Never Like My Father

“Dear God, I will never, ever, EVER be like my father. I will never drink. I will never hurt people. I will never make my children scared. I promise. Amen. ” On Easter morning, six-year-old Olivia Parker is on her knees in a cramped Ohio bathroom, wiping vomit off her father’s shirt while he shakes on the toilet. In that moment, she makes a sacred promise: she will grow up to be the opposite of this man.

Never Like My Father, Book 1 of The Daughter of a Drunk series, follows twelve years of trying to keep that impossible vow. Olivia teaches her little brother where to hide when her father’s footsteps turn dangerous, juggles two broken households, shields her mother, and becomes the straight-A “good girl” everyone can rely on. If she’s perfect, maybe the chaos will finally stop. But perfection has a cost.