Fast-paced thriller which kept me turning pages late into the night. I thought the characterizations were good and the reactions of those characters fairly realistic. I could not wait to see what came next. Twists and turns kept me guessing. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

I was given a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Marin and Derek have a storybook life. Crazy rich, beautiful, both have their own successful business, plus a much-loved son named Sebastian. Life is as good as it gets, until the day Sebastian is snatched right from their side.
Fast forward 16 months, and you find Marin and Derek are shells of themselves. Both have secrets. Both desperately miss Bash. One is having an affair. And someone very close to them knows exactly what happened to their son.
This story had a grip on me. The characters are well-developed and believable. You see that we all hurt in different ways, and some feel no remorse for hurting to get what they think they deserve. Highly recommended for all except those with small children, because this book brings all of your greatest fears to the surface.

Little Secrets opens with Marin shopping at Seattle's famed Pike Place, one of the oldest public farmers markets in America. She lets go of four-year-old Sebastian's hand when she is distracted by her cell phone. As she responds to incoming text messages from her husband, Derek, Sebastian vanishes.

After losing Sebastian, Marin sinks into a deep depression and loses the will to live. Fifteen months later, she still thinks about ending her life, especially if she ever learns that Sebastian will never be coming home. Because she knows that it was her fault and she has no one to blame but herself. She was the one who lost sight of her child. Now she is back at work in her high-end salon, and she and Derek are going through the motions of carrying on with their lives, hoping that Sebastian will be found and returned to them. Unable to discover any new clues that might lead them to Sebastian's abductor, the FBI has shelved the case, even though the file will reopen open and they will reactive the investigation should new evidence come to light. Marin attends a support group for parents of missing children, and still sees Dr. Chen, her therapist, with whom she shares secrets she cannot tell Derek about the lengths to which she goes in order to cope.

She is keeping one rather large secret from Derek. She has never told him that she retained a PI to search for Sebastian. Vanessa Castro is a former Seattle police officer who specializes in finding missing children. She is successful because her methods are unconventional, and she looks in places where the police won't or can't look. But Castro has made a discovery Marin wasn't expecting. So when she tells Marin "it appears your husband is seeing someone," Marin is shocked to see photos of Derek with a much younger woman.

Marin has maintained a close friendship with her college boyfriend, Sal Palermo. He has remained a lifeline for Marin through the problems in her marriage before Sebastian was born and everything else she has gone through over the years. He texts her every single morning, asking "You alive?" if he doesn't hear from her first. Sal is an ex-convict, casual drug dealer, and runs a local bar that can best be described as "shady." Sal has never married, but has had a series of short-term relationships. And he claims that he knows people who can "take care of" problems. Marin trusts him implicitly, has confided in him about everything over the years, and agrees to accept his assistance when she learned about Derek's duplicitous behavior.

Little Secrets succeeds as a direct result of Hillier's ability to make readers care about her characters, each of whom is seriously flawed and engaging in abhorrent and immoral conduct, but doing so in response to life events that have driven them to do things they would never have otherwise contemplated. Each, in his/her own way, is motivated by self-interest, but also love. Or at least the kind of love he/she is capable of feeling.

In Marin's case, she has sustained the worst loss imaginable. Her four-year-old son was ripped away from her without a trace, and she is full of self-loathing and guilt. She actively ponders ending her own life, opting to live only because of the chance, however remote, that Sebastian will be returned to her. She loves Derek and is deeply hurt by the revelation that he has been involved with Kenzie, the attractive young barista, for six months. Derek loves Marin and is mourning the loss of his son, but seeking to escape his own guilt by entering into a destructive affair with Kenzie, who learned long ago that rich men will pay to ensure that their wives don't find out about their extramarital activities. Her tuition and the costs of caring for her mother, stricken with early-onset Alzheimer's, are exorbitantly expensive and she has found that she can maintain a certain lifestyle, a modicum of Instagram fame, and accomplish her financial goals by zeroing in on men who are emotionally needy, vulnerable, and financially able to provide for her. She's surprised by the feelings she is developing for Derek, aware that the odds he will leave Marin are slim. Lastly, Sal has been a loyal friend to Marin since their romance ended more than twenty years ago, always lending a sympathetic ear and support to her as she has struggled to keep her marriage intact and get through another day of grieving for Sebastian. He's the friend everyone wants in their life: the one who knows you best, including your most humiliating moments, loves you anyway, and will make sure you get home safely when you drink too much. But Sal's compassion and empathy are not unlimited or entirely altruistic.

Each of Hillier's complexly-crafted characters is empathetic, particularly Marin, and Hillier challenges readers to contemplate the lengths to which they would go to save their own family. Hillier believably portrays Marin's despair, grief, anger, and need to take control of some aspect of her life, no matter how despicable her contemplated action may be.

And each of Hillier's characters is harboring secrets that inform their decisions, compel their behavior, and threaten to derail their lives and relationships if revealed. Hillier relates the story at a steady, relentless pace that accelerates as, one by one, those secrets start coming to light and the characters react to what they learn. Always at the center of the tale is a defenseless, innocent child -- the adorable Sebastian who was last seen wearing a reindeer sweater, impatiently imploring his mother to finish her Christmas shopping and take him to the candy store and buy him his favorite variety of lollipop. Is he still alive? If so, has he been harmed? Who kidnapped him? And why? At least as far as Marin is aware, no ransom demand was ever communicated, so what was the abductor's motive? Shocking revelations and plot twists compel the story forward to an explosive, but satisfying conclusion.

Little Secrets is a dark, twisted tale. The themes Hillier tackles are unsettling and disturbing, but deeply engaging and thought-provoking, making Little Secrets one of 2020's most entertaining thrillers.

Loved this one! I will read anything Jennifer Hillier writes. I highly recommend to book club. We should be reading it next month!

I gave this one a solid 4.5 stars. Probably not something that will stay with me (which makes a book 5 stars) but it was an intense, interesting read and the end did surprise me. I did not see the twist coming which gives it the 4th star. I have definitely recommended this one to others. If you want a good, fast, twisty thriller, check this out!

This book was intense and I loved it!! It's never easy to read about topics like disappearing children but if you can handle it then pick up this book! There were no descriptions about children being hurt or tortured, so if that would put you over the edge to not want to read it, do not worry. It is focused on the parents side of things. Things get pretty twisty - I couldn't put this book down. When I was getting close to being finished with the book, I had to stay up a little late to finish it all the way. I had to know what happened!

This was one thriller that I totally enjoyed from beginning to end. It starts out with a child abduction and takes the reader on a wild ride to find out who and why but also toss in Marin's extra marriage issues and how she goes about handling them and the dark twisted plot thickens. I would be as upset as she is but I don't think I could take it as far?...

What happened next threw me for a loop and I had to hurry and finish so yeah Little Secrets was another one of those stories that kept me awake well into the morning. Another author I can add to my auto buy/read list!

*I was provided a copy for my honest review.

I loved this book. Great thrill ride from the first page to the last. Lots of plot twists and turns. Just a really great read.

Where do I begin? How do I give a review without giving anything (forget everything) away? Well...I will try.

What a ride! A fast-paced, twisted little tale with turns you don't see coming until its too late. You're already hooked. In short, despite the wild goose-chase we find ourselves on, it's psycho-thriller magic.

"Marin is so sick of other women being sorry for things that aren't their fault. She's sick of being sorry for things that aren't her fault."

A child lost. An absent husband. A never-ending stream of disappointments. It seems Marin may fall into the unending abyss of despair...only her support group keeping her from going completely mad with heartbreak. That and her best friend, Sal.

What started slow, quickly found a swift and steady pace of unanswered questions and sinister unknowns. Little secrets began to reveal themselves, painting everyone the villain instead of a victim.

"It's been a long time since she felt anger like this, and she'll take anger over sadness, any day. For the bast four hundred eighty-six days, sadness has knocked her sideways, debilitated her, confused her, made her weak, talking her into settling for things she doesn't want, and never did. Rage, on the other hand, will get things done."

If all books could have the twists and turns this one did, keeping me on my toes till the very last second, I'd read thrillers every day. The romantic element a bonus...but the dark nature of this rouse...well, it was perfect. I look forward to reading more from this author and excitedly sharing each portion of the story with my husband (who's not a reader)...it feels like reading it for the first time twice at the same time. Fantastic job!

**5 Not Without My Baby, Stars**

I LOVED the twists in this story. I loved how this story caught my attention from page one and I had a hard time putting this one down. I could also feel the Marlins emotions through the pages. That’s how you know you’re reading something great.

I loved this book, I loved every twist and turn and the ending was a suprise I never would have guessed. I often felt Marins pain, It was so real and described so vividly it was like an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. I bet her husband will never, ever stray again! I normally am irritated by the words and phrases used in books,they can be repeatitive but I enjoyed every moment of this book and have already put the other books from this author in my Amazon cart!!

Little Secrets follows Marin, a successful hairstylist whose four-year-old son was kidnapped in a busy Christmas market. a year before. Marin's marriage becomes a shadow of a relationship and her ways of coping with grief cross the border to the extreme. But everything spiral more out of control when she finds out that her husband is having an affair.

Although I don't particularly seek to "like" the characters in the books I read, I do love a book that makes me feel for them, no matter how awful they are. The problem with Marin and her husband and the devastation of losing a child, not knowing if he was alive or dead, was supposed to be complex and multifaceted. But Marin and Derek were simply shallow and uninteresting and their relationship was, well, awkward. They settled into a silent coexistence for more than a year and suddenly she woke up to find her husband having an affair with a younger woman for the past few months and decides to take action that was quite a bit extreme. Another issue which I find common in suspense and thrillers these days is that the red herring and the actual culprit are obvious halfway into the book. It's a huge bummer to get it figured out. The plot is supposed to thicken as we go along, not to thin.

My gratitude for NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Apologies for the late review. Life is getting on everyone's nerves during lockdown.

I have seen lots of rave reviews for this one and I have to say that I really liked it! Throughout the story you get fed little nuggets of information that help you piece it together, and I was on the edge of my seat for how it all came together in the end. This is a book full of unlikable characters (which I normally despise), but in spite of all of their faults, I was still totally pulled in.

The steam factor is rather high in a couple of concentrated scenes.

Side note: can we get a prequel with the story of the P.I.?! I am very invested in that character.

Tragedy. Heartbreak. Families torn apart and friendship broken. These are just a few themes from Jennifer Hillier’s new psychological thriller. Marin’s son is kidnapped from a busy market at Christmas time, and eighteen months later Marin is dealing with the effects of the day. Not only has her son’s case gone cold, but she finds out that her husband is having an affair. Through a series of bad decisions and because she cannot control the investigation into her son, Marin tries to seek revenge on the woman that is seeking to take the only family member she has left away from her. Hillier’s writing style and plot building is superb in this novel; she makes readers empathize with Marin despite her many flaws. Hillier keeps readers guessing throughout the whole novel with twists, turns, and hidden backstories revealed in the end. Readers of mystery who are looking for a good family drama need to read this one.

“Little Secrets” by Jennifer Hillier is a portrait of two women told in alternating perspectives. It is a dark tale filled with deception, trickery, and lies. Marin Machado owns the high-end Marin Machado Salon & Spa. She and husband Derick have money, abundant money, but money cannot buy what she lost. McKenzie Li works at a coffee shop and struggles to pay her bills. She is not a prostitute; she is a professional girlfriend. Her rates go up if the guy has a wife because they have more to lose. They share Derek, and they share other things as well.
The story opens with a traumatic event that took four minutes; that is how long it took someone to steal a child, Marin’s and Derick’s child, from Pike Place Mall in Seattle. It was Marin’s fault, all of it, and she has lived four hundred eighty-five days with this nightmare. Marin went to therapy, to a support group, and to a private detective. When she discovers yet another dreadful lie, she is sick of being sorry for things that are not her fault. She is filled with rage, and rage is better than sadness. The drama unfolds one secret, one lie, one deception at a time. Readers watch as the liars, all the liars, descend into an ever more complicated web of deceit.
“Little Secrets” has an unusual and unexpected ending, one that is sure to elicit mixed feelings, but certainly matches the personalities of the participants. For readers who might hesitate to read a book which starts with a child’s kidnapping, not to worry, it is not about child abduction or gangs of kidnappers. I received a copy of “Little Secrets” from Jennifer Hillier and St. Martin’s Press. Terrible things happen, and sometimes they lead to more terrible things. However, there is some measure of unusual karma.

I went into this book thinking that it would be a twisty thriller. It wasn't. But, it was still a good book. In the thriller genre, it feels that stories about missing children are maybe a bit too overplayed. Sprinkle in lying, extortion and of course CHEATING and you have yourself a typical thriller. I would have liked something a bit more unique in the story, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Jennifer Hillier, St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book! This review was also published on Goodreads.

Okay, this was a GREAT thriller. I was hooked from page one, and was completely engrossed in this book til the very end.

I always recommend going into thrillers completely blind, so I won’t go into too much detail here. What I will say is that books about missing children aren’t the most appealing to me, but I’m so glad I picked this one up. It ends up being about so much more than Marin and Derek’s son, and by the end I was SO shook by the plot twist. I definitely need to check out more of Hillier’s books ASAP!

CW: self harm, suicide attempt, missing child

Little Secrets was a great read. It had some interesting moments when the main character seemed kind of off-base on some of her thinking and I found myself mentally trying to tell her how to do things! It deals with the unthinkable and dreaded losses in a person's life, this story runs the gamut of issues of responsibility, trust and what we think of as normalcy in our dealings with important people in our lives.

I hadn't really planned on diving into this novel as fully as I ended up doing. Once I began, it became one of those stories that was best consumed in a long-haul marathon. Lots of twists and turns and even when I thought I had it mostly figured out there was part of the story I didn't expect...so in the long run I feel satisfied and very entertained. This story took me for an interesting and thought-provoking ride with the characters and happenings in their lives.

I recommend it for anyone that likes domestic-thriller type works, it's a well put together story. I received a free advance reader's copy and enjoyed it so much that I'm leaving a review.

“Little Secrets” completely sucked me in from the beginning. Every character in the book had a secret (or several). These secrets meant that nothing was quite as it appeared. Jennifer Hillier is an exceptional writer who knows how to bring characters to life and play with your emotions. From the start, we meet Marin and her little boy, Sebastian, in a marketplace. In a flash, he is gone, and Marin’s world turns upside down.

Sixteen months later, the private eye that Marin has hired makes a discovery that changes the trajectory of Marin’s life.

“Little Secrets” entranced me. Unable to put it down, I devoured it in 2 days. Hillier leaves you with the unsettling feeling that anyone you love could be harboring secrets that could blow up life as you know it at any moment.

While the plot was involved, it was easy to follow. This book is perfect for lovers of suspense and mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for providing me with an ARC of this book and in exchange for an honest review.

Marin’s—and every parent’s—worst nightmare came true when her son Sebastian was kidnapped at a busy market, nearly literally taken from her hand. Over a year and a suicide attempt later, with no progress on the investigation into the boy’s disappearance, the private detective she secretly hired to find Sebastian discovered Marin’s husband Derek, was having an affair with a beautiful young graduate student that, Marin felt, was everything she wasn’t. While devastated by the news, she soon discovered that her anger is a welcome replacement for the grief and emptiness shes felt since the disappearance of Sebastian. She embraces this new emotion, and directs all towards Makenzie Li, the young woman Derek has been seeing.

Jennifer Hillier reveals the story from the points of view of both Marin and Makenzie, both likable but flawed characters—life and love has not been kind to either of them, and each use those who love them to fill their needs for attention, status, money. But in the end, maybe they’re the ones being used.