Cinnamon has her life all set- she has survived a childhood in care homes, got herself a good career, and a handsome husband. She also has a regular lunch date with a new friend Daisy, who she shared fries with in the park. But one day Cinnamon turns up for lunch to find Daisy is no where to be found…instead there is a newborn baby, who sets off a chain of consequences that alters several lives.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was really thought provoking and heart wrenching. I was really rooting for Cinnamon through all the obstacles and prejudice she faced as a black woman caring for a white baby. I really cared about her and was invested in what happened with Bluebell. It was a little predictable at times and I felt like when things developed towards the end of the book uncharacteristically quickly.
Nevertheless, this book will stay for me for a long time. I definitely want to read the next book by these authors.

Thank you to the authors, publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful story of two women whose worlds collide in the unlikeliest of ways. Both women have experienced hardship in different ways in their childhoods and become connected by the birth of Daisy’s first child. Their backstory’s are carefully intertwined with present day events in both the voice of cinnamon and Daisy throughout the book.

There are lots of themes explored in the book; relationships, childhood, love, loss, racism, white privilege, growing up in the care system and many more. It’s a thought provoking book which would be good to discuss in a book group.

I really enjoyed reading this. It was a book I became quickly engaged in and will think about long after reading it. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers and authors who let me read this advance copy.

Another triumph!

A beautiful, heart wrenching book looking at what it means to be family. A book full of wonderful/wonderfully awful characters. The story is a heart breaking one of a woman who decides to give up her child, and another woman who finds her.

The book covers difficult topics such as abuse, homelessness, care, race and family. How do we know where we belong? Does it matter if we look like those who love us?

An emotional roller-coaster of a read, and I loved every minute!

I've read 20% and I'm just not gelling with the book.
I wanted complete raw emotion but I'm not connecting with any of the characters. I want to and I'll probably pick the book up again some other time.

But for now this book is a not right now (NRN) book for me.

Cinnamon Haynes is grateful for what little she's got - including her imperfect husband Jayson, their cosy house in Sibley Bay, her first real best friend in Lucia and her job as a guidance counsellor. When she finds an abandoned baby in the park where she used to eat lunch with her young friend Amanda 'Daisy' Jacobs, Cinnamon finds herself wanting something in a way that she never knew was possible. Another fun, soapy read from Pride and Piazza featuring a foul-mouthed Reverend, a courtroom battle and a whole lot of love.

Cinnamon has had to fight through a life in the care system to get where she is today, happily (?) married to a man who is very different to her, who strives to push forward in the world with schemes and plans while she tries to keep in the background, helping others and not standing out. Crucially, no one, her husband or her best friend, knows about her upbringing.

When Cinnamon finds a blonde, blue-eyed baby in the park, she has to work through how people might see a Black woman with a White baby, how people might see a Black man with the same - more negatively, obviously - how to care for said baby and how to keep her from falling into the same system that almost destroyed her.

Gathering hitherto undiscovered resources, she turns outward from her beloved books to the world, trying to trace the mum with the help of her best friend, after they've worked through some issues of their own, managing on her own with the unlikely support of a feisty young social worker she has to learn to trust, and making connections with past lives and finally being truthful about her own.

Meanwhile, a young woman is writing a journal to her baby daughter as she goes on the run. Will she return to help save her?

Review will be published on 26 July on my blog https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2023/07/26/book-review-christine-pride-and-jo-piazza-you-were-always-mine/

Another thought provoking read by the duo Christine Pride and Jo Piazza that was hard to put down. Cinnamon Hayes is a wonderful character that I fell in love with, such a kind loving woman despite all the knocks life has given her.

When Cinnamon finds an abandoned new born baby she decides to look after it herself while she tries to find the mother. The novel explores race by showing the reactions of Cinnamons friends, family and the authorities to a black woman caring for a white baby. Her capacity for love and forgiveness was very powerful and I really enjoyed the way she finds her voice and allows herself to become vulnerable.

The story is told through the voice of Cinnamon and the baby's mother Daisy, the letters that Daisy writes to her child were very moving and really showed the predicament she was in and the love she had for her child despite leaving her.

A really sensitive and empathetic read that explores motherhood, race, friendship and being truthful to those you love. I really enjoyed reading it. It would be the perfect read for a book club.

You Were Always Mine is a beautiful story about Cinnamon a black woman who makes friends with a young girl on her lunch break over a couple of years. One day she disappears and Cinnamon is worried about her. As there are no real clues as to how she can be found, Cinnamon has to hope she'll turn up safely. She's not prepared for what turns up instead...a beautiful baby with a note tucked into her carrier,a note that wants her to be a mother and look after this baby..One thing she hasn't been honest about is that her life is and was not ideal as she made it out to be.
This is a story with a lot of content, complex situations but great characters, as they emerge in Cinnamon's life and her battle for the baby.. It's a substantial read which will keep you reading till the wee hours!
I received this free arc book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #HarperCollins, #christinepride, #jopiazza.

Cinnamon befriends a young girl Daisy who she met on a park bench while on her lunch break, then one day Daisy is not there but a newly born baby girl with a note to Cinnamon saying take her baby and bring her up from Daisy.
The only problem is Cinnamon is black and Daisy`s baby is white, which is a problem when the baby has to go into hospital the social services intervene and Cinnamon has to attend lessons to foster the baby who she has named bluebell until the parents are found.
The story deals with racism, foster care and abuse which is dealt with very sympathetically with very likeable main characters.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC
Posted to Goodreads

Cinnamon Hayes has fought hard for a life she never thought was possible. - a good man by her side, a steady job as a career councilor at a local community college, and a cosy house in a quaint little beach town. Her life's mantra is to be good, quiet, grateful. Until something shifts and Cinnamon is suddenly haunted by a terrifying "Is that all there is?"

Daisy Dunlop has had her own share of problems. in her nineteen years in earth - she also has her own big dreams for a life that's barely begun. Her hopes for her future are threatened when she gets unexpectedly pregnant. Desperate, broke and alone, she hides this development from everyone close to her and then makes a drastic decision with devastating consequences.

Having two authors writing different chapters gives this story a different aspect. It's also deep and well written with complex layers. The story is told from Cinnamon and Daisy's perspectives. The pace was steady. It did take me a little while to get into this book, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

I would like to thank #Netgalley #HQ and the authors #ChristinePryde and #JoPiazzi for my ARC of #YouWereAlwaysMine in exchange for an honest review.

You Were Always Mine tells the story of Cinnamon, a Black woman who was raised in the foster system, and Daisy, a young White girl who abandons her newborn for Cinnamon to take care of. The book explores several issues such as childhood trauma, abuse, foster care, racism, marital discord, friendship, and motherhood. The authors, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza, do such a good job on introducing situations involving racism and implicit bias that really make the reader think. This is an excellent book! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC of this five star-book.

Another great book by the duo authors. As previous book, it deals with relevant and important issues that surround race and identity. It made me very emotional just as much as the first book What makes a family and child-mother bond. How much do DNA and race matter? I still feel like their books are a bit too wordy at times and I lose focus because of that, but all in all this book is great for readers who love books by authors like Jodie Picoult. Looking forward to the next book.

I have read the previous book by these authors and really enjoyed this one as well. I love the issues they tackle within the books and having two different races writing the book i think works really well as you get to hear from different experiences, thoughts and look at things from different points of views.

We begin by meeting Cinnamon who is worried when her friend Daisy doesn't turn up for lunch one day. They usually meet on a Friday and share a Wendy's. Just as she is about to return to work she hears a noise and finds a baby. Just as she is about to take her to the police station she finds a note! This is a look at race, foster care system, family and the urge to do the right thing but what if you don't know what that is....

Loved this book and topics covered. I will be recommending to others and looking forward to another book from these two :)

I thoroughly enjoyed Christine Pride and Jo Piazza's previous novel 'We Are Not Like Them' so looked forward to reading this one. The premise of a black woman finding a white baby and trying to adopt her made for a good book. It deals with race, abuse and friendships in a sensitive but also thought provoking manner. At times you do feel like shouting at Cinnamon and the next minute you're rooting for her to cross the next hurdle. Exploring the main characters and their back stories made for an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley, the authors and publisher for an arc.

You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza is a really powerful, contemporary novel that consumed me from the start.
Once again, the two authors have produced a marvellous novel, after their fabulous debut book We Are Not Like Them.
Where to begin?... I loved so much about this book it is hard to know what to discuss first. This is a book about love, social injustice, racism, prejudice and pre-conceived ideas leading to judgement.
Cinnamon, the leading lady, is very likable. She is a product of the school of hard knocks but is an over-comer. She was brought up in the social care system which failed her on every level. She saw close up just what was wrong with the system. Now an adult, she is determined to change the system from within, determined that no child in her care will ever feel unwanted.
As an African American woman, Cinnamon has been a victim of both open, and convert racism. “ ‘You know, Cinnamon, you’re the first coloured friend I have ever had’, with the proudest look on her face like she’d earned the hardest Girl Scout badge.” The reader’s heart just weeps.
To see a black woman with a white baby, American society assumes she is the nanny. To see a black man with a white baby, American society assumes he is an abductor. But to see a white couple with a black baby, American society applauds. Clearly something seriously needs to change.
Coming through the care system Cinnamon is used to being let down. “She loved the idea of God, but lodged deep within her was the fear that He would be on the long list of people who forsake her.” Cinnamon has a default setting to expect disappointment, even from God. She has tried to lock up her heart. “If you didn’t get attached to people, they couldn’t hurt you.”
To live in isolation is heart-breaking. “You could crave a hug as badly as you crave food.” We need to love and to be loved.
There is a beautiful friendship between Cinnamon and a white teen called Daisy. It is a meeting of hearts as they love, encourage and trust each other. They both have pure hearts in spite of their upbringings – Daisy’s grandfather was a white supremacist but none of his evil permeated Daisy’s soul.
We learn lessons from nature. “Letting go of what doesn’t serve you in order to take on the next long and arduous journey.” Let go of the past hurts and move into a fresh future.
No matter what our conception was or how we were brought up, “a child is always a blessing – no matter what colour he or she is.”
You Were Always Mine really is a story out of the top drawer. It will make you think as we witness just what is wrong with society today. It will make your heart break for the racial and social injustice. And it will swell your heart with love as we follow Cinnamon, who, despite her hard life, is full of love.
This is a book that demands a response from us. We should feel out-raged at the inequality between the sexes, the classes and the races. We cannot read this book and not be moved by all the many issues raised.
I cannot wait for more from the fabulous writing duo of Christine Pride and Jo Piazza.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

I found this book a slow starter but after the first chapter I was captured and this is a great emotional story and had me gripped.
The story is written from Cinammon and Daisy’s perspectives and I could understand why Daisy felt she had to abandon her baby. When Cinammon is the woman who finds her and decides to keep the baby and the struggles really tugged at my heartstrings.
Overall a great book that pulls you in and I thoroughly enjoyed the story well done.
Thanks to NetGalley & HQ for a ARC for a honest review,

This was an unexpectedly well written book which despite (or maybe because) it having two authors, was seemless. The characters were well developed and the reader is immediately immersed in the story. I found myself asking what would I do if I found an abandoned baby whose mother was known to me? The book also challenges racial stereotypes and again I found myself becoming upset at how society would judge differently a white parent with a black child as opposed to a black parent with a white child. Hopefully books like this one which aren’t afraid to tackle these difficult subjects will help educate and everyone can learn.

What begins as a fairly simple story of a strange friendship soon becomes a more intense look at racism and social care.
Cinnamon is just lovely and I can well imagine why Daisy trusts her, but as the story unfolds there are some really difficult moments where the judgements that should have been left in the far past are still ever present and that makes for some uncomfortable moments for the reader (as it should).

The most simple but yet also very complex theme of this book is love.
I thought Cinnamon was a terrific character. She had embellished her past to hide the pain, but gives her all for the little baby she finds.
The baby is white and Cinnamon is black, which creates conflict and tension.
Every child needs a parent and to be loved.
I liked Cinnamon’s persistence and devotion to the baby.
It’s a compelling read.

Cinnamon Haynes is taking her lunch on the bench where she always sits, on a break from her job as a career counsellor at a local college, yet her world – that carefully managed system that she’s worked so hard to create around her – is about to turn upside down. A noise in the bushes leads her to an abandoned crying baby, no more than a few days old. Cinnamon’s own upbringing in and out of the foster system gives her first hand knowledge of the challenges that await this baby, if she were to hand the infant over to the authorities. After weighing the odds she decides to take the baby home, and risk revealing the truth of her own concealed past to her husband, unsettling an already shaky marriage. On top of this, Cinnamon is Black, and the baby is fair-skinned and blue-eyed, and it feels as though the entire world is grim-faced at the thought of a Black woman raising a white baby: yet with every second that passes, her connection to the baby – who she calls Bluebell – begins to deepen, and she knows her only priority is to do right by the child. Yet where is Bluebell’s real mother? A cleverly-written book that’s a painful read in parts: the racism and hardship experienced by Cinnamon throughout her life is magnified during her attempt to care for Bluebell, yet her immediate instinctive desire to mother the child transcends any surface-level difference, and highlights the prejudices inherent within the world of adoption and fostering. Who gets to decide who should be a mother?