Her Secret Son

This was my first book by Hannah Mary McKinnon, and I was immediately drawn to its premise. This is a story about a man named Josh whose girlfriend, Grace suddenly dies leaving him devastated and the unofficial guardian to her 7-year-old son, Logan. When Josh unearths secrets from Grace's past that will affect Logan's future, he becomes obsessed about getting to the truth and protecting this boy who he has loved and raised as his own son for the past five years.

I loved the mystery aspect of Grace's secret past but while there is a mystery, Her Secret Son felt like more of a slower-paced contemporary story with a sweet, family drama feel to its dialogue, characters and small town setting. I particularly enjoyed the attention given to the relationships - Josh and his sister Lisa and especially his heartwarming bond with young Logan.

But I felt the family drama quickly overtook the suspense of Grace's secrets and while I continued to be engaged, I missed the tension. Things pick up much later, but the ending, while explosive, was a little far-fetched and over too quickly. I would have enjoyed an epilogue with Grace's take on things to better understand why she did what she did.

This was a good, but not quite a wow read for me that I read in just two days. It's a heartwarming story that showcases the bond between a father and his son making it a good choice for people who like a bit of mystery set within a touching family drama.

This will not be my last book by McKinnon. I plan to read her earlier book, The Neighbors and I'm eager to read my advanced copy of her much talked about upcoming book, Sister Dear which publishes in May 2020.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Hannah Mary McKinnon

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Canadian

Type: Trade Paperback (378 pages)

Source: Local Public Library

Publisher: MIRA

First Published: May 28, 2019

Opening Line: They say the lucky ones experience an incredible, life-defining moment, a moment they can point back to as the second everything changed. 

Book Description from GoodReads: How far would you go to protect the ones you love…when they may not be yours to protect? When Josh’s long-time partner, Grace, dies in a tragic accident, he is left with a mess of grief—and full custody of her seven-year-old son, Logan. While not his biological father, Josh has been a dad to Logan in every way that counts, and with Grace gone, Logan needs him more than ever.

Wanting to do right by Logan, Josh begins the process of becoming his legal guardian—something that seems suddenly urgent, though Grace always brushed it off as an unnecessary formality. But now, as Josh struggles to find the paperwork associated with Logan’s birth, he begins to wonder whether there were more troubling reasons for Grace’s reluctance to make their family official.

As he digs deeper into the past of the woman he loved, Josh soon finds that there are many dark secrets to uncover, and that the truth about where Logan came from is much more sinister than he could have imagined…

Tightly paced and brimming with tension, Her Secret Son is a heartbreakingly honest portrait of a family on the edge of disaster and a father desperate to hold on to the boy who changed his life.