Book Review and Giveaway: The Twelfth Child by Bette Lee Crosby

Synopsis: Trust, love and friendship—Abigail Anne Lannigan searched for these things all her life. 

Now, when she is at the tail end of her years, she teams up with a free-spirited young woman. A nobody from nowhere, who suddenly moves in across the street. This unlikely friendship comes under suspicion when a million dollars goes missing and a distant relative, claims embezzlement. Abigail knows the truth of what happened, but she’ll never get the chance to tell..

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I was barely thirteen years old when Mama died and left me and Will in the care of Papa, a man who’d think nothing of shoving a dose of castor oil down my throat just so he could watch my face turn inside out. “It’s good for what ails you,” he’d say; yet, I noticed he never gave Will the same big dose. Papa didn’t say it in precise words, but he made it clear enough he wouldn’t give two hoots if all the girl babies in Chestnut Ridge, Virginia, were in the graveyard along with Mama. Of course with him being a staunch Methodist, I don’t believe Papa was capable of taking a butcher knife and slicing off heads or anything; but he surely knew how to destroy people from the inside—a sliver of spirit, a piece of pride, a chunk of heart—until one day there’s nothing left but a walking around shell to do the cooking and laundry.

It’s a roundabout story, but Papa’s blind-sightedness is the very reason Destiny Fairchild may end up in the Women’s Correctional Facility—which is a fancy way of saying penitentiary. Everybody’s life could have been a whole lot different if Mama hadn’t died before she got a chance to set things right. She was the one to tell Papa there were two sides to every story and he should have the fairness of mind to hear them all the way through. Will, bless his heart, wasn’t the least bit like Papa; nonetheless, we’d get to scrapping over something—who was smarter, who slacked on their chores, who said what and who didn’t—and that’s when Mama stepped in. She’d make us sit at the kitchen table and tell both versions of how the tussle got started. After everything was all explained, she’d generally say we should be ashamed of ourselves, fussing over such a bit of nonsense when here we were twins, born of the same seed, a brother and sister, linked together for life. More often than not, she’d dole out a punishment that involved standing in opposite corners of the room and thinking things over for a while.

Unfortunately, Destiny didn’t have Mama to see to the fairness of things before they got out of hand; besides, in her case there were three sides, hers, Elliott’s and mine. Problem is, no one’s ever heard mine—not even Judge Kensington.

Review:  This was a very quick read- I read it in one sitting! I wish the author had included more of Abigail's past life in the book, but from the ending there may be a second book in the works, so that could by why. The book starts out with Abigail being born and her early life, then goes back and forth between the recent past and the present, and the days of prohibition. By the end of the first chapter, your heart will be attached to Abigail and you will want the best for her! While the ending will resolve the primary puzzle of the novel (and made the reader happy for the most part), it opens more, especially about characters who 'disappear', like Abigail's best friend and goddaughter, allowing for new characters for the second book, if the author chooses. All in all, this was a wonderful little read, and I recommend it for an afternoon by the fire!

About the Author:
Born in Detroit and raised in a plethora of states scattered across the South and Northeast, Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since that, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal and most recently the 2011 Reviewer’s Choice Award and Reader’s View Southeast Fiction Literary Award.

For more info, check out her Website, Facebook page, Twitter - @betteleecrosby, and Pinterest

Check out the Rest of the Book Blog Tour, then come back and enter to WIN!:
October 15 - Reading Addiction Blog Tours - Meet and Greet

October 17 - Books, Books, The Magical Fruit - Giveaway/Interview/PROMO

October 18 - The Life and Lies of an Inanimate Object - Guest Post/PROMO

October 19 - Laurie's Interviews - Interview/Giveaway/PROMO

October 21 - Andi's Book Reviews - Review/Guest Post/Giveaway

October 23 - My Reading Addiction - Review/Giveaway

October 27 - Jenn Renee Reads - Giveaway/Guest Post/PROMO

November 1 - Beth Art From the Heart - Review/Guest Post

November 1 - Kaisy Daisy's Blog - Review/Giveaway

November 2 - My Cozie Corner - Reivew/Giveaway

November 3 - Jen McConnel - Guest Post/Giveaway/PROMO

November 5 - J. Heather Leigh - Review/Guest Post

November 6 - A Chick Who Reads - Review/Giveaway/Guest Post

November 8 - A Date With a Book - Review

November 9 - My Devotional Thoughts - Review/Guest Post/Giveaway

November 10 - Jersey Girl Book Reviews- Review/Guest Post

November 12 -The Book Faery Reviews - Guest Post/Giveaway/PROMO

November 15 - Silvers Reviews - Review

November 16 - Book Reviews and More - Guest Post/PROMO

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Disclosure / Disclaimer: I was sent this book, free of charge, for review purposes,via  Reading Addiction Blog Tours. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.