Book Review: Emma's Secret by Steena Holmes

Description from Good Reads
For two years, Megan, Peter, and their two older daughters, Alexis and Hannah, dream of nothing but being reunited with the family’s youngest child, Emma, who was kidnapped just before her third birthday. When Emma is miraculously found living with an elderly couple just miles from the family’s home, they are hopeful that her return will heal the wounds her disappearance created.

But Emma is vastly different from the sunny toddler they remember. She barely remembers her parents or her older sisters. She is quiet and withdrawn, and, worst of all, longs for the very people who kidnapped her.

Megan is consumed with bitterness, while Peter works later and later nights in the company of his gorgeous business partner. And in the middle of everything, Megan’s best friend has become suddenly distant and secretive.

Then a chance encounter in town leads to a secret that changes everything again for Emma. And Peter must decide between the happiness of his youngest daughter and the trust of his family.


My Review
This is a sequel to the book Finding Emma, which I reviewed on October 3rd. I also really enjoyed this book. It was a lovely continuation to Finding Emma, and provided resolution to most of the questions I was left with at the end of the first one (though they were not so many or so bad that it kept me from loving the first one, obviously). 

Emma's Secret begins a couple of months after Finding Emma. Emma is settled back with her family, but still misses her "Papa". Peter is working late hours, and Megan assumes again he is having an affair. Megan has a restraining order against Jack. She is stressed, and forgets Alexis' birthday is coming up. 

Peter makes a choice for Emma to see Jack, and keeps it a secret from Megan. Eventually, this does come out, and is huge. As well as the reason why Peter has been working long hours. Megan's daughter Hannah feels like everything is about Emma, and acts out a bit. But she cares for and loves her sister. 
And then Laurie's best friend is also keeping a reasonably big secret from her as well!


This story did have resolution, and I really enjoyed the ending. It was perfect, and sweet. I definitely think you should read Finding Emma before reading Emma's Secret- in reading some of the reviews on Good Reads, this seems almost crucial. But I think that is the same with every book that is a sequel- you need to read them in order!

I highly recommend this series of books. I think they're thought-provoking (what would you do in this situation?), complex but not complicated, and interesting. 


You can purchase a copy of this book for Kindle here.

FTC: I purchased this book with my own money. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Book Review: Finding Emma by Steena Holmes

Description from Good Reads
Megan sees her daughter Emma everywhere. She's the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with ice cream dripping down her face. But it's never Emma.

Emma's been missing for two years.

Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan's husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone. Megan's life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on.

When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter. Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families lives.


My Review
Holy Cow.

I read this as part of my book club last month, and I am so glad it's the book that was chosen! I read it in just a few days- I had to know what happened, and if they would find Emma.

I really enjoy the way the author chose to write this book, going back and forth between Megan, Peter, and their other two daughters, and Jack, Dottie, and "Emmie". I thought the premise was just very intriguing- what if your daughter was taken, and what if she was still alive?

Now, don't get me wrong- this isn't a perfect book. I was constantly in a state of "did he cheat? did she cheat?" with Megan and Peter, even though it doesn't seem like either of them actually did cheat, there is just a lot of distrust between them. The author talked about loving moments between them, but I still never really felt that at all.  But I liked the characters separately. I'm not sure how I can not like them together but like them separately, but that's the way it is! I especially liked Peter.

Emma went missing two years ago (according to the time frame of the story), and Megan still sees her in the faces of other children. It's really hard for Peter, and he wants her to start to move on. But because Megan keeps seeing her, she keeps running up to strange children, which, of course, is embarrassing and then painful with the realization it is not Emma. Peter works long hours. The other two girls don't play too big of a role in the novel, although one of her daughter's does say something in school that gets a letter sent home about not being enough to compensate for Emma being gone. That broke my heart in pieces for the other girls.

Needless to say, this is a family that has been through something awful, and is trying to deal with it the best they can. But with Megan unwilling to try to move on, they can't properly let go.

Dottie and Jack have their granddaughter "Emmie" living with them. Dottie doesn't let Emmie go anywhere or do anything, but Emmie then meets a neighbor girl through the fence, and eventually is allowed to go play. Dottie has spells of memory loss, and is on medication. 
I felt so bad for Jack. Out of everyone in the story, he got most of my sympathy. I don't want to ruin the story, but I think if you read the book, you will understand. He has no clue what's really going on with Emmie. He's just a "Papa" who loves his granddaughter and will do anything to make her smile. He wants to take her places and show her things, but Dottie refuses.

They eventually all go to the same county fair. And that's where Megan sees Emma... or at least she thinks she does. And then all of their worlds are changed.


I think this is a great book for those people that enjoy a good, heart-wrenching, fast-paced novel. I really didn't want to put this book down. I had to find out if they would get Emma back, and what the consequences would be. 

This book does end in a bit of a cliffhanger, if you're looking a book that has resolution, but there is a sequel out and I have read it! My review of Emma's Secret, the sequel to this book, will be up on the blog on October 9th!

You can purchase a paperback copy of the book here, or a kindle copy here. 


FTC: I purchased this book with my own money. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Amazon.com Kindle Monthly Book Deals, $3.99 or less for October 2013

Some of you may or may not have a Kindle. I apologize if you don't, but these posts are for anyone with either access to a Kindle or a way to get the app downloaded.


Every month, Amazon sells books for $3.99 or less that typically cost more. I have been able to purchase some really great books from these sales, and always check on the first of the month. I also check their daily deals as often as I can remember.

 I got an e-mail last month suggesting I post covers, because some people do really enjoy them, so I am starting to do that this month!

This month there are six books that I am recommending. I have not read them all, but based on the descriptions, I want to!




Finding Emma by Steena Holmes ($1.99 - 87% off print list price)
I read this book last month, and gave it a solid four star review on Good Reads. I absolutely loved it! Coincidentally, I have a full review of this book coming out on the blog tomorrow! (I will link it here once the blog is up, for you future readers!)



Emma's Secret by Steena Holmes ($1.99 - 87% off print list price)
I also read this book last month, pretty much immediately after I finished Finding Emma, and also gave it a solid four star review on Good Reads. This is just a great, heartbreakingly beautiful series, and I wish there were more. 
I also have a full review on this book coming out on October 9th! (I will link it here once the blog is up, for you future readers!)



Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan ($2.99 - 67% off print list price)
I've had this book on my Good Reads "to read" shelf since the beginning of the year, so it's nice to see if on the monthly deals list! This comes highly recommended to me all the time, and has a high rating on both Amazon and Good Reads. I've heard some people say they didn't like this book because the world in it is unrealistic, but I think everyone needs that every once in awhile, to believe the world can become a beautiful and more accepting place.



The Translator by Nina Schuyler ($1.99 - 92% off print list price)
This seems like an interesting premise- a woman that is known for translating languages hits her head and then only remembers Japanese. I'm intrigued and want to know more!




The Final Piece by Maggi Myers ($1.99 - 83% off print list price)
This book gets great reviews on both Good Reads and Amazon, and sounds like the kind of book I've been drawn to lately- great stories with strong characters overcoming something.



Cat versus Human by Yasmine Surovec ($1.99 - 80% off print list price)
I have seen these little comics all over the place, and now I know where they came from! As a person that has had cats almost my whole life, I can relate to the ones I have seen, so it will be fun checking all of these out!




There are 199 other books available, and all of them will be available at reduced prices until the end of October.


FTC: All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. You can read more about the amazon affiliate program in my disclosure policy.