4.5 out of 5 stars! One of the top 3 books I've read in 2020!

On the outside, it seems like Marin has the perfect life - a successful business, a happy marriage, and a loving son, Sebastian. Her world falls apart when Sebastian is kidnapped days before Christmas. Fast forward to sixteen months later and Marin's life is still in shambles - she can barely function & her marriage is quickly deteriorating. The private investigator Marin hired to find Sebastian comes back with the devastating evidence that her husband Derek has been having an affair for the past six months. This is Marin's breaking point - what will she do to protect the family she has left?

Definitely a page turner that will keep you wanting to read more! The author did a great job with character development - I was left thinking about the characters days after finishing the book.

Thank you Jennifer Hillier, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #LittleSecrets #NetGalley

For all my thriller fans out there, you need to get a copy of Little Secrets, ASAP! This one has been all over bookstagram and let me just say, it is worth the hype!

I loved Jar of Hearts by Hillier so I was very excited to get my hands on Little Secrets and see what crazy twists would happen in this story. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been on a big thriller kick lately and Little Secrets is hands down my favorite of 2020 so far! I loved everything about it: the suspense, the short chapters, all the emotions (sadness, dread, love, disgust, happiness-I was all over the place). My best advice would be to go into this one blind and get ready for a crazy, binge read ride!

Initially the cover drew me to this book. It looked like a good, creepy thriller that would keep me on my toes. But honestly, that isn't quite what I got and I'm not in the least disappointed. This is the first Jennifer Hillier book I've read but I've noticed she's got a healthy backlist to choose from for future reads.

The book opens with Marin and her 4 year old son, Sebastian, in a crowded market place. It's a situation I've been in myself with a 3.5 year old child. A bit frazzled, finishing shopping, everything is crowded, your toddler isn't quite into this activity anymore and you're keeping their attention hanging by the sweet promise of a lollipop. And unfortunately, the more connected we are to our cell phones the less attention we pay to the world around us. A lesson Marin learns in the worst way possible. She lets go of her son's hand for a few minutes, tops, and he's gone. There is no trace of where he is now. He left the market within minutes of Marin realizing he was missing holding the hand of a Santa Claus and licking that coveted lollipop.

Any leads when cold fast and now Marin and her husband find themselves a over a year without their son, drifting apart, sinking in depression and self-destruction. And then Marin's private investigator finds one more nail in the coffin: Marin's husband, Derek, is sleeping with a pink-haired, slim, 25-year old graduate student and has been for the past six months.

Marin's already mired in her downward spiral and this only makes it worse. You'll be surprised at the depths Marin sinks to but you're compelled to follow her every step of the way.

I expected some creepy thriller of some sort. But this was so much more realistic and engaged me right away. As a mother of a young child, it's impossible not to immediate relate to Marin and fearfully imagine yourself in her shoes. What would you do? Would you go to the extremes Marin does? How can you really ever know.

Additionally, I was kept guessing. There was a sense of anticipation where I was trying to put some unknown puzzle together during the book. I didn't quite know what the pieces were, but in the back of my brain, I felt like there was some thread that needed pulled. This novel was compelling and raw and truthful and darkly honest and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.

I will be recommending this one to many, many people and I know the story will stick with me.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier is the perfect thriller. Currently, I keep switching off between RomComs and thrillers and this just got me into the perfect thriller mood. The characters, setting, and plot are well developed and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. A binge read perfect for a lazy day of reading!

OᐯᗴᖇᐯIᗴᗯ: Four hundred and eighty seconds is all it takes for Marin's four-year-old son to be taken from a public market. Marin's entire world stops that day and after the FBI declare the case cold, she hires a private investigator to keep searching. So when the PI calls her one day, Marin is sure she has news on Sebastian. But instead Marin finds out her husband has been having an affair. Unwilling to lose yet another important person in her life, Marin goes on the offensive to keep what is hers.

ᗰY TᕼOᑌᘜᕼTᔕ: Marin is one tough lady! I immediately connected to her strength and resilience, and knew somehow she would survive. The first part of the book was a slow-build, and I craved news on Sebastian, so I was a little disappointed at the turn the story took. However about midway through, there was a jaw-dropping, gasp-out-loud moment that sucked me in. Once I hit that point, I did not want to put the book down until I knew the ending. This was my first novel by Jennifer Hillier, but it will not be my last!

ᖇᗩTIᑎᘜ: ★★★★1/2

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Jennifer Hillier’s books. Her books are well written, the plots are well done and her characters are well written.

A mother’s worst fear is losing her child. I couldn’t imagine. My heart was right in that story. I felt what Marin was going through.

And then the story twisted in ways I didn’t even think it could. Kept me surprised until the very end.

Highly recommend. I will continue to read books by Jennifer Hillier. She’s an amazing author

Jennifer Hillier has made my Favorites list, which isn't easy to do. She wrote a superior suspense novel with no "pure" good guys or bad guys, only complex, believable characters. While I was able to figure out *part* of how the book would end, I certainly didn't figure it out all the way. Hillier is a careful writer, crafts a really good story, and allows her reader to get tangled up in a web that truly does build suspense. I was so sure that she had made a slip about a character's age (it's important) that I combed back through the book after I finished reading it to prove it. Well, no---she made no such error. Her writing was so subtle that it was MY error because I made an assumption, one that I'm sure she intended readers to make, and that made all the difference. One of the best books I've read this year!

5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was going to give this book 4.5 stars, but what the hell.....let’s give it ALL the stars! So worth it!

This was my first Jennifer Hillier book and let me tell you, it makes me want to drop ALL of my responsibilities and go find everything she’s ever written and devour them immediately!

This book lives up to the hype friends! It had every single element that I look for - not only in a good book, but also a perfect thriller! I found myself staying up till the wee hours of the morning on several occasions, not wanting to put this book down! It’s really that damn good! This will go down as one of my top reads of 2020.

Marin’s son Sebastian disappears while shopping right before Christmas. Of course, she is devastated and drowning in guilt. It takes a toll on her marriage and eventually she find out that her husband, Derek, is having an affair with a twenty something, pink haired barista. Let me tell you...this scorned gal is NOT someone you want on your bad side. What transpires is nothing short of a roller coaster ride full of twists and surprises. Things you do not see coming. Not little secrets...more like gigantic secrets!

There really is not one likable character in this entire book, which only made it more fabulous. Ms. Hillier did a superb job of developing these heinous individuals and you can’t help but love reading about each one of them!

The final twist and ending was everything! I was literally on the edge of my couch. It was kicking my anxiety into full blown turbo mode!

You’ve been warned...be prepared to get sucked in immediately and never look back!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and Jennifer Hillier for the advanced copy to read and review.

No one does psychological thrillers like Hillier! This is the sixth title of hers I’ve read and loved! She’s done it again; I think she can’t possibly top her last book but this one…this one most certainly tops them all.

A parent’s loss of a child is devastating. Oftentimes, it can difficult to relay that range of emotion on the page. The author excelled at crafting Marin’s character. What she experiences, from guilt and sadness to rage and anger, is pure and genuine. As a mother, I felt it, too. Within a matter of a few pages I was completely invested in Marin’s character and the next devastating path fate dealt to her.

As the story continued, and I followed Marin on this journey to regain control of her life, I was not at all prepared for the destination. The sheer volume of twists, turns and “WTAF-ery” I experienced as I read compelled me to finish this book in one sitting. There was no way I was going to put it down, not even for a moment.

If you haven’t read Hillier’s other titles, order them now from your favorite independent bookstore. All of them. She’s one of the few authors I will auto-buy, without even reading a synopsis, for I know I am destined for an absolutely thrilling read. Though others have compared Hillier’s titles to those “Girl” books, there is no comparison. Hillier is on an entirely different level. Highly, highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for sending me an advanced e-copy of Little Secrets in exchange of an honest review.

My first book by Jennifer Hillier and I am a fan of her writing now. This book is fast-paced, well written and very addictive. I was able to read it through in 2 sittings because I simply couldn’t put it down.

Little Secrets is about Marin and Derek whose 4-year-old son is taken. While suffering from the inevitable grief of her son’s whereabouts, Marin finds out about her husband’s infidelity until she decides that she is not going to let anyone affect her life anymore.

This book is about grief, deception, infidelity, suffering and secrets. The cast of characters is not overwhelming at all. A reader gets to read from the perspective of both the wife and the girlfriend. They both are likeable, sympathetic but with their unlikable actions, they garner grief. The supporting characters are also well written to keep the guessing game on.

The author has done a commendable job in weaving the story about child kidnapping and infidelity without losing the plot and the thrill. The story writing is fabulous and the narration is flawless when the relevant background stories are inserted wherever needed.

A fantastic psychological thriller which is fast-paced and well written, go grab your copy of Little Secrets. It is out tomorrow, April 20, 2020.

I received a free advance copy of this from NetGalley for review.

Marin Machado has the kind of life that everybody on Instagram pretends to have.

Or at least she used to…

Marin is a very successful hair stylist whose clients include the rich and famous, and her husband Derek is a handsome self-made millionaire. Their life style is all glamorous comfort, and their fairy tale existence includes their four year old son Sebastian who they both adore. Unfortunately, it all falls apart in an instant when Marin loses track of Sebastian in a crowd of holiday shoppers, and the surveillance cameras make it clear that he was abducted by a man dressed as Santa Claus. Despite a highly publicized investigation there’s no clue as to what happened to the child after that.

Eighteen months later, and Marin is halfheartedly trying to pull her shattered life back together. Unwilling and unable to let go of the thin hope that Sebastian might still be alive she hires a private investigator to keep looking after the cops have shelved the case. In the course of digging into the backgrounds of everyone involved with Sebastian the PI discovers that Derek is having an affair with a young woman. With the last bit of her once wonderful life falling apart in front of her Marin turns to her old friend, the slightly shady Sal, for comfort. And Sal just so happens to know a guy who ‘fixes’ problems….

I read Jennifer Hillier’s Jar of Hearts after being impressed with her on several panels at Bouchercon last year, and two books in I’m completely sold. Her prose is compelling, and she has a knack for creating characters who do bad things yet you still find yourself rooting for them. In a book that has a lot of stuff going on she still manages to delve into Marin’s mindset as well as eventually giving us the mistress’s side of the story. While Hillier doesn’t shy away from digging into every parent’s worst nightmare she also keeps the rest of the plot at a constant boil so that it doesn't feel like misery porn.

What impressed me most about both books is that the premises almost sound like cheesy TV movies you’d see on Lifetime, but they don’t play out in familiar ways at all. Instead Hillier spins the plot into dark and twisted directions that would make a TV executive break out in a nervous rash.

I know that there’s a lot of people who just can’t handle missing child plots, and honestly, if that’s a problem for you then you might give this a pass because while there’s no graphic scenes involving children the book does hinge on delving into the hell of what a parent would go through. I also suppose that this is one where some might ding it for having ‘unlikable’ characters, but again, while they may be flawed I found them sympathetic and understandable.

Overall, it's an exceptionally tense and well done character based story constantly surprised me. What more could you ask of a thriller?

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for the arc and the finished hardback copy in exchange for a review.

I hadn’t read this author before so was not sure what to expect. This was really good! A really tight thriller that didn’t go off on tangents or seem ridiculous.

Marin and Derek are a wealthy couple in Seattle. When her son is abducted while Marin is out shopping, she doesn’t know what she will do with herself. Fifteen agonizing months later they still haven’t found him.

Meanwhile Marin is finding out all kinds of secrets about the people she loves and trusts. What will she do with the information she finds out?

This was a page turner for me and I highly recommend it!

**5++ Stars**

Jennifer Hillier is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite authors! I absolutely devoured Hillier's Jar of Hearts, which was one of the best thrillers I've ever read (and I believe it is either going to be on the screens soon). Little Secrets was also a fantastically wild ride of a book, one that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page!

As a mother, my absolute worst fear is something happening to my child, especially if it is something that I could have prevented. This is precisely what happens to Marin, who is the mother to four-year-old Sebastian.

Sebastian is kidnapped in Seattle's famed Pike Place Market. It's Christmas time and Pike Place is even more bustling than it normally is, as it is a huge tourist trap during the entire year. 

It only takes one second for Sebastian to slip out of Marin's hands (literally) and then he's gone....maybe for good. The person who abducted him was smartly dressed as Santa Claus - a guise that made it easy for Sebastian to be snatched. The FBI investigates and fails to find any leads. 

Needless to say, Marin is absolutely crushed. But if anything is good about Marin's life, it's that she has a great deal of money to spend on finding her missing son. She hires a private investigator, who turns up questionable and shocking information about both her husband and her former boyfriend. Her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman, a woman Marin begins to investigate as the possible kidnapper.

But lots of people who are in Marin's life are hiding secrets - and one of them has her son.

This book was SO exciting and thrilling. It will make for a great read if you are stuck indoors during the pandemic right now, or on the beach this summer. You will not be able to put this book down! I am absolutely 100% sold on Hillier's books. She is one of the tried and true authors I can read and count on to spin a wonderfully intriguing story that I cannot stop reading! 

Thank you to Jennifer Hillier, the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this fantastic book!

3.5 stars

Marin has the life. She is married for almost 20 years to her dream man, owns a successful beauty salon that caters to some movie stars and is super rich. Get used to hearing the chick is rich because you gonna hear it a lot in this book.


Then Marin's world comes crumbling down one day when she is out shopping and he son goes missing. Missing as in someone took him.
Marin's life changes. She doesn't care about anything since her son is gone. (I did like this character by the way)
She had hired a private investigator when her son went missing trying to find out anything about what happened to him.

Then she gets a shocker. Her wonderful husband is cheating.

Husband needs a throat punch. In the nuts.

Husband has a little chick on the side that has big plans.


This was pretty entertaining. It was kinda formulatic but I was eating it up like watching Lifetime in my pjs.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

Little Secrets follows Marin Machado, a celebrity hair stylist, who is on a downward spiral following the disappearance of her young son. She finds out her husband is having an affair with a 24 year old barista and loses her ever loving mind. We’re supposed to justify all of her actions because her son is missing, but Marin makes bad choices. And I figured out what really happened about halfway through the book- get your shit together, Marin! It’s pretty obvious! I do like Hillier’s writing style. In a genre flooded with mediocre writing, Hillier is a breath of fresh air. This storyline didn’t really do it for me, but I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a well-written, fast-paced thriller..

Marin's 4-year-old son disappears while they are Christmas shopping. He is not found. Marin goes into a downward spiral. When the FBI and police stop looking, Marin hires a private investigator. Months later, the P.I. tells her that her husband has been having an affair. Marin goes into a RAGE with livid FURY.
I enjoyed reading this book because we meet several characters, see their backgrounds, relationships and secrets. The title Little Secrets puzzles me; it should be Big Secrets!
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

This is my first book by this author and I loved it! Little Secrets was gripping and emotional. I love how there author developed the characters while incorporating so much scandal. I couldn’t put this book down once I started it and I’m sure it’s going to be a hit!

I have to admit, I did not have high expectations going into this book. I have never read a book by Jennifer Hillier, nor have I heard of her before. A lost kid, an affair... seemed like it would be another middling 'thriller.' But WOW. This has been the best mystery/suspense book I've read in a long time!

It took a while to get into the story- I have a 5 year old boy and the thought of losing him during an inattentive moment in a crowded place scares the hell out of me. Knowing that that would be the plot, it was very difficult to make it through reading that beginning scene.

The storytelling for "Little Secrets" is beautiful and interesting. The characters are not relatable, but they are not supposed to be. I doubt anyone wants to imagine themselves as the mother of a missing child, but Hillier made it feel very real and emotional.

I don't want to give away any spoilers by going into the nuances of the book. Instead, I highly recommend that mystery fans read it. "Little Secrets" is memorable and very different from other books in the same genre. I loved how everything played out!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book. I wish much success to Jennifer Hillier for this crazy fun whirlwind of a story!

This book was soooooo good! As a mother though I didn’t know if I could handle it. Those first few pages... holy moly! I caught my heart racing several times throughout the book. The twists were excellent and the plot kept me interested the entire time. The resolution was completely satisfying. Highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to review this book. I will post this review today to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page @thatreadingrealtor.

Wow! What a ride! I loved Jar of Hearts and Little Secrets was just as good, if not better! I was immediately drawn into the story of Marin and her missing son Sebastian. I did have a guess at who the bad guy was going to be around the 50% mark but the additional twists that were thrown in I did not see coming at all! I didn't want to put this book down and was always eager to pick it back up. Around the 80% mark the story had picked up so much that I was really glad my afternoon was free so that I could finish the book. As I was reading I realized that I didn't really care for any of the characters (except the missing child) because they had all done something or had a secret that just made me dislike them. The interesting thing though was that it didn't matter! I still had to find out what happened to everyone. Normally when I don't like the characters I also don't like the story but that was not the case here. This book was absolutely fantastic and anyone who likes thrillers/mysteries needs to pick up a copy the day this book comes out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.