{Release Day Review} The Lucky Ones by Tiffany Reisz (@8thCirclePress @HarlequinBooks)

They called themselves “the lucky ones.” 

They were seven children either orphaned or abandoned by their parents and chosen by legendary philanthropist and brain surgeon Dr. Vincent Capello to live in The Dragon, his almost magical beach house on the Oregon Coast. Allison was the youngest of the lucky ones living an idyllic life with her newfound family…until the night she almost died, and was then whisked away from the house and her adopted family forever.

Now, thirteen years later, Allison receives a letter from Roland, Dr. Capello’s oldest son, warning her that their father is ill and in his final days. Allison determines she must go home again and confront the ghosts of her past. She's determined to find out what really happened that fateful night--was it an accident or, as she's always suspected, did one of her beloved family members try to kill her?

But digging into the past can reveal horrific truths, and when Allison pieces together the story of her life, she'll learns the terrible secret at the heart of the family she once loved but never really knew.

A vivid and suspenseful tale of family, grief, love—and the dark secrets that bind everything together—Tiffany Reisz’s latest is enthralling to the final page.

​Allison has been living in the shadows for the last six years. She’s been selling herself – body and soul – to a rich older man who keeps her hidden away until it’s convenient to show her the light.  Now that’s coming to an end and she can hardly find it in herself to be sad.  But it’s the letter that arrives from a familiar Oregon address that sends her into emotional overdrive.
 
The Dragon was a house where she once felt safe and loved. She lived there surrounded by the grey clouds of the coast as one of the lucky children adopted by Dr. Vincent Capello. His brood consisted of boys and girls that no one else wanted and it was here where he proved to them that no one was hopeless. 
When lines start to blur between Allison and her foster brother Roland, it sets in motion a chain of events that ends with her leaving them all behind and maybe after all of these years she can finally discover why.

​“I want you to know I never forgot about you,” Allison said. “I would have come back if I hadn’t been too scared to. Sometimes I dreamed about...”

Roland took her hand again and twined his fingers within hers, hers within his, and rested their joined hands on his chest.

“Tell me what you dreamed of,” Roland said.

She smiled and looked up at the gray late-evening sky. The first stars were peeking out from behind the dark curtain of night, and she was alone on the beach with the first boy she ever loved, holding his hand with no witness but the ocean.

“I dreamed you’d come and find me,” she said.

“Why me?”

“Wishful thinking,” she said. “You were always my favorite.”

“Favorite sibling?”

“Favorite person. Ever. On earth. I was a little in love with you. And maybe a little in lust...”

Roland did a double take.
​
“What?” she said. “Twelve-year-old girls think about sex. News at eleven.”

​Roland Capello never could forget Allison.  She was the innocent young girl that made his blood sizzle in his veins and all it took was one kiss to change the trajectory of his life forever.  Now with death creeping ever closer, will they be able to solve the mystery that The Dragon hides and finally find happiness together or will they all be doomed to haunt its empty hallways alone?

Too many secrets in this house.

So many they were starting to feel like...

Lies.

​The Lucky Ones is by far the edgiest departure from Tiffany to date! Part gothic romance and part psychological thriller, she seduces you with her atmospheric prose only to send a megawatt jolt of electricity with every unexpected twist.  Just when you think you have all of the answers, you slip even further under the spell of her wildly complex characters.
 
With an ending that is both shocking and gratifying, it’s an odd kind of fairy tale that dares you to find the beauty that lies beneath…

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