Deep, emotional, multi-generational story that I really enjoyed.

To me, this was a slow ramp, but the story lines kicked in and off it went. Sam and Willow, daughters of Billie, a famous but deceased musical artist. Gloria is her sister who raised Sam and Willow after Billie passed away from an overdose. There are multiple storylines threaded throughout the book, each of the women has their own secrets they are trying to keep hidden from each other, yet the emotional weight of those secrets breaks through and causes ripples in their relationships.

The book is very well written, evoking images that are so clear you feel you are there, in the apartment, or in the hospital with the characters. The depth of emotion is real and unvarnished. If you enjoy a dramatic, deep read this is for you.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Barbara O'Neal's latest women's fiction novel (which I read in ARC form) did not disappoint! Three women, each with emotional scars from family trauma, learn to live in the now while dealing with their pasts. It kept me up way past my bedtime because I had to know how it ended. Gloria's story was particularly gripping. Who knew a 75-year-old heroine could be so captivating! I felt a lot about Sam. Her issues made me think about myself in a different way. And Willow, with her outward vulnerability, was a revelation of inner strength and passion. Highly recommend!

A wonderful story. The intricacies of families and how different members perceive events can have a massive effect on long term relationships. I loved how this was handled through this beautiful novel. A good week should make you smile and she'd a tear, and this one does.

I requested this after loving the authors previous book, When We Believed in Mermaids, and figuring this had similar family fiction vibes. Overall, this was a bit slow for me.

The book follows two sister, Willow and Sam, and their aunt Gloria who helped raise them after their mother passed away. Willow (the younger sibling who’s birth broke up sister Sam’s “happy” home) is a musician following in her mother’s footsteps and has just moved back to NYC. Sam is a video game designer who recently had a falling out with best friend and business partner Asher. Aunt Gloria is an Instagram influencer with a past connected to the world of art smuggling that is quickly catching up to her.

I enjoyed the sisters’s stories more than Glorias. For whatever reason, I found myself skimming her chapters even though I wanted to know her fate. Both sister’s have potential romances introduced early which kept the story going for me.

Overall, I have this a 3.5/5 but think if I’d have been more in the mood for it that I would have liked it more as it is a good story and O’Neal’s writing is beautiful.

Link to my full review to be posted closer to PubDay.

What a beautiful novel. With so much love, drama, secrets, personality differences and true sparkle throughout.

The author has written a novel about three women (four if you count the one who passed away yet has such a presence in the novel and to each woman). While they are all very different, there is always something that brings them closer, a quality they share, and some means of supporting one another even if it isn’t the way that they would like.

The author draws you in by the drama of one of the women and it sweeps you away from there. Each and every woman is influenced by a woman who died years ago, but was connected to all of them.

“Write My Name Across The Sky,” is a wonderful novel that explores the lives of three related women (and the effect a deceased woman has on all of them). It is a novel most women will fall in love with.

Rating: 4.2
🌟🌟🌟🌟.✨✨

* I read an advanced copy of this novel. All thoughts and written words are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. The two sisters Samantha and Willow have a love-hate relationship. Aunt Gloria holds it all together. Sam's business needs help, Willow is struggling in her music career, and Gloria's past comes back to haunt her. All three work together to pull through.

Barbara O’Neal does it again with Write My Name Across the Sky. O’Neals tells the story of 3 generations full of powerful women. The grandmother escaped Nazi Europe by marrying an American GI. The rockstar mother that dies young. The Instagram influencer aunt. The sisters - a talented violinist and a game designer.

O’Neals weaves together the generations to bring together the importance of sisterhood and family. Each chapter leaves the reader wanting for more and left me unable to put down the story.

Write My Name Across the Sky is an intimate portrait of three women, each at a life-changing crossroad—a floundering business, a disappointing musical career, and the prospect of jail. Samantha, Willow, and Gloria are extraordinary characters, with so many layers colored by regret and loss, hope and passion. From the first page, I was drawn into all of their fascinating stories, feeling so many emotions as I got to know them, their dreams, their flaws, and their talents. These are three women who in many ways couldn’t be more different, and even through their struggles and fights their love for each other rang true. I couldn’t stop turning pages as I read this compelling book, with its twists and turns and raw emotion throughout.

Sam and Willow are complete opposites. Sam is analytical and designs video games for a living. Willow is a musician, taking after their very famous mother, who was a singer. At the center of their lives is Gloria, their aunt who raised them after their mother died. Each sister is facing personal issues. For me, it seems harder for Willow, who is always at the end of her sister’s ire. O’Neal has written this beautifully told story from all three women’s perspectives, as they face some heavy issues in their lives.

When I first started reading O’Neal a few books back, I was drawn in by how touching and relatable her characters were. So when I saw her new book was available for request to review, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Each of the women leads a unique life. They are flawed and somewhat broken, but they have each other. Even though the girls’ mother, Billie, was a less than stellar parent, it was through her that so many of their memories unfold; that this story can be told at all. This was a unique story that had me in tears at some parts but gave me hope and left me with a really good feeling. Another fantastic read from O’Neal. Thank you, Lake Union Publishing, for sending this along.

Another of my favourite authors, every book I've read by Barbara O'Neal I've loved, there's always lots going on to keep your interest, and there is certainly lots of emotion and intrigue in this one.

Gloria is an 70-something former flight attendant living in a fabulous apartment in New York with a greenhouse on the roof which she uses in her very popular Instagram posts. Her sister was a famous singer who died of an overdose and Gloria moved in to bring up her two nieces afterwards, Sam (very clever, computer game designer/owner of her own business) and Willow (songwriter, much more delicate than her sister).

Sam and Willow had different fathers and Sam always felt Willow ruined everything by being born and was nearly always horrible to her as they grew up, although Willow always worshipped her older sister. As they've got older they weren't that close until a series of events made them reevaluate their relationship, especially cranky Sam, who has been pushing everyone in her life away by her vindictive attitude.

I loved the way the chapters were from each character's point of view, you really got into each of their stories. Gloria though was such a great character, my favourite. I really enjoyed hearing her side of the story, but she was in trouble with the FBI now because of her involvement when she was younger with an art forger, Isaak, the great love of her life, although they never got together because of Gloria's resistance to settling down.

There's a fair bit of mystery involved with paintings and what to do with them, along with trying to avoid the FBI and prison for Gloria, but she keeps getting mysterious messages saying she'll be OK, from Isaac she assumes.

A really wonderful read with such a lovely ending. Loved it!

I want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sending me the ARC of Write My Name Across the Sky. I appreciated the opportunity to read this book. I have read several books by Barbara O'Neal and have enjoyed them all. Ms O'Neal uses familiar storylines in her books, that of women in a family, ( mothers daughters, sisters), all with things to hide and all with issues sharing with the female family members. This new book follows a similar path. Gloria, is 70 and an ex stewardess. She had been involved with a handsome man many years ago, who was involved in art forgeries.Now he has been arrested and she is fearful her connection to him will be discovered. Gloria is Aunt to Sam and Willow, her late sister's daughters. Sam is a game developer, who is having problems both physical, emotional and professional.Willow is a folk singer, who is fleeing a bad relationship, and possibly her own talented path. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the characters.It is interesting and engaging. The characters are real and relatable. A few quibbles, while I have been complaining recently that books are overlong , with too much exposition, this is one that would have benefited frommore backstory, especially the story of Gloria. Also, I have read quite a few books lately that end, without resolution, and then tack on an epilogue, sone months or years later, where any loose ends are tied up. This happens in this book, and I really wanted more information on how things came about.I felt a bit cheated, with an ending presented to me, without the way it was achieved. Thanks again for allowing me to read this book.

I really enjoyed this novel by Barbara O'Neal. Alternating narration from Gloria, and her nieces Willow and Sam carries the story forward and you just need to keep reading to find out what will happen with each of them. The past reveals secrets that have shaped their present lives and says much about their individual characters Several crises force all three to make peace with the past and hope that the future will see them reconciled.

I can't get enough of Barbara! I've enjoyed her other books and this one was also an enjoyable one. The characters are so real - kind of reminds me of my sister and I. Those who love characters that are beautifully written and a setting that makes you want to go there - this book is for you

Thank you to Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Barbara O’Neal for allowing me to read and review this book before it’s pub date.

I loved this one! I thought it was so beautifully written and so moving. I was pulled into their stories and felt drawn to them from the very beginning. I also loved the different POV and how all of the plots seemed to tie into each other.

5 ⭐️s

Write My Name Across The Sky is a beautifully written novel told from three perspectives. One narrator is Sam, a forty year old video game designer who struggles to find happiness in her career and in her personal life. Her younger sister Willow is a struggling musician with amazing talent and a heart of gold. Their aunt Gloria is a fascinating 74 year old whose secret ties to.the underground art world are dangerously close to landing her in prison.

The dynamic between the sisters is one of the most well developed and realistic sibling relationships that I've seen in.... well, forever. Willow is forever trying to make beautiful music, form meaningful relationships and solve everyone else's problems before focusing on her own. Sam is angrier and more judgmental but comes to realize that her outlook comes from a place of hurt that can be healed if she can learn to let people help her.

Gloria is a fabulous, eccentric, lovable character who has led quite an interesting life. She is an Instagram influencer with a flair for gardening, photography and fashion. Gloria finds herself in trouble when her former lover is arrested for art forgeries and the FBI discovers that she may have been involved.

It is impossible not to root for Gloria. - and Sam, and Willow- in this gorgeous novel about finding the truth within yourself and letting love in.

I have read many of O'Neal's novels, and as is often the case with her novels, this book does not disappoint. Write My Name Across the Sky is the story of 3 women, whose relationship is not simply based on their family connection. Instead, they grow stronger together, help one another heal, and ultimately find ways to share their love with others. The plotting is very good and the story is captivating. Each character is so well drawn that I felt like I knew each woman personally. As is always the case with Barbara O'Neal, the details are one of this author's strengths. The descriptions of food are so good, I suddenly wanted to cook, or at the very least, buy bagels. Obviously, I really enjoyed this novel and do highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this one! I felt invested in all three storylines, and felt eager to find out what happened. I liked the pacing, with both the deeper relational wounds to explore, plus the ongoing investigation and possible arrest coming. It felt exciting, and I'm impressed that I felt connected to all three main characters. My only complaint was that the whole book felt content with not tying everything up with a neat-and-tidy bow, only to have an epilogue that felt a little too tidy. I think I would have preferred not knowing how everything worked out, even though I'm glad for the characters, it just didn't feel like the best fit for how the book felt.

Wonderful story that pulls you in from the very start. Likeable and unique characters make you want to read more and more. I couldn't put it down, and I missed them when the book was over - the ultimate sign of an excellent story! Barbara O'Neal just gets better and better. Loved it!!

Although the book seemed to move slowly in the beginning, at least for me, it really grabbed me about 1/4 of the way in and never let go.
I enjoyed the various POV, and definitely felt the connection between the three main characters. Because there was so much going on, some aspects of the story didn’t seem particularly fleshed out.
Overall, I’m thrilled for the chance to read this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for that opportunity.

I love this author, she carries me away in her books.
I loved "When We Believed in Mermaids" so much I bought it so I can read again and again
(I don't have many books - this had to be one!)

Three women - each having challenges w/lives and decisions they have made are at a crossroads
Story rotating between the three, you will feel each of their struggles.

As with her other books, once I began reading .. I could not stop reading