I received a digital arc of this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I hadn't read anything by this author before but it had good reviews so I thought I'd give it a go. I loved it. What an emotional story highlighting a unique set of circumstances between two best friends!! I would highly recommend this and will look out for more by Vanessa in the future.

An absolutely heartbreaking yet read on "what would you do if"...... I truly enjoyed reading this book. It brought a lot of morale issues to a head. Fantastic, but emotions ran high on all parties!

ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING!
One of those books that truly makes you think and appreciate what you have and if you were put into this position how you would handle it?

A Child of My Own is an amazing read. This book had me gripped from the start.
This is a touching story involving surrogacy and a terrible journey that follows.
OMG. This story!
This is a tale of a child discovering the story of their conception and birth, and an accident that changes everything.
The world of egg donation and sperm donation can be messy, as this story illustrates. This story explores some of the emotional pain and legal issues involved.
It's a tough read. For everyone.
This is a story of love and friendship, of gifts and sacrifice. But it's also a story of loss and grief, desires and the loss of a friendship.
This story is complex and thoroughly heart breaking.
I can't recommend this one enough for those who are able to read such a topic.
If you can't read about conception problems, run far from this book.
But if you want to read a multi-layered story about friendship, dive in!

Goodness me what a book. Helping your best friend and her husband to have a baby is probably one of the most altruistic things you can do. Lucy and Nat don't want children so to help Isla and Ben fulfil their own dream they donate embryos. One results in a pregnancy where Reese is born. For years they have no contact with each other until a tragedy brings the girls back together. However there is one embryo left and since Lucy has lost Nat she wants it back but Isla wants another baby and ultimately the embryo was donated to her. I found myself in a dilemma as I kept changing my mind who I thought should have it. A lovely thought provoking book that I lost myself in for a while.

Isla and her husband Ben have a beautiful little girl Reese but they are not her biological parents. Isla’s friend Lucy is and suddenly turns up years later when her partner has died just after they decided they did want a baby.
Very difficult topics of infertility, stored embryos and donating them to other are covered sensitively and many readers will find themselves tearing up.
I struggled a bit with Isla as I didn’t like her character but overall found the book enjoyable.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review .
3.5 Stars ⭐️

I tell myself I will never read a book that makes me cry, and I go about doing just that. Look at that pic and that title!! Can you resist that child? I couldn’t… Off I went to read the tear-jerker By author Vanessa Carnevale over the afternoon.

Two couples: Isla and Ben with daughter Reese and the other Nate and Lucy. Isla and Ben couldn’t have a child so Lucy and Nate donated. And ten years later there was one last embryo, but changed circumstances between the couples. Lucy wanted that embryo so did Isla. Legal and emotional ramifications marked the plotlines of the book.

Omg omg omg what a situation to be in. Both women wanted to be pregnant. The friendship which was already strained was torn to strips now with this tug of war they were in. The writing simply pulled me apart.

It was amazing and poignant where each word carried their weight in emotions. The anguish and pain along with memories of good and bad times brought tears to my eyes. The author sure knew how to make me support each character and love them.

True friendship was never beautifully shown than this book. The author’s hold over me was most evident when she brushed the friendship between the women in broad strikes of color.

The journey to the end as filled in tears. I read the book in short intervals as it brought to mind other things best left buried.

You’ve got to read this just to bask in the radiance of the author’s storytelling talent.

Initially I was slow to getting into this one, it is set in Australia and has references to Australian shops etc that I found off putting but after persisting through the first few chapters I really started to enjoy it. The chapters are each split between two characters Lucy and Isla and I love books like this where you get a different perspective each chapter. I really enjoyed progressing through the book and finding out what secrets each character had hidden. I really liked the character of Lucy but Isla not so much. She seemed really cold and calculating but towards the end of the book you do begin to see just where she gets this behaviour from and why and then I really started to sympathise with her. I must admit I was sad when the character of Nate was killed off early on as I liked him but it really was the start of the unravelling of the secrets.

Deffo a really good book and I think many would enjoy it.

I was kindly given this book via netgalley and the publishers.

Set in and around Melbourne, Victoria, A Child of My Own by Aussie author Vanessa Carnevale is an exceptional piece of writing that grabbed at my heart and didn’t let go until the last page was turned. Poignant, emotional, heartbreaking – this author knows how to get her readers in. The two men in this story are my favourite characters – Ben and Nate; and then of course there is Reese. She is adorable. I always enjoy Vanessa Carnevale’s books – this one is no exception. Highly recommended.

Vanessa has once again written a story that makes you feel the warmth and bond between characters whilst also tugging at your heart strings. Nate and Lucy are in their 30s, happily married without kids and ready to settle down in their dream home.....until a terrible tragedy happens. Isla and Lucy had been best friends since childhood and Lucy and Nate had given Isla and Ben the ultimate gift. But their friendship is torn apart thanks to Isla's mum who has her own secrets. I loved this novel and recommend all of Vanessa's stories to anyone who likes to feel connected to the characters they are reading about.

This is a moving emotional page turner of a story based around infertility, friendship and family relationships. Once you start reading, you wont be able to put it down. Highly recommended

A Child of my Own by Vanessa Carnevale explores the topics of parenthood, friendship, and family. What is the ultimate gift you could give a friend? In this story, it is the opportunity to be a parent. Isla and Ben are devoted to their only child, Reese. She is the child they never thought they could have. Then one day, they get a phone call, and their lives are upended with so many decisions to make that affects not only their future, but that of their precious daughter, and Isla’s best childhood friend, Lucy. For many families today, becoming a parent is a struggle. What lengths would you engage to have a child? Once you have this precious gift, what would you do to preserve your relationship with that child? These are questions that are presented and answered throughout this story. Although Lucy and Nate gave Isla and Ben this most wonderful gift, what and why did their relationship disintegrate and become nonexistent? What happened? Also explored is that in the intervening years, are the feelings and thoughts that Lucy and Nate had about parenthood and Reese. Although they had previously indicated that they never wanted to become parents (thus why they were more than willing to help Ben and Isla), these thoughts have now changed throughout the years. This book is a wonderful, complicated, happy, yet sad read that I couldn’t put down. This book focused on the issue of infertility which is faced by many today. I highly recommend this book and I thank Netgalley and the publisher for this advance review copy.

Vanessa Carnevale has done it again with another breathtaking, deeply moving, unforgettable, gripping and heartwarming page turner! A Child of My own will resonate within your soul long after you finish reading it! Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better after My Life for Yours, Vanessa Carnevale proved me wrong because A Child of My Own was an epically powerful book! A must read that will touch the hearts of readers everywhere! I highly recommend this 5+ stars book! In A Child of My Own, Vanessa Carnevale will bring you to your knees with grief and then pull you back up again stronger and happier than ever. Filled with an abundance of love, the best and hardest moments of relationships, and testing the limits of ties that bind us all, Carnevale has created a beautiful portrayal of the most priceless gift of all.

Isla and Lucy have been best friends since childhood but unforeseen circumstances created a rift years ago that neither woman has ever been able to overcome. Isla has always felt tremendous guilt for what she did to destroy their friendship, but she didn’t feel like she had any other choice. Although they have both found happiness in different ways, Isla and Lucy have gone in completely opposite directions.

Isla and Ben have been reveling in the joy of raising their daughter Reese. Although it’s not always easy, all Isla ever wanted was to become a mother. Lucy and Nate never felt the longing to have a baby and have traveled the world enjoying their exciting fast paced lives...until Nate has a startling revelation after a near death experience.

In the years before Isla upended her friendship with Lucy, she shared everything with her. There wasn’t anything they wouldn’t have done for one another. Isla was shattered when she and Ben discovered that they would never be able to naturally conceive a baby, but Lucy and Nate were more than happy to help. With the help of the fertility clinic, Lucy and Nate were able to help Isla and Ben make all their dreams come true. Just before Reese was born, their long lasting friendship was ruined in one fatal blow though.

When Reese starts asking questions after a discussion about science and genetics at school, it opens doors that Isla had hoped to keep shut at least for a few more years. Soon after, Lucy is faced with an earth shattering tragedy. Despite all the silent years that have passed and the pain Isla caused Lucy so many years ago, she knows her best friend needs her. In being there for Lucy though she knows shell have to face the truth, and that thought terrifies her. Isla rushes to be with Lucy, but putting the past behind them is harder than either of them realized it would be. When it becomes obvious that they both want the same thing they both realize that someone is going to have to make a sacrifice and someone is going to get hurt. Moving forward suddenly becomes more complicated and neither wants to compromise, for completely diffferent and understandable reasons. They both have a choice to make, but in doing so it could shatter the other.

The grief stricken moments of A Child of My Own will pull at your heartstrings. The longing that each woman feels will strongly connect you to the characters. Their love and sacrifices are unforgettable. It is absolutely beautiful! Vanessa Carnevale has given readers a priceless gift within the pages of A Child of My Own!

My page and group review links:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/376986410130265/permalink/492968451865393/

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214929383722234&id=101513968397110

I also posted reviews in additional book club groups and will be posting reviews on retailer websites as soon as I submit this to you.

My most sincere apologies for taking so long to submit this review! I had an unexpected family emergency a few weeks ago but thankfully am back on track now and will be submitting reviews of other books within the week.

Thank you Vanessa Carnevale, Bookouture and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of reading A Child of My Own! My feedback is voluntary and expresses my honest opinions. A Child of My Own was so gloriously wonderful that I am eager to share it with everyone I know and everyone I come across!

A heart-wrenching emotional drama that beautifully explores friendships and relationships, Vanessa Carnevale’s A Child of My Own is an insightful, poignant and compelling read that is wholly captivating.

Becoming parents had seemed to be an impossible dream for Isla and Ben. Despite of all their efforts, having a child of their own always seemed out of reach for the two of them – until their friend Lucy had phoned them up and offered to help make their dreams come true. Thanks to Lucy, Isla and Ben had welcomed their adorable daughter Reese into the world who made their lives infinitely better. Reese had made their family complete, however, despite loving her more than anything else in the world, they’ve never been completely honest with her. Reese has no idea that Isla and Ben are not her biological parents and although they want to be honest with their daughter, will telling her the truth open up old wounds and tear their family apart?

Isla and Ben haven’t spoken to Lucy for over ten years, but when she calls them out of the blue, they find themselves with no other option but to welcome her back into their lives. Lucy has lost her much-loved husband Nate just when they had decided to try and become parents. Grieving, heart-broken and in desperate need of a friend, Isla and Ben open their doors to their old friend who forces them to make an impossible decision. Isla and Ben are torn between wanting to help out their friend and trying to keep their family together. Lucy had helped make Isla’s dreams of becoming a mother a reality, but will she end up denying her her last-chance to be a mother when she had lost so much?

Vanessa Carnevale take her readers on a powerful rollercoaster ride with A Child of My Own, an astute, sensitive and intelligently-written tale of sacrifice, compassion and the ties that bind full of believable drama, richly drawn characters it is impossible not to care about and intense emotion sure to bring a tear to every single reader’s eye.

Vanessa Carnevale is a fantastic storyteller who in A Child of My Own has written a thought-provoking, engaging and captivating tale readers will not be able to put down.

Lucy and Nate had decided they never wanted children but, after an accident, Nate reconsiders his life and tries to persuade Lucy that a child would be wonderful. She finally agrees but too late as another accident brings tragedy... Isla and Ben were desperate for children a decade ago and their best friends agreed to donate embryos. The friendship stuttered and contact was cut but now it is time to tell their daughter the truth...
A Child Of My Own has such a fascinating dilemma, both in emotional terms but also moral. The rights to ownership of embryos is a tricky one, made even more so by the emotional investment in their existence.
One of the things I liked most about this book is that I was able to put myself into both of the lead women's mindsets. The book is written in the first person narrative of both Lucy and Isla so their perspectives are equally represented. However, I found myself swayed towards one viewpoint based on my own morality but the right and wrong of the situation are so complex and blurred.
Against the main backdrop of the questions surrounding the remaining embryo, there is also the emotional angst of Reese's discovery of her true parentage. I did not find the child character particularly authentic as she sometimes seemed much older than 9 but at other times much younger.
The style of writing is easy to read and the theme of motherhood shines through. The mother-daughter relationships between Lucy and Isla and their own mothers has coloured their own perspectives and choices.
A Child Of My Own was thoroughly entertaining due to the complexity of the legal, social, emotional and moral dilemma at its heart. My own heart was greatly affected by the plot and characters.

This is such a moving and emotional book, I absolutely loved every second of it.

Lucy and Nate have a great life, travelling around the world, with no ties. But just before Nate died, they had been thinking that it might be time to settle down and have a family.

Isla, who had been Lucy’s best friend, has her wonderful daughter, made possible by embryo donation. Now they all have difficult decisions to make, in the midst of grief, and all the while dealing with the issues they have around their parents and childhoods.

Immediately, I was pulled into this story, and totally consumed by it. The characters are so real, and you really care for them all. It’s such a delicate and difficult situation, and one in which there are no winners.

It’s a very thought provoking story, and dealt with in a sensitive and empathetic way. The bonds of family, of friendship, and of love, are such an integral part of this book.

Beautifully written, and so readable and captivating, I adored this stunning book.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange Gor my honest opinion of it. I just could not get into the storyline or the characters and could not finish.

A heart-filled story of friendship, family and unconditional love.
There were tears, laughs and a little bit of predictability.
Carnevale never fails to delight and move me and she has definitely cemented her place as one of my must read Australian authors.

This is a very emotional read. 10 years ago best friends Lucy and Isla are talking about Isla's on going fertility issues, Isla and Ben have decided that embryo donation is there last chance of becoming parents. Lucy has never wanted kids so after talking with her husband Nate they both agree to donate to help their best friends dreams of parenthood come true.
10 years later Nate dies in a tragic skiing accident and Lucy reaches out to Isla for support. After not speaking for 10 years Lucy is happy Isla answers her call. Lucy and Nate had decided they wanted baby just before he died. Lucy aware there's one embryo left wants it however Isla and Ben had just decided that they were ready to use it. The question is how will the newly reconnected friends friendship survive this.


I honestly think this book is written with the love care and attention that it deserves on quite an emotive topic. So many people suffer with fertility issues but not many talk about it. The whole frozen embryo concept is a controversial one still in the world, so this book manages to highlight the side of the argument regarding those thst need th respectfully.

The chapter flip from one woman to the other and are written in first person. I enjoyed this style of writing. Even though its quite a deep book there are some funny moments throughout the book espically in regards to Lucy's mum.

I would recommend this book to any Adele Parks lovers as the writing style is quite similar . It's an easy read but emotional. I would of rated it five stars but there was a few to many coincidences which could of been avoided. Happy to rate 4 stars


Thank you to netgalley the publisher and author for an opportunity to read and review such a great book. .

Genre: Contemporary/ Women’s Fiction

Publisher: Bookouture

Date Published: 5 March 2021

Print length: 3911 pages (Ebook)

Trigger warnings: Fertility problems, procedures surrounding fertility, loss & grief

Blurb

As I watch her walk away, an arm raised to her face as she wipes tears from her eyes, I wonder if I really can go through losing her again. Because if I do this, I might gain a child, but I’ll lose her in the process.

Isla and Ben are devoted parents to their beloved daughter, Reese. She is their little miracle, the child they thought they’d never have until donors made her existence possible. But Isla has never told Reese about her biological parents. She wants to be honest with her daughter, but can she bear to open up old wounds?

Then Isla receives a call from Lucy, once her closest friend and the donor who made her dreams come true, and it seems she may need to make a decision sooner than she thought. They haven’t spoken in almost ten years, but Lucy has devastating news: she has lost her beloved husband Nate, just after they decided they wanted to become parents after all.

Heartbroken for her friend, Isla welcomes Lucy back into her life. But then Lucy comes to Isla with a request that changes everything. If Lucy gets what she wants, Isla’s perfect family could be destroyed. But would she deny the woman who helped her become a mother the chance for her own happiness?

My Thoughts

I had no idea what to expect with this one. This was in part down to the fact that, up until I read this book last month, I hadn’t read any of Carnevale’s books and in part down to the fact that – aside from the rather spoiler filled book blurb – I had no clue what direction this book with its simple cover was going in.

The book follows Isla and Lucy, each not only bound together by friendship but also by Reese – Isla’s daughter. I loved how Carnevale created two equally interesting, equally readable points of view to explore in this novel – as going from one woman’s story to the other really made you question things. Whilst the moments with Isla, Ben and Reese were sweet, funny and honest portrayals of family life, the moments showcasing Nate and Lucy’s love story – and the devastation that follows – were deeply emotional.

Though the book didn’t go in the direction I expected, part of me thought we were heading for a thriller, it was an interesting, emotive read for sure. I found myself rooting for characters, hating others and – although I do like drama – I really wanted a happy ending (which, thankfully, I got – no spoilers).

I think what made this book work so well was the fact that the characters felt so real. I felt as though I could easily have passed them on the street or bumped into them in a coffee shop.

Whilst it wasn’t the fast paced thriller I expected, or even a thriller at all, there was plenty of intrigue to it – some plot points I figured out, others were a surprise. I think the fact that a lot was going on meant this book was extremely readable and I raced through it.

My only complaint was the fact that the book took a while to get exciting, I found. Obviously I enjoyed it but it took me a while to get to that point (of course this will differ from person to person, as some people prefer the hard hitting bits over the sweeter moments).

Regardless, A Child of My Own is a gripping, contemporary page turner about family, friendship and how far we are prepared to go to get what we want.