This book read like it was written for children who are in the process of switching Middle Grade for Young Adult. Turning to writing, still as Lucinda Edmonds, she followed Lovers and Players with novels such as Hidden Beauty (1993), Enchanted (1994), Losing You (1997) and Playing with Fire (1998). Her 1988 marriage to the actor Owen Whittaker, whom she met while shooting a commercial, ended in divorce. In 2000, she married Stephen Riley, who had led a management buyout of the company that became Denby Pottery, and she took a 10-year break from writing to bring up their children. Women need a partner to be happy, right? It doesn't matter Merry has two healthy children, a succesful business, inner peace now Bobby is no longer a threat and reconnected in only positive ways with her siblings. No, girl needs a man. I have been looking forward this 7th book in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series since the series began with a lot of build up surrounding the mystery behind the ‘missing’ sister. I had high hopes, unfortunately, I’ve ended up very disappointed. You’ve revealed that the series will continue with Book 8, ‘ Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt’. Had you planned this from the very beginning?

Lucinda Riley - Wikipedia Lucinda Riley - Wikipedia

They only have one clue – an image of a star-shaped emerald ring. The search to find the missing sister will take them across the globe; from New Zealand to Canada, England, France and Ireland, uniting them all in their mission to at last complete their family. Have you had very clear vision of who the missing sister was since the beginning of the series in 2014, or did it develop as you wrote each book? Here the early section has a weird kind of pursuit aspect when the sisters take turns following poor Merry across the globe. I liked this section because it was fun to reunite with each sister and see how their lives are going, though the practical side of me did want them to stop scaring the hell out this poor woman! My one real quibble with the book -- why was it so important to invite a woman they don't know to the memorial of a man she never met? I get that she might be the "Missing Sister" found at last, but the deadline felt odd. Couldn't they just meet up with her on her schedule? Why was her presence needed? Whatever her connection to Pa Salt, she never met him. However, I liked everything else so much that I was (mostly) able to let this go.

While I enjoyed the book overall, I was disappointed that the mystery woven throughout the series was not resolved, but hopefully the answers will be resolved in the eighth book. The Seven Sisters series sees Lucinda Riley at the top of her game: she is a magical storyteller who creates characters we fall in love with and who stay with us long after we finish reading. Her latest book, The Missing Sister, is what we’ve all been waiting for.’

The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley | Waterstones The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley | Waterstones

I have really enjoyed this series for the most part and have been looking forward to what I thought was the final book, but unfortunately I was dissatisfied. This was my least favorite of the series so far. I loved that New Zealand was one of the locations in this book but I will say that Ireland was the real highlight for me. Both the past and present sections that took place there were excellent. I thought the ending was tantalising and well executed, but sad too -- I'm really looking forward to finally getting answers about the mysterious Pa Salt and wish Harry Whittaker well in writing it. We have now discovered the origins of the adopted sisters and finally the identity of the Missing Sister and how she fits into this strange, disparate family. Savvy readers might have found clues as to how it all fits together… and now the story of Atlas will be the final puzzle piece that lets the entire picture emerge clearly. I wanted to celebrate the achievements of women,” said Riley, “especially in the past, where so often their contribution to making our world the place it is today has been overshadowed by the more frequently documented achievements of men.”There is a lot about the history of Ireland and their struggle for independence from the British, which was interesting. I love history, so I always find that fun to read, and I like learning about other cultures. That being said, that part of the story is not something you couldn't get from other sources, so I wouldn't say it would be worth the read to get that aspect if you are interested in that particular part of history. It DOES include real life events and people, but they are not really central to the story. Furthermore the author has a rather ‘convenient’ way of simply making less sympathetic characters disappear from the plot, so that rather promising storylines come to dissapointing and unfullfilling ends. For example: of seven siblings she makes the one sibling the main character does not get along with emigrate to Canada. End of story. Some weird childhood friend is easily written of to the loony bin in one single paragraph. Loose ends are sloppily written off in my opinion. What can I say? I was so excited for this book to come out and finally have the answers to all the mysteries throughout the series. I have been looking forward to it for months. And now I get to the end of the book and not ONE of my questions was answered and I read that there will be ANOTHER book. I'm always excited to have more reading material, but I feel this was dishonest and extremely poorly handled. If an 8th book is needed to finish the series and tie up all the loose ends, don't advertise the 7th book as the final book. The moment you realize that you can not do it justice with what you have, THAT is the moment to announce that there will be one more, NOT when the reader has already finished what you stated would be the last book. What a disappointment! That's an understatement, actually. It was a huge let down. Not only do we not know who the missing sister's parents are, but we also don't get any answers about other story lines throughout the series. Had I known ahead of time that there was going to be another book, it would have only made me MORE excited, and the end of this one would have just have made me excited about the conclusion. But now I feel duped and let down. There was no reason not to tell fans that there was going to have to be an 8th book. We didn't need to read the whole book to find out it wasn't the end.