Kindle Edition Audiobook Amazon Donna M. Zadunajsky Author Website Blog Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: CreateSpace ISBN-10:  1519171560 Type: Fiction Pages: 465 Copyright: Dec 24, 2014 ISBN-13: 978153786316 Price: $5.99 (eBook) “Family Secrets” can creep into anyone’s life when they’re not paying attention. It only takes unforeseen problems to unleash all the secrets you might be too afraid to face. That is, if you live long enough to see them unravel. Alexis has had big dreams all her life, and she’s worked hard to make them happen! After college, she married and had a beautiful baby boy, living her dream as “Mommy” until Colton was safely entrenched in grade school. She lands her dream job at NASA, and her supportive husband, Jay, takes the lead on raising their son. The perfect family, right? Twelve years later with no warning and no reason, Jay commits suicide. Colton goes into denial and blames his mother; Alexis buries herself in her work. Seven months later, Alexis’s biggest dream comes true. She’s going to be on the next space shuttle! Her victory is short-lived when she finds out she has breast cancer. As her health declines, Colton delves into the dangerous circumstances of his father’s death. “Family Secrets” crept into Alexis’s life when she wasn’t paying attention. Will she and her son ever find out the truth? Or is it too late?       Excerpt Alexis has had big dreams all her life, and she’s worked hard to make them happen! After college she married and had a beautiful baby boy, living her dream as “Mommy” until Colton was safely entrenched in grade school. She lands her dream job at NASA, and her supportive husband, Jay, takes the lead on raising their son. The perfect family, right? Twelve years later with no warning and no reason, Jay commits suicide. Colton goes into denial and blames his mother; Alexis buries herself in her work. Seven months later, Alexis’s biggest dream comes true. She’s going to be on the next space shuttle! Her victory is short-lived when she finds out she has breast cancer. As her health declines, Colton delves into the dangerous circumstances of his father’s death. “Family Secrets” crept into Alexis’s life when she wasn’t paying attention. Will she and her son ever find out the truth? Or is it too late?

Paul Johnson
Alexis has always dreamed of bigger things and worked hard to make them happen. She married after college and had a baby boy. When her son Colton was in grade school, she decided to strive for another dream and landed a job at NASA. Somewhere along the way, work became the most important thing in her life as her husband, Jay, took the lead on raising their son. Twelve years later the unthinkable happened when Jay suddenly committed suicide. Colton immediately went into denial and blamed his mother as Alexis continued to bury herself in her work. Now, months later, Alexis’s biggest dream comes true when she’s selected to be on the next space shuttle. However, her world comes crashing down when she finds out she has breast cancer. Her treatment doesn’t go as well as hoped and her health declines as Colton delves into the dangerous circumstances of his father’s death. What will happen to them as they learn that things are not exactly as they seem? Family Secrets is a technically well-written book, easy to read and follow. I would have to classify it as a family drama with a touch of mystery. It is very detailed oriented which slowed the plot down from time to time. However, the characters are well defined. The author details their strengths and flaws while dealing with a very serious subject. The tone was consistent and I felt that the plot, although sometimes cumbersome, was original. The dialogue is realistic and well done. Overall, a nice book.

Eileen Johnson
Family Secrets: Secrets and Second Chances Book 1 by Donna M. Zadunajsky opens with Alexis Finley contemplating how unfair life is. Ten months ago, Jay, her husband and love of her life, committed suicide.
Since then, Colton, Alexis' seventeen-year-old son, has become more distant and although they live in the same house Colton and Alexis are like strangers. And now, Alexis has received the diagnosis of breast cancer. As a driven and successful astronaut scheduled to go on the next flight into space, Alexis realizes that this diagnosis means she will have to give up her lifelong dream. So begins the journey that will take the Finley family through the secrets that have kept them distant for so many years. Midway through the book, there is a wonderful twist that changes the course of the action and the lives of Alexis and Colton. Family Secrets: Secrets and Second Chances Book 1 by Donna M. Zadunajsky is a look into the secrets of a family that, at least on the surface, always seemed so normal. There are wonderful supporting characters in the book: Sarah Ramsey, Alexis' doctor and friend, and Anna, a clerk in the hospital who becomes much more to Colton. Zadunajsky does a great job creating tension and developing a story that kept my interest from beginning to end. There are enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged as the family secrets unfold and the answers to the mysteries are revealed. Looking forward to Book 2 in the series!


Jackie Timmons
Family Secrets by Donna Zadunajsky is a story full of ups and downs and twists and turns. Alexis Finley has already experienced quite a roller coaster before the book begins. Her husband committed suicide, leaving her and her teenage son, Colton, on their own. And, several months later, she was chosen by her employer, NASA, to join an astronaut crew into outer space. Going to space has been her lifelong dream and something she has devoted all of her time, passion, and thought to over the past 15 years. But, Alexis is soon diagnosed with breast cancer. Her first concern when hearing this is not for her life or her son, but for how this will affect her ability to go into space. At first she tries to hide her sickness from everyone. Meanwhile, Alexis attempts to talk to her son but they keep butting heads.