About the book
The Forgotten Gift
What would you do to protect the ones you love?
1861. George’s life changes forever the day he meets Lucy. She’s beautiful and charming, and he sees a future with her that his position as the second son in a wealthy family has never offered him. But when Lucy dies in a suspected poisoning days after rejecting George, he finds himself swept up into a murder investigation. George loved Lucy; he would never have harmed her. So who did?
Now. On the surface Cassie is happy with her life: a secure job, good friends, and a loving family. When a mysterious gift in a long-forgotten will leads her to a dark secret in her family’s history she’s desperate to learn more. But the secrets in Cassie’s family aren’t all hidden in the past, and her research will soon lead her to a revelation much closer to home – and which will turn everything she knows on its head…
Discover a family’s darkest secrets today. Perfect for fans of The Girl in the Letter, The Beekeeper’s Promise and The Forgotten Village!
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forgotten-Gift-Gripping-unputdownable-historical-ebook/dp/B08GHDTHWZ/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Gift-Gripping-unputdownable-historical-
My thoughts
Thank you to Rachel at Random Resources for my invitation to the tour and for copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.
I really enjoy a dual timeline novel and I was immediately attracted to the blurb, about George in the 1860’s and Cassie in the present. I am fascinated by genealogy and I found this book drew me in really quickly. Poor George, born to parents who are bitter and grieving and seem to despise him and idolise his older brother Charles. They are looking forward to the day that he will out of their way.
A new maid Lucy, arrives at their family home and George is smitten, he is warned off of her by his parents but this does not stop them meeting. She has an accident and it becomes apparent he is not the only one in the house who is infatuated with Lucy. George decides to buy Lucy a gift as a sign of his love but when he gets home he takes the gift to her and is devastated by what he is confronted with. Even though he is distraught he still has feelings for her and events take a devastating turn for George and Lucy.
Cassie is researching her family tree and she discovers something about George that shocks her and she has also a past of her own that she is having to confront after many years. As the story progresses it is uncovered that she is not the only one in the family hiding a secret and its a huge one.
This is a great book and the first I had read by this author but I will be definitely reading more. I enjoyed the pace, the emotion and the characters were interesting and I wanted to keep reading. I found Cassie’s side of the story touching and hopeful and I enjoyed how the book effortlessly switched between the two stories. Poor George makes the ultimate sacrifice for his family and that is all I am giving away. A great 4 **** read.
Author Bio –
Kathleen McGurl lives in Bournemouth with her husband. She has two sons who have both now left home. She always wanted to write, and for many years was waiting until she had the time. Eventually she came to the bitter realisation that no one would pay her for a year off work to write a book, so she sat down and started to write one anyway. Since then she has published several novels with HQ and self-published another. She has also sold dozens of short stories to women’s magazines, and written three How To books for writers. After a long career in the IT industry she became a full time writer in 2019.
Social Media Links –
Website: https://kathleenmcgurl.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathleenMcGurl/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathMcGurl
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