There are certain books that wreck me emotionally. Stories about broken families often top that list and Things I Never Told You, Beth K. Vogt’s novel about three sisters who could be so much more to each other is one of those.

In My Opinion

Some families are close, they share everything with each other. Siblings are best friends and talk every day. And then there are families like the Thatchers.

Things I Never Told you is a deep exploration of the lengthy shadow cast over this family’s relationships by tragedy. Payton once confided in her twin sister but shame at her part in the death of Pepper has caused her to avoid her family more often than not. Instead, she buries herself in work while keeping her other two sisters at a distance, point at faults as reasons to stay away.

As the middle sister, Jillian has become the peacemaker between her bossy and controlling older sister and Payton. When she’s confronted with a challenge that saps her of all her strength and energy, she no longer desires to step into that role. Why can’t, for once, her sisters care about what’s going on with her?

Beth K. Vogt’s foray into women’s fiction is poignant and powerful. This story is from first person POV for one character and third person from two of the others, but, in this case, it works well. There is growth in all three of these characters but also acceptance of some of the things they cannot change. And emotions run high throughout the pages. Yet, fans of Vogt’s romances won’t be disappointed, though, as there is both a thread of romance and a hint of a beginning of another in this one.

Johanna, Jillian, and Payton are complicated and real. I want to find out what’s up with Johanna. What’s made her the way she is—controlling, organized, type-A. I want to hang out with Payton some more and see how the decisions she made at the end of Things I Never Told You are working out of her. And I want to hang out with Jillian and her BFF some more. So I’m more than pleased to know this is just the first book in the Thatcher Sisters series!

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

About the Book

It’s been ten years since Payton Thatcher’s twin sister died in an accident, leaving the entire family to cope in whatever ways they could. No longer half of a pair, Payton reinvents herself as a partner in a successful party-planning business and is doing just fine–as long as she manages to hold her memories and her family at arm’s length.

But with her middle sister Jillian’s engagement, Payton’s party-planning skills are called into action. Which means working alongside her opinionated oldest sister, Johanna, who always seems ready for a fight. They can only hope that a wedding might be just the occasion to heal the resentment and jealousy that divides them . . . until a frightening diagnosis threatens Jillian’s plans and her future. As old wounds are reopened and the family faces the possibility of another tragedy, the Thatchers must decide if they will pull together or be driven further apart.

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