"The worst kind of secrets are always the ones we keep from ourselves."

What a compelling and unputdownable psychological thriller! Yes, read in a single sitting, and could not look away as all the secrets, lies, betrayals, and confusion bubbled to the surface in an explosive conclusion that I really didn't see coming. I love it when I'm surprised!

Lorna is married to Mark and has a stepson, Jack, and they have a daughter, Freya. She's a therapist and he's a dentist. They have a nice little life. Except for the fact that Lorna has been carrying on a torrid affair that she wants (needs) to end...She feels that she is in love with this man, Andrew, and when he won't let her go, she finds herself falling apart both personally and professionally. But, wait! There are a couple of things going on behind the scenes that are really going to wrench her ordered life about. Nothing is quite what it seems.

This book was full of pathology and characters that draw you in even as you're thinking there is something not quite right about them. I have to say that I really enjoyed this one! Domestic drama, psychopathy, dangling clues and hints to something darker than what it first appears.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to review. Don't miss it!

I have read most of Samantha Hayes books and I'm always delighted when a new one appears. She writes absolutely amazing books with characters that are just so real. This book is no exception. Loved it!
I just couldn't put this book down. I had to keep keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.
Samantha has once again created a very compelling intruiging read, a book full of dark secrets and darker characters and for me an unexpected ending. I would definitely recommend reading this authors books.

Thank you!

Thank you.

Tell Me a Secret by Samantha Hayes


Lorna has it all: the nice house, loving husband, perfect job, and well-mannered kids. Nothing is ever perfect though. Lorna is keeping secrets from everyone which makes her guilty pleasure her downfall.


This book had me from the prologue. However, it soon dragged for about three quarters of the book. Lorna kept going back and forth with herself about cheating on her loving husband. She was so indecisive it made me sick. Also, the fact that she had to even think about cheating repeatedly was disgusting. I do not enjoy reading about affairs. So, after reading the prologue I was left wondering how the rest of the book even connected. That was until the plot twist was revealed, then everything made sense! I loved how she made it right at the end. My biggest complaint about the book was the cheating and dragging out the plot.

"...the worst kind of secrets are always the ones we keep from ourselves."

"Even therapists have secrets."

Lorna has a deep, dark secret that threatens to destroy her family and her career. Her secret is so thorny that she will do everything in her power to keep it from the people she loves.

What is this secret? 

Lorna has been hiding an affair from her coworkers, friends, and family for nearly a year. It's an intensely passionate relationship, one that caused her to violate her professional code of ethics as a practicing clinical psychologist. This is because the affair involved one of her patients, Andrew. Lorna tries to end the smoldering affair by up and leaving her psychology practice for a new one, but Andrew hunts her down at her new practice. And despite Lorna's best intentions, they rekindle old flames.

But there's someone watching from afar, taking note of Andrew and Lorna. They want revenge. They want to settle the score. They are stalking Lorna like prey. And Lorna and Andrew have no clue.

Samantha Hayes' Tell Me a Secret could be used in a master class on writing a suspenseful psychological thriller, one that shocks at every turn. I can't reveal much without revealing significant plot twists and turns, but I can promise you that this book will keep you on your toes. This would be the perfect book for a women's book club; when I finished it, I wanted to talk about the ending to anyone who would listen. I did not see the ending coming, which is all the more reason I enjoyed it!

Another thing that I enjoyed about the book was the different ways Hayes' told Lorna's story. She gives readers insight into Lorna's deep thoughts by providing snippets of Lorna's journals (take note, readers!). She also incorporates illicit conversations via text and a dating website into the narrative, giving us hints of what is to come with Lorna and Andrew. This writing style kept the book current and fresh for me.

Thank you to the author, Samantha Hayes, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of Tell Me a Secret!

There’s a popular cliche that therapists are more screwed up than their clients, and Lorna, the main protagonist here, does nothing to dispel that, seeming to be deep in denial about many aspects of her life both past and present. (Her marriage is perfect and her husband wonderful, or so she repeatedly tells us..... but why then did she have an affair?)

Then there’s Nikki, whose under no illusions that her own life is clearly far from perfect. She’s watching Lorna. What does she want, and why?

I found this to be a very intriguing read though it did take a while to warm up - it was a good while before I felt I had any kind of grasp on what was going on. Which isn’t surprising, because you’re not meant to know, and Samantha Hayes deftly leads us down a number of wrong paths. Lately I’ve been good at spotting plot twists but there’s a big one here which I definitely didn’t see coming - the sort that makes you want to go back and read everything again. (That’s my favourite sort.)

That said, I did feel there were a few unanswered questions and areas where disbelief had to be suspended, and I found certain elements of the behaviour of one character, in particular, difficult to fathom.

Tell Me a Secret is a great read about the secrets we keep, even - or perhaps especially - from ourselves. The “therapy” aspect adds a very interesting dimension and as a character study of Lorna, in particular, it’s really quite fascinating.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Gosh!!! What a Book Tell Me A Secret by Samantha Hayes was. I can honestly say that was the best psychological thriller I have read this year. I am lost for words but hard to write this review as I don't want to give anything away......This fantastic book was tense, gritty, dramatic, face pace and a page turner that will leave you saying Omg when you finish reading it.
The last few chapters were just brilliant, well the whole book was brilliant but the ending I didn't expect that!

This is a book I can Highly recommend with Glowing 5 Stars more If I could give them.

Samantha Hayes, hats off to you for a brilliant book you have written..........10/10 read.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read and enjoy in exchange for my honest opinions.
Just brilliant.

This was the second book we read by Samantha Hayes. We loved “The Reunion” and couldn’t wait to be a part of the blog tour for “Tell Me A Secret”. Before we say anymore, we would like the readers of our blog who know and trust in our book recommendations to PUT THIS BOOK ON YOUR TBR PILE IMMEDIATELY!
Ok now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can move on to our proper review! First impression… HOLY MOLY! Hooked from page one is an understatement. The opening scene will play like a nightmare in your brain; one you can’t wake up from and can’t stop thinking about.
Moving right along, Hayes introduces the starring characters that will leave you with a conflicting love/hate feeling. We definitely loved to hate Lorna! Obsessed bitch who doesn’t appreciate what she has orrrrrr, victim?? Hmmmm 💭 Nikki… mysterious.. what is her connection to this crazy bunch? Should we feel bad for Mark? For Andrew? What’s up with Lorna’s parents… strrrannngeeee! Who is getting played here? The general feeling: WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!! But, we mean this in the best way possible.
Readers of psychological thrillers know that when a book can keep you guessing until the very end, its most likely a great read! The plot twists were as twisty as they come! We constantly felt like we were on a roller coaster ride and surprises awaited at every turn!
Samantha Hayes… BRAVO to you. We LOVE your writing and are officially fans forever!

Having loved Samantha Hayes' previous novel, 'The Reunion', I nearly wet my pants in excitement when I found out about her new release, 'Tell Me A Secret'.

Let me just get this out of the way first - I wasn't taken with the first half of the book as, for me personally, I struggled to grab hold of the grit and the oomph despite the author writing a storyline with a lot of rollercoasters in it. I appreciated the red herrings, the uncertain characters with their uncertain personalities, but for a while I did find myself waiting for things to start happening.

However, and yes, that is a big HOWEVER; just a little way after the halfway point things started to take off. 'Tell Me A Secret' seemed to go from 0-100 in a matter of seconds, making me react with an almighty gasp. I didn't see THAT coming but by golly was it welcomed!

'Tell Me A Secret' is a book which is best to be read with your head in the sand. The author drip feeds her readers vital pieces of information as the storyline progresses, whilst also throwing in a bucketful of red herrings to keep her readers on their toes as well. Lorna is such a firecracker of a character - I honestly couldn't keep up with her multiple personalities, but they did make for excellent reading in the latter half of the book.

I thought the suspense was written well with the author whacking it up a notch further into the book. For me, the last half of the book was outstanding as the pace was on point, the grit was overflowing, and the intense nature of the storyline was through the roof. Samantha Hayes is exceptional at writing complex, and intrusive characters who make their marks on readers in the most colourful of ways.

'Tell Me A Secret' and I may not have gotten off to the best of starts, but I am so pleased that I persevered as I ended up thoroughly enjoying this twister of a novel. It's shocking, it's memorable, it's addictive - but shhhh, I've just told you a secret ;).

t’s been a year since Lorna had an affair with a man, a man who never knew her real name because she used a false one. Now, Andrew shows up at her office as a new client, and to Lorna’s shock, it’s the man she had the affair with. Instead of distancing herself from Andrew, Lorna finds herself drawn closer, like a moth to flame, risking her marriage and her career. But the Andrew is murdered and Lorna keep getting messages from him. Someone knew the truth about her affair, but who? You may not like Lorna very much, but you will get wrapped up in her twisted life

This book is about a woman on the edge! Lorna is married with a daughter and stepson (who she struggles to relate to) and works as a therapist.
She seems to spend her life obsessing about other men. She recently had an affair with one of her clients and remains infatuated. I found Lorna as a character to be irritating, unprofessional and frustrating and for that reason I really struggled to enjoy the story.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I read The Reunion by Samantha a few months ago and really enjoyed it so I decided to take part in this tour too.

I have to start by saying I didn't like Lorna for the majority of the book. She was selfish, stupid and ungrateful. I really struggled to identify with her. Yet I felt compelled to continue with the story. I wanted to see how her life was going to unravel.

There were also chapters which were told from another characters POV. Her name was Nikki. If you have read some of my reviews before you will know I like alternating POV so I enjoyed this aspect. I also preferred Nikki as a character. I enjoyed reading her chapters a lot more than Lorna's.

Samantha weaved such an incredible twist that there was absolutely no way to see it coming. It was fantastic. Dramatic and jaw dropping. It really saved the story for me as I found Lorna's such a difficult character to gel with.

Samantha's writing has a way of making you want to see the ending. It's like a compulsion. Even though you can't stand the main character you absolutely need to know the end of the story. It's very clever and skilled.

I am a huge fan of Samantha Hayes and her latest book definitely doesn't disappoint! At first I wondered where the story was going, the main character Lorna was intensely annoying, she had a loving husband Mark but was risking everything by having an affair with Andrew, one of her patients. Lorna was a therapist and began neglecting her patients and her family - these poor kids! - as she was all consumed by her affair. However, she decides to concentrate on her marriage and finishes things with Andrew and that is when the story really gets interesting! There are massive twists that I certainly never saw coming and the book goes in a direction that left me gobsmacked! Excellent book, I loved it, would highly recommend to people who enjoy a good twisty read which leaves you shocked.

Wow! There are several bookss with the words "real page turner", "the thriller tp read" or similar on their jackets. This is in my top 5 of the 20+ I have read in the last 18 months.
Read in less than 24.hours I was hooked by the premise, and taken on a journey of emotions to a climax that has left me in awe.
I was interested in reading about the Lorna and her work having studied Psychotherapy as an undergraduate. Writing from personal experience Samantha Hayes introduces the reader to the protocols and processes of therapy in a way that I am sure will remove some of the mystique of some aspects of counselling.
I highly recommend this novel to lovers of intrigue, mystery, suspence, surprise, and twists.

Having read a couple of books by this author before and thoroughly enjoying them, it was one of the reasons why I wanted to read her latest book. The other reason being that the cover was highly appealing.

However, I have to be honest and say that unfortunately this wasn't a great read for me, I struggled with the story on quite a few occasions and found the story slow to begin with. Plus I literally could not gel with the main character of Lorna, I disliked her and found her highly annoying.

Having read other reader's reviews of this book, I am glad to see that there are a lot of readers that did indeed enjoy this book, which to me, means it is true what they say, certain books just aren't for everyone.

Some good points about this book though, it was well written, the characters were well developed, once over the half way point, the book becomes very fast paced and addictive reading, there were plenty of surprises, twists and turns come the final chapters that I literally didn't see coming.

Tell Me a Secret had some crazy twists and turns. Some I was not expecting which is a great quality to have in a psychological thriller. The character of Lorna was very hard to like and not get annoyed with but I think that was all part of the book. She had a very warped sense of reality and was an all around mess. I really don't think you were suppose to like her. I wish we knew a few more details about Lorna's mom and dad situation. It is referenced so much in the book and you kind of know what happened but I would have liked a little more detail about what was going on. I also would have like to have a little more of a story with Jack. After reading the description of the book I thought some events would happen a lot sooner than they did so I found parts to drag on a bit. Thank you netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to receive a copy of Samantha Hayes most recent book from Netgalley as I was a huge fan of hers since I read her last book......I wasn’t disappointed!
It was filled with twists and turns and I didn’t see any of them coming. Right up until the end, I thought I had it figured out.....but I didn’t!
I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!

This was the second book we read by Samantha Hayes. We loved "The Reunion" and couldn't wait to be a part of the blog tour for "Tell Me A Secret". Before we say anymore, we would like the readers of our blog who know and trust in our book recommendations to PUT THIS BOOK ON YOUR TBR PILE IMMEDIATELY! 
Ok now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can move on to our proper review! First impression... HOLY MOLY! Hooked from page one is an understatement. The opening scene will play like a nightmare in your brain; one you can't wake up from and can't stop thinking about.
Moving right along, Hayes introduces the starring characters that will leave you with a conflicting love/hate feeling. We definitely loved to hate Lorna! Obsessed bitch who doesn't appreciate what she has orrrrrr, victim?? Hmmmm 💭 Nikki... mysterious.. what is her connection to this crazy bunch? Should we feel bad for Mark? For Andrew? What's up with Lorna's parents... strrrannngeeee! Who is getting played here? The general feeling: WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!! But, we mean this in the best way possible.
Readers of psychological thrillers know that when a book can keep you guessing until the very end, its most likely a great read! The plot twists were as twisty as they come! We constantly felt like we were on a roller coaster ride and surprises awaited at every turn!
Samantha Hayes... BRAVO to you. We LOVE your writing and are officially fans forever!

First of all I want to think NetGalley, Samantha Hayes and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book before it hits shelves later this week. I wont lie, I wasn't really felling the book until about 65%, I didn't like Lorna at all. I didn't like some of the things that she was doing, especially when she had Mark at home, but he's a whole other story for later. Once I got past 65% I had to keep reading to know what was going on. I needed answers and I was confused on what part Nikki was playing at, I am so glad that I kept reading, it was a good ending and I liked it more than I thought I would!

I had a really hard time getting into this story, it felt super slow; without anything that really sparked my fire, so to say. After about 70% of the book it was there: I couldn’t stop reading at all. Overall it was a really decent read, a bit too psychological for my taste, but it was good!

when Lorna unethically returns the call of a new client requesting an appointment with her for a therapy session life takes a downward spiral.

lorna is married to mark, a rather controlling and unlikeable character and stepmum to his son, jack. mark’s first wife died and lorna feels she’s never lived up her memory.

the story weaves its way through lies, affairs and murder keeping the reader turning the page. i felt the story lost its way halfway through and failed to see the relevance of a practical joke played on Lorna by Jack however, the ending has a good twist and brings the story to a good end.

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.