Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake is the tale of four friends, Alison, Julie, Sarah, Heather. The story switches the point of view between these four ladies as we get to know them and their bond as friends and the secrets they are hiding.

Alison has played the what if game with herself wondering if anything had changed would she still be as close to these women or would she ever have met them? Their lives are perfect from the outside with their lovely suburban homes and healthy kids and the great friendship they have formed. But one day Alison spots a bruise on Heather’s wrist which starts the questions between them.

What should one do if they think their friend is being hurt somehow? Fearing for Heather the other ladies want only for her to know that they are there for her and will do anything to help her out. Then one night a phone call comes and instead of Heather being harmed as they fear and nightmare begins leaving the question of just how far do you go for friendship?

Right from the start I was completely hooked on the story of these four women as I began to know them. Just Between Us was just one of those books that I didn’t want to put down until every little dirty secret of the characters had been unearthed and discovered. As the pages kept turning the twists and suspense would build.

My only complaint with this book was that I think the author could have done a better job distinguishing the four women from one another as the point of view changed. Early on while reading I would have to pay close attention to whose voice was telling the story at any given time before I knew things about them to tell them apart. Once getting to know them better though the story really came together. Other than that one complaint I found this one an extremely compelling read from start to finish and would definitely recommend checking it out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Four mothers who have been friends for years, Heather, Sarah, Alison and Julie, still meet for weekly coffee dates and arrange playdates with their children while juggling their jobs and husbands. When the other three begin to notice strange bruises and markings on Heather, they begin to question Heather’s relationship with the wealthy Viktor and of course, when questioned, Heather eventually comes clean. When Heather kills her husband unexpectedly one night in an “act of self defense”, her friends are quick to come to her aid. However, secrets quickly begin to be revealed about Heather and Viktor, and as the cops continue to investigate, Sarah, Alison and Julie question their friendship with Heather and what secrets she could be keeping from them all.
“Just Between Us” by Rebecca Drake is a tightly-packed drama filled with female friendship and loyalty. Set in a small town, the women quickly bond over similar interests and same-aged children, and then slowly begin to question how much they really know about each other. Such is the truth of adult female relationships in the modern age, and Ms. Drake writes this truth in a poignant and honest way. All of the women have their own baggage, and struggle to come to terms with it, which evokes sympathy in a reader while keeping the characters genuine.
The best part of this novel was the unexpected twist. Many possible endings are hinted at throughout the novel, and many characters are thrust into the limelight as the main suspect for a brief while, but the truth of the ending shocks and surprises everyone (the main characters and me too, of course!). I loved how Drake was able to take a huge leap with this novel and make the ending go above and beyond expectations.
Far from a normal women’s dramatic novel, “Just Between Us’ has suspense, mystery, guesswork and intrigue, which make the novel a quick and easy read. Each character has their moment of weakness and doubt, as will the reader, and although the ending is unpredictable and surprising, it is also finite and complete, providing the answers to a reader’s speculations and questions.
I was first introduced to Rebecca Drake through her novel, “Only Ever You” (also provided by NetGalley) and this novel lived up to the expectations I had in place. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and hope to see more from Ms. Drake in the future.

Wow! I started this book this morning and finished it tonight.. just could not put it down.

How well do you really know your friends? What goes on behind closed doors is not always as it appears. How far would you go to protect yourself and your friends? The story of 4 women and the things that can snowball if you lie.

A very big thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for granting my wish for this book. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it.

Thanks to @stmartinspress for a copy of Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake via #netgalley. I really enjoyed this one. I’d give a solid 4 Stars.

Just Between Us is a story about four friends Allison, Julie, Sarah and Heather. The four mothers meet at their kid’s school and eventually start meeting for morning coffee most mornings. They are all married, have jobs and seem to have it all. That is until Allison notices a bruise on Heather’s wrist. Allison, Julie and Sarah all start to question Heather’s Home life. They start to dig in the life of Heather’s husband, Viktar. The three friends are completely stressing out over Heather’s new bruises or marks. Then the unthinkable happens! How well do you really know your friends, hmmm?

I really liked the twists in Just Between Us. I was just surprised with it all. It read in each of the four friends point of view which I love and was never confused. I recommend! Great mystery!

This is the story of four housewives who became friends because of their children. Even though each has her background, they're always gossiping at a café together. One day, Allison notices a bruise on Heather's skin. Her friends don't know, but Allison hides a dark past of abuse, so she recognizes the signals and alerts the others so they can help. But the truth is that you never know what goes on in a marriage.

The story is told in first person, alternating narrators between the four women. I'm not fond of books that start with "This is about four women" or the such, so I can't even remember what got into me to want to read this one. I deeply suspect it was the cover... it's just so beautiful! Nonetheless, I'm sure I don't regret it.

To be honest, I'd rate it 3.5. The plot takes long to show its true colors, the narrative becomes dull at times and the development wasn't a blast. I won't call this predictable because I never knew on what Rebecca Drake would focus, which path she would pick, until she did. Notwithstanding, the moment we learned what she wanted, it wasn't hard to imagine what came next. Still, I kept turning pages, wondering how all that mess would end.

The alternate narration wasn't the best choice in my opinion. There were too many families, husbands, children, and they were never important enough to justify much attention on them. I think it only served to hide the person who survives to narrate the funeral in the prologue, we guess from that one of the four wouldn't die. On the other hand, she could have used other devices for that.

What really surprised me about this book is the puzzle we need to solve. I was very naive when I started it and had no idea Drake had prepared some with so many layers. Just like the four main women, for most of the book, the reader can only react to the events, because anything can happen. I found it exciting the uncertainty of what was the main problem. Was it the abusive husband? The police? The other husbands? Maybe their past?

This wasn't the most exciting thriller I've read, but it was well-written. The kind that gives you pleasure to read because you see you can trust the writer's ability. That's why, even if it didn't blow my mind, I'd recommend it to anyone interested by its summary.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Rebecca Drake for the opportunity to read and review her latest work - a great read!

This is the story of 4 friends, who meet at their children's school in an idyllic suburb of Pittsburgh. Julie, a real estate agent, has been friends the longest with Sarah, a lawyer who is now a stay at home mom. Allison, who works at home in IT, is a bit unsure of herself and tries hard to fit in the group. Heather, the ex-model who is married to a plastic surgeon, appears to have it all.

These friends bond over coffee and their children until one day Allison notices bruises on Heather and shares her fear that Heather is being abused with the other 2 friends. When things escalate, they finally confront Heather with their suspicions. She refuses to leave her marriage.

The phone call they all dread comes late one night and all the friends rush to Heather's aid. But just how far will these friends go to help each other? And what secrets are they keeping from each other?

A great, twisty tale that had me glued to the pages. My only issue was that I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of which character's point of view I was reading. The husbands and kids were minor players in this book and I kept having to flip back to the chapter heading to see which friend's voice was featured. But that doesn't take away from the story - highly recommended!

I am so thankful and so happy that I get to read such amazing books, especially at the end of the year when my life seems to be spinning out of control (not necessarily in a bad way, I'm just super busy and can't do everything all at once). When I picked up Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake, I was expecting something fairly delicious, because her last book Only Ever You sucked me in and spit me out, but I was not expecting her new book to be this engrossing and tantalizingly bingeable.

This story consumed my days and my nights, luckily I devoured it over Thanksgiving break, so I had plenty of time to enjoy it. Four girlfriends, Alison, Julie, Sarah and Heather are suburban moms who enjoy coffee time and a little bit of innocent gossip. One day while the girls are spending time together during one of their coffee dates, one of the ladies notices that Heather has some questionable bruises on her body. Heather quickly dismisses the concern and any other suspicions of abuse that the other women cook up.

That's when things start to get even stranger yet. When the girls head to Heather's house for a playdate, they see that her kitchen has been completely dismantled. Now they are for certain that her husband Viktor, a renowned plastic surgeon, is also a class A abuser, and they want to help Heather get out of her marriage before it's too late. Yet, Heather still denies anything is wrong.

One night one of the women (the thing is, this was hard for me to keep track of because there was not much distinguishing the characters from each other, but that didn't really matter to me as the plot was so freaking good) receives a call from Heather at 2 a.m. claiming she shot her husband because he was going to kill her. When the group shows up at Heather's house, sure enough, Viktor is dead as a doornail, slumped over in his car, with a bullet wound to the back of his head.

This sets off a crazy scheme to take his body, still in the car that Heather shot him in, and drop it somewhere for the police to find and assume that a carjacking happened, naturally you and I both know that this isn't the end of the game, because the police always find out what really happened, or do they? Add in a blackmailing plan, a secret lover, and stealth mamas, and you have the next Blockbuster hit. I really hope this book is made into a movie because it would be so satisfying to see it on the big screen.

If you want to know what else happens, and what other secrets are uncovered in this strongly written story about revenge, marriage, and friends, please go find this book and read it, I promise you won't want to put it down, and when you're finished, please let me know so we can discuss all the juicy details! Thank you NetGalley for sending me this book, I am ready for more of Rebecca's work! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

This is my first book from Drake and I am really happy that I picked this one up. It sounded right up my alley, I am a sucker for a psychological thriller and this delivered and engrossing one! Filled with suspense and guessing until the end.

Four women have bonded over the years, through their school age children and became best friends. They tell each other everything they meet all the time and gossip. They all live in a beautiful area with great schools, have successful spouses and are successful themselves. From the outside, they are the envy of most people. Heather has a husband who is a very well known surgeon, but when her friends notice a bruise on her wrist, assumptions are made. Events happen, Heather’s husband is dead. And these four best friends rally together to cover it up.

Each of these four women, Heather, Allison, Julie and Sarah are all very different. I will say they were some pretty string willed women, but each had their own secrets that kept close. It was obvious there was a bit of jealousy between them when it came to certain things. And parenting skills was an issue at times, but they did stay true to each other, to a point.

With half thruths, then a black-mailer comes into play and things not adding up, it amazed me how far these women were willing to go for Heather based on what they were told. The suspense just kept building and building. A twist here and a twist there, all leading up to the big reveal at the end.

Fans of mysteries and psychological thrillers will devour this one. It has the right right amount of suspense, lies and betrayals that keep you guessing.

A story of friendship and what we would do for those we call friends. I enjoyed this story but for some reason it took me quiet some time to get into it.

"Daddy says Mommy is clumsy."
JUST BETWEEN US (St.Martin'sPress) by Rebecca Drake takes off at breakneck speed the day Alison sees "that nasty bruise" on Heather's wrist. She shares her suspicions with Julie and Sarah, compelling all three to investigate what looks like domestic violence. 

Alison, Julie, Sarah, Heather - four friends all living the suburban ideal. But each of them has a dirty little secret, and hidden behind the veneer of their perfect lives is a crime and a mystery that will consume them all

JUST BETWEEN US is a well written book, but it asks you to take a HUGE leap to really get into it. Now maybe this is just me, but I haven't had a friend that I was willing to go to jail for. These characters are not rocket scientists, so realizing that helped me to finish the novel.

Of course, there are many people who already love and will love this novel, saying it's the best thing they've read in ... forever. Suspense thrillers are all en vogue now. I'm just not that person. Maybe I'm too literal. Maybe the holidays are stressing me out. All I know is whether or not you or I enjoy the book, it's a huge hit.



Rebecca's own words:
I’ve always been intrigued by the dark side, by the potential for evil that lurks in all of us, by what triggers seemingly average people to commit brutal and heinous acts against other human beings. However, I’m equally fascinated by the capacity for goodness and kindness that also dwells within us, amazed and inspired by the stories of ordinary people who confront cruelty with courage or choose compassion over vengeance.

For me, it always comes back to the matter of choice. In all my writing I’m interested in exploring those turning points in our lives that make us the people we are and sometimes, for better or worse, the people we never thought we’d be.

www.rebeccadrake.com

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, we have one copy of JUST BETWEEN US to giveaway. Just tell us what your New Year resolution is. JUST BETWEEN US will be published January 9th.

Happy, healthy 2018!

Heather, Alison, Julie, and Sarah are suburban mothers and wives living in Pennsylvania. Their children attend the same school and they become close over weekly dates at the local coffee shop. When the three friends start noticing bruises on Heather, they quickly become suspicious. Is Heather's handsome doctor husband, Viktor, hurting her? Reluctantly, Heather slowly confesses to the abuse and terror she experiences due to her spouse. Her friends feel helpless, however, as Heather refuses to leave him and the violence escalates. Then one night, they receive the call they've been dreading. But it's not Heather who is dead: it's Viktor. Suddenly, the foursome has a choice to make--one that will set in motion a series of events that will change their lives forever.

I've never read anything by Rebecca Drake before, and I chose this because it sounded interesting and suspenseful. When I first started reading it, it immediately had a very Big Little Lies vibe, and I was a little curious how the book would differentiate itself. It eventually did, but I'm not sure it did so favorably.

I'll preface my review by saying that I seem to be in the minority with my opinion, and I certainly didn't hate the book, I just didn't adore it as much as so many of the reviews I've been reading. You'll find a ton of people who loved this one, so certainly read those reviews before you make any decisions.

Drake's novel is told from the different points of view of all four women in an odd past tense--this tense lets you know bad things have happened, but you don't know what, leading you to wonder and speculate. I won't lie - I almost put this one down as a DNF for a while, but I kept going out of a morbid curiosity. After Viktor's death, I just found the story so completely implausible that I had a real tough time suspending disbelief. That these four women would do all these things, not get caught, and things would unfold the way they did... I'm sorry. I just had a hard time buying it. At the halfway point, I had no idea where the book was going, or where I wanted it to go. Yes, the various twists were surprising at times, but they were just so hard to believe.

The book is suspenseful, I will say that, as you wonder what will happen to the women, and what insane thing they will do next. There were certainly several plot points that caught me by surprise; honestly the whole thing was sort of baffling. It's definitely not what I was expecting. Still, as I said, the whole book gets increasingly preposterous (my favorite was when they considered hacking the DMV).

In the end, this was a very meandering book about four women I never really cared about or grew attached to in any way. You get confused about who is narrating in each chapter and perplexed as they act in completely implausible ways. Still, I kept reading because I was bewildered and fascinated about their actions and the secrets that were motivating everyone at their core. I can see why so many people enjoyed it, but it just wasn't my favorite.

Just Between Us is Desperate Housewives-esque. Probably before the series completely jumped the shark, but slightly after the wives were sane people. I do think that living in the suburbs, we all appear vanilla to a certain degree. But many of us probably do have pasts we keep hidden out of embarrassment or fear or just because the past is so long ago it’s not worth re-visiting.

I liked the world that Rebecca Drake created in the book. Each of the four main characters were well-developed and believable as real people. On the flip side, I didn’t completely find their relationships with each other to be so close that they would take the chances for each other that they do in the book. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the book jumping around from perspective to perspective. I kept confusing a few of the characters which distracted from the plot.

But what Drake did very well was to keep surprising the reader. You know those books where you read the whole book and at the end it turns out to be totally different from what you were thinking? This book isn’t like that. Only because the isn’t just one, but several twists and turns like that. I really appreciate a book that keeps me guessing.

So if you loved Desperate Housewives (okay, maybe I watched until the bitter end), or Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner, you should pick up a copy of Just Between Us. It releases next month on January 9, 2018.

I think I might check out her last book, Only Ever You.

Just Between Us intertwines the lives of four women who share a common friendship. Aong the way they each share their own secrets. Just Between Us has plenty of twists and turns with a bit of mystery.

I loved how the book was set in a modern setting with modern language. I normally read and review historical fiction. so reading a book telling about women in present day was a refreshing change.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

Just Between Us is an excellent mystery, tightly woven, fast paced and a quick read. Four women, with little in common except for elementary school aged children find each in the lines for the bus, morning drop-offs and afternoon pick ups. What starts out as a short walk and a gab session at a nearby coffee shop eventually becomes a firm friendship. These ladies talk and text back and forth most days, have playdates for their children at each others homes and in general support one another through thick and thin. The problems start with Heather, and ex-model stay-at-home mom. Heather often has bruises but refuses to talk to the other ladies about her problems. Is her plastic surgeon husband an abuser? Red headed Julie is a realtor and is able to work around the children's schedule. Sarah is a lawyer, but she has taken time off while her kids are small, and is also a stay at home mom. Alison is one sharp cookie who is usually the first to find the patterns in the calamities that seem to plague these ladies. This is an excellent mystery. I will watch for more from Rebecca Drake.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Rebecca Drake, and St. Martin's Griffin in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Sorry, but I really could not connect with the characters or the story line. Did not like how each chapter was about a different woman, so, the book did not flow. I have read other books by this author and liked them

ok I was truly 50/50 on this one you feel so bad for the women going through the abuse and frustration with how well I felt her so called friends were conniving and not companionate I didn't much care for the going back and forth between characters usually I like it but this one seemed to take it a bit much for my liking the plot line was good and cover great but I didn't full love the book I was expecting more mystery I think from it.

How well do you know your friends? How far would you be willing to go to help them?
Just Between Us is the story of 4 women who band together to discover just how far they're willing to go.
The 4 different POVs were quite difficult to keep straight. There was some character development, it just didn't seem to go far enough. The plot was interesting, kept my attention and had a few twists I didn't see coming.

How far would you go to help one of your close girlfriends? How well do you THINK you know your girlfriends?

Just Between Us is a novel about four friends Sarah, Heather, Julie, and Alison who have formed a bond over their school aged children. These four women bond over morning coffee dates and their friendship takes off.... literally when Alison notices a huge bruise on Heather's wrist. It all sort of crashes down from there......

My biggest issue with this novel was the characterization. The novel was told from the perspective of each of the four women.. but I could not keep track of who was who in each chapter. Yes, the name was on the beginning of the chapter but there was not enough detail to actually differentiate between the four women. I was so focused on trying to figure out which character was which that I ended up losing sight into the actual storyline. This honestly was so frustrating and irritating to me that I just couldn't get past this until the end of the story when things became a little bit more clear. If you don't have in depth characterization, its like loosing the frosting to the cupcake :(.

Rebecca Drake definitely had some windy twists and turns that gradually was revealed to her readers...but I just had a difficult time connecting to this book. I was left wanting more and my overall impression was just meh. But, I do have to say one thing.... we all have secrets in our closet that ever so slowly drips out.. whether we want them to or not.....

Overall, 3 stars on this one for me. Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Rebecca Drake for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date is 1/8/18.

Understanding that humans are flawed and often disappointing was something of a birthright for me.

Four women, close friends living lives most people dream of attaining, are settled and set- surrounded by safe schools, good friends, the ideal neighborhood and maybe just a little hidden violence in their midst. Alison spends a lot of time trying to convince her friends Julie and Sarah that sweet Heather is being abused by her husband. The bruise is the first clue, all the evidence that follows cannot be ignored. Viktor may be a successful surgeon, but everyone knows danger can lurk behind any facade. Terrified for their friend, Alison knows they have to intervene, confront Heather, the question is how. Alison knows she can’t turn a blind eye and go on as if she’d never seen it, that bruise on her wrist. Julie isn’t so quick to believe Alison, known to be hypersensitive. Viktor has only ever been kind, not a bit arrogant, surely he would never beat his beautiful wife? So she puts it out of her mind, until she sees something suspect occur between the couple. Sarah never thought that the star couple with the most out of all of them could have such a dirty secret. Abuse? Of all people, surely not them! Allison always needs attention, at least in Sarah’s mind, and this could just be another way to be the center of everything, couldn’t it? Or maybe Sarah can admit she just resents Alison for reasons that are unfair, and maybe she really is concerned about Heather. Maybe everything isn’t so wonderful with the couple who have it all.

As the reader delves into each character, it’s obvious there are small jealousies, friendships that sometimes leave one out. Naturally, there is passing judgement about parenting styles that wound and all the usual suburban drama mothers face, until a crime rocks them out of their safe, routine lives. Just what will the women do to save Heather? How much of their own lives will they risk? With no recourse but to sort through the past, the friends try to untangle the mystery of Heather and Viktor’s marriage, discovering things they hadn’t known.

Is Heather the fragile victim she appears to be? Heather is meant to be grateful, happy. She was a model, and traded everything that encompassed for suburbia, for motherhood, for the ‘perfect’ life. Maybe the transition isn’t so natural, maybe keeping life in order has taken it’s toll. Viktor has his demands, needs order, someone has to keep things running smoothly while he continues re-sculpting the world, beautifying everything ugly. She is ‘lucky’, isn’t she?

Each woman has her own opinion about what’s happening and all of them are pulled into a moment that will change them forever. The truth is slippery, and each person sees what they need to but once we tell ourselves a story, we don’t see what’s real. It’s a story of secrets, lies, and manipulation. You can scratch the surface of every family, every marriage and come away cutting yourself up instead. Just who are the real victims here?

Publication Date: January 9, 2018

St. Martin’s Press