Thank you to Park Row Books and JT Ellison for my copy of It’s One of Us! It was highly anticipated by one of my favorite writers. The book was about Olivia, a home designer who just wants to have a baby. She has tried IVF multiple times and thinks she hit rock bottom. Then the police show up and accuse her husband Park of being the father of a murder suspect. Olivia knows it’s a mistake…until she finds out it isn’t. Park has not been entirely truthful, and when his secrets combine with Olivia’s, will it hurt or help the murder investigation?

Thoughts: This book was so full of twists and I loved it. The DNA and sperm donor aspect was so interesting and unique. There was a huge trigger warning for infertility and pregnancy loss, which I knew going in, but there were some parts that were hard to read. The different chapters and perspectives made the story so interesting and we got lots of new and interesting information. I liked all the perspectives the same, which rarely happens for me so that was a lot of fun.

This is a thriller but has a lot more emotional depth to it than your average story. She is a great writer and the author’s note at the end was super personal and added a lot to the story for me. There were lots of twists and the ending was a lot of fun. 4.5 stars for this great and mysterious story!

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

A WOW read with a GREAT title!!

Another treatment, another month, another disappointment.

Olivia desperately wants a baby, but it always ends in a miscarriage.

When a dead body is found and DNA at the scene links the killer to her husband, Park, many questions get asked.

How can you have a child? 

Were you unfaithful? 

Did you know you had a child?

It turns out that Park donated sperm during his post-graduate days, and he has children all over the place.

We then meet Darby and find out her daughter is one of Park's children too and she belongs to a group like her mother that discusses the subject of sperm donation and how they all are siblings.

The children in the group worry now that one of their half siblings is the murderer and wonder if they are in danger if he is seeing all the messages being sent back and forth in the group.

All of this leads to lots of drama, secrets, surprises, and intense situations that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Another excellent read for fans of J. T. Ellison. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

I liked this one. I’m a fan of J T Ellisons books. I liked the back and forth between characters and was able to visualize the story well. The characters had alot of depth and enjoyed this thriller.

This is a go to author for a great thriller, and she did not disappoint!
From DNA to infertility, a woman's journey to have a child of her own, and a husband discovering he has over two dozen children.
What a great concept and we are there as the facts unfold, but we are kept on the edge of our seat as bodies turn up, and disturbing happenings develop! Past soon meets the present, but surprises abound, and most I never saw coming!
A must read, you won't be able to put it down!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review.

It's One of Us
by J.T. Ellison
Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
Mira
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
This is my favorite book by this author. A spine-tingling mystery that had me guessing till the end. I am recommending it highly! Olivia Bender designs exquisite home interiors that satisfy the most demanding clients. But her own deepest desire can’t be fulfilled by marble counters or the perfect rug. She desperately wants to be a mother. Fertility treatments and IVF keep failing. And just when she feels she’s at her lowest point, the police deliver shocking news to Olivia and her husband, Park.

DNA results show that the prime suspect in a murder investigation is Park’s son. Olivia is relieved, knowing this is a mistake. Despite their desire, the Benders don’t have any children. Then comes the confession. Many years ago, Park donated sperm to a clinic. He has no idea how many times it was sold—or how many children he has sired.

As the murder investigation goes deeper, more terrible truths come to light. With every revelation, Olivia must face the unthinkable. The man she married has fathered a killer. But can she hold that against him when she keeps such dark secrets of her own?
5 stars definitely

It was a thrilling ride to the end! The story had twists and turns throughout, unveiling of secrets along the way. Trying to figure out who did what and who was lying was never ending and kept me guessing until the final chapter. Well crafted suspenseful thriller.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This is one lf my favorite books by this author. It’s about a couple struggling with fertility, when one day, a cop shows up to tell the husband that one of his children are being investigated for murder. The wife is confused because they don’t have kids. Turns out he donated to a sperm bank many years ago…. I loved it!

I would definitely recommend this book. The story is great, the chapters are short and bounce back and forth with Olivia and Park. The idea that something like this could happen is a bit scary. Sometimes you don't really know someone as well as you assumed. Thank you, #NetGalley#Mira#ItsOneofUs

The premise of It’s One of Us is Profound. The idea that donated sperm can father close to 30 children is insane and for all of those offspring to be wanting to meet their father? This is good stuff. The writing is superb and I could not devour it fast enough. This book is practically perfect.

Interesting plot about a woman who suffers multiple miscarriages during in vitro. When the police arrive at their door, she discovers that her husband has unintentionally fathered multiple children after his sperm donation was used too many times by a fertility clinic. One of these children has just murdered a woman. Somehow everyone is connected in this fast-paced thriller by J.T. Ellison. An enjoyable read and a moving book on infertility.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of It's One of Us.

The premise sounded interesting and it began promisingly but it quickly derailed.

First, It's One of Us contains many stereotypical tropes typical of this genre:

Both wife and husband are harboring secrets.

The wife mentions frequently how hot and charming her husband is.

I appreciate the author spotlighting infertility and the emotional and physical and mental toll conceiving a child takes, but I'm tired of the female main character struggling with having a child. Not every woman wants a child.

Second, there are too many POVs, and very little character development.

You don't connect with anyone, much less the murderer.

My next point: don't reveal the identity of the killer midway through the book. I feel like I've wasted time reading up to that point.

Third, there are too many things going on; a love triangle, multiple donor children, constant revelations, (which aren't suspenseful by the time the detectives show up at Park and Olivia's house for the second time), constant lying and deceit by Park and Olivia.

The narrative became silly and hard to suspend disbelief for. Fast.

Fourth, Olivia and Park aren't sympathetic characters. I get what Olivia is going through, but her whiny, self serving behavior didn't make me empathize with her. For someone with a successful career, her self esteem and self worth depended too much on a man.

Fifth, I'm still not sure I believe in the identity of the killer. Why did he develop his obsession with Olivia? Why her?

It felt contrived, as if the author had to pick someone as the killer and eeny, miney, moe, settled on this dude.

The ending is Lifetime-y, a happy-ish ending for all involved, not quite, but more realistic than all the events that came before.

This book explores lots of moral issue underneath a well written story of a marriage falling apart due to secrets and another family having to face some awful truths. Lots of things to for students to discuss and think about while reading an interesting and tense story

I may be in the minority here, but I felt like it started out pretty slowly. I didn’t really get into it until about halfway through, then it was a page turning thriller. I definitely enjoyed the plot line, but I think I expected more from JT Ellison based on her previous work that I LOVED.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this title. Olivia thinks she has an almost perfect marriage to her husband. They have been trying to have a child for several years, and Olivia has undergone multiple rounds of IVF. After a knock on the door from the police to question her husband about a murder of a woman Olivia knew tangentially, she discovers that her husband had donated sperm to a clinic, and has potentially fathered almost 100 children! As Olivia processes this betrayal, we are privy to the history of her relationship with her husband and his family, a nurse across town whose children are the product of the donation, and a murder that occurred while Olivia's husband was in college.

The plot moves swiftly, and both the character and setting descriptions draw the reader in. I had an inkling who the current killer was, but the surprise at the end was extremely satisfying!

Highly recommend!

This was an excellent thriller that I found impossible to put down. I actually binged the whole book in less than 12 hours (because I had to sleep), and while I was sure I had all the answers early on, the ending left me extremely surprised.

Synopsis: One evening Olivia and her husband, Park, get a knock on their door that changes their lives forever. The police are investigating a local murder and DNA tests reveal the prime suspect to be Park’s son. Despite their desire and years of trying, Olivia and Park do not have any children. With that news comes a confession Park thought would stay hidden forever: he donated his sperm back in graduate school and has no idea how many children he may have.

Thoughts: The pacing of this book was amazing! Told through seven points of view with all relatively short chapters, I was racing through the pages. While this may seem like a lot of perspectives, each one was vital to the story and added the necessary element of suspense to keep you guessing and paint the full picture. A big part of this story deals with infertility and miscarriage. It wasn’t until I read the author’s note and acknowledgments at the end, where she talks about her own infertility struggles, that I understood the true inspiration and motivation for the story. While it is a thriller and the book encompasses all that we expect for this genre, there was an emotional element to it that I really loved and know people will connect with.

Read if you like:
-Whodunit thrillers
-Multiple perspectives and short chapters
-Secrets and lies
-Nature versus nurture debate
-Jar of Hearts

Thank you HTP for the ARC. Pub date: 2/21/23

What I liked:
The honesty of Olivia’s struggles with having a baby. It felt genuine and honest.
Darby
Perry and Liv reuniting.

What I was disappointed over/ didn’t like:
Park. He was just awful. Darby was too good for him.
The way Peyton was introduced in the beginning did not add up in the plot. Was it a misdirect? It felt like the author started writing him before deciding he was the killer. I didn’t feel like his motive was clear- it got really convoluted with no real closure.
Detective Moore- I expected to hear more about her backstory given how empathetic she was to the miscarriage.
No happy ending for perry and liv?! Really? After all that. The ending felt rushed and not satisfying.

Oh my goodness this was a great read!
IT’S ONE OF US by @thrillerchick kept me on my damn toes from beginning to end.

Olivia and Park Bender have the idyllic life in an idyllic home but when the police come knocking one morning linking Park to a recent murder, they have to reckon with things in both of their pasts.

While I’m college Park donated sperm to a bank that was only supposed to use is ten times. He finds about 28 children that have his DNA and one of them is a serial killer.

Olivia is supremely pissed at Park for not telling her, namely because she has fertility issues and just lost another baby. The notion that Park has so many bio children in the world irks her to no end.

Supporting characters include Park’s brother who Olivia once had a fling with, and Park’s sister, also Olivia’s best friend.

The ending to me was bittersweet and SHOCKING!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to @htpbooks & @_mira_books_ for my #gifted book!

TW: Infertility, miscarriage
What an intriguing premise! Park and Olivia are married and have had multiple miscarriages/infertility issues. It becomes known that a murderer has matched to being a son of Park's, but that's impossible since they don't have children, right? However, Park donated sperm in his college days and come to find out - he has dozens of children out there and one happens to be a killer.
This is told from multiple perspectives, which I liked. I did find it somewhat repetitive in the middle and tied up too nicely at the end. The other thing I didn't like (which I'm being very picky about here) is all the "P" names: Park, Perry, Peyton. It just bothered me!
Anyway - a solid novel. Nothing too shocking.

Keep me listening! I enjoyed this book a lot! It was easy, enjoyable, not overly complicated , enjoyable book. I will recommend because of those reasons. Topic was fresh.