This is my second book by Jennifer Hillier and it's another homerun! You will stay up late wanting to see what happens at the end. Any parents worst nightmare is their child going missing. That thought alone created an unsettling stage for me. 

In the minute it takes Marin to text her husband back, Sebastian goes missing. My heart dropped. As the twisty plot unwinds you have to figure out if it was really Marin's fault, did the father have a hand in this, was this a random kidnapping or some evil revenge plot and is Sebastian still alive. All of these questions will flip over and over again as you read. You think you have one answer and then Hillier throws a nice curveball to get your detective skills heading down another path. She does a nice job of keeping you guessing. It's a gripping, emotional roller coaster ride! On top of that, what an incredible main character she developed in Marin. This woman would go to any lengths of the world to find her son. She beautifully showcased the raw emotions I think any mother in Marin's situation would face, struggle with, go through. 

I loved the storyline. It starts off with a bang, then slows a bit, but picks back up to where I could not put the book down. I keep foing back and forth on how I liked the ending. On one side of the coin I did like it and didn't figure things out until the last quarter of the book (which I like to be kept guessing as a reader). On the other side of the coin the ending was a little rushed and wrapped up too neatly with a pretty red bow. For those reasons I gave a 4 star rating instead of 5 stars. 

Having said that, my difference in star rating is minor to the overall book. I loved it! It is one I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes suspense books, a book club pick or even to be made into a movie. Two strong books by this author. I will be checking out her other works and look forward to her next book.

My thanks to Jennifer Hillier, St. Martin's Press and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Little Secrets is the newest book from Jennifer Hillier.

There’s the horror of an abducted child, infidelity, betrayal and secrets. Every parent has had that moment where a child is momentarily lost from view. There's fear and a spike of adrenaline until our child reappears. Hillier describes the feelings and guilt of a parent with a missing child. And the way this child is taken is horrifying.

Every character has something they’re not saying. Hillier gives us characters that show that little nugget of darkness that everyone has. Most will never act on it. (Have you ever hired a hit man? 😳) But it’s there - just a thought that we don't act on. The story is dark but Hillier keeps surprising you with the connectedness of the characters.
A surprising ending and another great story from Hillier. You'll definitely want to add this to your quarantine reading list!

“Four minutes. That’s all it took to steal a child.”

Marin Machado gets distracted and her son disappears into a crowded Seattle marketplace. A few years go by and Marin’s guilt still weighs heavy, a 20-year marriage strained, a life seemingly beyond repair. Can she pick up the pieces and cure her dark heart? A pact she makes with a stranger could have disastrous consequences. A simmering story that successfully builds into a twisty, intense and satisfying read.

*will post to online venues closer to publication date and include link below. Thank you!

I had heard a lot about this book and couldn’t wait to read it. I was not disappointed! Marin is living every mother’s worst nightmare when her son is kidnapped when she is distracted while shopping. What ensues is twists and turns while diving into the mental state of a grieving mother. I really enjoyed this book. It was a great distracting book during this quarantine. It was intense and the story gripped me right from the beginning and held my interest all the way through!

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Thanks to St. Martins, Minotaur, Netgalley, and Jennifer Hillier for my e-arc of Little Secrets.

Y’all, I ZOOMED through this book. I was supposed to be packing and cleaning...but I read this in less than 72 hours. I didn’t know much about Jennifer Hillier before this, and I’m going to be tracking down her other books as soon as possible.

In Little Secrets, we meet the Machado family. Marin and her son Sebastian are walking through Pike Place Market when her son is taken. Her entire world is flipped upside down and inside out, and the book picks up about 16 months after that horrific day. The FBI trail has gone cold, and Marin & her husband are barely talking. Marin hires a private investigator to try to solve what the FBI didn’t, and she ends up learning that her husband is having an affair. This knowledge ignites a fury within Marin, and she’s ready to deal with it head on.

Y’all, Marin is a FORCE to be reckoned with. She’s a strong main character who loves fiercely and won’t let anyone stand in the way between her and her happiness. Marin and the other female characters are one of the big reasons I loved this book. Hillier can write a fierce cast of people, and I am HERE FOR IT.

Be prepared as well to not be able to put this book down at all. I read the last third within 12 hours. Hillier will hook you in and keep you in her grasp until the very end. Let me tell you, there are a LOT of little secrets within Little Secrets. I didn’t see several of them coming.

The full synopsis for Little Secrets is in the comments. If you need a good thriller to take your mind off of everything or to get lost in for a while, this is it. If you’ve read it and want to discuss, my DM’s are ready for you.

AMAZING. One of the best thrillers of 2020, and one of the best thrillers I have ever read! The character and plot development was out of this world, and I found myself easily being able to visualize everything that was going on. It was like I was being transported into their world while I sat on my couch and read.

I really enjoy when a book has me hooked from the start and isn’t a slow build. I appreciated that the action started in chapter one and continued throughout the entire book. Everything that happened was so well thought out and, looking back, the connections were brilliant. I never saw it coming! Excellent, excellent, EXCELLENT.

This book grabbed me from the first page and never let go! Great characters, great pacing of the story, and plenty of OMG moments!! Kept me on the edge of my seat and unable to do anything else until I finished reading it!!

Quite a thriller!

3.5 stars rounded to 4

I had a hard time figuring out how to rate this book. Reading lots of thrillers, I didn't get that feel with this book. I'm really not sure what I would call it other than "thriller-light".

So it starts off with our main character's young son being abducted (so sad and being a mom, I could totally identify with her). She has a hard time coping and goes to some very dark places. Her marriage falls apart and when she realizes her husband is cheating, she wants to do something about it. I didn't see the twist coming toward the end but some may.

It started out as a gripping, difficult, and very unique story. It then fades into a very typical domestic thriller. BUT when it wraps around in the end, it was worth the ride although I found parts a bit boring. Watching things play out in the end was fun although it ended faster than than I would have liked and would have liked to seen one of the ending scenes take more time and have more angst and story.

Amazing!!! One of my newest favorite authors. I had only read one other book by Jennifer Hillier (Jar of Hearts) and also rated it 5 stars. This one started off with a heart pumping kidnapping of the main characters 4 year old son at Pikes Market. Using Seattle as a setting was great and she put in enough reality that I felt I was really there. I had a lot of empathy for the main character Marin. I thought she was believable and loved her! The characters around her were also well developed and interesting. The plot fast paced and I couldn't put the book down. There were some twists I saw coming and some I didn't. The book held my interest from the first page to the last. I recommend this one HIGHLY. Be warned though, there are some tough subjects - abuse, adultery, missing children, murder. Now, I have to read ALL of this author's books.

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I’ve been CRAVING a five star thriller for so long. I keep calling myself a grumpy thriller lately because there are so many similar ones...well, let me tell you...this book is EVERYTHING I hope for in a thriller.

Right from the first chapter I was invested. It’s completely captivating, addicting and it’s been awhile since a book kept me up past midnight reading. I seriously could NOT put this one down.

I thought I maybe had things figured out, until I sat there floored when I realized I was so wrong. I love not being able to figure out the mystery and I was so happy to just sit there and think back on where I went wrong. Such an exceptional thriller ....my only complaint is the MAJOR book hangover I’ve had since. Sigh. 5 mind blowing ⭐️ (and made this grumpy thriller reader a happy one!)

You can get your hands on this one April 21st!! Clear your schedules when you sit down to read it! Thank you St Martin’s Press for the gifted book to review!

This slow burn domestic thriller, told from Marin’s point of view, kept me intrigued until the very end.
Well-written and inviting, Little Secrets evoked genuine sympathy, as I imagined what I would have done in her position. The story was gracefully written, with a consistent style and tone.
My favorite element of this story was the double-blind feeling. Neither Marin nor I knew who really kidnapped her son.
Highly recommended for readers who enjoyed Jar of Hearts and Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage.

I did not read the full blurb before I read the book but now that I have read it, I went back to read the blurb and was surprised to see that it gives away...uh, a lot. Basically information that they don’t reveal until the end of the book, so if you are by chance reading this review and you haven’t read the blurb yet, skip it and go straight into the book. Trust me.

Overall, I didn’t hate this book but I was unhappy with how the story ended up panning out. Marin was not a sympathetic protagonist and I found she annoyed me more than anything else. Pretty much every character has little to no redeeming qualities. They all kinda suck.

I didn’t like the ending or the direction of the overall story but Hillier is a very talented writer. She kept me on the edge of my seat up to the climax of the story. I would read more of her work in the future but this was a bit disappointing.

This was a really solid thriller and I enjoyed my reading experience quite a bit. The story itself pulled me right in and I thought the characters were well-written. A criticism I saw quite a lot in other reviews is that people didn't feel connected to the characters, neither did I, but I didn't see that as a negative aspect. These are not actual people after all, one can read a book and appreciate the moral greyness of the characters without the need to relate to them or agree with their decisions. I really liked the ending as well, even though I did guess it, it was satisfactory.
I would definitely recommend this book especially if you are a beginner at thrillers or just don't want anything too gritty and messed up, then it's a book for you.

Wow! Just wow! I've heard lots of great things about this author but have not read anything by her until this...LOVED IT!!!
Jennifer Hillier knows what she's doing...from deep, relatable characters, to twist plots, and unexpected turns...she keeps you guessing and coming back for more!

Marin has everything, until one day she doesn't. Her life is turned upside down when her son is kidnapped just before Christmas...a mothers worst nightmare. Never giving up, she wil, do anything and follows many paths to find out exactly what happened to her son, even if it means losing everything...definitely a must read!!!
Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC

Oh sweet Jesus - What an amazing book.. I devoured it. The twists, the turns - it was nothing like I've ever read before. I must now go and read all of her other books because her writing style is amazing.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC - I've already recommended it to my Facebook group and I will sing its praises!

Marin drops her son's hand for just a moment and her son is gone. It's every parent's nightmare. The story picks up 16 months later when it seems hope is lost and Marin and Derek are left with ... well, with nothing. Since their relationship is rapidly crumbling. Well - that's not true they still have massive loads of money. And little secrets.

(See what I did there?)

Firstly, I had a really hard time picturing Sal, Marin's friend, as the wizened, prison tough guy he was supposed to be because I kept picturing Sal Vulcano from Impractical Jokers! (Google it if you haven't seen it- hilarious). Of course, that got increasingly awkward throughout the book...

This book would make a fantastic movie! It was a real page-turner! I hated pretty much everyone though. Maybe they were too rich. Or, in the case of Derek and MacKenzie, maybe they were just uniquely hate-able. Either way, the book was still a winner! A fast-paced read that kept me hooked!

This book is amazing! I recently read Jar of Hearts and loved it, so I knew I was in for a treat with this one, but wow! There is a phrase that says something like "desperate times call for desperate measures" and it comes to mind when describing this book. Marin has lost a lot....her 4 year old son is taken from practically right under her nose...but she is a fighter. Her life is in chaos a year later, the police and FBI have no info for her, and let's just say things aren't working out so great with her husband. This story is told in multiple perspectives, which I love. I did not see the ending coming and there were lots of twists and turns along the way. Great for fans of suspense and domestic thrillers.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Jennifer Hillier for the opportunity to read and review her latest book. I loved Jar of Hearts but this one was even better - 5 stars for a book that I read with my heart in my throat and literally could not put it down.

What would you do to try and save whatever is left of your family? It took just minutes - a quick decision to answer a text while with your son in a crowded market days before Christmas. Then he was gone. That was Marin's new reality. She blamed herself for the fact that 4-year-old Sebastian was gone. The FBI exhausted all leads and even the PI that Marin hired had only more bad news for her - while investigating Sebastian's kidnapping, she discovers that Marin's husband, Derek, is having an affair with much younger McKenzie. Marin feels such rage and needs to do whatever she can to hold on to whatever family she has.

That's enough information. Such a heartbreaking premise - what mother hasn't experienced that hopefully momentary panic of not knowing where your child is in a crowded place? And what would you do afterwards if it came true that your child was gone?

Fabulous read - highly recommended!

This was an awesome and fast paced mystery that kept me up late into the night so I could finish it. Marin is barely alive since her son was kidnapped over a year ago, but she is rejuvenated when she realizes that her husband (Derek) is having an affair. Now I hate the women who are angrier at the other woman than they are at the man who cheated. That just makes no sense to me. Derek was the one who took the vows after all. But in this case, I kind of understood. Marin lost her son and I get why she would want to hang on to her husband so much. She was trying to control the one thing she could. Meanwhile, Mackenzie (the other woman) has her secrets, as does her best friend Sal and her husband. I do think the blurb gave a little too much away and there was one part of it that I guessed WAY in advance. But there were still plenty of twists and the suspense still kept me on the edge of my seat. Another win from Jennifer Hillier!

I was more than a little worried when I decided to read “Little Secrets.” I had previously tried one of the author’s other books, and had come away disappointed. However, the description of this book caught my interest, and I reasoned if the book was half as good as it sounded, I would be satisfied.

In the Author’s Note, Jennifer Hillier talks about the main character, explaining that she “…didn’t want to shy away from or sugarcoat her struggles,” acknowledging that Marin’s “…thoughts and actions may have been disturbing and difficult for some readers.” I felt the grittiness of the story and thus could understand Marin, someone who had already lost her son and now was in danger of losing her husband to another woman. Ms. Hillier allowed those feelings to be expressed at times with coarse language. Based upon the subject matter and as we were privy to the raw emotions of someone who felt her life was continuing to shatter, my opinion is that the language was appropriate for the plot. Those who prefer not to read any sort of objectionable language should pass on this book.

Although that would be a shame, as this is a good story that allows us to experience the deep emotions that Marin struggles with on a daily basis. Imagine losing a child, and over the next sixteen months you know that you are losing your spouse also. There is no easy way to live through these experiences.

Halfway through the book I realized there were no good guys. Sure, some characters had shades of grey but everyone had broad streaks of humanistic darkness within them. My allegiance (who to cheer for) switched more than once. By the end, Ms. Hillier had expertly steered me back to where she wanted her readers to be. The Big Reveal caught me by surprise, and as everything wound down at the end, I realized the author had balanced the slate when it came to her books that I had read. I am sure I will act with less trepidation the next time around. Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this title.