Blindsided by Marguerite Ashton

Blindsided
Marguerite Ashton
(The Forgotten Daughter, #1)
Publication date: July 13th 2020
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult

Diagnosed with depression, Lexi Archer prefers to continue outpatient treatment. But someone else has other plans.

BlindSided tells the story of Lexi Archer, an eighteen-year-old woman who wakes up in a hospital bed, handcuffed to the rail, and realizes she doesn’t remember what happened the night before.

After being released from the hospital, Lexi’s transferred to the Milwaukee County Jail, where she’s informed about her pending charges for first-degree murder.

Intent on proving she’s innocent, Lexi places a phone call to her stepsister asking for her help. As Lexi gets closer to the truth, she unravels ugly secrets about her dead mother that will change her life forever.

Goodreads / Amazon

Excerpt:

With me, my troubles ran deep. So deep that no matter how much I prayed, everything seemed to remain the same. Trouble followed me no matter where I went. Better yet, the situations surrounding my life keep getting worse. I’m convinced it’ll take more than just prayer.

      When everything started years ago, I knew I wanted to be set free. A friend of mine whose past almost mirrored my own mentioned emancipation. Upon doing my research online, I learned if I filed, I had the option of filing for partial or total separation from my parents. However, depending on my case, my parents might still have some financial responsibility for me.

      What I did know was that I didn’t want to be emancipated from my dad. I just wanted out from under my mom’s thumb. A thumb that she used to pin me down and manipulate me by any means necessary. Making me feel worthless and as if my feelings didn’t matter. I was afraid of my mother.

My psychologist diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder and PTSD; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the trauma I’d endured during the divorce and while in momma’s care.

      Things weren’t made any easier for me when my dad lost his fifty-fifty placement, and primary custody was given to my mother. The worst mistake the court could have made. The problem was I didn’t realize it until it was too late.

      I’d been a part of making sure that my father no longer had shared placement.

      Do I regret the part I played?

      Yes.

      Don’t get me wrong. Mom wasn’t all bad. During my younger years, I remember seeing her sweet smile when she stroked my dark curly hair as she told me how much she loved me. What child doesn’t yearn to be loved by her parents? Especially, a daughter with low self-esteem.

      It was me who helped Mom to tear down my dad. The same man who spent Sundays after church in his yard, tending to his lawn and chatting with the neighbors.

 

Author Bio:

When Marguerite Ashton was in her twenties, she took up acting but realized she preferred to work behind the camera, writing crime fiction. A few years later, she married an IT Geek and settled down with her role as wife, mom, and writer!

Her blog, Criminal Lines: Settled Writer Past 40 is her outlet while building dollhouses and plotting out her next book.

Marguerite lives in Wisconsin and enjoys RVing.

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