Forgive Me by Susan Lewis is a gripping and emotional novel that explores the themes of guilt, forgiveness and redemption.

We follow Olivia, a successful journalist who is haunted by a tragic accident that happened when she was a teenager and resulted in the death of her best friend. When she to her hometown after 20 years to face her past and reconnect with her estranged family, but she soon discovers that some secrets are better left buried.

This is a heartwarming family drama
The characters are well developed and the plot is engaging
This book starts off very fast paced. And this fades a little
There is also a lot of tell rather than show which I didn’t like

Susan Lewis is back with a heart-stopping tale of twisted secrets, divided loyalties and devastating betrayal: Forgive Me.

Claudia Winters feels the shackles of her life getting tighter and tighter with each passing day. She is sick and tired of feeling cold dread in the pit of her stomach and of always looking over her shoulder frightened of just what might be around the corner. The time has come for a change. She is desperate to escape her current life and to start afresh elsewhere, so alongside her mother and daughter, she leaves her life behind and moves to the small town of Kesterly. In her new life, Claudia vows to begin afresh so she adopts a new name and a new identity and hopes that Kesterly will provide her with the safety and serenity which she has long dreamed of. Claudia absolutely does not want to be reminded of her old life. But she will soon realise that regardless of how far you go, the dark shadows of your past will always find you…

As Claudia begins to settle in Kesterly, she starts to build a new life for herself. As she tentatively begins to make new friends with her neighbours, Claudia feels that she might finally start to lay the ghosts from her old life that haunt her every step to rest. Until she realises that she mustn’t be too hasty in letting down her guard because sinister secrets and never forgotten resentments are about to come to stark and vivid life and will force Claudia to stop running and face the consequences of a dangerous past that refuses to stay buried.

With nowhere to run and nobody to turn to, Claudia finds herself trapped yet again. But can she finally fight back and fight for the life she has always wanted? Or will she end up paying the ultimate price for old sins and past mistakes?

Susan Lewis’ Forgive Me is a multi-layered page-turner rich in emotion, tension and suspense. Susan Lewis deftly and effortlessly blends all the elements of a heart-wrenching contemporary family saga with those of a nail-biting thriller and will keep readers mesmerized and eagerly turning the pages late into the night. As always, Susan Lewis creates characters readers simply cannot help but care about. They leap off the pages and come alive from the moment they make their very first appearance and readers will relate to them, cheer for them and feel every emotion which they go through.

An outstanding storyteller who never fails to give her readers a superb reading experience, Susan Lewis has outdone herself once again with her latest novel, Forgive Me.

I absolutely LOVE Susan Lewis books. I find that they always have some compelling characters which are so perfectly crafted that you can't help but really feel like you know them... this book certainly didn't disappoint!

A family of three generation of women, move to a new area under new names to avoid an abusive husband. I was instantly gripped as I wanted to know what would happen - would he find out who they were? Would others realise they weren't who they said they were? What must it be like to live like this?!

I found it so difficult to put down, I just love Susan Lewis's writing. This isn't my absolute favourite of her books, but it is up there!

Such a powerful read! It stayed with me for a little while afterwards, which rarely happens with books these days. Some difficult themes addressed and very well handled.

Another good read of by Susan Lewis.
The story line was good but at times a bit predictable and slow. Pushed through to read it.

In prison, Archie Colbrook spends his time writing letters. Letters addressed to a person against whom he committed terrible violent act that changed her life forever. Restorative justice, could you forgive the person who harmed you or a member of your family? Claudia Winters is hoping that leaving London, her business and her name and fleeing to Kesterley with her mother and daughter, they will be safe from her husband and his associates.
This is yet another wonderful book from Susan Lewis. She writes with such ease and you truly begin to feel compassion for Archie despite the terrible pain he has caused.

A lovely book that is typical of Susan Lewis and did not disappoint. Great story and fabulous characters kept the story moving at a good pace.

A nice easy read with a deep message from Susan Lewis. Archie is in prison waiting for his trial for setting fire and almost killing Marcy.
Marcy, her daughter, Claudia and granddaughter Jasmine have set up a new life away from Claudia's abusive husband. Archie has been writing letters to Marcy as part of a restorative justice system. Despite the odds, Marcy is willing to read and take part in meeting her attacker, even if it wasn't intentional to her personally.
The book was well written, and despite there being a lot of characters, it was easy to follow and read. There are also more than one plot line happening with Claudia's past intertwining into the story. Whilst some parts I felt were slightly far fetched, I enjoyed the book and it tied everything up nicely at the end without leaving questions.

Another great book from Susan Lewis, well written and loved the storyline.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I had no idea what restorative justice means until I’ve read this provoking story.
It was interesting to see how the author managed to increase all my curiosity and experience with each chapter and some well placed unexpected twists.
Another must read story from a great author.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Another great book from Susan Lewis. I didn't know that RJ was a thing and I'm not sure I would want to take part in it, but it does highlight how innocent young people are used by others to carry out crime so that they don't get caught. It was wonderfully written and I look forward to reading the next book

Claudia has had a brutal marriage to Marcus. When he is sent to prison Claudia flees with her mother and daughter. Ready to start new lives' but constantly looking over their shoulders.
Feeling they may have a chance they begin to enjoy their new lives' until one tragic night .
This is when we discover who Archie is and why his letters are throughout the book.
This is book telling of restorative justice. A thought provoking read which is exactly what I've come to expect from Susan Lewis.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC.

As a Susan Lewis fan, I was delighted to receive this book as an ARC. The sensitive subject at times made this book quite an upsetting and uncomfortable read but overall it was handled well. A great read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Although the main storyline is upsetting, Forgive Me, highlights how sometimes Restorative Justice can work.
Also, there is always a story behind a crime that does not always get told.

Wife, daughter and mother escape from an abusive husband hoping to start afresh in a different place with different names but fate had other things in store for these ladies. Meanwhile in prison is someone writing letters to the person who was harmed. The book would have benefited from having different fonts to differentiate from the prisoner and family members. The topic of this drama was interesting but I felt it was really too long, so much so didn’t get into the story until almost the half way point. Some parts were irrelevant and didn’t add much to the story, whilst others were compelling and thought provoking. All in all quite a decent read!

I have enjoyed all the books I’ve read by this author and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I have enjoyed all of Susan Lewis’ books and this one certainly did not disappoint. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the advance copy, I’d definitely recommend

I’ve read a few books by the author now and have been generally impressed so was looking forward to being part of the #BlogTour. I really enjoyed Forgive Me and thought it was great. This book introduces the idea of Restorative Justice which I’d never heard of before, bringing victims of crimes together with the criminal to try and mediate forgiveness and understanding. I think this could work in some cases but not others. If someone killed someone in my family I’d only want to be in a room with them, to beat the crap out of them. Forgive Me also explores some well-worn themes such as domestic violence and becoming institutionalised in a psychologically abusive marriage. I enjoyed the way the character develop, especially Claudia. She’s a downtrodden door-mouse at the start until she’s brave enough to leave her abusive life and blossoms. I enjoyed reading about how she comes into her own living in Kesterly and gradually makes friends and develops a sense of purpose. I thought the book would focus on Claudia and her family fleeing her abusive husband but it went in a different direction entirely. This is a great book.

I really enjoyed this but the ending felt a bit flat, both in terms of Archie’s story but also Marcus’s and Claudia’s - felt a bit too neat and unrealistic given Marcus’s background and the lengths he’d previously gone to.