Homecoming

3.5 Stars

“Homecoming” was previously released as “Secrets in the Shadows” by T.L. Haddix.

Lauren was traumatized by her best friend's father when she was 16 years old. Lauren went on to marry and have a daughter, but she was never comfortable around me, her husband included. They divorced after a few years, but have remained good friends. Their daughter is growing up in two loving homes.

Charlie Clark has had his own share of issues that need to be resolved... and to his credit, he is trying. Charlie is a private investigator and he's happy with that, but he wants more out of life. He wants a home, a loving wife, a family. Rumble the cat helps, but it's not enough.

When he meets Lauren, it's love at first sight. Not quite first sight for Lauren, but she definitely feels a pull. She's scared and excited, usually both at the same time. But Charlie is willing to be patient for as long as it takes for her to come to trust her.

When Lauren's past rears its ugly head, she has no choice but to turn to Charlie for professional help... even if it means telling him the entire truth about what happened years ago.

Someone has targeted Lauren and her bakery story and Charity Vaughn, an art galley owner. What is their connection and who would want to hurt ... or kill ... both of them?

This is the first of a series, and I confess .... I started with Book 2. I would highly recommend reading these books in order .. will make much more sense without any spoilers.

This is billed as a Romantic Suspense, but it reads more like a romance. The suspense is very low key, the suspect is identified early own, as well as the connection between Lauren and Charity. Most of the characters are very likable.

Many thanks to the author / Streetlight Graphics Publishing / Netgalley for the advance digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unsolicited, unbiased, and entirely my own.

This was a gripping story albeit a dark one. It’s about physical and emotional abuse so I wouldn’t recommend it to people who are easily upset or offended. The characters were likeable but towards the end I thought the story was a bit flat and felt the end was rushed.

*I received this book from NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

This book flat blew me away! It was a little hard to keep track of the characters/ time period at the beginning, but after the first few chapters I couldn't put it down! The romance aspect is very reminiscent of a Nicholas Sparks book. The mystery and suspense aspect keeps you on your toes and begging for more. Collins (whose real name is T.L. Haddix) crafts a beautiful story that draws you in from the very beginning and keeps your attention with action that is always timed perfectly. The way the romance and the suspense are woven together to create this beautiful story about friends, survivors, potential lovers, demons from the past, and family is just extraordinary! I make a point to never give a book a 5, because what if one comes along that's better, but this book comes as close as I've ever read!

Note for Readers: This book does deal with the issues of incest and sexual abuse, more with the effects on the victims than the abuse itself. Reader Discretion Advised. (note taken from the author's amazon page)

As you read this book you learn the importance of forgiveness, family, and love. Charity and Lauren are at different points in their lives, both searching for closure and family; what happens when everything that you once believed changed in a blink of an eye? This was a book that kept the reading at the edge of their seat until the last page. If you could be anyone you wanted to be would it really help erase the past? Thank you NetGalley and T.L.Haddix for allowing me to read this ARC and write a honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a copy of this book.

I was looking forward to this book and whilst it was a good story it was annoying reading about the main character's talking to themselves. I don't know anyone who dialogues that way out loud!

The characters just didn't pop for me and I found them boring and unengaging.

The title of the book sums up the story really well. For Lauren and Charity it is a homecoming. They are likeable and believable characters and what happened to them is harrowing and hard to read in places. Overall though, this book is a good read.

Lauren Grant is a single divorced mom who owns a café in a small town Leroy in Indiana. She lives a quiet peaceful life near her parents and is best friends with her ex-husband and his wife . Due to a horrifying incident in her teenage years that left an impression on her she is unable to form a long lasting relationship in her life but then comes along her parents good looking ex-marine neighbor Charlie Clark and his cat Rumble. He is sweet, gentle, patient and finally Lauren believes that she might be able to have a happy ending but all that comes crashing down when somebody from her past returns and is seeking revenge

This is the first in the romantic suspense series with a lot of interesting characters introduced in the book . It’s not much of a suspense story as you know the suspect at the start itself but is a nice slow moving romance with a predictable end. Overall 3 ½ stars and am looking forward to reading about other characters in this series.

I would like to thank Streetlight Graphics Publishing& NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.