but Lynne Reeves pulled it off! This one truly blew me away and I didn't want to put it down!

Dark Rivers to Cross by Lynne Reeves is an emotionally thrilling dark mystery centred around a mother who will sacrifice everything to keep her children safe. At the heart of the story are lies and secrets from the past.

The storyline might trigger a few readers because of the graphic descriptions of trauma, abuse, and violence, so I would advise readers who are sensitive to these issues to proceed with caution. The author has clearly indicated this by sharing a content warning at the very beginning.
Lena Blackwell lives in Millinocket, Maine, running a successful river lodge along with a friend, Coop. Church’s Overlook, the family Inn sheltered by acres of pine forest stretches along the Penobscot River. Her two sons, Jonah and Luke, were both adopted when they were just a few years old. The boys know nothing about their birth parents as Lena hasn’t been forthcoming with details.

Their peaceful lives are in upheaval when Jonah expresses his desire to know more about his birth parents. To his indignation, Luke doesn’t want to know anything and refuses to be a part of his mission. But as Jonah proceeds with his investigation, secrets come tumbling from the closet, putting them all in the face of the very danger Lena had been trying to protect them from.

Even though the premise is not completely new, the story is quite exciting. The dual narrative and dual timelines make it an interesting read. Reeves has done a wonderful job of building intrigue and suspense while revealing the secrets from the past at a good pace. The sub-plots and unexpected twists are seamlessly integrated with the main storyline and have been resolved in a satisfying manner.
I really loved the natural surroundings where most of the story takes place. It would be really wonderful to settle down in one of those rustic cabins surrounded by the pine forest with a gurgling river flowing right beside and read this book once again!

While all the characters are well-developed, each with their respective battles and challenges, I really loved the way Luke’s character evolves during the story. Lena’s actions though leave one with questions, but I feel they are justified considering the trauma she has undergone, and her children’s safety.

Dark Rivers to Cross explores trauma and abuse in a sensitive and thrilling manner, while never moving away from Lena, the central character holding the plot together. Apart from inherent trauma and abuse, familial love, sibling bond, love, and friendship are the other theme threads weaving this story together.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lynne Reeves, and the publisher, Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

(4.5 stars)

For two decades, Lena Blackwell has kept her sons at her side, teaching them everything she knows about running their successful river lodge in Northern Maine. But what she really wants is to keep her boys in the dark about their tragic past.
Brilliantly written, that kept me hooked from the first page. At times I just couldn’t read quick enough to find out what was going to happen next.