I've never read this author before, but I thought the blurb sounded really interesting. However, I struggled with it. I found the pace way too slow for this genre, and the missing child angle seemed to be missing for many of the scenes. None of the characters really pulled me in, so that didn't help. There was a good twist with the kidnapper's identity, but that was about it.

Holy smokes. Great twist at 80%!

Little Secrets was interesting and it got quite superb at the 80% mark with a fabulous twist.

The book begins with a mom, Marin Machado and her son Sebastian shopping at Christmastime. Then, she gets distracted with a cellphone call and the next thing she knows, Sebastian is gone. Marin realizes that for just a few minutes, she let go of his small hand while she was talking to her husband, Derek. She becomes frantic when she realizes she can’t see him anymore. She starts screaming and asking for help. Soon, someone calls 911 and the police arrive to help. Later on, both parents can see the video surveillance camera and they can see their young son, Bash leaving with Santa Claus and both disappearing into the parking lot.

After a few months, mom hires a private detective to look into his disappearance. A year later, she gets a call to meet with the PI and to her surprise, it's to tell her that her husband is having an affair. with a young woman by the name of Kenzie. An affair that has been ongoing for the last six months. After the meeting, she's ready to do the unthinkable. She asks her best friend (and ex-lover) Sal to help her. She wants to get rid of the other woman. A woman who's trying to take something else from her. Then, just when things start happening, she realizes this other woman might know what happened to her son.

The story is told from a dual POV. Marin and Kenzie both have a voice.

Little Secrets was a really interesting novel which deals with the grief a mother feels after the loss of her child. It demonstrates how a support group might help and how wrong decisions can be made after such a terrible loss. I understood why she thought about hurting the other woman but I think she should’ve been mad with the right person which was her husband instead.

The conclusion left me satisfied with most of the actions.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas shopping in Seattle with her six-year old son, Marin suddenly realizes that her son is no longer holding on to her hand. Even though he couldn't have been gone for more than a few minutes, no trace of him can be found. Although her husband, Derrick, never blames her, Marin feels as if she is completely at fault.

After sixteen month Marin is barely holding herself together. A successful owner of a beauty shop chain, Marin and her husband, a successful businessman, find themselves drifting apart.
This book does a good job of describing the questionable decisions people make when faced with tragedy. Little Secrets is a true thriller with readers never being sure of who they can trust and whether those with seemingly good intentions might have ulterior motives.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and appreciate having had this opportunity. I'm a fan of Jennifer Hillier and look forward to reading more from her.

People have been trying to get me to read Jennifer Hillier for a while now, so I think maybe... I picked the wrong one to start with(?) Though I also should say that a major problem with my reading of Little Secrets was that I went into it with all the wrong expectations.

The blurb made me think that this was going to be about a mother and her missing child, which I just said in another review is a premise I torture myself with again and again. A missing child is an open wound that never heals, is never allowed to scar over. The not knowing keeps the wound raw. Reading these books almost always keeps me on the edge of my seat, experiencing the fear and loss along with the parents, needing closure.

And that is how this book opens: with five year old Sebastian letting go of his mother's hand and, as security footage shows, walking away with a stranger in a Santa suit. Sixteen months later, he still hasn't been found. The Private Investigator his mother, Marin, has hired has been met with dead end after dead end. That is, until one day the PI uncovers evidence that Marin's husband is having an affair with a young art student called Kenzie Li. Unable to find her son, Marin turns her attention (and fury) on Kenzie.

So, really, what a huge chunk (i.e. almost all) of this book is about is Marin stalking her husband’s girlfriend and getting annoyed with her for - annoyingly, I'll admit - taking a million selfies a day. The missing child story fades quickly into the background and, as this was pretty much all I cared about, this made the book boring. A rich woman discovering her husband is having an affair but not wanting to divorce him and lose her precious designer lifestyle is so not an interesting premise for me.

I really struggled to connect with Marin, or feel invested in her relationship with Derek. Though the affair is played off as "grief" on his part, Derek seemed like such a douche from the very first chapter. And I'm really confused as to why the blurb gives away some things that we only learn in the last fifty pages of the book.

Also, I think anyone who's read a few thrillers over the last few years will see one thing coming a mile away. (view spoiler)

There was only one thing I cared about in this whole book— what happened to that poor little boy — and too much of it wasn’t even about that. Like I said, wrong expectations. Should I try a different Hillier book?

When I first read the blurb of this book, I had to read it. This book did not disappoint! It was so engaging that I could not put down! This is a new author to me so I am really looking forward for more of her books in future!!

I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but it was so slow moving in the beginning. This was a.m.what disappointing, because I found "Jar of Hearts" impossible to put down. I found the characters compelling, well, except for the husband, who seemed to be more one-dimensonal. About 60% in, the story started picking up, and the pieces started to come together, and once it did, it was a series of gut punches as the truth is revealed to Marin. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book as it offers a different take on the missing child story.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I loved this fast paced thriller and will definitely look forward to more books from this author in the future. I will be recommending this one to family and friends

I flew through this book in two days. It was fast-paced, not predictable, and made you question everything you had learned from one minute to the next. Highly recommend.

I did not want to put this book down! I went into Little Secrets totally blind and was not disappointed. I am going to keep this review short and sweet and not share too much about the book as I have read that the synopsis and some reviews have given too much of the story away.

The basic plot is of a couple who have had their 4 year old son kidnapped in the middle of a busy area of Seattle. The story takes place 16 months after their son was taken. Marin, the boy’s mother, and a celebrity hair stylist in the area is trying to manage her grief day to day, never knowing if today is the day she takes her own life. Her husband Derek, a rich businessman who drives a black Maserati, has his own ways of managing stress. Together they don’t function well and cracks appear slowly but steadily in their relationship. Together for 20 years they might as well be roommates for the amount of time they spend together and for the secrets they keep from each other.

The author has written a stay on the edge of your seat thriller. She takes on infidelity, manipulation, grief and privilege. This was my first book by this author but it won’t be my last.

Thank you to @netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book publishes April 21, 2020.

Little Secrets will hook you from the very first chapter. It is a definite thriller with many surprising twists. This is my first book to read by Jennifer Hillier and I am anxiously awaiting her next book.

Read this book! I count not put this book down except when I absolutely had to! This Was a very well-written mystery/thriller that started with a bang - a kidnapped child in a busy holiday market - and never let up until the last page. The power couple parents had plenty of secrets from each other, and it all came down to who do you trust/family dynamics/betrayal/abuse/parenting/survival and unconditional love. I was hooked from the first page, and the ending was exquisite. Twists and turns aplenty that held my attention, and extremely well-developed plot and characters. This author knows what she’s doing! Highly recommend for a thriller/mystery. Five stars!
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This came so close to crossing into that place you can't come back from, which, completely outside of the plot or the prose, was quite thrilling.

OH. MY. GOD. Please give this book all the stars. I’ve been waiting for an intense thriller book like this for a long time. Hooked since the first chapter and finished within 2 days. I didn’t want to put it down. Never saw the twists happening which I loved. I laughed and I cried, and my jaw dropped on multiple occasions. Highly recommend!!

Thank you NetGalley for the early release version. I can’t wait to recommend this one to everyone!

Marin and Derek had the perfect life; a good marriage, a lot of financial success, health and beauty, and an adorable 4 year old son. That changed in an instant when Marin let go of Sebastian's hand for a split second in the pre-Christmas crowds at Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. CC footage showed him going off with a man in a Santa Claus suit, lollipop in hand, the man's face not visible.
That was over a year ago now. Marin can count months and days, because her life shattered so thoroughly that she can barely acknowledge the pieces. She and Derek rarely even speak; she drags herself to work just to give herself something to do; she has attempted suicide once and keeps open the possibility, just as a way to get through her days. Her lifeline is her old college boyfriend, a bar-owner named Sal, whose daily texts and encouragement give her just enough of a push to keep going. She and Sal were on-again off-again in college, and when Marin met Derek during an off-period, she fell in love and married him. Did Sal really get over it? Marin trusts their friendship, but it's interesting to see the viewpoint of other characters.
The FBI has given up on the case, so Marin hired a private detective without telling Derek. One day the P-I sits her down and says that while she hasn't found Sebastian, she has found that Derek is having an affair, with a young graduate student named McKenzie Li. Kenzie has 1000s of instagram followers and a history of dating rich, older men as what she herself terms a "professional girlfriend." Of course we initially hate Kenzie, but a section of the novel told from her point of view makes her a three-dimensional creature, with a mother with Alzheimers in an expensive nursing home, and her own set of insecurities and issues.
Marin views Kenzie as a part of her life that can be under control. She can't find her lost little boy, she can't seem to reignite her marriage, but she can attack Kenzie. Marin vows to go to any lengths, legal or illegal, to get rid of her.
I really enjoyed Little Secrets, and thanks to the fact that I now work from home, I was able to stay up into the wee hours to finish it. You will want to as well. The characters pull you in; they're believable, complex, imperfect human beings, whom you sometimes want to shout at. The plot itself is a twisty as your heart could desire, and I didn't see the ending coming until the precise moment the author chose. It deals with so many issues--heartbreak, revenge, how well we know others, and more. Highly recommended. <

I really liked this book the author did a great job with it had some awesome twists and turns This was first from this author but I will be reading more from her !!

Little Secrets
By Jennifer Hillier
pub date April 21, 2020


This thriller was the perfect recipe to distract me from the world’s problems. It is well written, fast paced, and addictive. I fell in love with Marin Machado, the main character. She is a salon owner with an A-List clientele, a beautiful home, and a happy marriage until, “…a lollipop, a Santa suit, and 4 minutes,” upended her entire life. Her son Sebastian is stolen and Marin struggles to figure out how to go on living without him. Then Marin discovers that her successful husband Derek is cheating with a much younger woman, Kenzie. Kenzie is a pink haired barista, who live her life for instagram likes. She is the polar opposite of the successful and beautiful Marin. Discovering her husband’s infidelity undoes Marin. She decides not to allow anyone else to take anything more from her.

Everyone in Marin’s life seems to be holding onto secrets, huge, life altering, secrets. Secrets that can get you arrested. Marin is surrounded by people that go to great lengths to keep their secrets and lies safe. In the end though, Marin is sick of it, she won’t be wronged again. After 16 months of living without her son, she desperately wants to save her marriage. In the end, it boils down to the length a woman will go to to protect what’s hers.

Like Jar of Hearts, this was a 5 star read for me! I loved Marin, and the end of this book was perfect. Many twists and turns later I ended up an emotional wreck and crying but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Thank you @netgalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of this book for my review.

The first thing I did when I finished reading Little Secrets was to contact my sister and tell her that she had to read this book. One of my favorites so far this year. The book stuck in my head throughout my day and I could not wait to get a chance to continue reading the story. An incredible plot with well-developed, powerful characters. Simply amazing!

This was the first book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it! I was hooked from the very beginning of the book. It's faced paced and kept me engaged until the very end. I will be reading more books by Jennifer Hillier and definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for the advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

Marin and Derek's son is taken from a crowded shopping center just before Christmas. Prior to the kidnapping, Marin seems to have the perfect life. After, her world falls apart. Over a year later, Marin is still barely functioning when she finds out her husband is having an affair with a younger woman. The investigation into her son's disappearance has stalled but the affair she can do something about. Marin's anger sets a plan in motion and results in answers she never expected.

I wasn't surprised by some of the twists, but this book reminded me that you don't always have to be shocked by the outcome to enjoy the ride. I've heard good things about this author and can't wait to check out some of her other books.

Little Secrets, by Jennifer Hillier

Short Take: OH. EM. GEE.

(*Note - I received an advance copy of this book for review.*)

Well, my duckies, it seems as though the world truly has gone mad. When I turn on the news, it’s all pandemic, all the time. There have been earthquakes in Utah and floods and tornadoes close to me and even a plague of locusts in the Middle East. My state is on lockdown, schools and many businesses are closed and people are strongly encouraged to stay inside and keep to themselves as much as possible.

And I feel like I’ve been training for this my whole life. I can binge-watch shows and play with string to my nerdy little heart’s content, and do I even need to tell you that I’ve been reading some fantastic books? Does the pope poo in the woods?

In that vein, let me introduce you all to Little Secrets.

Marin and Derek are a successful, beautiful, self-made power couple. She owns a string of successful beauty salons and he also runs a lucrative business. They Have It All - the impeccably decorated house in the suburbs, the cars, the clothes, and an adorable five year old son named Sebastian, or Bash as he’s affectionately known.

Until the day Marin and Sebastian are Christmas shopping, and in the blink of an eye, Sebastian disappears.

Living every parent’s worst nightmare for over a year, Marin hires a PI to keep working the case when the police run out of leads. But instead of finding Sebastian, the PI instead learns about Derek’s Other Woman - the MUCH younger, beautiful, and carefree Kenzie, the anti-Marin if ever there was one.

Marin can’t track down and get revenge on the person who took her son. Terrified at the thought of any more loss, she can’t rail against her husband and take out her rage on him. Her best friend Sal is always there for her, she would never push him away.

But Kenzie is a different story, and Marin will be only too happy to get her out of the picture permanently.

You guys. YOU GUYS. This book is insane, and by that I mean freakin incredible. I’ve read a lot of thrillers about kidnapped children (I really shouldn’t do that to myself, I know) and I’ve read not-nearly-enough thrillers about cheated-on spouses Out For Revenge, but I’ve never seen the two combined, and oh my sweet nerdlings, this is chocolate and peanut butter to my sugar-addicted brain.

We get both Marin and Kenzie’s point of view, and for two such different women, they are both great characters - somehow sympathetic and unlikable at the same time, in different ways and for different reasons, both driven to similar ends by questionable means. And even as they focus on each other, Sebastian’s absence is ever-present, like a soft weeping from another room - you can’t forget, ignore, or fix it, all you can do is listen and maybe feel a cramp in your own tear ducts.

I could go on and on about the addictive pacing and fascinating cast of supporting characters and the brilliant twists (one I saw coming, others not so much), but I’m just going to urge y’all to read it.

I mean, what else are we doing right now? Stay home, stay safe, and happy reading (and snacking, of course) nerdlings!!

The Nerd’s Rating: FIVE HAPPY NEURONS (and some Reese’s peanut butter eggs, because now I can’t quit thinking of chocolate & peanut butter.)