This was a quick read for me. I really wanted to get to the end to see where the story was headed. Lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming.

This was an interesting book about two moms who meet because their children attend the same school. Both women appear to have secrets and shadowy pasts. It was a compelling read, but I expected more of a thriller.

3.5 stars for Her Pretty Face. This is a plot that's been done many times. Two women, one has a huge secret while another also has a secret. Who is who? Which secret belongs to which person?

There is a lot of hinting and commenting and doing everything to dance around the secrets. I didn't much care for either of the main characters, but I did really enjoy the friendship between the two boys and while it didn't do anything to move the plot along (or not much), I would have enjoyed more of that.

I think lately there have just been a lot of very well done psychological thrillers on the market and that's what I've come to expect ~ very well done psychological thrillers. This is kind of meh, in my opinion.

Please, if you like this type of story, give it a shot. Not every book fits every reader and it just may be the book for you.

When I began reading Robyn Harding's Her Pretty Face I was between books and wasn't ready to commit. I knew I wanted to read an easy title by an author I wasn't familiar with but, at the same time, I didn't want to waste my last few summer reads on a read that really added nothing new to the mystery thriller genre. My 2-star rating of Her Pretty Face is quite generous and here's why.

Frances Metcalfe feels like a fish out of water and completely out of her element after her son has been accepted into an elite grade school. Coupled with her son's social and behavioral issues, she battles with her own self-esteem issues that forces her into the outcast role among the other mothers. Figuring she'd never find her place in any elite social circle, Frances is thrilled to find a friend in the beautiful, confident Kate Rudolph.

Almost as quickly as they grow closer and their friendship blossoms into a necessity for Frances, that bond is fractured by the discovery of Kate's past. Although Kate has secrets of her own she'd like to keep buried, she's in danger of more than her own past being exposed and losing her only friend.

Robyn Harding's Her Pretty Face instantly grabs the reader. Intrigue and mystery effectively works as bait to keep readers engaged and interested in seeing where things go. As the pages fly by I realized my face was no longer pretty. Instead, whatever prettiness I had morphed into boredom.

Her Pretty Face ultimately became predictable and hurried. The ending was lackluster and uneventful.

I really hate that my review is quite negative because Harding did manage to maintain control of my attention 65% of the way through, but beyond that mark, finishing the title was the only option after having gotten so far.

Either way, I can't say that Her Pretty Face has made a fan out of me. The writing was too simplistic and the plot too predictable for my tastes. This title also leaned closer towards the chick-lit genre as opposed to the mystery/thriller it's marketed as. There really is no angst or tension.

In conclusion, Robyn Harding's Her Pretty Face was not a hit for me, I do appreciate having the opportunity to read it.

Copy provided by Gallery via Netgalley

I could not put this book down. The quick chapters told from three different points of view really moved this book along. The twists and turns that were taken and the red herrings tossed out befuzzled me for quite a while. Well done. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley & Gallery/Scout Press for the ARC. This was as close to a true life, made for 24/7 news network kind of story. There wasn't anything insane about this, but it forced you to put yourself in the narrator's shoes. Deprived of close friendships with a son with mild behavioral issues, you find a friend you have an instant spark with that brings back the light in your life. It closely reminded me of the Casey Anthony case and while that was intentional, I'm not sure, but this was a worthy, quick read.

I loved this book!! The more I read, the harder it was to stop!! Filled with twists, turns, surprises!! Watch for this author, read this book, you will be happy you did!!!

Frances Metcalfe has no real friends among the mothers of her son’s private school. Her son has some issues and an incident with a bottle of water, sets the tone for how the others treat her. Until Kate Randolph appears on the scene. She is everything Frances feels she is not. She is a tall, thin, classy woman compared to Frances’ rather frumpy, overweight appearance. Frances has something from her past that has left her feeling bad about herself. Her husband tells her he loves her just as she is but Frances is loaded with self-doubt so when Kate comes to the rescue, her life starts to change. But is anyone who we truly think they are?

Kate’s daughter Daisy comes and goes as she pleases. Kate doesn’t seem to care. A stranger seems to be buzzing around Daisy’s life but why? What is his agenda?

The story also lets us hear the from the voice of DJ, who’s sister was tortured and killed by a couple when she was a teen. He knows that there was more to the story than the young woman told. She was not who she pretended to be.

Everyone pretending to be someone else can only lead to one thing, an explosion.

It was so hard to put this book down. I had figured out things pretty early on but the way it was written, really enhanced the whole reveal and aftermath. I loved Frances coming to grips with her life and herself. It was a total rebirth. Daisy was a very powerful character. It was fascinating to watch her grow up and work things out. Once everything hit the boiling point, it was hard to put down. Another great outing by Robyn Harding. You will enjoy The Party too, if you haven’t picked it up yet.

This would make a fabulous miniseries.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery for a copy of this book.

Easy to see from miles away, but fun. Frances is beyond annoying, but the daughter feels realistic. There are so many current books similar to Her Pretty Face, so it's not hard to see the twist that Harding tries to pull, but if doesn't stop the book from being entertaining. If you're looking for constant twists and turns, this isn't for you, but if you're looking for a beach read, you're found it.

Compelling read that kept me on the edge of my seat. More like this! Thrillers are my new reading high and it's nice to find an author who keeps me reading way past my bedtime!

Her Pretty Face by Robin Harding started somewhat innocently but halfway through it took a fantasticly dramatic turn to the dark side. Everything you believed about Frances Metcalfe and Kate Randolph is a farce, They are not the elite Forrester Academy mothers they would like you to believe. Thry both have some real skeletons in their closets and everytime you think you have it all figured out you find out how wrong you are.
Anyone who likes a great psychological thriller will love Her Pretty Face!

This is the second book that I have read by this author and again, she did not disappoint.

The book is written in the present with two women with teenage sons hanging out and becoming friends. There is also a past part wherein someone has killed a 15 year old girl. The past deals with the courtroom drama and highlights the kidnapping, torture, rape and killing of this 15 year old girl.

I just knew one of these women in present day - Frances or Kate - was the one being referred to in that historical part. It was killing me, however, as to who it was. I went back and forth with my guessing. It was written so that you would do so.

However, when it all does come out of the woodwork, there are some jaw dropping events that I definitely did not see coming.

I found this to be an excellent read and I am really glad that I got the chance to read it!

Thanks to Gallery, Threshold, Pocket and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This is the story of Frances and Kate. It appears to be the common story of two women who bond over parenting and the disdain for their children's school and the other parents. But this story has so much more. Great characters, solid plot and great twists and turns. This will be on everyone's nightstand the day after they stay up all night reading it!

Her Pretty Face is a story about two women who form a deep friendship, but each is harboring a dark secret about the past. Frances Metcalfe is a stay-at-home mother to Marcus, who has special needs. In addition to having been diagnosed with ADHD, Marcus is immature and throws tantrums, and Frances is extremely protective of him. She and her husband have extended themselves financially to get Marcus admitted to Forrester Academy, an exclusive private school. Frances lacks self-esteem. She is slightly overweight and lonely, and wracked with guilt about a terrible thing she did when she was a teenager. Like Marcus, she does not have friends and things are only made worse when, at the beginning of the school year, Marcus acts out against a female student. Although he is not expelled, Marcus and, by extension, Frances, becomes a pariah.

Until Kate Randolph befriends her, and her son, Charles, becomes Marcus's only friend. Kate is wealthy, beautiful, self-assured, and has a sarcastic sense of humor. She has no interest in being like or fitting in with the wealthy, socially-adept mothers. However, Daisy, Kate's 14-year-old daughter, is troubled. Convinced that her mother cares nothing about her, she acts out in increasingly irresponsible, dangerous ways that include spending time with David, a mysterious man in his 30's who has taken a keen interest in her.

One morning Daisy needs help and, unable and unwilling to reach out to her callous mother, calls Frances to come to her aid and elicits a promise from her not to tell Kate. In the process of assisting Daisy, Frances stumbles upon the shocking truth. Kate's real name is Amber Kunik and when she was 18 years old, she was involved in the heinous kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of a 15-year-old girl. When Frances learns Kate's real identity, Kate's behavior -- which seemed questionable or quirky at the time -- begins to make sense.

Her Pretty Face is a riveting story told from the perspective of a woman who made a mistake as a teenager and has been struggling to come to grips with her actions for many years. Harding demonstrates that the lives of friends and neighbors are never as easy and uncomplicated as they appear to be and, in fact our closest friends may be harboring disturbingly dark secrets about themselves, their pasts, and the typo of behavior of which they are capable. It is a cautionary story about true sociopaths target and prey upon their vulnerable victims and, ultimately, a narrative about learning to forgive oneself and others, finding one's own inner strength, and what it means to become empowered. Her Pretty Face is a fast-paced mystery that will keep readers guessing about the two women's respective secrets and, once they are revealed, provides an emotionally satisfying resolution. Readers will find themselves cheering for Frances and her special son, Marcus.

Novels centered around toxic female friendships are a dime a dozen these days, and Robyn Harding's Her Pretty Face is another book that covers this all-too familiar topic. It doesn't do anything ground-breaking, but it's an enjoyable read all the same.

Frances Metcalfe sometimes wonders how she ended up with the life she's currently living. She and her husband aren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but they live comfortably enough. Their adolescent son Marcus struggles with myriad behavior problems, and over the years he's become Frances' full time job. There are days when she fantasizes about running away and living a different, more adventurous life, but she knows she'd never really leave. Her love for her family is far too strong.

When Marcus gets accepted as a scholarship student at the elite Forrester Academy, Frances thinks she's finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Surely, the specialized teachers, small class sizes, and countless extracurricular activities will help him. Unfortunately, not long after he starts attending the school, Marcus gets into an altercation with another student, the results of which cause the Forrester parents to ostracize the Metcalfes. Now, Frances feels lonelier than ever, and she begins to wonder if things will ever improve for herself and her family.

Then Frances meets Kate Randolph, a new Forrester mom who seems to be everything Frances is not. Kate is wealthy, beautiful, confident, and powerful, and she doesn't appear interested in any of the other mothers, only wanting to be friends with Frances. Suddenly, Frances' outlook on life is a whole lot brighter.

Months pass, and Kate and Frances become virtually inseparable. In fact, Frances sometimes finds it hard to remember a time when Kate wasn't an integral part of her life, but the closer the two women grow, the more the reader gets the impression that something isn't right with one of them. Someone is hiding a terrible secret, a secret with the power to plunge the entire Forrester community into extreme danger.

Her Pretty Face is billed as a psychological thriller, but it didn't quite feel like one to me. Instead, it had a women's fiction vibe with a bit of a mystery thrown in for good measure. Both Kate and Frances have things to hide, but I never felt like I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the big reveal. The story is much quieter than most thrillers, relying on character development rather than an action-packed plot to move things forward.

The secret itself is big, but it didn't knock my socks off the way I was expecting it to. The blurb on the back of the book actually gives part of it away, so I urge potential readers to avoid looking at it if possible.

I felt quite a bit of sympathy for Frances. It's obvious her family is super important to her, but it's equally obvious that she's pretty overwhelmed by the demands they place upon her. I really enjoyed watching her blossom into a more confident version of herself. She comes into her own in a way that feels quite authentic, and that's one of the very best things about this novel.

There’s one thing about the narrative structure of the book that didn't make total sense to me. We see most things through Frances' lens, but there are a few chapters from the point of view of Kate's teenaged daughter, and I found those chapters to be kind of jarring. They distracted me from the main story, and I was tempted to skip over them so I could continue reading about Frances. Even as the story went on, I never felt fully invested in the secondary plot-line, which simply isn't very compelling.

Her Pretty Face is a quick and easy read, and I blew through it in a little over a day. It isn't the most gripping book I've picked up this year, but it ended up being an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a lazy summer afternoon.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

God I love domestic thrillers so much you guys! There’s something about average people being in bizarre situations that never fails to reel me in and I was sucked into Her Pretty Face right from the start. This book was highly compulsive and utterly addicting, I raced through it in just a few hours never quite sure how things would play out in the end.

You have several viewpoints here, Frances a Mom struggling to fit in with the other moms at her sons school, Daisy the daughter of Kate who is Frances only friend and DJ who’s connection to the story is murky at first. The pacing of this was amazing, the chapters were short and the various switches only served to keep me more engaged. I was always eager to see what would happen with each character at the end of a chapter and was equally invested in all three perspectives. Harding has a smooth, fluid writing style and the jumps from character to character were seamless.

I do want to say that I had most of the little twists worked out early on, so if you’re expecting a bunch of shocking reveals and are an avid thriller reader, you won’t find that here. However, Harding did catch me off guard on one aspect and the book didn’t rely on a bunch of twisty moments to propel the plot forward but instead focused more on the characters behavior and decisions to keep it on the exciting side.

I would say this is a lighter style mystery with some darkness lurking under the surface. These women are hiding some secrets that are disturbing but there isn’t much graphic violence. Recommended for a summer mystery best read by the water, the pages will fly by and you’ll be hooked from the start, dying to know what secrets will be revealed.

Her Pretty Face in three words: Compulsive, Fluid and Engaging.

Just published July 10th!

I kept seeing Her Pretty Face all over social media, in various giveaways, and on Goodreads, and was so excited when I saw that it was available on NetGalley to request. I was even more excited when my request was approved by Gallery Books!

Frances Metcalfe is the outcast mother within the Forrester Academy community. That is, until she meets Kate Randolph, a beautiful and funny Forrester mom who connects quickly with Frances. But both women have a secret, and one of them is a murderer.

While the book is categorized as a thriller, it also has somewhat of a thoughtful, literary side as well. At the end of the day, it is truly makes the reader ponder topics of punishment and forgiveness. When has somebody truly served their time? And when somebody does something truly awful, how much punishment is enough? When can somebody be truly forgiven for their sins?

From a philosophical standpoint, I would give this book 4 stars, but from a psychological/thriller standpoint, I would only give it 3 stars. The parts of the book that were intended to be "twists" weren't very shocking or surprising, and the story was relatively even keeled as far as thrillers are concerned. While it was a good book, it wasn't amazing. I really wish it had been a bit more suspenseful.

However, I must say from a writing standpoint, Robyn Harding's style is engaging and kept me reading from beginning to end. It was a quick read and enjoyable from that perspective.

Overall, if you're looking for something thought-provoking and philosophical in nature, this might be a good choice. But if you're looking for a really engaging thriller, this might not be top of my list.

-I was gifted this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley, Robyn Harding, and Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to review.-

A few years ago I watched a documentary on a couple that kidnapped, tortured and killed girls together and this book is based on that idea. (I have no idea if the author got the inspiration for this story based on that particular real life event, this is purely my own conclusion that I am drawing based on my own experience. When I say idea, I just mean the broad idea of a couple doing those sick things to a woman.) Pretty quickly into the book I recognized the story and I was very intrigued.

This book is based on the idea that we don’t know which woman is the killer but I think that is was pretty obvious from very early on. I feel like that just made me more invested int the story though because I couldn’t wait for the reveal. I love how dark and twisted the killer is and I wished we could have seen more of it.

One of the perspectives that we read from is Daisy, Kate’s daughter, and I love the suspense that her character’s arc brings to the story. Another perspective that we read from is DJ who is the brother of the victim that one of the women murdered. His perspective was my favorite of the three. I liked his perspective the most because it really showed how dark and twisted the murderess is. Also, I think the author did a really great job of showing how devastating it is for the victim’s family that is left behind.

I was not a fan of the predictable twists that were in this story but I think the ending was really good so I feel like that brought my rating up . I liked how the story unraveled and there were a couple of things at the very end that I really enjoyed. Overall, this is an average thriller bust still an enjoyable read. If you are a fan of domestic thrillers than I would recommend this book to you.

I was approved for this book via NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books on 5/14/18. This book was recently published on July 10.
This is the first book I've read by Robyn Harding and I am glad I was approved for it. This book goes from a few different perspectives: Frances now, Daisy now and DJ then. As the book progresses, you get little pieces of the story. It is a great build up. It tells the story of how two women who are friends, each hiding a dark secret from the other. They have a very intense friendship. At the end, it made me wonder if the friendship was real or had the one woman played the other.
Once things were revealed, the book wrapped up pretty quickly. I give the book 4 stars for the sheer fact that I would have loved to have read Kate's point of view....and I wanted a little more to the ending. Maybe a little more detail. It seemed to have ended with a small possibility for a sequel. I really wanted to know what actually happened, who committed the murder - Shane or Amber. I was surprised about how everything played out, who each character ended up being. I thought I figured out who the mysterious man was, but I was wrong.

Her Pretty Face, Robyn Harding's second novel, did not disappoint. Last summer, I read and enjoyed her debut novel, The Party. While I enjoyed that novel, Her Pretty Face was far better. Fraught with intrigue and suspense, I was able to fly through it in two days.

Frances and Kate are both moms whose children attend the elite Forrester Academy. However, they are very different. Frances is slightly overweight, frumpy, and struggling to fit in with the exclusive Forrester crowd. Kate is stylish, skinny, beautiful and intelligent. When she begins to show an interest in befriending Frances, Frances is initially thrilled. While she is skeptical (why would Kate want to hang out with her??), she is immediately entranced by Kate, and the prospect of her friendship. Pretty soon the women are regularly getting together for lunches, drinks, and dinner with their husbands.

All seems well, on the surface. However, one of the women has a secret that she has carried with her since youth, and the other is a cold-blooded killer.

Which is which?

As Kate and Frances' friendship deepens, a stranger from the past appears. This stranger appears to be obsessed with one of the women, targeting her immediate family. Who is the stranger, and why has he appeared? What secrets does he know? And why does he seem to have revenge on his mind?

This book had me hooked from page one. It will also have you questioning how well you know your friends, and what secrets they may have hidden. Perhaps the most frightening component for me was the notion that evil can truly hide right in front of you. A pretty face is often, simply, just that.