About:

The year is 2016, and on the outside, Natalie Abbott has got it together. She lives in a nice house, is supported by a loving police-officer husband, has teenage twins, and is a popular co-host on a local radio station, where she gives out sage and spiritual advice to those struggling with life issues. However, on the inside, Natalie's seemingly well-ordered world is shattering. Her twins are distant, from each other and their parents, and something more seems to be going on than they let on. Natalie glides through the tension, but one day, an unthinkable tragedy crumbles everything they've ever known. 

Rewind to the Revolutionary War. The conflict has been brought to Mercy's doorstep, invited into her home, and her fiance, Nathan Hale, is the only ray of sunshine through it all. But then he's tragically hung by the British, and Mercy copes in an unlikely way- by working against them as a spy. Handsome and roguish, Major John Andre is seemingly full of charm and flattery, nothing else. His attraction to Mercy makes him the perfect target for information, but it all gets harder and harder as she begins to see past the exterior and into his heart. 

Their stories are different, yet the same. Will the end lead to heartbreak, or healing? 

My Review:

This review can  be summed up in one word: Wow. Just, wow. I ran through so many different emotions while reading, from nostalgia to sorrow to bittersweet hope, and it really threw me for a loop. I wanted- no, scratch that, I HAD - to read more, but at the same time I didn't. The emotions and angst were all too real, but I still needed to read more to find out that it was all going to be okay at the end.

Once in a while (unfortunately, it can be rare) you'll come across this one book that not only grabs you but pulls you in, into the emotion and drama, and your heart bleeds. Maybe there's a happy ending, maybe there's not, but it's so lifelike and you come away from the book different than what you were before. THIS is one of those rare jewels.

Normally I'm not one for books about mothers in their forties with teen kids- I just can't relate because I'm still in the teenage world myself. Natalie's story was different, though. I could relate to her, and I felt for her. The POV switched many times to her daughter Maelynn, which enriched the story to see another side of things, and her side was equally as interesting and heartfelt. Mercy's parts of the story tended to start out slow and I found myself looking forward to Natalie's story more, but about halfway through that changed, and I was ferociously switching from Natalie to Maelynn to Mercy with intensity. 

The Hidden Side was a hard book to read and had to have been an even harder story to tell, but Chiavaroli writes it with grace, faith and realism. It should definitely be on everyone's to-read list!

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.