Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

Apologies, folks, I had planned to have this posted on Wednesday. Unfortunately for me I wasn't able to finish up the post until today!

Rose Gold Watts was told that she was sick. She was told she was allergic to everything, that she needed a feeding tube, that she needed a wheelchair. Rather, Rose Gold was a victim at the hands of her own mother.

Her mother was sentenced to five years for the abuse Rose Gold suffered. And Rose Gold was the key witness in the trial. But now Patty has served her time. Patty is ready to start again and ready to mend her relationship with Rose Gold. And Rose Gold seems open to healing their relationship as well.

But what Patty doesn't know is that Rose Gold has changed.

From the moment Rose Gold arrives to pick Patty up from jail, the mother isn't sure where she stands with her daughter. And neither is the reader!

The story alternates between Patty's perspective as she's getting out of jail and Rose Gold's perspective beginning when her mother begins serving her sentence. And while I don't want to give too much away, I will say that Rose Gold's evolution is an interesting one. She's been under her mother's control for so long, she's essentially been locked into a permanent childhood. But of course, being raised under questionable circumstances is going to have an impact!

I loved the push and pull between Patty and Rose Gold. Patty thinks things are going to go back to normal. She never really does admit she's done anything to Rose Gold, so the normal she expects is basically a daughter who will cow to her and be her best friend again. And Rose Gold herself is a mom now, so Patty not only has to mend her relationship with her daughter, she has a grandson in the mix too.

I was able to avoid any spoilers on this one even though ARCs started going out this past fall. I want to make sure I give you the same chance in your reading. Hopefully I've piqued your interest without ruining anything, because this is such a fabulous one to dive into that way!

I do want to add that I had the chance to alternate between the physical book and the audio (which gives me a chance to read even when I can't actually read!) and I highly recommend the latter if you're an audiobook listener. Narrators Megan Dodds and Jill Winternitz do a really wonderful job of giving voice to Patty and Rose Gold. You can get it from Libro.fm and support your favorite indie (if you don't have a nearby indie of your own, consider BookBar!).

Darling Rose Gold is out this week from Berkley!

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