This took me quite a while to get into. It is well written if a bit character driven for me. The characters are well written and original woth plenty secrets to be uncovered. It wasn't the most surprising but it was a decent enough story

Vivacia Williams has lived in the small village of Wolf's Pit all her life. She lives in the house that was once her grandmother's but who gave it to her & moved in with Vivacia's mother just along the lane- along with the stern warning to keep the deeds in her name. Good advice as Vivacia's husband is a nasty bully who makes her life a misery. She longs to be a mother & had enjoyed fostering until Charles stopped that by fooling the authorities that she couldn't cope. Charles was always coming & going & after a year she starts to breathe easily again. When she finds two malnourished non verbal children in the fields behind her house she decided this is her chance to be a mother- after all no-one seems to want them do they? Then a body is found & Vivacia has even more reasons to keep quiet.

This was an enjoyable read even if it did stretch probability a bit too much at times. The author captured the setting very well- I felt I knew the area & the residents Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I’m left more confused than thrilled by this book. The start is very slow but it does beef up a bit as it gets towards the half way point. Unfortunately though it wasn’t one I could really recommend.

A decent average thriller. I enjoyed this and found it easy to fly through, it wasn't bad at all just nothing particularly mind blowing in my personal opinion.

I did not like this book very much. I could not get into the story of the book. Sorry I did not like this book.

This is an odd and interesting story.

It’s full of sadness and mystery and it definitely doesn’t go where you expect it to.

Some of the secrets weren’t terribly surprising. Otheres, however, were quite horrifying.

I don’t know that I loved the way everything ended, but I definitely enjoyed the read.

• ARC via Publisher

I didn’t love this but I didn’t hate it either, I thought it was a really slow starting and some of the twists were predictable. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. I’d recommend this to people who prefer a slow burn thriller.

2.5 ROUNDED UP ⭐️
———————
Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for the opportunity to review this book.

This is a great read and a well-detailed plot that kept me engaged from the very start. I liked the well-thought-out characters and found them to be believable. I cannot wait to read what the author publishes next.

Vivacia, a woman who lives in the countryside, has been alone since her husband departed a year ago. She's a seasoned foster-parent, dreams of being a mother, a hope that appears to be fading.

Suddenly, she stumbles upon two young children who are lost and alone nearby. Are they lost? They don't look very healthy, maybe they've been abducted and managed to escape? That's for you to find out.

Featuring a variety of very realistic characters, this psychological thriller is a superbly plotted story. The community showcases a range of personalities, some likeable and others not, but they are all portrayed in a beautiful way despite occasional tensions.

Some twists in this story may be predictable for seasoned thriller fans, but the sheer number of twists will undoubtedly satisfy even the most demanding reader! This was incredible and I highly endorse it. I’m excited to see what else this author has written.

Many thanks to @canelo_co @jmhewitt & @Netgalley for the chance to review it.

A gated community becomes the perfect place to hide secrets. Or is it? Lost children and extreme measures to keep hold of them.

Perfect read for those who enjoy:
- dark thrillers
- Suspense
- Dual timeline.

With thanks to Netgalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. You should read it!

Good book. Took me a few chapters to get all the way into the book but when I did I really enjoyed it. Just slow in a few parts.

Unfortunately, after reading 66 pages, I just could not get into this book, which is unusual for J.M. Hewitt, and disappointing for me as I’d been looking forward to it.

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. It’s not a bad book, I just struggled to get my head around what was going on. I also sadly couldn’t connect to the characters.

Vivacia longed to be a mother, when lo and behold, two kids essentially fall into her lap. This book was full of twist and turns, and I was not disappointed!

A woman who lives alone and is no longer allowed to foster children finds a boy and girl next to the centuries old well behind her property and brings them home. The children are filthy and refuse to speak. Their skin is a troubling shade of green. The first few chapters of this book left me extremely confused and wondering whether the children were real or a figment of Vivacia's imagination. Based on the cover and description, I expected this to be a typical domestic thriller, but things in the gated community are a lot more complex, especially after a heavy rainstorm floods the old well and a body literally bubbles to the surface. It's definitely different and left me trying to figure a lot of things out.

Seemingly Perfect..
A seemingly perfect village - a seemingly perfect place to bury secrets. When Vivacia Williams finds two lost children she feels that what has been lost in her own life has suddenly been found. She will do anything to keep them. But, can such a big secret be kept in Wolf’s Pit? As circumstances conspire, it is not too long before the whole community is under incredible scrutiny and dark secrets may well out. A carefully plotted, emotionally astute psychological suspense with a tension fuelled plot populated with a deftly drawn cast, a narrative underlined with menace and a well imagined backdrop.

Thankyou for allowing me to read this ahead of being released

Unfortunately I really struggled to get into this book. I didn't like the way it was written and it seemed quite boring. I gave up around 8% of the way in

Oh oh! This is like the story of the little green children who came about one day in the the 1300s or whenever! I love that story. How fun to see it presented in a modern way.
I didn't get attached to our desperate to me a mother protagonist but I would probably try to keep those babies too. I hated Charles and I love hating husbands in books.
This was ultimately weird and creepy and I love it.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Really enjoyed this read! Vivacia is our lead character who resides in a small family oriented community. This novel bounces back and forth from current state to Vivacia's past of being a foster mother and her distructive relationship with her husband. We slowly piece together the background of their relationship and the impact it has had on Vivacia's life and her dream of being a parent. When Vivacia comes across two lost children, she felt it was fate that they were coming to her, but how would the public handle it? Therefore, she kept another secret of keeping them in her realm until should could better understand what was happening. So many twists up until the very end!