Publication Date: February 10, 2026
Number One bestseller Adele Parks returns with an explosive and deeply emotional family drama that explores the lengths a mother will go to protect her family, even if it risks exposing her past. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Lianne Moriarty.
Connie can’t wait to have all her daughters back home for Christmas. It’s not just the excitement of the girls being together under one roof; uni student Fran is bringing a new boyfriend to stay. The empty nest will once again be full of friends, family and young love.
Yet from the moment she sees Zac, Connie feels a deep unease. Zac reminds her of the worst mistake she has ever made: a man whose charm and good looks nearly destroyed her marriage. Then, Fran announces she’s pregnant.
Reeling from Fran’s news and terrified that her past might threaten her family’s future, Connie desperately tries to navigate a path forward. But there’s a much greater menace looming, because she’s not the only one who has something to hide. Someone in the house has another devastating secret. A deception which will put everyone Connie loves in shocking danger, and one of them will pay the ultimate price.
A woman’s worst mistake reappears in her life, threatening to destroy her family.
Author Adele Parks serves up a multi-layered psychological thriller in Our Beautiful Mess. Central to the story are Connie and Luke, along with their three daughters.
Our Beautiful Mess is told through various points of view. Readers get a taste of what’s to come in the prologue, while the remainder of the story counts down 11 days to that thrilling conclusion.
When her eldest daughter delivers unexpected news at Christmas, Connie’s world turns upside down. However, the author weaves in plenty of unexpected twists to ramp up the suspense.
Connie’s protective motherly instinct vies with the desire to prevent the disclosure of an old secret, only to take a back seat to unexpected danger.
Our Beautiful Mess takes a family drama and elevates it with plenty of suspense.
Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North East England. Her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000, and since then she’s had seventeen international bestsellers, translated into twenty—six languages. She’s been an ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa Book Awards, and is a keen supporter of The National Literary Trust. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband, son and cat.
