Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

For my first mystery/vanishing/uncovering secrets of the past/thrillers, I really enjoyed myself. I basically read this book in just two sittings. I couldn’t put it down because it just sucked me in so much. I kept wanting to know what would happen next. Questions kept popping up for me that I wanted to uncover along with the characters.

I appreciated the simple prose – nothing flowery or lush. It was descriptive when it needed to be. There is not a lot of filler, yet the story still came to life for me through the vividly imagined characters. It was great storytelling. It also had great pacing, and I was never left bored with it. The plot was tight and captivating. The chapters were short, crisp, and to the point, which made me really happy because I love short chapters.

The overall premise of the book was very intriguing. It was a very believable plot, nothing outlandish. Not at any point in the book did I question the validity of the story.

Even though she had her faults, I liked Hannah’s character. She was an intelligent, clever, resourceful, strong, and good-hearted woman. She respected her husband’s wishes and did everything she could to protect her stepdaughter. Her love, sacrifice, and determination were inspiring and emotional in some parts of the story. She never had any children of her own, but you see her maternal instinct kick in when she’s trying to protect Bailey. That’s her one job to do, and she does it really well. She doesn’t really think about herself; it’s only about her stepdaughter. We see her selflessness and her loyalty to her husband and to her new family. I also appreciated how she navigated this difficult relationship with Bailey with grace because her stepdaughter is not the easiest person to get along with.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this book. I wasn’t sure if it was more on the mystery side or more on the thriller side. I would say it’s more on the mystery side. It’s definitely deep and compelling from the very start. Hannah and Bailey weren’t really in that much danger for most of the book because they didn’t know what was going on and what they were dealing with. So for the majority of the story, it was Hannah trying to get Bailey to remember things about her past to give her clues to go off of. It was unraveling this mysterious past of her husband’s and taking his daughter along with her as her guiding compass, which I enjoyed. I think this is really what kept me reading, uncovering the clues, and trying to piece it all together.

The cornerstone of this story was the stepmother/stepdaughter relationship. They are forced to trust and depend on each other in this wild, unexpected situation. I love the message about being a mother. You don’t have to be blood-related to act like a mother. You don’t have to give birth to a child to love them, make decisions on their behalf, and make sacrifices for them and their future. I loved seeing the two main characters form this new bond and deepen their relationship.

The mystery of the story was very intriguing and kept me turning the pages, where I finished the book in just a couple of days. I think the author is a great storyteller who knows how to bring characters to life, give them depth, and develop them throughout the book.

If you like fast-paced, gripping domestic mysteries with some emotion, then you’ll probably like this one. If you like strong, intelligent, well-written female protagonists, then you’ll also enjoy this book.

But if you’re looking for a lot of action, suspense, and a thrilling, pulse-pounding page-turner, this will probably fall short for you, and you may want to skip it.

Definitely recommend this one!