The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller

Standalone. NAL (June 2014) NetGalley

Sometimes you just need to get away…. Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is counting down the days to summer, eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave’s work ruins their getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. Now, instead of enjoying the lazy summer days along the ocean, Paige is navigating the rocky waters of a forgotten bond with her sister in the sweltering city heat. As she attempts to dig deeper into Dave’s work troubles and some long-held family secrets, Paige is shocked to discover how little she knows about the people closest to her. This summer, the self-proclaimed relationship expert will grapple with her biggest challenge yet: Is it worth risking your most precious relationships in order to find yourself?

Don't let the smiling sisters on the cover fool you. This isn't a story where two sisters get together after a long time and bond so easily. There's a lot of turbulence when it comes to Paige and Sloane. Paige is facing an ordeal when Sloane announces that she's coming to see her family after twenty years of being away from their lives. It doesn't really faze Paige when her mother tells her because she has no real memories of her sister. She has always kept her in the back burner of her mind because whenever she used to mention her runaway sister Sloane, her parents would change the subject. That's a lot of the family dynamic in this story. If you don't talk about it, you don't have to deal with it. That's actually something I've seen in my own family at times. I wish we were more open and taking a sneak peek at what could happen if we don't well... let's say I never want to be in their position.

The Never Never Sisters is about trust, honesty, pain, secrets, and figuring out how to be a family. I enjoyed reading about all the characters. Paige had to deal with her husband Dave who was freaking out about his job. That unfolded unlike how I expected. I always like a surprise or two in my books so it was welcome. Sloane is an enigma of sorts. She's always really gloomy. I couldn't understand why she hates her mother so much until the secret was revealed. Although, I still didn't understand considering her past. I got to read about Paige and her mother Vanessa's POV which I really appreciated. I wanted to know the mother's perspective and how she was feeling now that her daughter was coming home again. She kind of has this facade about her that everything is okay, yet I found her to be incredibly vulnerable. It was interesting seeing that really you don't really know someone unless you are inside their head. There's so much we leave out when talking to people who are close to us, I just hope that I know my future husband more than Paige felt like she did.

Sloane really came to life when she was with Paige. It was really getting to me on how much she obviously cared for her sister. I'm so happy for Paige that she reached out even though there are some ideas that Paige doesn't really understand about her sister. Their bonding was full of ups and downs. I enjoyed exploring them with the sisters and seeing the end result. Everything isn't perfect with the lives of this family, but that's not how life is. The Never Never Sisters is a great example of how we need to be honest with ourselves and really get to know our loved ones because you never know what their secrets might reveal about them.