I stayed up all night on such a wild ride. #littlesecrets by #jenniferhillier is such a phenomenal read. All I can say is oh mah gah #Netgalley #netgalleyreview #macmillanusa a mother and her young son are out finishing the last of her Christmas shopping. All your little boy wants is that big ol' lollipop. And all you want is to get one last item. You receive a text message from your husband. You and your child .... His hand slips. And suddenly. He's gone. What unfolds in the rest of the book is absolutely mind blowing. You can't even begin to guess what will happen from chapter to chapter. This one get 5/5⭐ #amazing #bookreader #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookreview #outtoday #getitnow

Wowza! I devoured Little Secrets! It’s a fast paced thriller that I read in one long sitting. The perfect escape!

From the outside, it looked like Marin had everything you could dream of - a wonderful marriage, a chain of salons, an adorable son. But everything comes crashing down on the day that Sebastian is taken. Life as she knows it ceases, and Marin loses herself. The book picks back up over a year later, where we see that Marin is someone drastically changed. All of her hope has been put into a private investigator, hoping that Sebastian will one day be found. What she doesn't anticipate is that the PI will find out dirt on her husband. As Marin is informed of her husband's affair with Kenzie Li, a twenty something grad student & Instagram influencer, her focus shifts to how she can fix this problem, and what she can do to get rid of Kenzie Li.
I thought this was a really well done thriller! My heart broke for Marin in the beginning, as she navigated the waters of Sebastian being gone. As she found out about the affair, it was wild seeing where her mind went & the things that she considered. Kenzie was easy to dislike, but as more was revealed of her story, you almost understood why she was the way she was. There were a couple of twists thrown in, but I didn't give this five stars was because I guessed the big ending. There was another part of the book (some behaviors that Marin partakes in after Sebastian's disappearance) that were bothersome for me, and I didn't think needed to be included. Overall though, it was a really great book that I sped through, and I really loved it!

I was torn between rating this 4 or 5 stars, but after sleeping on it, I don't really have any complaints. I LOVED it. This was a solid thriller that I read in two sittings, and the less you know going in, the better.

After her 4 year old son, Sebastian, is kidnapped days before Christmas, Marin Machado's life is empty. She had the perfect life before her life was upended: a happy marriage, a beautiful family, a successful business. After Sebastian is taken, her marriage is crumbling and the secrets are piling up. Hope to find her little boy is waning, and it seems she's not the only one keeping secrets.

Marin is the character you love to hate. I flip flopped between feeling empathy for her, and wanting to shake her and tell her what she's doing is crazy. She's a well-written character with realistic flaws and a believable personality, and I was simultaneously rooting for her and wanting her to get caught. Seriously, it went from love-hate-love-hate chapter to chapter. Kenzie and Sal were also great characters. By the end of it, I went from loving Sal to HATING him and just feeling bad for McKenzie and the cards she drew. But I understood why the characters did what they did, and it made total sense. I almost felt sad for Sal, except he ended up being a terrible person.

One of the biggest problems I have with thrillers is when there's all this build up, all these clues, and then the "big reveal" completely comes out of left field or you have to suspend ALL your disbelief. This didn't do that. It was the most satisfying reveal, where I wanted to smack myself on the forehead and go "of COURSE! Why didn't I put that together sooner!" Hillier lays the pieces out for you nice and neat, and if you're a long time fan of thrillers and mysteries you might pick up on it sooner. Still, it left me feeling completely pleased.

This was my first book by Jennifer Hillier, and I loved it so much I want to go back and read her earlier works. I feel like good thrillers are rare, and finding one is like finding the holy grail. If you're looking for a binge read to take your mind off the pandemic (who among us isn't), I highly recommend this one! Huge thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is the perfect summer read! Interesting characters, quick pace, good writing, a cool “what no way” moment and a satisfying ending. My suggestion would be to go into this without reading the blurb- that gives away way more info than necessary. If you liked Jar of Hearts you will like this and if you haven’t read Jar of Hearts totally do that!

This is my first book by this reader and it certainly won’t be my last.
This psychological thriller was full of unexpected twists and turns.
Chilling, and terrifying this is the story of a parent’s worst nightmare. A family torn apart by one moment in time. What unfolded, was an intriguing and compelling story story that had me hooked!
Emotionally charged and suspenseful, the story unfolded seamlessly.
Overall I enjoyed this story however there were elements of this story that were predictable and didn’t seem realistic.

Marin and her son go to X-mas market for last minute shopping. Marin leave her son's hand for a minute to text her husband. When she lift her head up from her phone she can not see her son. He was gone. They find out someone with Santa costume kidnapped the boy. Sixteen months past no clue about the kidnapper or the boy. One day Marin's PI discover Marin's husband has a mistress a young girl. Marin is been in dark place since her son vanish away. This new news did not make anything better. Reading Marin's and her husband's mistress's perspective was a great treat for readers. It makes you realized sometimes things are not exactly the way they looks from outside.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is fast pace, well worded book. Only bomber was I guessed the end in the middle of the book and I am not the person can guess every murderer at Agatha Christie's books. It was obvious. I would recommended you to read and see can you untwine the story by yourself.

Thank you Netgalley for ARC copy.

4 Nothing As It Seems Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free A Quick Review
Jennifer Hillier takes the universal nightmare for anyone and whips up a multi-layered tale in this book Little Secrets. The title alone gives us the tease.

The level of detail in the disappearance of the mother's child is chilling. It touches on everything a parent would feel. From that moment the story is off and running.

We have the married couple, the FBI, a PI, and the friends who support them. All of these factors are important. All play a part. As many months go by without the recovery of the child, the mother is discovering new things about her husband and his involvement with another.

The book is in multiple parts to leading us to see how these layers play out. Stay focused and continue to the end because the payoff falls right into place.

A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

"Little Secrets" by Jennifer Hillier is brilliantly plotted, emotionally charged, intensely riveting, and highly addictive psychology thriller. I couldn’t put this fantastic book down! A big Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book. This outstanding page-turner is definitely one that you will want to add to your reading list.

Book Synopsis: Marin Machado is the mother of four-year-old Sebastian who is taken while they are out doing some last minute shopping for Christmas. After a year of searching there are still no answers as to where her son is. But for anyone looking at Marin’s life from the outside it looks perfect. She is a very successful hairdresser, wealthy, in a marriage people envy, and yet she’s also the mother of an abducted child no one has found. Inside, she has not moved on from that day. She struggles with the anguish and guilt of losing her son. She and husband Derek don’t really communicate, and she’s secretly hired a PI since the FBI stopped actively looking for Sebastian. And then the PI drops a bomb in her life: she hasn’t found her son, but she accidentally found out Derek has a mistress. All it takes is one little secret...and now Marin has something else to obsess about.

What a wild ride. Full of twists and turns. Loved it. Marin and Derek lost their son in a crowed market place and expect a random since money wise they are doing okay. When none comes they turns to old friends and new friends who they think they can trust. Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for allowing to dig deep into the world of the rich and they not knowing who you can really trust.

This book was outstanding. It gives new meaning to the word gripping. The author does an incredible job of building characters who are real, nuanced humans. It’s an examination of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true and what happens when people are pushed to the brink. I highly recommend reading this book.

WOW! This was my first Jennifer Hillier book and it definitely won’t be my last. Little Secrets was a roller coaster of emotions to read. Most thrillers I read I can kinda figure it out before we get to the end. Not this one! There were twists and turns that kept me guessing. I DID NOT see that ending coming!

Wow! This is one of the best thrillers I have read lately. Marin takes her son Christmas shopping, lets go of his hand to send a quick text and he is gone! Every mother’s nightmare. This gripping thriller has characters that are beyond complex. As a golden couple, people would assume Marin and her husband have it all. Things are not what they seem. The depth of the characters from the main ones through supporting ones are all so complex that it defies the imagination. I couldn’t put this book down!

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What a great read! Not your typical child kidnapping story. I loved all of the layers to this one. It took me a few chapters to get into because it's been a while since I've read a third person narrated story.

Towards the end of the book, I did have an inkling of who was responsible for some things, but I thought the unraveling of the reveal was so well done. The writing was gripping and I think this will be my next go to thriller recommendation!

This was a 4.5 star read for me, but am rounding it up to 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Little Secrets is another masterpiece from Jennifer Hillier. It’s described as a domestic suspense tale or a psychological thriller, but it’s so much more. As with all of Hillier’s books, it’s a fast-paced, heart-pounding, pulse-racing story that reveals something you didn’t expect on every page, which means you can’t stop turning pages and once you pick it up you can’t put it down.

The worst day of Marin Machado’s life happened almost a year and a half ago. Her four-year old son Sebastian was kidnapped from Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Of course she blames herself: it was the holiday, busy, crowded, Seb was whining for candy, she was harried, looking for gifts and looking at her phone. She and her husband took all measures to try and find Seb, but postings, newspaper ads, offer of rewards, nothing worked and Seb is gone. And the perfect life, perfect marriage, perfect careers, perfect family is gone. Marin can’t move on although everyone, tells her to do so, and she hires a private investigator to pick up where the police left off, gave up in her estimation.

And the investigator has news. But not the news Marin wants or expects. Derek, her beloved husband of 20 years, is having an affair. With a much younger woman. Talk about betrayal, the final straw, the thing she just can’t deal with. But maybe she can. She is impotent to do anything about Seb’s disappearance, but she’s not powerless to do something about this. Despair turns to rage. She will get rid of that woman. She’s not going to lose everything. So she sets things in motion.

And we’re off. To say much more would spoil the story. Nothing, nothing, nothing is certain. Just when you think you’ve found that one person that can be trusted or that one scenario that is true, an aha moment pops up and all those little hints you missed fall into place and you wonder why you didn’t see it. Now you know. But then it happens again – and again. Until you can hardly bear the suspense.

Little Secrets is a wild ride. Strong plot, fast pace, riveting characters, a flood of emotions. You’ll feel Marin’s hurt and betrayal, Derek’s helplessness and hopelessness, Marin’s friend Sal’s frustration and Derek’s lover Kenzie’s ambition and hope.

I received an advance copy of Little Secrets from the author via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. I recommend this and anything author Jennifer Hillier writes with hesitation.

Little Secrets was an edge of your seat book. Marin’s life stopped the second her four year old son was kidnapped at a store. Her marriage is falling apart. Her husband is having an affair with a 23 year old. Marin had it all. Wonderful husband precious son. Doing well financially. Loves her job But that’s all gone Since Sebastian’s kidnapping.

I really enjoyed this book! This was a page turner. I was drawn in by the abduction of the son but the twists and turns kept coming. Some parts were quite shocking. Well written with great character development. First book I have read by this author and it will not be the last.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier starts off with quite a bang of an opening and continues to provide the reader with a thriller that reads quickly, especially as you approach the stunning finale. Marin is out shopping with her young son when every parent's worst nightmare occurs. Marin and her husband then need to deal with the fallout of the tragedy. Marin relies on her coworkers and friends to help her but soon discovers that she might not know who to really trust. Read and enjoy!

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier touches every parent’s worse nightmare! In the Prologue, a very well-off power couple are ar the downtown open market. Marin Machado is finishing up her shopping and holding on to her four-year-old son Sebastian’s hand. Her husband, Derek arrives at the market and calls his wife. While getting er phone out of her pocket, she lets go of her so so hand. After a minute on the phone, she looks around and her son has disappeared. As a parent and a reader, my heart sunk. This section was really well portrayed by the author. In Part I we move forward sixteen months to find out Sebastian is still missing. As the story is told, there are flashbacks to what happened, and we meet several characters. All of the characters have their secrets. At times the story dragged and I kept asking myself, “What about Sebastian?” As the story progressed, some of the secrets made me not feel empathy for the main characters. There are lots of twists and turns and maybe a few too many coincidences. It was a good, quick read. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Following the disappearance of her only child, a woman tries to save her marriage in this perfect blend of thrills and a study of grief.

Full disclosure, I have been having an especially hard time reading thrillers during my social distancing. I think I must have subconsciously decided I needed happy endings for mental stability. This past month I have read a lot of romances and literary fiction, which I also love, but I have always loved a crazy book prior to stay at home orders.

Little Secrets, with twist after twist, really brought me back to the thriller genre. It reminded me that a good story is a good story, and I don't need a certain category of ending to satisfy some self-imposed checklist.

I really enjoyed Jar of Hearts more, and I will be making the rest of Jennifer Hillier's books part of my summer reading list.