I can’t imagine myself in the main characters Luke’s shoes. He was adopted when he was a child and when he gets into his late twenties he cannot stop thinking of his birth mother and goes to find her in secret, he doesn’t want to hurt the woman who adopted him.
As a new father himself and in a solid relationship with Hannah, Luke isn’t prepared for what happens. After meeting his mother - Alice he is keen to build a relationship with her and Alice suggests that she looks after her baby grandson instead of hiring a nanny.

When Alice bonds with his son Sam he struggles with jealousy and begins to follow her in secret and he begins to question if he can trust his mother.

This is a slow paced story, lots and lots of character building which I love in a book, but not much action. I wouldn’t describe it as a thriller - although there are some twists and tumbles but it has an edge that keeps you gripped. The novel uncovers the pain adoptees must go through and is thought provoking.

Clare Empsom has wrote a lovely rounded tale of how relationships in families are formed, how they can be loving, destructive, damaging and sometimes dark. Told across two different time zones the past is all about young Alice the artist and Jake her boyfriend who is a rockstar - both artists creating their way in life.
The present - Luke has been searching within himself all his life for his mother and when he finds her she is only really interested in his son Samuel.
Alice introduces him to his father the famous artist whose works hang in famous galleries. But soon enough we discover that there’s more to the past than meets the eye.

A lovely read an exploration of mother - son relationships and how emotions run deep and literally leap of the pages.
I will be following Clare Empson closely in the future.
Thank you for this ARC.

Luke, who was adopted shortly after birth, finally meets up with his birth mother. Mine tell the story of Luke/Charlie and his mother Alice. Alternatively switching between the present-Luke and the past Alice
Luke is a new father who’s desperate to find out his past, why was he give. Up for adoption?
When he meets his mother Alice it seems like they can build a good relationship but everything is not what it seems. What secrets is Alice hiding? How is Luke really coping?
I really enjoyed reading this and felt that Clare wove the 2 side of this story together really well.
Thanks go to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An emotionally charged, epic thriller - absolutely breathtaking. 'Mine' encapsulates all the standard superlatives we reviewers like to include in a 5 star reviews. It is unputdownable, a literal page-turner, compelling, addictive and engrossing... and this is just the start. This one grabbed by the throat from the first page and simply would let go. Another standard trope from a reviewer? Well, not quite. Clare Empson has written a tour de force of a thriller, that is, at the same time, more than a standard thriller. It is a psychological thriller that places immense emphasis on the psychological - something that is lacking in other books of its type. But it is more than that, even. First and foremost it is a compelling tale of the tangled interplay of human relations. More precisely the darkness that ensues with its non-reciprocity. It is about maternal love, yes, but more importantly, maternal love displaced. The genesis of 'Mine' is Luke's search for his birth mother, Alice. He finds her, of course, but Alice is more interested in Luke's newborn son, Samuel. As if trying to obliterate the past, Alice seamlessly joins past with present by enveloping her grandson, not son, in the all-powerful maternal bond. What follows is quietly explosive, in the understated, yet powerful prose of Clare Empson. It is primarily a novel about feelings, both unacknowledged and acknowledged, and their dark, all-consuming consequences. Impeccably plotted, riveting, in the unique voice of Empson, 'Mine' is a tour de force of psychological thriller.

A decent story. Well written and exciting. Very hard to put down. Highly recommended for psychological thriller fans

Really enjoyed this book thank you. Vibrant, believable, characters and an absorbing plot. I will ensure I look out for this author in the future!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

#Mine #NetGalley.
Luke and Hannah are in relationship and have a baby by the name of Samuel. They're both working and therefore are unable to look after their child on working days. They started to find an au pair to look after Samuel and then he meets with his birth mother Alice who gave away him when he was an infant. They both decides that Alice will look after Samuel as Alice easily mixed up with their child.
But everything about Alice is not known to them. Luke started to feel that there's something wrong with Alice.
Told from two POV's, past and present this story is an absolute masterpiece.
Alice's character was so lovely, i felt pity for her many times in the book.
Narration of the story is very good.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me an advance copy.

Luke was adopted when he was a child. So, twenty-seven years later when he has a child of his own baby Samuel. He thinks of his birth mother and goes out to find her in secret from his adoptive mother, as he once told her he wouldn’t search for her.
When they meet, things go well and at first, they make a connection. So well in fact that when Luke’s girlfriend Hannah decides to go back to work. Alice Luke’s mother offers to look after baby Samuel three days a week. The story also turns to Alice’s POV. What her life was like as an artist and how she met Luke’s father.
But when Alice looks after Samuel Luke realises that Alice’s attention goes to Samuel more than Luke, as if Alice is replacing Samuel as the son she lost.
Wow this is a great gripping thriller somehow a bit different to others I have read. A story of adoption, not everyone has a happy ending when they meet their birth mother, Love and death. I also liked the way the author wrote this seeing in each other’s point of view so we can see the different sides of what one thinks.

Wow. Just wow.
This one has left me speechless.
It’s a page turning, compulsive read. Clear the decks once you start reading you won’t be able to stop. The style of writing I love to read.
Thanks for the arc.

After reading and enjoying Clare Empson's first book 'Him' I was in such a hurry to read 'Mine' that I bought it before being approved by NetGalley to review it!

I was not disappointed. 'Mine' is as equally a good read with an interesting plot and characters to root for. When Luke's birth mother, Alice, and he become acquainted he longs to learn the reasons for her giving him away. Meanwhile, he and his partner, Hannah, have just had a baby and Alice offers her help to care for him when Hannah returns to work. Luke has to overcome his jealousy of his mother's growing closeness to her baby grandson.

Written in two timelines 'Mine' is an emotional and moving read. It is slow-paced but perfectly written for the issues being covered. 'Mine' fully deserves to be as successful as 'Him' was.

An enjoyable and fast paced read, with realistic characters and interesting plot, quite twisted at times, but unfortunately not a memorable one for me . I’ll still recommend it as it’s well written and interesting story overall.

I think I went into this expecting more of a thriller vibe than I gave off (to me, at least). I'd drawn some comparisons with the style of e.g. Susie Steiner. I think because I'd read the synopsis re: the taking on of a child I drew a line between that and DC Manon in Steiner's books, even though I know the tone/subject isn't the same. I always tend to enjoy mysteries/thrillers written by women and whilst I raced through this, I didn't feel like it was a particularly standout example of the genre. I do think that Empson writes people. particularly women , well. The psychological troubles of each of the characters came over realistically and I could empathise with each of them. For me this was a quick and reasonably satisfying read but not one I wanted to linger over or return to.

Eerily believable, this is one of those stories that will having you read start to end in one sitting, flying through it because you need to know how this will turn out. You know this will stop you sleeping, either because your skin is crawling or because you just can’t bring yourself to put it down!

The blurb makes you want to know what will happen, the writers flare leaves you NEEDING to know.

Get your snacks and drinks ready, you won’t want to look away!

This is the second book i have read by Clare Empson, having previously read her debut, Him. This book surpassed that in my view.

The story flits between the past and the present and centres on Luke and Alice. Luke is Alice’s biological son who was adopted as a baby. 27 years on they have reunited and the book takes us through that reunion, cleverly entwining the tale of how Luke was conceived and his birth with the present.

The book isn’t fast paced - but that wouldn’t be the right pace for this story. Instead, the story builds evenly as we follow Luke and Alice through their reunion and watch the impact that reunion has on Luke, and Alice (from afar as we don’t hear the present side of the story from Alice, only the past).

As the story builds to its conclusion, the pace does pick up and I was desperate to find out what happened next. I had guessed some of what was likely to happen but the author took that further than I anticipiate and built up the suspense around this. The emotion that drives the book to the end brought me close to tears. It was in a sense the perfect ending. Not contrived, not necessarily a happy ever after (depending on your viewpoint) but a realistic ending.

If you read Him and enjoyed it, you will love this book - it is one not to miss.

These characters were awesome, well planned and well embellished. I could see them forming and growing in front of me as I read the book. This was enjoyable. The plot was a little strange at times but it was enjoyable, dark and twisty.

A brilliant story of a young man, Luke, who was adopted as a small child and comes into contact with his birth mother when he has had a son with his partner. This is a disturbing story which rings so very true around the untold trauma that can occur in such situations. I really enjoyed this book and all the different twists and turns as well as the participants different views and perspectives on the situation.

To say I adored this book would be a gross understatement. I just couldn't get enough of it. A realistic, character driven, highly emotional and addictive read that swallowed me whole. A raw, powerful read that blows all other reads of this genre out of the water. Straight into my top books of this year.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

This books is classed as a psychological thriller, but it really is so much more than that. This goes way deeper that not only pulled at my heart strings but nearly broke them.

The story flicks between Alice in the past and Luke in present day. In the past we get to know Alice better and the build up to the circumstances surrounding giving her son up for adoption. In present day, we meet Luke and his partner Hannah, with their young Samuel, comng to terms with having Alice in their lives.

Having not been adopted myself, it’s hard to know how it would feel to know that your parents gave you away. Through Luke, we get to see how knowing your adopted can at times put pressure on the relationship with the adopted parents as well as the upheaval to everyone involved in having a blood parent, coming back into your life.

Tensions and emotions run high throughout this story. Parts were emotional, heartbreaking, sad, worrying, it really did have me go through an array of emotions. Seeing the bond form between Alice and her grandson was lovely yet had me feeling wary all at the same time.

Mine is a gentle, yet compelling story that consumed me wholly. Whilst there are some surprises up the sleeve of this book, I think the main attraction for me were the relationships within this story. The ending had me sobbing like a new born. I was so affected by Alice and Luke and hats off to the author for writing such a haunting read as it will take me sometime, if ever, that I forget about the characters and events that happen within these pages.

Luke was adopted as a baby but has traced his birth mother, Alice. Soon he and his girlfriend Hannah and their son Samuel are meeting up with Alice and his birth father Rick on a regular basis. Things are going so well that Alice starts looking after Samuel when Hannah goes back to work. But Luke can’t help feeling jealous about Alice’s relationship with Samuel - he’s the son she gave up but she seems fixated on Samuel.

A really great read - love, death, adoption, reunion, heartbreak, depression. Really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Orion and Claire Empson for he ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

There are a number of emotions dealt with In this book, love, loss, jealousy, mental health, at times some very complex issues with relationships within the family. But all handled quite sensitively by the author. This is beautifully written and involves so much more than the synopsis describes.

Luke and his wife Hannah, have a son Samuel, Having a son awakes emotions in Luke, that make him want to meet his birth mother, Alice, he had been given away when he was a few weeks old, he is now 28. The first meeting with Alice goes well, she is now 47 and an attractive lady, once an artist with a promising career ahead of her, she now paints portraits of pets. Luke has no idea why he was given up, and Alice doesn’t really give him a great deal of information.

Initially I found Alice to not be a likeable person, she doesn’t give much away, holding back feelings, shutting herself off, but when you learn the story of her past you begin to understand, and sympathise more.

Hannah is due to return to work, they had been looking for an au pair, but it was suggested that Alice would be the perfect person to look after Samuel, whilst Luke and Hannah went to work. As Luke sees his birth mother bonding with his son, he starts to become jealous, it seems those feelings of abandonment run deep, he wonders if he can trust his mother with his son? He also has doubts about his own abilities.

The story is told through a dual timeline Alice as a young woman, to giving up her baby for adoption, then Alice in the present.

This is a slow paced story and is very character driven, blending the past with the present. It is very emotional and haunting, you may need some tissues by your side. The plot twists are a little predictable, but it doesn’t really matter, this isn’t a book of action, I am unsure as to whether I would call it a psychological thriller or not. It’s more like a family drama about relationships. Difficult to say more without giving spoilers so I think it’s best left there.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Orionpublishers for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.