This book REALLY starts out well and thoroughly captured my attention. Liza has her friend Molly on a video chat and while they are chatting, Liza sees a masked intruder come into Molly's house. Liza scares the intruder off and saves her friend from harm. From there, the story pretty much falls apart. Molly doesn't seem concerned at all that an intruder was in the house and disregards the situation and begins to ignore Liza and their friendship. While it is a mystery why Molly doesn't seem concerned about the intruder, the storyline doesn't create any suspense or mystery with these facts. Combined with the dislike of the whiny, clueless Molly and a plot line that basically fizzles and cannot keep up the suspense of the opener, it was a struggle to finish.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
What will a couple do to save their marriage? Some times the means are extreme with the thought "the ends justifies the means."
Also, what is true friendship? Who can you trust and depend on when times get tough?
A good book, except for the profanity.

Molly’s husband is away on business and her two young children have been tucked into bed.

She and her oldest friend Liza have planned a “Girl’s Night”, or the closest thing to it, being that Molly still lives in Cincinnati and Liza in Chicago. A long overdue, video chat, with a goal of reconnecting...of bridging the distance that has come between them over the years.

The wine has been poured, and the chat has begun but Liza can tell that Molly’s smile seems forced...a little too bright, a little bit too polite.

“The woman currently lifting her glass of red wine in a virtual “cheers” was not the Molly she missed. The image on Liza’s monitor was Molly 2.0-the version you eventually have no choice to upgrade to but then can’t figure out how to navigate.”

But before Liza can delve too deeply into what she is perceiving, one of the children calls out to her mother.

As Molly goes upstairs, to check on her crying child, a man in a mask enters the room. Startled, Liza calls out..alerting the man that he is on camera and telling him she is calling the police. The video chat is shut down.

Frantic, Liza attempts to call her friend repeatedly and when she cannot be reassured that Molly is okay, she drives through the night to check on her. But instead of gratitude, the greeting she receives is icy.

As if she has overreacted.

What transpires next is the kind of women’s fiction that I enjoy most. Well developed characters dealing with “real life” issues of friendship, marriage and family. Imperfect. Sometimes disappointing. Sometimes hopeful.

I have had friendships end, some by circumstance, and some by choice, and I am definitely not the same version of myself that I was 10, or 20 years ago.

A “masked man” may have entered the house, and started a chain of events, but he wasn’t the only one wearing a mask.

I would like to thank Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Jessica Strawser for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for a candid review. If you enjoy women’s fiction with a dose of domestic suspense, you can pick up your copy of this on Feb , 2019!

Thank you to @stmartinspress for this ARC! 🔻

Forget You Know Me tells the story of two best friends, Molly and Liza, who have grown apart. One night, they try to reconnect via a video chat, but things are cut short when Liza witnesses a masked intruder entering Molly's home. The call ends, and unable to reach Molly, Liza hops in her car and drives to Molly's house. However, when Liza shows up, Molly is very short with her and all but slams the door in her face. What unfolds from their is a story of broken friendship, failing marriage, and the secrets that keep us apart.

Sounds pretty exciting right? Forget You Know Me definitely starts off with a bang. Based on the beginning and the synopsis, I was expecting a thriller of sorts, but the story turned out to be something completely different. The story went in a different direction than what I was expecting. The characters were well developed and complex. Their friendships and relationships were a realistic examination of all of the "unsaid stuff" that often wedges itself between people. I thought the story was intriguing, but it didn't really have the suspense that I was hoping for. The incident at the beginning almost became a distraction, and the plot was more about Molly and Liza's broken friendship, and Molly's near-broken marriage. I expected Molly and Liza's lives to intersect more, but it felt more like two separate stories with an occasional interaction between the two. This was the first novel by Jessica Strawser that I have read. It was an average read for me. 3/5.

I liked, but didn't love, Strawser's "Not That I Could Tell". Something didn't sit well with me about it, but I couldn't figure out what. People raved about it a lot, so I figured maybe I was missing something. When Netgalley offered "Forget You Know Me", I eagerly requested in, hoping to love Strawser's third novel.

Instead, I found it unreadable.

The premise sucked me in: best friends Liza and Molly are feeling distant from one another and attempt to reconnect over Skype and wine one night. But when Molly is called upstairs by her daughter, Liza sees the kitchen door open and a man in a mask enters the house. He closes the computer and Liza can't see anything else. She panics, desperately calling her friend over and over. When Molly finally get in touch, she is incredibly cold and distant.

Unwilling to accept this, Liza drives overnight from Chicago to their mutual hometown. Molly rebuffs her coldly. It seems the friendship is over.

But when Liza returns home, she finds that her apartment building has burnt down, forcing her to return home and bunk with her brother and his wife. She gets a job as a manager of an airport restaurant where she causally flirts with a pilot.

Meanwhile, Molly is struggling with chronic pain and crushing financial debt. Her friendship with a single father is pushing boundaries and her relationship with her own husband, Daniel, is strained. As for Daniel, he is being pulled into shady dealings with work.

And that's about as far as I got. I just didn't like or connect with any of these people, which I think was my issue with her last book. I felt no empathy for the main character either time. I was intrigued by the whole situation with the masked man, but as that was showing no real sign of being addressed again, I gave up.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Forget You Know Me explores friendships through the lens of secrets we keep from even our closest friends. Although it is not strictly speaking a thriller, I did find it to be a page turner that was hard to put down. Good clean writing and parallel plot lines that hold back what will be revealed made for a very enjoyable reading experiences.
Molly is facing challenges with her health (which are never fully explained), her relationships and her financial situation. In the opening of the book, she’s reached out to her friend Liza who has moved away and fallen out of touch. When Molly is called away from the computer, Liza sees a mysterious person in Molly’s house and the plot is set in action.
A beginning such as this would be typical for a book that is more of a thriller than this turns out to be. Forget You Know Me becomes an exploration of personal relationships as we learn that all the characters have secrets, and they can’t be kept forever. As the plot and secrets unfold, Molly finds herself deeper in a hole that she can only climb out of with the help of the people around her, if they’ll still be there when they learn the truths. And Molly’s not the only one with secrets that are changing their own lives as they become revealed.
Through the book, I wanted to know more about each character which is why I couldn’t put it down. It’s a true page turner in that respect. In the end, however, there’s still more I want to know about each. It’s a fine line between important background and bogging down the reader with too many details, but I would have liked to see more to complete the characters and to fill what I think are a couple of small holes in the plot. Overall, that doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of this book and I recommend it.

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Forget You Know Me is the latest story by Jessica Strawser. Forget You Know Me is a little difficult to define. Mostly it isn't an edge of your seat thriller, although there will be some of those moments. Forget You Know Me has likable characters that quickly feel like friends and gives the reader an inside look at friendship, marriage, with a little romance thrown in. I was given an early copy to review.

Jessica Strawser is one of those authors who does it for me every time. Her characters and settings come to life and before you know it, you're sucked into her world. But Forget You Know Me took on an entirely different feeling for me than any other book I've ever read. Never before have I felt so much anxiety when reading a book. Every time Molly's chapters came up, I was sweating, feeling so anxious, sure that I had done something terribly wrong. It was as if I was truly Molly in those moments and I couldn't find my way out until her chapters were through. To me, that is a sign of the perfect author. A book isn't quite a book unless the characters pull me in and leave me feeling as though I lost a best friend when they're over, and that's something Jessica Strawser does for me over and over again, but especially in Forget You Know Me.

A great story you’ll never forget me
Molly and Liza are already good friends but something change about them .
The man in the mask will change everything
I had an ARC

I was so delighted to score an early copy of the latest Jessica Strawser novel (thanks Net Galley and St. Martins), and I was not disappointed. Strawser is a master of writing stories about relationships--both friendships, marriage and those more complicated situations in between--with the angle of suspense thoroughly intertwined. Forget You Know Me was no exception, keeping me reading late into the night trying to unravel all of its mysteries and to find out what was going to happen next!

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review -
Liza and Molly have been friends forever but when Liza moves away their relationship falters.
They are catching up on Skype when Molly leaves the room to help her child - suddenly and intruder is on the screen and then the screen goes blank.
Liza is worried about Molly's safety so she and a friend drive all night to check on her and are met with rudeness - What's with that?
You must read the book to discover the secrets of the mother, and the secrets of the father, and who is the mysterious intruder.

Jessica Strawser once again brings a story with twists and turns. Forget You Know Me is a story that will keep you guessing and once you think you know what is going on, guess again.

A husband and a wife. All the secrets they can keep. Will they find their way back to one another? Or is it too late? I found that I didn't want to put this book because I wanted to know the answers to these questions.

Liza and Molly are old friends, though time and distance have eroded their relationship. The only way they will share a 'girls night out' now is through Skype and unfortunately, something happens on the call that tears them apart. Molly and her husband Daniel both have secrets and Liza's life is no walk in the park either. As the story progressed both Molly and Daniel often had me shaking my head in frustration over their seemingly endless poor decisions.
I connected the most with Liza as her concern for Molly felt quite real. Imagine seeing a good friend in a potentially dangerous situation, then traveling quite a distance to offer support and then basically having your friend slam the door in your face(what the heck just happened here). Would you fight to understand what was going on and try to salvage your friendship, or just give up and walk away? Ultimately, I wanted to know if Molly and Daniel's marriage would survive and if Molly and Liza's friendship would endure.
The author writes well-developed characters and there is an awful lot going on in this book(at times, I thought too much). This wasn't a stay up late for just one more chapter read, but it did hold my interest. I loved Not That I Could Tell and liked Forget You Know Me. Jessica Strawser is a very good writer and I look forward to reading her next book.
3.5 stars.
I received a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

This is very satisfying as a relationship novel. The "thriller aspect" is a little less so; the masked intruder who appears at the beginning of the book is the driving force behind the plot, but I found the reveal (person and motive) rather unconvincing. I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely keep reading Strawser.

*Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I would give this 3.5 stars. It starts out with a bang when childhood friends Liza and Molly are having a video chat and Molly steps away from the computer and Liza sees a masked intruder enter Molly's home. When the video feed is disconnected, Liza is extremely worried, and, unable to get in touch with Molly, drives overnight to check on her friend, only to have Molly slam the door in her face with no explanation.

So, BAM! Great beginning and I was very intrigued. Unfortunately, after that the pace slows down and, though there were some interesting plot points for both Molly and Liza with complicated relationships for both characters, I never found myself highly invested in either "friend."

Side note: I thought the multiple references to Liza's brother not liking Molly when they were growing up strange.

I read it because it was well-written and I wanted to know what happened in the end, but it wasn't a book that made me put down everything and read late into the night.

Liza tries to reacquaint with her long distance friend Molly via Skype. She witnesses an intruder entering Molly's home, which is the catalyst for Liza and Molly's world to be turned upside down. Forgot You Know Me explores relationships and how secrets and tragedies effect them.
Jessica Strawser's characters are vivid and flawed but they become endeared to you, as you root for them to be happy. The story moves quickly and captures your attention as you want to see what happens next. I greatly enjoyed this story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.

Forget You Know Me is a story about how time, distance, and life, can strain otherwise good friendships...leaving one to question whether or not friendships are meant to last. Molly and Liza had a great friendship that started deteriorating after marriage and relocation. I could absolutely relate to this, which is one reason I wanted to read this ARC. However, the plot twist (masked man potentially hurts/kidnaps Molly) seemed a bit farfetched for me. I did keep reading, though, but the storyline slowed down a little too much for me. Overall, this is a good read; better suited for passing the time versus keeping one engaged.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this title. It's available February 2019.

There's so much happening in Forget You Know Me (especially for such a relatively small cast of characters), you'll be forgiven for not remembering it all. It starts with a late night Skype call between Liza and Molly that goes horribly wrong, leaving the long time friends estranged (and giving the book its title). From there we learn Molly hasn't told her husband Daniel about the massive debt she's accumulated in search of a cure for her unrelenting, but as of yet undiagnosed, chronic pain, or the threatening calls she's getting from the predatory lender Molly borrowed the money from. Not to be outdone, Daniel hasn't mentioned he's being blackmailed after uncovering evidence his boss is stealing from the company they work for. Then there's Molly's flirtation with her widowed neighbor that Molly doesn't want to give up because their kids are best friends (and she really has a thing for the guy). Liza doesn't know if her relationship with Max could be more than platonic because Max can't decide if he's gay, straight or bisexual. Liza's apartment building burnt down so she has to move in with her brother and his pregnant wife, but there could be something wrong with the baby. Part thriller, part domestic drama, Forget You Know Me packs a punch-you just don't know who's doing the swinging or where it's gonna land. Things start to fall into place in the second half of Forget You Know Me, and the ending is a satisfying surprise. Jessica Strawser's third novel is a melting pot of story lines, but the mix might have worked better if she had saved a few of them for her fourth.

I liked this book. It’s well written and fairly fast paced. This is the story of two childhood best friends who have grown apart while living in two different cities. When a traumatic event happens to one and tragedy strikes the other they have to try to make amends and find there way back to friendship while trying to overcome personal obstacles.

The book starts out great did get me in the first chapter 2 friends talking over skype when 1 goes to attend to her crying child the other sees a masked man entering her friend's house. Of course Liza loses her mind, calling the police and her friend over and over to no avail. Imagining her friend has been hurt or killed -- because her friend isn't answering her phone or texts. What really is going on. Have to say it was good book and I look forward to more from this author.