”The truth will set you three, but it is the lies that will keep you safe.

Rea Frey has written a compelling tale brimming with secrets and lies, mystery and deceit. I was completely grip from the first page to the shocking end. Lee is a single mother to Mason a charming boy on the autism spectrum. Grace is her BFF newly divorced and has a son the same age as Mason. Noah is Mason’s tutor/therapist, Grace’s friend and Lee’s secret crush. The story bounces between these three character’s points of view as well as present and past. If you are a fan of the unreliable narrator, you will be thrilled to know you get three in this book. Lee, Grace, and Noah all have secrets to hide, all cover them up with lots of lies, and you never know quite how deep the deception runs.

This book was perfectly paced. The twists were revealed throughout the story, keeping you on high alert throughout. Someone is killed early in the book, leading to even more questions. But I truly thought I had all this figured out. Several twist were revealed and I was thinking Yep I’ve got this. BUT then things started to go a little sideways and I realized I didn’t have much of anything figured out. So well told! And yes there were a few unbelievable coincidences, but hey this is fiction! And I loved it! And can I just say that ending! Well done!

This book in three emoji’s: 💇🏻‍♀️ ⛰ 👩‍👦

🎧🎧🎧 The audio is narrated by Samantha Desz. This is my first time listening to an audio narrated by Samantha and she did a really good job, especially with the different voices and perspectives. Would definitely listen to another book narrated by her.

*** Big thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my copy of this book ***

One of my favorite digital reads in July was Rea Frey's newest novel, Because You’re Mine. This compulsive story of friendships, secrets and deceptions builds and twists, ending in a shocker that I never saw coming! If you are a fan of domestic suspense, you’ll want to grab this one.

Because You’re Mine is an insidious, complex revenge story of sorts that covers some heavy, emotional topics. I find these kinds stories rather heartbreaking because their sole focus is on payback and it’s often based on false, or only partial information, which never truly serves up justice.

Though I appreciated the twisty, intricate, winding trail of lies, plots and plans, and certainly didn’t see the final reveal coming, I can’t say I actually connected with any of the characters. They not only made poor, thoughtless choices, but they also didn’t feel entirely believable to me. Perhaps it’s because their moral outlooks and rationales were so skewed. Perhaps it’s because one’s personality seemed to waver dramatically between self-centered and selfless. Overall, the characters behavior was immature and lacking in rational adult thought, despite their age. This could very well have been the intention, to create highly flawed characters who were all villains in their own way, and the author succeeded in this, but I find I need someone to root for in the stories I read.

All-in-all, Because You’re Mine is a clever, surprising, even somewhat haunting story, but it didn’t entirely satisfy me.

Because You're Mine is relayed in the voices of three characters, and the story moves fluidly back and forth in time. Rea Frey uses both techniques well. I really appreciated that the three characters are layered but clear voiced, so that even with the chapters identified as to narrator, the voice comes through. The story itself is tightly woven and the twists and turns arent telegraphed. This is a book that I wanted to talk about. I think it would make a great book discussion selection. There are some sensitive subjects addressed, so it isnt a gentle read. I will definitely seek out more from Ms Reay.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

4 Compulsive, Deeply Hidden Secrets and Ultimate Revenge Stars!

I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't blown away by Frey's first book, Not Her Daughter. BUT this book - it definitely blew me away! I love a gotcha that was right there all along and yet I simply didn't connect the dots enough to see it. After turning the last few pages - I literally screamed out loud - How did I NOT see that? The breadcrumbed were all there. Well done Rea Frey, you got me! You got me and I loved every second of it! 😉

The story centers around 4 main characters - Single mom Lee, her autistic son Mason (whom I absolutely adored above all others!), Lee's best friend Grace and Mason's tutor, Noah. All the adults have secrets they are hiding. Secrets are slowly revealed in a past & present plot line. There are diary entries that had me riveted - who's diary and thoughts was it? Such dark, warped thoughts. You know one of the characters was an unreliable narrator but honestly, you'll suspect them all. After all, lies are best kept hidden, aren't they? You will be hooked by this story and the ending - such a deliciously devious twist! This book is a definite must read friends!!!

“I can handle the truth. It’s the lies that kill me.”
—ANONYMOUS

'secret [see-krit]
adjective

1. done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others

2. kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged

Sometimes, I wonder if we ever really know the people in our lives: their layers, their hidden truths, their complexities, their lies.

I wonder how many secrets each of us juggles.

Are we afraid of not being liked?
Are we afraid of being judged?
Are we afraid of consequences?

I know I am.

I’ve always been good at keeping secrets—other people’s secrets, friends’ secrets, family secrets, strangers’ secrets. But I’m even better at creating secrets.

No one ever guesses them … even if I beg them to try.'

********
Because You're Mine is a high speed race to discover the truth! Rea Frey builds dynamic characters who are believable and alive with personality!
But everyone has secrets.......Who will you believe?

I absolutely devoured this book! Life interrupted me several times but I couldn't wait to delve back into it every chance I got! I easily could have finished this in one sitting!
And the conclusion? It knocked me clean out of my tree!

This is the second book I've read by Rea Frey, the first was a five star mystery/thriller, Not Her Daughter. This book puts her solidly on my shelf of favorite authors!
It's appears that she has a new mystery/thriller, Until I Find You, coming out in August of 2020. I can't wait!

Many thanks and appreciation to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Rea Frey for my advanced digital copy to read and review.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is the first book I’ve read by Rea Frey. And if sucked me in and swallowed me whole. First, the characters - I didn’t like Grace or Lee., not even a little bit. Grace came off as holier than though and Lee was whiny and needy. Even as their stories unfold- Lee’s in particular - it’s hard to like them. I did feel sympathetic towards Lee in the end though. Many parts of this story were predictable, but I absolutely did not see the twist at the end coming. I’ll read more of Frey’s work, for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. I can’t say too much about the plot of this book, because I don’t want to give anything away, but it is mind-bending. I can’t even say whether the ending is happy, sad, or non-committal without spoilers. But Rea Frey just took me on a roller-coaster ride, and managed to surprise me multiple times. My sympathy for the characters kept switching, and the flips from past to present in the telling worked for this book. That has become a popular plot device, and it isn’t always effective because it causes more confusion than needed. However, the confusion was actually a part of the plan for this one. The sex scenes were oddly placed, and not really necessary to the plot at all. I felt as though there were too many topics addressed, from rape to addiction (alcohol AND drugs) to single mothers to “girl pals” to neuro atypical kids. That made it feel a little manipulative at times. I give it a 4.5, but round up. If you like twisty books with a big shock, you will love this one!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

I went into Because You're Mine really wanting to like it. The key elements are there, it's dark, and everyone has a secret. It's also way too slow for my liking, and it requires more suspension of disbelief than a story like this should. The only way this one works is if you go in thinking everyone is unreliable, and everyone has something to hide. That, in itself, wouldn't be a bad thing, but the only character I liked was Mason. He's adorably obsessive about his interests, and being a parent of a child on the spectrum, his lack of impulse control and the things he said felt real to me. The problem is the sheer amount of filler surrounding Mason. There are some things I just don't need to know and having page after page give me every detail of those things was more yawn-inducing than interesting. I would've much preferred a shorter story than all that filler. In the end, this story had promise, but it just didn't deliver.

I received my copy of 'Because You're mine' as an ebook ARC copy via NetGalley and the publisher.

*I'm editing my review from the one I originally wrote immediately after I finished this.*

This book is told from 3 different perspectives. It's a wonderful reminder that we don't really know the truth about anyone other than ourselves (sometimes) and that we can be completely wrong about people because we're all capable of lying (and experiencing the same thing differently).

The betrayal is this book is crazy - and the funny thing is, no one deserved it! Near the very end when you finally figure out what the hell is going on, you really want to hate a certain character, but you can't, because the truth she 'knows' and has been told and believing all these years, wasn't the truth. But the person who told her believed that was the truth because that's what they were told. He said, she said kind of thing.

I realize now, after giving it 12 hours to sink in, that I really liked this book. I think the writing was fantastic, the story was well written (maybe a little crazy, but that's what I'm here for) and the ending was abrupt and rough and at first you'll not like it until you realize that it's not really anyone's fault how we got there. Unfortunate circumstances.

Great book, great writing. This reminded me at times of Leanne Moriarity - a mature domestic mystery/semi thriller with real-ish life issues. Shit happens, people suck, and I honestly didn't think this was as far fetched as some of the stuff I read. I really enjoyed this (for the 10th time).

Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher.

This is such a well written thriller that I had to stay up reading it. I was guessing what everyone was about from the beginning!

It took me longer than I anticipated to read and review this one. I unexpectedly moved this month and it took up way more time than I suspected it would (although I'm not sure why I thought it would be EASY).

This book was so compelling to me. I kept wanting to put my moving process on hold so I could devour this. I loved the characters -- the flawed, beautiful characters that they were. I could read a whole book from Mason's pov, tbh. I loved the writing. It kept me intrigued the entire time.

While some parts were predictable and I knew what was going to happen, I didn't care. I was still intrigued to see HOW these things would unfold. That being said -- there were some things that I didn't see coming! Maybe I should have, but I got so caught up in it that I didn't think too much about those things until they were upon me.

This book has certainly pulled me out of my little moving induced book slump! Pick it up -- you'll probably enjoy it!

One word to describe this book: DEVIOUS!

A captivating, delicious, suspenseful, and quite twisty family drama/mystery read. The characters were so well developed that I was suspended in their personal drama right from the beginning and I wanted more of the juicy facts that formed their oh not so perfect lives. Well written story, full of mystery, scheming, and a one great twisty ending. This book is a must-read, so don’t let it sit on your TBR list for too long.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author, Rea Frey, for giving me an opportunity to read an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The truth will set you free. But it's the lies that keep you safe.

Lee's life is made up of a strict routine for the sake of her son, who is on the spectrum. Her friends, along with her son's tutor, convince her that a weekend away will benefit both her and her son.
That weekend, someone dies and secrets begin to unravel.

I wanted to like this book more. The first half of the book, building up to the weekend away was slow. It wasn't :put the book down and forget it for a week" slow, but there were times that I suddenly remembered that I needed to switch the laundry over.
The book is told from the views of three main characters. Lee, her best friend Georgia (who has secrets of her own), and Noah, Lee's son's tutor (you guessed it... he also has some secrets)

By the time I made it to the second half of the book, I was committed to seeing it through. It became a little easier to read, some laundry got neglected is what I'm saying.

Rarely is there a twist ending that I 100% did not see coming, but, I think this one might have got me. 3.5/5

*I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my review.

After reading Not Her Daughter, I had high hopes for this one, but for the most part it fell flat for me...until the very end.

The book started off well and grabbed my attention right away, but it didn’t last long. After a girls’ weekend away, tragedy strikes, but I expected there to be a lot more drama and for the characters to be more upset by what had happened. Instead, they quickly carried on with their lives. It wasn’t until the very end that I realized why some characters might have been unfazed by what had happened.

Though the ending was a shock and caught me by surprise, the majority of the story wasn’t engaging and I personally did not enjoy the characters at all (other than Mason). Compared to Not Her Daughter, it almost seemed as though the book were written by a different author.

I’m hoping I’ll enjoy Rea Frey’s next book more than this one.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2579705040

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this. I am surprised by the ending of this book and am still thinking about it. I did not see this twist coming! I would give this book four out of five stars, only because I wasn’t inspired to devour the book and didn’t really feel connected to any of the characters. So this was a slower read than usual for me but I did enjoy it greatly.

I was thrilled to receive this ARC after reading “Not Her Daughter” by Rea Frey last summer. That book still sticks with me!

This book for me was good but didn’t love as much as her first book. I can’t pinpoint why. It might be because I didn’t care much about any of the characters except Mason. He stole my heart early on. And the end of the book, the last twist was too much for me. Don’t get me wrong- I didn’t see it coming and enjoyed reading the entire book. I did like how the author leaves you wanting more by going back and forth from past to present to keep you guessing at the end of each chapter. I recommend going into this book blindly- the less you know, the better.

I recommend it and hope she writes more. Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Because You’re Mine by Rea Fey will keep you at the edge of your seat! A wild ride with secrets and surprises at every turn! Lee’s life revolves around her son Mason. Mason is on the spectrum and finds comfort in his routine. When Lee’s friend Grace talks her to take a weekend to herself, Grace asks Mason’s tutor Noah for help. All seems well until it isn’t and somebody is dead. Told in different point-of-views, we see the secrets that are being hidden and how things slowly unravel! A suspenseful read with surprising twists that will captivate you from beginning to end.

Happy reading!

Single mother Lee is devoted to her son Mason, who requires a high level of care due to his sensory processing disorder.
Though she struggles at times, she has her best friend Grace, who is always there for her.
And now Grace has helped find Noah, an occupational therapist who is home schooling Mason to be more independent, her support system is in place and things are beginning to go more smoothly for Lee at home.
When a girls only weekend trip is planned, Lee grapples with the decision to go. She has never left Mason for that long.
But knowing that Noah will be with him, she decides to attend.
Then someone dies on the trip and all the secrets they are keeping begin to come to light, exposing lies and breaking hearts.
And just when you think you've figured it out, you realize you haven't!
Wow, this domestic thriller is filled with shocking twists up to the very end!
Addictive, suspenseful and unexpected.
My first Rea Frey book was amazing, I cannot wait to read more by her.
Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group for the e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book didn't work for me for many reasons. The biggest problems I had were the two things that the story hinges on: deliberate hiding of "secrets" for much longer than necessary and outlandishly convenient coincidences disguised as "twists." I literally rolled my eyes so many times during the reading of this book because I thought some of the contrived situations were so ridiculous.
My favorite parts of the book were those featuring Mason, because his quirky personality was really appealing and interesting. I didn't feel like the author did a very good job depicting the way things went after the death, because it seemed like the craziness of the adults outweighed all of the real emotions.
Overall, if you can suspend disbelief (I just couldn't do it in this book) then you might enjoy this twisted tale.