The Beautiful Daughters

by Nicole Baart

Adrienne Vogt and Harper Penny were closer than sisters, until the day a tragedy blew their seemingly idyllic world apart. Afraid that they got away with murder and unable to accept who they had lost—and what they had done—Harper and Adri exiled themselves from small-town Blackhawk, Iowa, and from each other. Adri ran thousands of miles away to Africa while Harper ventured down a more destructive path closer to home.

Now, five years later, both are convinced that nothing could ever coax them out of the worlds in which they’ve been living. But unexpected news from home soon pulls Adri and Harper back together, and the two cannot avoid facing their memories and guilt head-on. As they are pulled back into the tangle of their fractured relationships and the mystery of Piperhall, the sprawling estate where their lives first began to unravel, secrets and lies behind the tragic accident are laid bare. The former best friends are forced to come to terms with their shared past and search for the beauty in each other while mending the brokenness in themselves.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Womens Fiction, Mystery, Book Club, Romance, Contemporary

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2015

About the author

Nicole Baart is the author of eleven novels, including Everything We Didn’t Say (an October 2021 Book of the Month selection and Amazon Editor's pick) and The Long Way Back. Best known for her “race-to-the-finish family dramas” (People), Baart is also the cofounder of a nonprofit and mother of five. She lives in Iowa with her family.

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicolebaart/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NicoleBaart/
Twitter https://twitter.com/NicoleLynnBaart

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, friends.

The idea for THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS came to me in the middle of an indie film called THE FOURTH WORLD. The movie is an in-depth look at some of the poorest slums across the globe, and I was riveted by these stories of hope and courage in such difficult circumstances. It moved me to tears. One quote in particular stood out to me: "Hope has two beautiful daughters: they are anger and courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are." (St. Augustine of Hippo). It struck me that when something catastrophic happens, different people often react to the exact same situation in very different ways. This phenomenon reminds me of the saying: "There are three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth." I knew that I wanted to explore this idea--to take two best friends, soul sisters, and watch what happened when their lives began to unfurl.

Adrienne and Harper are two sides of the same coin. They react very differently to the death of a man who was much more than just a friend, but at the heart of their grief and loss is the same motivation: love. THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS examines how they punish themselves and, ultimately, how they find the grace to forgive.

I loved writing this book. It was exciting and joyful, but also at times very difficult and heart-wrenching. I cried with these characters and rejoiced when they began the journey to healing and wholeness. I think it's a road we can all relate to--one that is winding and hard, but filled with adventure and moments of beauty along the way. I hope you have the opportunity to join Adri and Harper as they find their way home. And I hope you love the journey.

Warmly,
Nicole

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very tedious read. The blurb for the story sounded way more interesting than it actually turned out to be. The setting, the characters, the storyline, it all had such a drab feel.

The circumstances that force Adrienne to return to Iowa and get reacquainted with the life she left behind are a little odd. After her fiancé’s death, five years prior, Adri fled to Africa for a nursing position and vowed to leave it all behind. She’s been leading the life of a do-gooder, but why? Is she trying to repent for something or is she happy? And what part did her best friend Harper, play in David’s death?

“Sometimes the hand you hold is the hand that pulls you down.”

There’s some suspense in the fact that everything is pretty vague in the beginning, but my feelings went from intrigued to bored pretty quickly. The journey to the truth behind the strange dynamics of the friends and what really happened to David was way too drawn out for my liking. And I still can’t figure out what either of the girls saw in him. There were a ton of things the author alluded to along the way, but never came outright and said. Instead, she focused more on the mundane details that, at times, overshadowed the actual plot.

The shift to Harper’s point of view injected a little bit of life into the story, but not enough. Her situation confused me. She was obviously torturing herself and I was actually kind of interested to find out why, but that didn’t last for long. She eventually fell into the category of one-note and emotionless just like the rest of the characters. I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of it.

And to make things worse, the ending was anticlimactic and kind of predictable. I should have set this one aside when it became clear it wasn’t working for me. How many times does this have to happen before I learn my lesson? A few more chapters won’t turn a dud into a gem.

[KathyAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story focused quite a bit on the topic of domestic abuse... a bit of a distressing theme but at the same time it was an engaging story laced with an edge of mystery. Beautifully written in a somewhat unusual setting. I loved that this little Iowa town had this unusual castle type dwelling lurking in the midst of farm country... A place where little girls can sit back and daydream of princes and fairytales. But, reality can be quite different... this we learn as the tale of these two best friends slowly unfolds. The story revolves around five college students who were once all close friends but is being told from Adrienne and Harper's POV... it moves back and forth from present to past.
These two best friends end up going their separate ways after college in the aftermath of a tragedy in which they both felt blame. Five years later they find themselves back together again and being forced to face the truth of the past. This is one of those stories that gently reminds us that you can run from your past but you can't hide from it... eventually you have to face it. And, once you face it... it's usually not as bad as you thought. Sometimes when emotions are high, it alters our perception of how things may have actually happened.
Adrienne had created a new life for herself in Africa where she worked as a nurse... and, Harper eventually found herself trapped in a relationship with a man who was controlling, dangerous and abusive. Both of them coming back to the place that they vowed never to return to was in a way just the medicine they needed to find a way back to taking control of their lives and letting go of the past.
A good story of two friends learning to forgive, let go of the past and embrace the future... it was nice seeing them re-kindle the friendship they thought they had lost. Sometimes all you have to do is take a chance, reach out and let the chips fall where they may...

Highly recommend to Women's Fiction fans!

ARC was provided by Atria publishing via netgalley


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[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew! What a ride! I feel like I was holding my breath for the last six chapters, at least!! A beautiful story about true friendship and forgiveness, and realizing that we always have a place to call home, even when we think we don't deserve it. I adore Nicole Baart's story telling, and I think The Beautiful Daughters might be my favorite book yet, though I still have some to catch up on!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a difficult review for me to write. When I saw this book and read the blurb, I thought it sounded very good. I also looked at it because I knew this was a Christian fiction author, who has good reviews on her Christian fiction books. I didn't know this was a cross-over into the general market. So when I started reading this, I was reading with the knowledge and expectation that this was another CF book by her. It is not Christian fiction. I am giving very strong warning to those who have read and enjoyed her Christian fiction. As someone who reads mostly CF and understood this author to be CF, this was an offensive book.

There was offensive language (more than a couple), sexual situations and mention of a character being pornographically photographed. There was a kiss between two women, though quick and vague, it had absolutely nothing to do the the plot or characters. There were a few other things I found offensive as well.

Most of the characters were unlikable. I really liked Adrienne's dad, brother and coworker. The dialogue was weak and lacking. There didn't seem to be much dialogue at all. Some of the story line just felt too melodramatic at times. It felt that the ending was very anti-climatic. At times, there were parts that felt like they dragged and the book could have been shorted a bit.

She is a very talented author! She does have some very beautiful description and imagery. If she would have written this book as non-Christian but clean, I would have enjoyed it so much more.

I was very disappointed in the author! I will not be reading anything more by her, nor will I recommend her to anyone. As of now, I don't believe I will even be reading any of her CF.

*I received this book free from Goodreads as part of their first reads program.

[Carmen Blankenship · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beautiful Daughters is a gorgeous story of friendship, of family, of self forgivness, and perception. It is amazing how our perception of things can change the course of our lives regardless if what we perceive is correct.

This is a charachter driven story and the best one I have read so far this year. Nicole Baart's ability to paint a scence and make her characters come alive reminds me so much of Pat Conroy for some reason. Like Conroy, her passages are almost poetic bet never over done. I was simply at her mercy the entire time I was reading.

I simply cannot rave enough about this womens ability to write! Some people are studied writers, some people fall into it, and some people are born with the talent. Just like the pop stars of today. You have your Jennifer Lopez's, your Britney Spears... all talented women you have worked hard on presenting a whole package to make up where there may be a lack of natural born talent.. and then you have your Jennifer Hudson's and your Adele's. Two women who could wear garbage bags on stage and bring the house down. I believe Nicole Baart brought the house down.

I have immediatley gone and purchased two other novels by Baart and cannot wait to share my new discover with everyone I know. Please don't do this book a diservice by labeling it "women's fiction". While I myself love womens fiction, I would hate for people to miss out on this gorgeous book by having it labeled.

You will think about Beautiful Daughters long after you finish the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for the advanced copy in exchange for this review.

[Diana]

I'm marking this one as did not finish, as the first 30% of this book I can only describe as tedious. The pacing is so very slow. Obviously there's some mystery and "guilt" surrounding a death in the past, but there weren't enough breadcrumbs thrown out to hold my interest. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book, but unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea.

[Katherine Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was, for me, a gift–first, as an unexpected offer from the author after a serendipitous Twitter connection; but second, and more significantly, as an experience. The kind of literary experience that’s all too rare yet much sought after. The Beautiful Daughters is the kind of women’s fiction I love. Honest and true, written with such pathos that even if you can’t relate to a particular situation…you can.

In The Beautiful Daughters, every complex character is intricately honed, and even the most unsympathetic ones ring true to life. I relished the story’s shadows and mystery, the gradual peeling back of memories and unfolding of relationships–all of which kept me turning the pages long past my bedtime. From cover to thematic premise (re-read that quote by St. Augustine…does it not stir your soul?), to *story* and setting and characters–this novel has it all.

Engrossing and multi-layered, The Beautiful Daughters was a book I could hardly put down. And weeks later, I’m still reflecting on the characters, their choices and imagined futures. Reflecting also on their real-life counterparts, wondering how I might be a part of the answer to their prayers.

I suppose this, in the end, was the greatest gift The Beautiful Daughters delivered: Hope. An understanding that while evil surely exists, so does goodness–and the confidence that when Anger and Courage unite, goodness prevails.

Thanks to the author for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an advanced reading copy from NetGalley along with a request for a review.

The story revolves around a group of five people who were college friends although one is now dead. The story is told through the two women in the group, Adri and Harper. Unfortunately, neither of these characters is particularly likable, nor was David, the group member who died. The other two in the group, Will and Jackson, seem to be fine people, but they have limited roles. The story of David's death took a long time to unfold and was anticlimatic by the time it was unveiled.

[Jeannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. Book. THIS is why we read fiction. An excellent story transports us somewhere new and we are held tight in the author's magic.

I loved the redemptive tale of these two friends who believe their actions are unforgivable. I couldn't predict the ending and didn't want to.

Thank you, Nicole Baart!!

(P.S. I won an advance copy of this book on Twitter; the book itself comes out in April 2015, I think...)

[Josephine Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of two ladies who met in college and became best friends. Story of the young ladies and their boyfriends and loves. The book takes place in a small Iowa town, Blackhawk, Iowa, West Africa and Minneapolis. The book goes back and forth in time in the lives of protagonists Adrianne Vogt and Harper Perry.

Adri is a nurse working in West Africa. She ran away from the midwest when a painful event occurred. The man she was going to marry, David Galloway, was killed. Adri feels it was her fault, she feels guilty constantly. Her workmate, another nurse, Caleb, was travelling the world, but felt he should do something worthwhile, so he takes a job working with Adri. He is attracted to her as she is to him. But she has been hurt so badly she can't trust herself to love again. She doesn't deserve such a good man. The two are doing work that is worthwhile. Then Adri's father calls, he tells her that Victoria Galloway, who would have been her mother-in-law, has died and left her with her large, beautiful home. The family was very wealthy. Victoria was beautiful, refined, a lady. She had one son, David, and was a widow. She was quiet, standoffish, hard to get to know. She had only one lady friend. Adri's father meets her at the plane, he has been a widower since Adri and her twin brother, Will, were four. During their college years, when Adri met Harper, the two became five, David, Will and his best friend Jackson. This is a small college, David could have gone to a more prestigious school, but he chose the home college.

When Adri come home she contacts Harper. Who knows where she has gone. She is a beautiful young woman, parents are professors, teaching philosophy, wealthy, always fighting. Harper could also have gone to a more well known school, higher class college, but fell in love with Blackhawk where she felt at home. Despite all her privileges, she chose the smaller school and Adri as a friend.
She didn't keep in touch with here parents. When she was gone, she was gone. Her parents have their own lives to live as does Harper. Both girls were in love with David. This was five years ago. Harper also feels responsible for David's death. Harper blames herself. Harper always said she would marry a handsome man, very wealthy, who would take her on trips all over the world, buy her beautiful jewelry and clothes. Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

Life changed since Adri has gone home. Blackhawk is no longer home, Harper is gone, they are no longer friends. Each feels David's death was her own fault. Good friend, Jackson, is married, his wife is expecting. Twin brother, Will, is just out of relationship. Sam, his father, is happy.

Love of friends and family is what Harper envies Adri for. David, with all his money and advantages was never happy, nor was his mother.

The beauty of friends and family, making people more important than material things, even much more than expensive and antique possessions.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart is a complex and compelling novel about betrayal, friendship and redemption. This touching story is an incredible journey of healing and forgiveness that is poignant and ultimately, freeing, for the two main protagonists.

After the death of her fiancé, David, five years earlier, Adrienne "Adri" Vogt fled from her small hometown of Blackhawk, Iowa for a nursing job in West Africa. She has avoided thinking about the series of events that led to his untimely death but when David's mother passes away and appoints Adri as the executor of her estate, Adri is forced to return home where she not only confronts the ghosts of her pasts, but eventually reunites with her best friend, Harper Penny. Harper also left Blackhawk and found herself on an increasingly self-destructive path that culminates in an abusive relationship that she finally finds the strength and courage to leave after Adri impulsively reaches out to her. Adri and Harper's reunion is guarded as both avoid discussing their heartbreaking history until a near tragedy finally forces both women to confront the past that has defined and, nearly destroyed, them for so long.

Adri and Harper's unlikely friendship begins in college and for four years, they, along with David, Adri's twin brother Will and Will's friend, Jackson, were inseparable. The Five (as they called themselves) enjoyed lavish get togethers at David's family estate but their close bond begins to feel the strain after David and Adri's engagement. Both women find themselves keeping secrets that prominently center around David and when Harper convinces The Five to go on one last vacation together following graduation, the trip ends with David's death. The mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death is one of the driving forces of the novel while the impact of his death on Adri and Harper is just as riveting.

Neither women can forgive themselves for their perceived roles in David's death but they deal with their guilt in very different ways. Adri isolates herself from her friends and family by taking the job in West Africa while Harper falls into dead end jobs and living paycheck to paycheck. Adri's self-imposed exile also leaves her little opportunity to date, but just before returning home, her co-worker, Caleb, finally expresses his interest in her which she returns, but refuses to acknowledge. Harper, on the other hand, has been in a relationship for several years with a man whose manipulative behavior is taking an increasingly dark turn.

Flashbacks from both Adri and Harper's points of view reveal the circumstances leading up their rift. Adri provides the details of their friendship in addition to her romance and subsequent engagement to David. Most of Harper's recollections focus on David but both women recount the series of events leading up David's death. Once they finally discuss that fateful day, will Adri and Harper finally be free of the guilt that haunts them? Will they be able to forgive themselves and each other for the mistakes of the past? Will Adri and Harper repair their fractured friendship?

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart is a character driven novel that is quite captivating. The storyline is well-developed and touches on several relevant social issues in a thought-provoking and sensitive manner. The characters are multi-dimensional and although they are flawed, they are sympathetic and engaging. It is a truly unforgettable story of healing, forgiveness and friendship that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend.

[Danette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I love books with rich character development. I love beautiful descriptions. This book has all that, plus a suspenseful plot with insight into how tragedy affects people. The book also tackles sensitive topics, but I don’t want to spoil the suspense.
Some of the passages that I re-read and bent the pages for include:
Regarding Adri’s father, Sam:
“Her father was one such daydreamer, the kind of man who spoke volumes in silences and heard God whisper in the song of distant stars keeping watch over the land that he plowed.”
Regarding Adri’s fiance’, David:
“In his personal life he was sensible and composed, able to take up and set aside the mantle of a playboy as easily as donning a coat. To laugh and joke and drink until his imposing mother slipped into the room, a quiet and watchful revenant whose presence instantly sobered and reined in her son.”
Regarding The Five:
“Jackson was hand in hand with Nora, a new girlfriend who didn’t quite fit. Harper couldn’t help resenting her. When Nora was around, they were quick to pair up, but when it was just the five of them, they were a unit. A fist clenched tight.”
This book is about young adults who meet at a small college in Blackhawk, Iowa. Adri and her brother Will grew up on a farm in Blackhawk, and David grew up at Piperhall, a mansion down the road. Along with Harper and Jackson, The Five become fast friends and spend most of their out-of-school time playing grown-up at Piperhall and when Harper suggests a trip to commemorate their college graduation and mark endings and new beginnings, they are unaware of the tragic event that will happen and change their lives forever. They scatter – Adri to Africa and Harper into dark relationships – and are called home five years later when the matriarch of Piperhall dies.
This is a page-turner and I’m so thankful it was the first book I read in 2015!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing a quote by Joshilyn Jackson on the cover of this book was one of the main reasons I decided to read it, that and the lovely photo image. I am definitely a choose a book by the cover type of person. How is it that Nicole Baart has been writing books since 2007 and I am just now discovering her? You can rest assured that after reading The Beautiful Daughters: A Novel I am planning on going back and reading all of her other books!

The Beautiful Daughters begins with Adri receiving a call from home that “she is gone and that Adri needs to come home.” She is Victoria – the woman who almost became her mother-in-law, and home is Blackhawk, Iowa.

Blackhawk, Iowa is half way around the world from Africa that Adri is calling home now. We are given hints that she ran to Africa to get away from something. A memory, a life. We learn that she was supposed to marry someone named David and that he is dead. That David, her and a girl named Harper were inseparable at one time.

From there the story slowly unfolds. The story of the three friends and all they shared and lost.

This is a book about relationships and how events in the past effect their lives today. It is very well written and held my interest from beginning to end, with just enough plot twists to keep it interesting. Characters are well-developed.

An intriguing part of the book is Adri’s life in Africa. After going to the author’s webpage, I saw that she is the co-founder of a non-profit organization, called One Body, One Hope out of Liberia. She is also the mother of four adopted children from four different countries. As the mother of three adopted children, I found even more to like about her.

[Sandra Stiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from netgalley for review.

From the prologue you are sucked into this story. You know there has been a death. Adri lives in Africa as a nurse. She has run away there after her fiancé’s death. She and her best friend Harper blame themselves for David’s death. The story is told switching from present time to remembrances of her former life before David’s death. You learn she grew up on the farm next to his mansion and visited there every year, yet she never knew David well until college. Harper, her best friend in college introduced them to each other. Along with two brothers, they become an inseparable group of five. Harper has run away to a completely different life. She finds herself in an extremely abusive situation. I found it hard to understand how each of them felt like anything bad that happened to them was deserved. David’s death broke apart the friendship that Harper and Adri had. When David’s mother dies, Adri receives the call in Africa and learns she is the executor of the estate. Will going back be healing for Adri and Harper or will it serve to increase the gap that has grown between them? I love reading books like this. Where a lot of people will find the back and forth of the present tie and the memories of the past annoying, I find this kind of writing to be very intriguing. I enjoyed this book because it is about love, friendship and redemption. I recommend it to those who love reading realistic or contemporary fiction.

[Kristie Ingerto · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no way to simply share my thoughts as this book is so complex and so well-written and overall a thoroughly engrossing story that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. "The Five" formed in college and there was such a bond among them, but also secrets as we all find out later on. Adrienne must return home following the death of the woman whom would have been her mother-in-law, as she was engaged to David, handsome rich David. Adrienne returns home and faces the past and the guilt that she has been living with. Both Harper and Adrienne agreed to move on and not connect again; however they have both been coping in different ways with the guilt they feel over David's death. However, secrets hidden in David's life come to light as well. Nicole immediately hooked me on the story and held my attention as she slowly shared details and unraveled pieces of the entire story of The Five meeting, spending time together and then the horrific incident that changed all of their lives.
I really enjoyed this book. It is not a light, fluffy read by any means as it discusses difficult topics; however it is not one you will want to miss as it is really tugs at your heart and will remind you of days spent with your closest friends, but also remind you just how fragile life is and how others' "picture perfect lives" may not be as perfect as you believe.

[Kate Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Nicole Baart spins a delicate and thought-provoking tale on the nature of friends, friendship and the profound loneliness which occurs when that friendship shatters. Experiences filtered through our own eyes, heart and soul are real enough to us but are they the truth? Everyone's personal experience is their personal truth. Ahh, but is it the shared and commonly accepted truth? How can one heal if the personal truth of an ugly situation remains a secret buried deeply in one's soul?
Baart's writing is sweet and painterly. You are transported from the quiet and vast farmland of Iowa to the streets of Minneapolis and back again. The story deals with some difficult topics in a gentler but no less serious fashion. The tenderness with which Baart writes speaks to one's soul.
I am grateful to Goodreads' First Reads, author Nicole Baart and publisher Simon and Schuster for having provided a free copy of this book. Their generosity did not, however, influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all thanks Atria Books and Net Galley for allowing me to review this e-galley.

When I first started reading this book, it was set in Africa dealing with orphans. Nothing against that, but I wanted to be entertained not depressed. Fortunately it was just a chapter or two and essentially had a true meaning that would come about later in the book.

I loved this book about two best friends who hooked up with the wrong kind of guys that eventually hindered their friendship for over five years. The real story is them getting back together and realizing the mistakes they made and the lies they told.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves books about best friends and the troubles that can come between. While later in life, it is essentially a coming of age tale that is remarkably told with very likable characters. And for the suspense lovers out there, there's a little of that as well.

[Sarah]

This story sounded like it would be an interesting slow unravelling of a mystery, but I didn’t connect with either of the main characters, and so I DNF’d at the 38% mark.

The first introduction to Adri was exciting as she’s living a nursing life in Africa, but she quickly comes back to the states, and is shown to be rather boring. Most of what I read was her complaining about why she was there, and how she didn’t want to be there. It was annoying, and boring.

Before I quit reading, there was one glimpse into Harper’s current life, but it was enough to make me just ugh and and not want to read more. It was just not appealing.

The basic premise of the book seems to be a very slow revealing of what happened between David, Adri and Harper, but I found I just didn’t care to know. None of the characters caught my attention, and so I chose not continue reading.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read and loved some of Baart’s earlier novels, and so decided to pick up this one recently.

Well. It had my heart racing. I was angry, scared, and shaking in my boots. The subtle and sick mental anguish that Adri and Harper are put through — by themselves and by others — was disturbing and heart-wrenching.

The Beautiful Daughters is ostensibly a story of friendships and family, castles and kings. Really, though, it’s a commentary on the things we do for love, or the illusion of love.

Despite me being a total fraidy-cat and shuddering at some parts of this novel, I stayed up past 2 a.m. more than once because I couldn’t put it down. Excellent read.

http://randombookmuses.com/2015/07/15...

NetGalley provided an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story! "The Beautiful Daughters" does an excellent job of weaving together two stories of brokeness, of how trapped we can be inside our own minds and just how far that can impact life.

Nicole always has had a special talent in weaving a story together but she has truly grown in this book. The details in this story had me wanting more. Nicole has so much talent! One of my favorite quotes paints a picture of how she uses detail: "The sun was beating against Adri's auburn hair and sending little rivulets of sweat down the side of her face. But his words were a slap of ice water. Cold and so startling that for a moment she couldn't breathe."

I cannot wait to read more from Nicole Baart!

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads and I'm so glad I did! I will be reading more from Nicole Baart!
A great story of five friends who shared all in college, and how their lives were changed one tragic day. The two girls, Adri and Harper, were closer than most sisters, but have drifted apart during the five years following the incident. Each blames herself and is living a life of isolation; a self-imposed punishment. Unexpected news draws them back to the place they ran from, and they are forced to face their feelings, guilt and reality.
A very intriguing book, well-written and believable, the characters are finely drawn, and the story keeps changing and pulling the reader along, waiting to see what will happen next.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. Nicole Baart is one of my favorite writers, but after this book I'm not sure that I will be reading anymore of her work. Though this book is not considered Christian fiction, Baart first came on the literary scene as a CF author. One of the reasons I loved Baart's writing so much was because she wrote really good clean stories that would haunt me years after I read them. However, I was a little shocked by this book.. There was a bit of language including an F word, as well as some descriptions and scenarios that made me a little uncomfortable including a random kiss shared between two female friends. None of the characters were likable in my opinion, and I didn't walk away from this book with any kind of redeeming message.

[Delilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a haunting tale of a friendship that is tested with every aspect one can be. Adrienne and Harper met in college, and with a small group of a few others, formed a tight family. But not everything is what it seems among these group of friends. When a night of tragedy occurs, their lives change forever. The story goes back and forth between present day and the days leading up to the horrific night. You are left feeling heartbroken to what could have been if they had just been honest with one another from the beginning. But then again, that would have changed the course of their ending, which when all is said and done, is truly beautiful.

I was granted early access to this title by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked after the first page of 'The Beautiful Daughters.' I loved this book because, not only was it set in the two places closest to my heart, northwest Iowa and the Twin Cities, but it also addressed my preference for (let's face it) romance and suspense in my reading. But even more importantly, Nicole Baart dipped below the surface and shared a story of beautiful redemption that resonated in my soul in a way that wasn't preachy but reminded me that we are all humans who yearn for unconditional love.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guilt can change you in an instant. It can send you into despair and grief. Adrienne and Penny were closer than sisters but when David dies, they both handle guild and grief in their own way. Adrienne, a nurse, moves to Africa and helps orphan children with medical conditions, determined to live her life alone. Penny travels down a road of alcohol,and bad relationships. When Adrienne returns for a funeral, she and Penny finally hash out the past. A good read that shows maturity and growth in the characters and an understanding between friends and family.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book from Netgalley ages ago, but for some reason it took me forever to get around to reading it - glad I finally did, as it was a very good read. Great writing, and I loved the prickly but relatable character of Adri. We meet her working as a nurse in West Africa, 5 years after leaving her home in Iowa just after college after the death of her fiance. But when her former fiance's mother dies and names her executor of her estate, she reluctantly returns home. Great character study, with a little mystery as to what exactly happened to Adri's fiancee.

[Knitsipread · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It is beautifully written and it is an amazing story. The character development is so well thought out in this book. You are taken on journey of youthful optimism, guilt, punishment, and forgiveness. Throughout the book, there are pointed reminders that sometimes that hardest person to forgive is yourself.

I loved reading this book, and I could not get over how this is just a truly beautiful book.

[Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a neat book!

"Hope has two daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are." St. Augustine of Hippo

Nicole Baart is a Midwest writer that easily reminds me of Joshilyn Jackson, the Southern writer. She knows her Midwest people. She knows her 20-something characters.

I'm glad to have read this and will definitely be looking at Baart's backlist to read the ones that I have missed.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart
Goodreads Author

Adri and Harper are like sisters until a tragedy. Adri went to Africa to be a nurse. After five years, she was called back to Iowa to take care of a will. The two best friends finally get together and share all the past lies, secrets. This is a story that keeps you up reading! I had to find out how it all ended. Great book!