Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Jessica Strawser for the opportunity to read and review her latest novel - I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Liza and Molly are best friends from childhood. However, when Liza moves to Chicago for a new job and Molly remains back in Cincinnati, married with 2 kids and chronic pain issues, they find it difficult to keep their relationship going. Liza has a new best friend in Max, who is always there for her. Meanwhile, Molly finds a purpose in helping their neighbor's child through a difficult issue.

Liza and Molly are video-chatting, trying to reconnect, when Molly leaves to put a child back into bed and Liza sees a masked stranger enter Molly's kitchen. When she's finally able to reconnect, Molly's reaction is more than troubling to Liza. Thus the rift widens.

While there is a slight mystery involved, the strength of this book lies in these characters. It makes you think about those relationships you take for granted, assuming they will always be there, and how important our reactions are to the people we care about. Plus any book that mentions Saratoga Chips deserves an extra shoutout!

Forget You Know Me is the latest offering from author Jessica Strawser. It's a book that can't be easily categorized, but it's one I'm definitely glad I picked up.

Molly and Liza used to be the best of friends. In fact, there was once a time when neither woman could imagine life without the other one in it. But now, Molly is married with two children, and Liza has moved away, and the unthinkable has happened. Molly and Liza really don't know much about each other's lives anymore.

One evening when Molly's husband Daniel is away on a business trip, Molly and Liza decide to get back and touch. Once Molly's children in bed, the two engage in a long video chat. The conversation doesn't seem to flow the way it used to, and both women are a little uncomfortable. When Molly leaves the room for a moment to check on a crying child, Liza is glad for the chance to collect her thoughts. But then, she catches sight of something happening in Molly's home, something no one is supposed to see.

I'm sure you're wondering what Liza witnesses, but telling you would spoil things in a major way, so you'll have to trust me when I say that Molly is utterly terrified by what she sees. She calls the police and then jumps in her car, driving all night to get to Molly's side. She's sure her friend has been horribly traumatized by this event, and she wants desperately to be of some assistance, but when she arrives at Molly's house, she is ordered to leave. Liza is understandably baffled by Molly's strange behavior, but she doesn't think she can just return home and forget what she saw.

Matters are taken out of Liza's hands when a horrible fire breaks out at her apartment building, gutting it completely, and she decides to stay with her brother and his wife while she gets her renter's insurance sorted out. She's also hoping to eventually get to the bottom of whatever is going on with Molly, even if her friend seems to want to pretend the two of them were never all that important to one another.

The question of whether you'll enjoy this book depends largely upon your expectations when you start reading. If you're looking for the next twisty psychological thriller, you might be disappointed. Forget You Know Me does contain a few good twists, but they're not what really stood out to me. Instead, the novel's greatest strength lies in the ever-changing relationships between the characters; so if you're looking for a novel that takes an unflinching look at what it really means to be a good friend, this just might be the book for you.

Molly deals with a great deal of chronic pain brought on by an undiagnosed illness, and I'm so glad Ms. Strawser chose to incorporate that into this story. So many of today's heroines are perfect in every possible way, but those heroines don't always feel real to me. Molly, with her deep yearning to understand why her body is betraying her, feels utterly relatable, even though I have no personal experience with the level of pain she endures on a daily basis. I loved that the author didn't simply pay lip service to Molly's pain. Instead, she manages to make it an integral part of Molly's character, something I wish more authors would choose to do.

Both Molly and Liza are well-drawn, incredibly relatable characters. I didn't always agree with the choices they made, but I always felt I understood what motivated them to act the way they did. I'm also really pleased with the amount of personal growth they go through over the course of the book. I didn't necessarily think everything would be sunshine and roses for them at the novel's end, but I got the firm impression that both women were well on their way to righting some of the wrongs they had committed.

Forget You Know Me is a story that celebrates love and friendship in all their many forms. The suspense is compelling, and the author manages to strike the perfect balance between the action-packed scenes and those that are more introspective. I'm not sure I enjoyed this as much as Ms. Strawser's previous book (Almost Missed You), but it definitely has a lot to recommend it, and I can't wait for readers to give it a shot.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Visit our Amazon Storefront

I finished this a few weeks ago, but it took me a little while to think through my review. I wanted so much to decide I had judged the ending too harshly, but after sleeping on it for a while, I’m sticking to my original opinion. This book started with such an exciting premise. The story read quickly and easily and unfolded nicely. The characters were well developed and interesting. I was eager to read more and more because the storyline was so exciting! Then I arrived at the end...and the story puttered to a complete stop with one of the most disappointing and boring let downs of an ending. I feel like I come across this a lot lately and I’m not sure if it’s my fault or if authors are just completely uncreative these days, but I’m so tired of reading books that start off to such a great beginning only to end so boring. This book had such a great premise, but the ending was truly a let down. The author had built up such mystery and novelty, but then she sacrificed it all for a ho hum run of the mill ending. Except for the ending, the book really is exceptional, which is why I’m still giving it a decent rating. I throughly enjoyed it. I just wish the solution to the mystery had been a little less bland.

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.

I must admit, I'm very unhappy with this book. I feel like I was completely misled by the synopsis, I believed that I was going into a suspenseful thriller and I wasn't even sure what I was reading because it was more women's fiction and was more about these women's friendships and relationships than the masked man that came into the house.

I felt the masked man was more of a comma than a period, like it was brought into the story just to bring an element of suspense and aargh! I was just so frustrated!

I think that with a different blurb and different expectations I would have really enjoyed Forget You Know Me. The writing was excellent and they story was interesting, I'm just upset at not getting what I wanted and expected when I opened this book up.

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.