Hi Everyone,

Happy Wednesday. Half way through the week and I don’t know where the time has gone to be honest. I started a new contract with a new client this week and it’s certainly made me realise how laid back my previous client was. I feel like I’ve been thrown back into real life work after 3.5 years away from it. I’m not complaining though. My brain needed this new challenge and I’m enjoying it; even though it means I’m getting less reading time right now.

Book 📖

Thank you to @tandemcollectiveuk for this copy of Daddy’s Home by @michelescottauthor as a part of their readalong. Also thank you to all of the other lovely bookstagrammers for the great conversation over the last week. Daddy’s Home is available to purchase here.

Description 🔖

A KILLER STALKS HIS PREY…. 
A calculating and deadly killer is in search for what he terms as his perfect family. Preying upon single mothers and their innocent children, the police have dubbed him “The Family Man.”

HE WATCHES THEM…HE TAKES THEM…
He plays out his role as the perfect father. When things don’t go so perfect in his insane fantasy world, the family man kills.

HOLLY JENNINGS IS ON THE CASE….
Crime Scene Investigator Holly Jennings of the San Diego Police Department is determined to track him down and see that justice is served. With Holly being a single mother herself, this man’s crimes are deeply personal to her, and turn more so when a friend and her daughter become the latest victims of “The Family Man.” 

Along with tracking an evil killer, Holly is dealing with her own internal demons. She is raising her daughter Chloe alone after the death of her husband–a death she feels guilty for. 

To complicate her life further, Holly is doing her best to avoid possibly falling in love again with charming veterinarian Brendan O’Neil. As Holly delves deeper into solving the murders, she finds herself being sucked into a game of cat and mouse by “The Family Man,” that may lead her down a dark path too horrible to bear. One that may cost her gravely-her family, her new found love, and even her life.

General Thoughts 🤔

Firstly, this book was a lot! Well at least the last third of the book was a lot. The beginning wasn’t as thrilling as I would have expected, however I appreciate that as the first book in a series, a certain amount of “set up” is required. Once the story got to the juicy bits, it all got a bit much and for me personally, it felt a little bit far fetched.

Having said that, I didn’t hate this book. I’ve discussed this with the other readers on the readalong. I’m in a weird in-between feelings place about it. I didn’t feel like I was 100% gripped by Daddy’s Home, however I did keep going back and I did quite enjoy the story.

Characters 👫👭👬

I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, however that’s not a problem for me. I’ve said it before in other reviews; I’m happy to dislike all of the characters if it’s intentional from the author. The key for me connecting to the story and the characters is that I have to care about what they’re doing or going through. Unfortunately I didn’t care a great deal, but I wouldn’t say I was completely disconnected from them either.

I quite liked Holly. She was ballsy and fiercely protective of those that she loved and I admired her for that. The series is focused on her as a detective and I would like to read more about her.

A lot of readers seemed to have a thing against Brendan which I am still finding hilarious. He didn’t offend me too much, however I can see how he would give some people the ick. He was very full on with Holly and could come across as a bit creepy, but I wasn’t too bothered by him.

Writing Style ✍️

Overall, I enjoyed this author’s writing style and was able to easily engage with the story. I really liked the short chapters as I think it helped to maintain the pace of the story and move it along. There were a couple of things that I didn’t love about the writing though. Firstly, there were some pretty horrendous scenes in the book, but rather than them feeling genuine, it felt to me like they were included for shock value. Don’t get me wrong, it was shocking, but I’m not sure if it was necessary for the story to make sense. Secondly, some things were bizarre to me (and this may just be a personal thing). The pilot license and private plane coming in from nowhere was odd. For some reason, Holly adopting a dog was so sudden and not realistic and I don’t know what it added to the story overall.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

I finished this book last night and like some other people I have spoken to, I had to take a bit of time out before writing my review. I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t love it either. In retrospect, there was something that kept me picking it up and reading the day’s pages, so I was obviously engaged and interested, however I didn’t feel like I was invested in the characters which has left me with a bit of an empty feeling. I would like to give Holly Jennings and this author more time so I’ll be adding the second book in the series to my TBR and seeing how I get on with it.

😍😍😍😐😐