TLC BOOK TOURS: A Mother Like Mine by Kate Hewitt - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

HI there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

I don't know about you (unless you want to tell me in the comments...I'm all ears...), but my week has been CRAZY with a capital "C".  Between work, reading, blogging, and the upcoming holiday (stateside, it is officially Labor Day weekend), I've been lucky to keep my head above water, or my nose above the pages...but that latter part has been a BLAST too!  I've read so many good books of late and a slew of them have been perfect ways to kiss the last rays of summer goodbye, including today's featured title.  So, even though we're bidding farewell to August and HELLO to September, there's no reason that this little beauty shouldn't find its way onto your "must read" list.  Ladies and gents, join me as we welcome TLC Book Tours and today's book of choice...

A Mother Like Mine

by

Kate Hewitt

9780399583797

Berkley Trade Paperback Original

About the book...

Welcome to England’s beautiful Lake District, where a reluctant reunion forges a new bond between a daughter and her wayward mother….

Abby Rhodes is just starting to get her life on track. After her fiancé’s unexpected death, she returned with her young son to the small village where she grew up and threw herself into helping her ailing grandmother run the town’s beach café. Then one evening, her mother, Laura, shows up in Hartley-by-the-Sea and announces her plan to stay. After twenty years away, she now wants to focus on the future—and has no intention, it seems, of revisiting the painful past.

Laura Rhodes has made a lot of mistakes, and many of them concern her daughter. But as Abby gets little glimpses into her mother’s life, she begins to realize there are depths to Laura she never knew. Slowly, Abby and Laura start making tentative steps toward each other, only to have life become even more complicated when an unexpected tragedy arises. Together, the two women will discover truths both sad and surprising that draw them closer to a new understanding of what it means to truly forgive someone you love.

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A celebration of all it means to be family, no matter how much water might be under your bridges.

Laura and Abby...mother and daughter by blood, but otherwise, they may as well be complete strangers.  That tends to happen when one abandons the other at a young age, only making stop overs in their life here and there as they age.  Now grant it, Laura was much younger than the average parent and Abby wasn't simply put in a basket and left to float the river Nile...so hardships are relative here.  Even so, she had Mary, her mother's mother, to tend to her, but she wasn't the most affectionate of parental figures (though she tried), and in truth, nothing really can compare to a parent's love.  Despite those obstacles, Abby grew into a great person with a caring heart, friendly demeanor, and a wonderful son.  That's right...life marches on and sometimes history repeats itself in unusual ways, leaving mother and daughter with more things in common than they even realize.  Two worlds apart and baring their own crosses, they make the best of life, until one day, they aren't separated by distance anymore and this time, they'll bare their souls, even if the truth hurts.

Initially, I had a hard time getting into this one.  It was my connection with Laura and Abby...they were related yet so dissimilar, and yes I know the apple can sometimes fall far from the tree, but Laura was so cold and stiff while Abby was warm and full of sunshine.  Circumstances and life left its mark on them both, but it affected them much differently...for reasons that came out as the story progressed as well as their own inner strengths and weaknesses.  Eventually though (and we're not talking very far along), I finally felt that bond between reader and characters tentatively form, cementing with the passing of their elder matriarch (~tear~).  It's a shame the passing of this savvy soul had to serve as the catalyst for things, but all's well that ends well in this case.  Laura opens up, Abby learns to let go, and Hartley-by-the-Sea becomes the home neither of them ever truly knew they needed.  Funny how things work sometimes.

In the end, it was another great read to send August off with and welcome September, what with all the history, revelations, second chances, and new understandings.  Laura will grow on you (especially after things really heat up...not in the way you're expecting though), while Abby and her son will steal your heart from the start. A great pick for Women's Fiction fans as well as General Fiction and though it is part of a series, it reads perfectly well on its own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the author...

Kate Hewitt is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty books, including the Hartley-by-the-Sea novels Rainy Day Sisters and Now and Then Friends, and more recently, the Willoughby Close series. A former New Yorker, she now lives in Wales with her husband five children. She also writes as Katharine Swartz.

Website  | Blog | Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours and the Penguin Random House team for the copy for review as well as the chance to bring this tour to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, THIS TOUR, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title hit bookstore shelves August 8th, 2017 via Berkley Trade Original Paperbacks, an imprint of Penguin Random House, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

BEFORE YOU GO...

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A CHANCE TO WIN THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE HARTLEY-BY-THE-SEA SERIES?  NOW IS YOUR TIME!

Thank to the generosity of the Penguin Random House team, I've the pleasure of giving you that very chance!  Up for grabs, books ONE AND TWO in this lovely series...Rainy Day Sisters and Now and Then Friends!  I have no trouble admitting that I am TOTALLY jealous because I've not read these titles as of yet, so please...do me a favor...enter to win and share your thoughts to appease my curiosity, okay?  ^-^

Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and you're in it to win it!

**Open to US/Canada residents only; no P.O. Boxes please.**

Entries accepted through Friday, September 8th, 2017 midnight CST.  Winner will be chosen, emailed, and have 48 hours to respond with their full mailing information for prize send out by the sponsor.  If a response is not received in the given time frame, a new winner will be chosen.  SFIR is not responsible for lost prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!