Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

This was not what I expected and I mean that in a good way! This book is about a mother and the incredible journey she goes on and lengths she goes to protect her daughter. 

The description says that this is based on a true story and I would love to know what story it is based on because I found it fascinating. Ginny has a young and healthy son, Peyton and lives a happy life with her son and husband, Ab (short for Abbott). They are overjoyed to find out Ginny is expecting another child.  

However, when Ginny and Ab's new daughter, Lucy, arrives, she is diagnosed with Down Syndrome. That doesn't sound too hopeless in our day and age, but this story takes place in 1969 when children with different disabilities were whisked away and placed in facilities. 

Lucy remains in the state run facility for 2 years before an artcle in a paper shows the horrid conditions of the home.  Ginny, who has suffered with the guilt of her daughter being placed in the facility, launches into action to rescue Lucy.  With the help of her best friend, Marsha, a whirlwind journey takes place. Ginny is up against her very powerful father in law and in for the battle of her life and that of her daughter. 

This was a book I kept coming back to as soon as I could. I really wanted to find out what happened and how it would all turn out. When I got a copy of this from the publisher and first read the description, I was a little leery. At first, I didn't think that it would be something I would have picked up on my own. But, it turned out that it was a very good read and I highly recommend it.  Second of all, this was my first T. Greenwood book and won't be my last. What  could be better? Good book, new author found! This book will be available August 2019. 

Thank you to the publisher for this opportunity.

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins

This was a pleasant surprise in the way it grabbed me from the beginning! I read A LOT, and unfortunately, many books lately haven't been grabbing my attention, or I feel my interest waning a lot of times before I finish. This wasn't the case with The Winter Sister. 

Sylvie admires her sister Persephone and has a modest, but fun childhood, thinking life is pretty good. Sylvie thinks her mother hung the moon, but Persephone has nothing but a list of complaints about their mom, always saying that their mom treats Sylvie better.  Sylvie doesn't understand why Persephone feels this way and just chalks it up to Persephone's attitude. 

Then, one day, Persephone disappears and her boyfriend, Ben is the prime suspect.  I won't go into a whole lot, to avoid spoilers, but the book then skips to when Persephone is an adult and how she copes, or really doesn't cope with what happened to her sister. And, to make matters worse, has to deal with the fallout surrounding her mother's  trouble in coming to terms with what happened so many years before. 

The book is really about what happens when secrets are kept when they shouldn't be and the havoc they can cause on lives for even years to follow. This book releases in February 2019 and I highly recommend it. I noticed this was the authors first book and I look forward to her next story. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this. I really enjoyed it.