The very first book I reviewed was Jessica's Strawser's book Not That I Could Tell. I was blown away by that one and eagerly awaited this one. I was not disappointed. Forget You Know Me is a story of friendships and of marriages and of relationships. It spotlights the fact that none of these things are static, but ever-changing as we mature and change. There is suspense in this novel, which opens with Liza witnessing a masked intruder via Skype as he enters her best friend's home. The book examines the aftermaths of hiding things from your spouse until the guilt threatens to destroy you and/or the marriage. My two-day visit with these characters left me exhausted, sad, angry, exhilarated, ashamed, and hopeful. That's quite a wallop of emotions to experience in one novel. I was not disappointed in this new novel of Strawser's, and I'm betting you will not be either.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book begins with the surprise appearance of a masked man, who enters a young mother’s house while she has gone to hopefully get her young daughter back to sleep while her friend waits for her to continue with their video chat. After such a shocking opening, the details of the character’s lives are detailed slowly and with great care to detail. The masked man is alluded to throughout, but it isn’t until almost the end when he is finally unmasked.

The author did a spectacular job of charter development, so much so that I could picture the interactions between them, and understand while they feel the way they do. The ending was a bit of a surprise with some unexpected twists.

Not quite a thriller, because it really wasn’t a page turner, I did enjoy the story and feel it was worth four stars.

In the same vein as "Not That I Could Tell" we begin with a mysterious occurrence. This time there is a masked man visible in the background of a video call. Once Liza sees the man in her friend Molly's home, she hits the road to drive from Chicago to Cincinnati to check on her friend. When she gets there, she basically gets the door slammed in her face. Thus begins a story exploring issues like chronic pain, debt management, whistleblowing, marital problems, brushes with death, relocating, pregnancy issues, sibling relationships, losing or keeping friends and so much more. Though it is a bit less "thrilling" than Strawser's previous title, it does have its own surprises in store. This would make an excellent book group selection.

A big thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this new title.

This is the second book I've read by Jessica Strawser and I enjoyed them both. I think my favorite thing about her books and writing is the way she presents the characters. I really find her characters relatable and likeable even when you don't like or understand their actions. I really enjoyed Forget You Know Me, there were a few twists and turns and I thought I had them figured out a couple times only to find I didn't.

This was not my first book by the author - having devoured her others quickly, I was excited to read this one. While it was not what I expected, I enjoyed this read.

I mostly read domestic thrillers, so this didn’t have that “on the edge of my seat” mystery feel, but I was surprised at the ending!

As always, the story didn’t disappoint. I can’t wait to read another!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an e-ARC from NetGalley to review.
Molly and Liza are best friends - have been since elementary school. But over the years they've drifted apart. Molly's married, with two kids. Liza's still single, and has moved away from Cincinnati to Chicago. They schedule a video chat, a girls' night, in a bid to reconnect. To Liza's horror, as she waits for Molly to return to the room, she sees a man all in black slip into her friend's house. She calls out to him, telling him she'll call the police, and he closes the laptop Molly was using. This is the intriguing start to Forget You Know Me. As the story unfolds we try to figure out if this was a random intruder, or if he was tied to something going on in either Molly's life, or her husband, Daniel's. Whoever it was, the intruder serves as a catalyst, forcing Molly and Daniel to reexamine their marriage and prompting Liza to make some changes in her life as well.
The story definitely kept me guessing and I was eager to find out more about what was going on. Molly, Daniel, and Liza were realistic, if not always super likeable, characters. The ending was a bit unsettling, though not unrealistic. All in all a good read - definitely one that will keep readers hooked from start to finish!

This novel was an intricate story about relationships, friendships, and marriage. I enjoyed the shocking beginning and the way that the characters were depicted. Something happens to Molly one night while she is on a video chat online with her best friend Liza. This night will affect Molly and her husband, as well as Liza and her friends and family for a long time. Others become involved in this night as well. The characters lives are depicted to us throughout the story. We get to know each character through their stories and their relationships with the other characters. Intricate relationships seem to make up the story. Author Jessica Strawser writes in a way where she keeps the mystery successfully hidden throughout the story. We are kept in the dark until the very end!

Forget You Know Me starts out like it's going to be a thriller - two friends are chatting via Skype and when one leaves to check on her child, the other sees a masked intruder enter her house. This should have been a thriller to figure out who it was and why. However, the intruder story line gets sidelined and then brought up on occasion (it does get resolved at the end). In the meantime, the book then focuses on the relationships between the two friends (Liza and Molly) and Molly's relationship with her husband.

Unfortunately I found none of the characters or story lines likable. The book dragged a bit, and some of the story lines were left unresolved and unfinished. It seemed like this book didn't know where it wanted to go - was it a thriller? Was it women's fiction? And it didn't really work in either genre.

Forget You Know Me is a suspenseful page-turner that keeps the reader engaged. Secrets and lies come to light when a masked intruder makes a chance appearance on the video chat between two best friends. Strawser's characters really came to life for me! This one is not to be missed!

Jessica Strawser writes suburban life very well. Her stories and plotlines could be right out of Desperate House Wives. She weaves stories around completely normal lives, but concentrates her writing on what really happens behind closed doors.

Everyone has friends we grew up with or grew close to in college that we did everything with. You the same interests, hobbies and were just connected at the hip. But life happens and it’s impossible to stay frozen in time. So these friendships have to evolve too, which is hard, especially when physical distance separates the two.

Molly and Liza are two such friends. Molly has gone the domestic route–two kids, picket fence, you the know the drill. And even though Liza was also super close to Molly’s husband, when two people have children and a life together, a friend is always a third wheel to some extent. So Liza, looking for her own life, moves to Chicago, partly to avoid the new awkwardness. And they grow apart, tale as old as time.

Strawser picks up the story one night as they struggle through their now awkward friendship, trying to figure out where they stand. Liza sees an intruder enter Molly’s house and everything goes haywire. I can’t give much more away, but Strawser paints a very realistic portrait of what happens when a friendship and a marriage break down. And the secrets we keep that destroy everything.

I liked this one, it was a good story. For me personally, as the story shifted and was much more about Molly and Daniel and their relationship, I wanted more on Liza’s life. She was the protagonist and while loose ends about Molly’s life were tied up by the end, Liza was just kind of left hanging.

Liza had issues, but they were swept under the rug and she was given a consolation prize that was supposed to make me as a reader happy. And I guess I was a little happy, but the end just seemed to cut off and the story felt very unresolved. Maybe there is a sequel in the works?

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out February 5! My review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog on January 22, 2019.

***3 Stars ***

Meh.. I wanted to like this book way more than I did. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad by any means, I read the book in 2 days so obviously the story line kept my interest. I'm just indifferent overall. Maybe as I talk (type) this out, my opinion will sway. Liza and Molly have been friends forever but have lost touch after Liza moved from Cincinnati to Chicago. One night at an attempt to hang on to their friendship, they are video chatting over wine. When Molly gets called upstairs to one of the small children and Liza stays on the chat waiting, a masked person dressed in all black, comes through the door of the house and disconnects the feed leaving Liza to think the worst. So BOOM what an opening, I was hooked. But, then Molly acts like no big deal over this intruder; doesn't even tell her husband and seems upset that Liza is even concerned. So what gives? I thought I was reading a thriller but turns out this book has a deeper meaning about relationships and deception. Once understood this is a more serious contemporary fiction read, I have a greater appreciation of the story and would read other works by Jessica Strawser.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Forget You Know Me had a really strong start and had me gripped with fear and intrigue for the first few chapters but sadly it didn’t last. I was under the assumption that this was a thriller but I would not put this in that category this is more family and relationships than this. The book centres on the damage distance can do to a relationship either with a partner or a friend.
On the whole I enjoyed this book but there was a lot going on that at first was just confusing, there were a few characters that I really couldn’t have cared less about. The opening scenes of this book is about a masked intruder, I didn’t get who this was until it was spelt out for me so that did up my enjoyment as I pondered over how I had missed the signs!
If you are looking for a thriller you will be disappointed in this as it is quite a slow burner especially between 20% to 60% of the book. It was still enjoyable but lacked the fast paced thriller edge that I thought I was getting.
I would like to thank Netgalley and St Martins Press for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

hey folks let’s talk about this book for a second, because I had a really hard time getting into it and I believe this is an unpopular opinion. the premise is fine and honestly really appealing which is what drew me to Forget You Know Me at first, but it came to an extent where I honestly couldn’t see a point to the plot beyond two women whose entire existence revolves exclusively around the men in their lives. even Molly and Liza’s friendship—which is supposed to be the very life force of this book and the reason why it is classified under the “women’s fiction” genre—felt…. constrained. impersonal. apparently they’re childhood best friends and yet they mostly treat each other like acquaintances AT BEST.

I don’t want y’all to get me wrong, this is really well written. Jessica Strawser’s writing is PHENOMENAL, and you can quote me on that. absolutely no one can take that away from her. but—and that’s a BIG but—this book is just overly dramatic, bordering on absolutely ridiculous. no spoilers, but some of the stuff that happened to the characters really served no purpose in the grand scheme of things and usually went WAY beyond what I would consider “normal” in women’s fiction, especially if we choose to reflect on the fact that this book is NOT a thriller. there’s no suspense in here, no big reveal (I don’t think). Forget You Know Me is a meticulous examination of the lives of these two women and their personal relationships. but did it have to be so excessively dramatic? ostentatious? theatrical? not really!

I really did enjoy Jessica Strawser’s writing style and would love to read more from her, but I just really couldn’t connect with these characters. they weren’t relatable, and again, this might just be me. they weren’t relatable TO ME—I don’t want to take away from Jessica Strawser’s writing skills at all, because she really is talented and if I can emphasize anything from this review, let that be it. she’s an incredible writer, but this book simply wasn’t for me. thanks again to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a free review copy!!

I really enjoyed this book, great thriller, with a twist at the end. I really got into each character - and the character development of Liza and Molly. Glad to have been selected to read this advanced copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser. This book really started out strong, and had such a creepy feel to it when Liza saw the intruder via webcam. It felt like a horror movie at this point, so I was really excited and couldn't put it down at this point. Unfortunately, it went downhill really quickly after that. I felt like this book was trying too hard to be too many genres- thriller, romance, mystery, plain ol' fiction, etc. There was just too much going on in the story, and it became extremely hard to follow at this point. The only character I found myself drawn to was Henry, who we had only a few chapters of. I was overall disappointed in this book and the ending, especially since I felt like it had such huge potential at the beginning.

Molly and Liza are best friends, the best of friends that they put each other before ANYONE else. When Liza moves away they have a harder time keeping up their relationship. One night, they decide to video chat and what Liza sees when Molly leaves the room will send both of their worlds into a tail spin.

This was one of those books that I liked, but didn't completely love. Everyone had secrets and it seemed like it took a very long time for those secrets to unfold. And when they call came out some were great and juicy and some just seemed like duds. I judge these mystery/thriller books based on the culprit and if it works for me and I didn't love this one. Of course, I won't spoil a thing, but I just couldn't get behind this one.

I liked the writing in this book. I loved the feeling I felt while reading, the pacing was great and I did finish it because of the need to want to know how it was going to end. I would read more from this author, but would have to make sure that the synopsis was one that excited me.

I was torn between 3 and 3.5 stars. It started with a bang but the ending fell slightly flat for me.
I do want to say wow that cover though.
Thank you for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Jessica Strawser book, and I don't think it will be my last. From other reviews, it would seem that this is a departure from the 'thriller' genre of her previous novels: it's definitely more 'Literary Fiction'. There's no real mystery (ok, just the one), and everyone's cards are pretty much laid out on the table. It's just that they all seem incapable of talking to one another: Molly and Liza, once best friends, become more and more estranged as they live so far from one another. Daniel and Molly, although they are married, seem to be growing apart, and due to the demands of work and children, do not seem to have any time for one another. The takeaway message in this seems to be - just talk to each other, for goodness sakes! Relationships need effort from all sides!
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of this book to read and enjoy!

Since Liza’s move to Chicago, Molly had felt at loose ends, missing her best friend even though being a stay at home mom to two young children kept her on her toes. When Molly’s husband Daniel had an overnight business trip scheduled, Molly and Liza planned a video chat that promised to be almost like old times. In the middle of the conversation, though, Molly left the room to check on the kids, and Liza saw someone break into Molly’s house over the webcam. Screaming, Liza scared the intruder away, and afraid for Molly’s safety, she and her friend Max drove all night from Chicago to Cincinnati to make sure everyone was all right.

Liza was horrified at the reception she received from Molly early that next morning, and felt it was the end of the friendship, though she had no idea why. Returning to Chicago, Liza discovered that her apartment building had caught fire, killing several residents, and had Liza been home, she likely would have been one of the casualties. Moving home to Cincinnati was her only option, and fortunately her brother and sister in law had room for her to stay.

The beginning was exciting, and had me wondering exactly what Molly was hiding, but then the story went off in too many different directions. I liked Liza’s loyalty towards Molly and her resilience in starting over, but I got a bit tired of Molly and seeing her remain stuck in her own mess, without confiding in either Liza or Daniel. I’m a fan of Jessica Strawser, but this book wasn’t my favorite.

I’m so sad to be writing this review, because it’s coming from a person who adored Jessica Strawser’s two previous novels. But alas, this book was not a winner for me.

Molly and Liza have been best friends since childhood, but motherhood, wifehood, and a move for Liza states away have gotten in-between the friendship they assumed would last strongly forever. In an attempt to catch up one evening while Molly’s husband is away, the ladies have a girl’s night via video chat, and just when things might be getting comfortable between the two of them again, Molly’s daughter calls her upstairs. What happens next is where the story begins to unravel. Liza sees a masked man enter the home, who then disconnects the computer. Frantically, Liza calls the police on Molly’s behalf, and after a whole ordeal with the police searching the house, Molly simply foo-foos it off. What!? Obviously there’s more the story.

Man, this book was off to such a strong start, and until halfway through I was turning the pages as fast as I could. The writing was absorbing, and while I couldn’t my quite connect with any of the characters, I was hooked! HOOKED. But then, all the side stories began to conjumble and what happened at the beginning almost became a distant thing, yet still what the story was based on. Then, what really ruined it for me, was that ending. Simply put, I was left utterly unsatisfied.

I had a heads up going into this one to not expect a thriller/suspense, but to expect more of a women’s fiction read instead. That’s not my issue here. In fact, something I loved about this book was the in-depth, carefully developed look into friendships and what can come in between them, creating a deep crack you didn’t realize was there. It was realistic, compelling, and believeable. I guess I still expected more on that front though because of how the story started out. It almost felt like too many genres were trying to meet in the middle here, leaving it disjointed.

It’s clear that Strawser truly is a master at writing, what with her page-turning storytelling and incredibly developed characters, but unfortunately the story in wasn’t executed well in my opinion, and I couldn’t get over it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free review copy.