I was soooo excited when I got an advanced copy of this book!!! Thank you Netgalley and to the publisher!!!! I am a Jennifer Hillier fan!

Every once in a while you come across a book that you love every...single...character .....whether they are good or evil....the author writes these characters so vividly. There was never a dull moment in this book.... I sat on the edge of my seat the entire time and my heart aches and raced! It’s been awhile since I read a book where I didn’t want it to end . My only con was I wish we could have heard Derek’s POV through this. Because even though he was an $;) my heart still went out to him.

Beautifully written, suspense throughout the whole book until the end, BRAVO!!!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier is Marin’s story following the kidnapping of her and husband, Derek’s, 5-year-old son, Sebastian. That it was Marin who let go of Sebastian’s hand a few days before Christmas devastates her all the more. The emotional toil her child’s kidnapping has on Marin is revealed in real time 16 months after the event and from the past perspective events following the abduction.

To add to her cruel circumstances, Marin discovers that Derek, her husband of 18 years, is having an affair with McKenzie or Kenzie, who is nearly half his age. Kenzie is the polar opposite of Marin in terms of face and build.

“Little Secrets” is told from alternating points of view (POVs) of Marin and Kenzie. While supposedly a thriller and mystery, the reading felt more like a drama. There is the emotional grittiness you would expect in a tale about a child being abducted. Crime statistics of missing children are propounded. There is a support group of parents of several missing children (only a single parent in each case – where are the other parents?), which is meant to add pathos and show characters empathetic towards Marin.

The intertwining storylines of a kidnapping and an affair make up the book. I was underwhelmed when this mystery story seemed intent on finding out about the husband’s mistress, only to then focus on her sordid little life. This wasn’t the purpose I was reading this mystery story for. What ‘Little Secrets’ did do was give a good perspective of the Kenzie sort of mistress, who preys on married men twice her age. It gave some empathy to her situation.

But let’s be clear, I would have been a lot more satisfied if the PI, Vanessa, was turning over leads in the abduction, and Marin was following up on these or her own leads, instead of focussing on the affair. That the affair and abduction are tied up together at the end is more the means to serve the end. The story moved sluggishly in the middle parts as it teased out the relationship between Marin and Sal – with emphasis on the word, ‘tease’ – between Marin and Derek, and finally the play out between Marin and Kenzie. The middle of the novel was very soggy with too much characters’ back story, biodatas and motives.

Things I didn’t like very much:
1) Marin’s and Derek’s astronomical wealth. This appears to be a plot device to allow Marin to throw money at her problems to make them go away.
2) The couple’s wealth doesn’t allow the reader to relate to Marin, as the author would like. Instead, Marin appears to be a spoilt, entitled, “beautiful,” youngish woman who has it all, including a fawning ex-lover and solicitous husband (when he wants to be).
3) The cliché that is Kenzie. She could have been unique and a lot more relatable. Instead she lives in societal squalor and doesn’t want to raise herself above it. This made it hard to relate to her actions or motives. Kenzie is an unlikable character who only thinks about herself. Why devote so much page-time to her then?
4) The support group’s inclusion adds pathos – very real but anguished and repetitive pathos – that does nothing to move the story along. Instead, it causes the reader to spiral downwards rather than be aware and interested in solving the mystery. Very Jodi Picoult-ish.
5) A few entire chapters were devoted to some of these anguished side stories that were not interesting for a crime reader like myself.
6) Sal! Really Marin’s "best friend" Sal, a former lover, is a character who is impossible to believe in or relate to. Why when she feels so comforted by him, did Marin choose to marry Derek and then defend Derek through all his infidelities and sometimes-narcissism? Sal is painted in a hallowed light to probably fool the reader as red herrings are set up, although there aren’t many of these. Most people are familiar with the village knowledge that a friendship across the sexes is based usually on attraction and is rarely platonic for long, especially when they are past lovers.

That Sal is like a puppy sniffing around Marin is unbelievable, when she gives him the cold shoulder time and again, and returns nothing in exchange to the relationship. Also Sal's lifestyle and other friends are diametrically opposite from Marin's that it’s hard to see why she returns to him, other than to be fawned over. This makes Marin unlikable, again. That Derek doesn’t mind is hard to accept. Of course, in Jennifer Hillier’s world, people are either super rich or super poor. So, Sal is super rich, which seem to be the only kind of friends Marin can relate to, potentially shallow.

7) The choices Marin makes are incredible, as in not sane at all. No spoilers here. It’s hard to put yourself in her shoes as a distraught mother when she acts in such a dumb way.

Things I did like:
1) The ending was a bit of a relief after a novel with few twists and turns, no worms exposed wriggling beneath rocks, as in a good whodunnit.
2) The writing was good, so that despite the novel turning out not to be what I thought it was, I kept reading till the end.

Better titled, ‘The Affair’ or ‘The Affairs’ or ‘Revenge’, ‘Little Secrets’ is more of a family drama than a thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free advanced reader’s copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review. This review also appears in https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3201151527 and https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/2020/02/little-secrets-by-jennifer-hillier.html

I received this free in exchange for an honest review. It took some time to get to this to read, to tell you the truth, I kept putting this in my to read pile and just could not get to it.
BUT once I did I wish I had read it right away. It was very good, and although it is an Uncorrected Digital Galley, I found nothing wrong. That may be because it was that good. It was fast with lots of unexpected twists.
Marin and Derek have been married almost 18 years when their son Sabastian goes missing at Pike Place Market.
The secrets they both have are every where. Both are self made and very wealthy and not true to each other or themselves.
The plot thickens when Marin wants to have Derek's girl friend removed from the equation. She confines in her best friend and former lover Sal who sets things in motion.
While a lot is going on, all is resoled and no secret is left in the dark. The story takes place over an almost two year period.
I was not sure I was going to like the plot given the child goes missing in the first chapter, but impressed how the story plays out.

Everyone has secrets! This book captured me from just the description alone. The book is told in two different perspectives and I loved that! This one is a page turner and a quick read for me! I loved it!

"If you don't want anyone to find out, don't do it." (Chinese Proverb)

The holidays spread us thin and cause us to lose sight of the near and the dear. That's what happened to Marin Machado when she lost the grip of her four year old son Sebastian's hand in a crowded Seattle outdoor shopping center. Her eyes swept down to the incoming text on her phone and diverted her from witnessing Sebastian being enticed by a stranger. Within seconds he was gone. Within seconds, Marin melts into the pavement.

A year passes and Marin has been hospitalized for deep depression. Her husband, Derek, worries that she will harm herself. The local police and the FBI have no leads. It's like Sebastian has disappeared into thin air. Marin attends sessions with her psychologist and a local group supporting parents of missing children. She eventually goes back to work as the owner of three highly successful hair salons that cater to the rich and famous. Derek is the CEO of a high performing manufacturing company. No money worries, but plenty of relationship worries.

Marin finds out that Derek is having an affair with a pink-haired coffee shop barista named Kenzie. Marin has plans for Kenzie and it's not in her best welfare. Kenzie has a secret life that even Derek is not privy to. There are plenty of cats and mice trying to entrap one another in this one. And they are all wearing false faces.

I enjoyed Jennifer Hillier's previous book, Jar of Hearts, as well. Little Secrets is an intriguing bundle of escapism when you want to fill your head with a few steps back from the dullness of real life. There are many threads to this one beginning with the shocker at the onset to the final scenes. Looking forward to what Jennifer Hillier has up her sleeve in the next one.

I received a copy of Little Secrets through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Macmillan (Minotaur) Publishers and to Jennifer Hillier for the opportunity.

Be prepared for some emotional whiplash when reading LITTLE SECRETS, a thriller detailing a woman's downward spiral after the kidnapping of her young son and, later, the discovery of her husband's affair. At times, the narrative is painfully heartbreaking as it plunges into the depths of a mother's grief for her lost child. But the novel doesn't stall in this register as manic energy also pervades the plot in the exploration of Marin's rage and ire directed toward her husband's mistress.

Now that I've finished the book, I understand why the two storylines in LITTLE SECRETS of a kidnapping and an affair really do need each other to create the neatly tied up ending that we are given. But during the actual reading experience, there were many times that the story felt fragmented, and I was asking myself if this was more a thriller dealing with a kidnapping or a thriller dealing with the vengeance of a lover scorned. I also felt that the middle of the novel sagged a bit with backstories; instead of Hillier keeping readers in the present action, she uses flashback scenes to flesh out some of her characters. Those scenes weren't uninteresting, per se, but they did slow down the novel's pacing.

One big issue I had with the book was Marin's relationship with her "best friend" Sal, who was a previous college boyfriend. I found the whole relationship to be really odd, and Sal's lifestyle was so vastly different from Marin's that it was just hard for me to imagine them continuing to rub shoulders. I wouldn't say that Hillier created a wholly unbelievable friendship--I'm certain these types of relationships do exist in "real life"--but their particular dynamic in the story just rang false to me. I couldn't imagine Marin's husband being okay with the closeness of their friendship that, in some ways, ran deeper emotionally than what she and her husband shared. Eventually I had to accept Sal and Marin as Hillier presented them and just go with it without questioning it too much, but I never fully accepted its plausibility.

Three stars for a thriller that was twisty, emotive, and engaging. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I will officially read anything Jennifer Hillier writes. Her style of thrillers just work for me and Little Secrets is no exception.

Told from the alternating POVs of the wife, Marin , and the mistress, Kenzie , we follow both women as Marin and her husband handle the kidnapping of their son and their shattered relationship. At first, this seemed more like a domestic drama, but Hillier brings out the intense plotting she is known for and delivers an ending that actually had me surprised (in a good way!). Her writing is standout as always and she fully develops Marin's character, letting the reader experience her palpable grief and trauma and need for revenge.

It's a fun and suspenseful read that i finished in one day. I could see this making an excellent mini-series a la Big Little Lies.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur for an advancd copy in exchange for my honest review.

I haven't read any books by Jennifer Hiller yet, but I truly enjoyed "Little Secrets". Jeniffer Hiller is my kind of thriller writer if I may say so. She incorporates all the aspects of a good thriller I enjoy. The story plot is set between two female characters who both are very well developed and two timelines. Absolutely fantastic, fast-paced read. It is a roller coaster of action-filled suspense.
Now I am so looking forward to reading "A Jar of Heart" that is calling my name from the shelve.

Jennifer Hiller sure knows how to thrill! This book was intense from start to finish and had me wishing my eyes could read faster by the page. By the end, I found myself so surprised by all the reveals that I wanted to go back and re-read to see if I had missed any clues along the way.

Marin is such a well-written, flawed character clearly struggling with the loss of her son, especially not knowing what happened to him. This was especially well-done in the support group scenes which were so intense and painful and raw and honest; they were hard to read but necessary.

I was frustrated with the Kenzie storyline at first, but could understand where Marin was coming from and that understanding helped Marin’s actions make sense.

Overall, Little Secrets was a fun, suspenseful read that paid off in a big way, and I definitely could picture this as a movie!

3.5 stars!
This one started out really good, but somewhere in the middle I got kind of bored. It was a quick read though and the start was definitely a page turner.
•
Marin and Derek have a seemingly perfect life. Until one day at the store, Marin is on her phone for 1 minute and her son is gone. They frantically search for him, but with success. The rest of the story takes you through the grief, different relationships, and secrets surrounding the kidnapping.
•
The grief felt by Marin is very raw and emotional. The situation pushes she and her husband apart. Later in the story, the point of view changes from Marin’s to Kenzie’s. You find out who Kenzie is later in the book, but I had a very hard time connecting to the parts from Kenzie’s point of view. I just found her as an unlikable character and didn’t enjoy her parts as much as Marin’s. In the middle, I had no idea where the story was going to go. The events seemed almost off topic from what the start of the book was about. However, towards the end, the story picked back up again. I enjoyed the ending and learning the different secrets kept by characters through the story.
•
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book. It will be released April 21!

Jennifer Hillier does not disappoint! It was a thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. There are definitely some dark/uncomfortable parts of the story, but it was very well told! Lots of twists, but it all makes sense in the end. Highly recommended!

Hi loved, loved, loved this book! This has been my favorite thriller in quite some time, by far!

This book was quick paced and very hard to put down. I suggest going into this one not knowing what it is about. Some of the twists and turns I had predetermined, but I didn’t know enough, I needed to keep going. I couldn’t put it down. I completely and thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I can’t wait for more from this Author!

You Alive?

Oh. My. Goodness. Little Secrets by @jenniferhillier gave me so much anxiety in such a good way, if that’s a thing?

My heart was racing, especially toward the end. So many ups and downs and twists and turns. I was not expecting the twist of events toward the end, and I love when I don’t guess the twist until I’m invested in the twist.

Marin’s 4 year old Sebastian is abducted right before Christmas and is missing for over 16 months. Marin goes to group meetings to try and deal with her grief. She occasionally drowns her sorrows in substance abuse, while her husband drowns his sorrows into younger women. She hires a PI, who digs up a lot of dirt about her husband and her best friend and her personal past, which leads to a very interesting turn of events.

This book was 5 brilliant stars for me. I couldn’t put this book down!! This is the definition of an awesome thriller!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an ARC for my honest review. #netgalley #littlesecrets

The fabulous award-winning thriller "queen" and master storyteller returns following her smashing hit, Jar of Hearts, Winner—Best Novel, 2019 ITW Thriller Award (and you may ask, "how she could possibly top it")?

Well, my book friends, she is Jennifer Hillier!

Yes, she does. LITTLE SECRETS is totally addictive and enthralling! Starting from the striking front cover to every thrilling page. One of my favorite books of hers thus far— once again landing on my Top Books of 2020. I have read all her books, and you can find my review links below. No one does twisty plot-driven and character-driven thrillers, better.

"All it takes to unravel a life is one little secret..." Indeed, these secrets turn into dangerous life-threatening massive secrets!

LITTLE SECRETS is an addictive psychological domestic suspense thriller that is a bit of a square or rectangle, versus a triangle with four main characters:

Marin— the wife and mother.
Derek— the husband and father.
Sal— Marin’s best friend (bad boy)
McKenzie— the mistress, barista, art grad student who is obsessed with social media.
Sebastian —Marin and Derek’s four-year-old toddler son who is in the center of this square.

Set in Seattle (one of my favorite cities) in Pike Place Market, it is December and the busy Christmas season.

Marian owns hi-end hair salons and caters to celebrities and the wealthy. Derek is a successful business owner as well, and they are quite the power couple. The cars, homes, clothes, friends, and prestige. They have it all and a beautiful son after many rounds of IVF.

Marian is doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, choosing just the right gifts for her staff, and Sebastian is getting impatient, wanting a promised lollipop. She tells him, "five more minutes." Something we all have done.

Then coming down the escalator, she receives several texts, one from her husband whom they will be meeting shortly, and one from her best bud and childhood friend, Sal. She is distracted.

Marin lets go of her son's hand for one minute to type a reply, and in the blink of an eye, he has vanished. Where could her precious little boy have gone in his cute little reindeer sweater?

She panics— she must find her son. She knows the statistics. The longer it is before he is found, the fewer chances she will every find him alive. Did he get lost, or did someone take him? How could this have happened?

The security footage shows someone dressed in a Santa Claus suit has taken his hand. In the other hand is the lollipop. The same one from the expensive candy store, she had planned to take him to.

That is all it took to steal a child. Four minutes. A lollipop, a Santa suit, and two hundred forty seconds.

Sixteen months later, nothing.

The FBI has not found her son. They have all but given up. Too much time has passed and all the leads go cold. Marian will never give up!

She hires a PI. She is barely functioning. Her grief, her guilt, she wants her son back. She cannot even think about all the bad things that her son is experiencing, through or if he is still alive. Her mind goes to dark places. She has even attempted suicide. Her relationship with her husband has deteriorated. She is a shell of her former self.

She decides to attend a group with like-minded parents. An interesting group of secondary characters.

Now the PI has some new information. However, it is not about her son. She never told Derek she had hired a PI. The news: Her husband is having an affair with a stupid little twenty-something pink hair graduate student!

Marin turns her grief into rage. She wants revenge. She has lost her son and she will not lose her husband too! Rage and anger take over.

Marian carries things too far and starts talking murder for hire. She will pay. e will not let her husband of nearly twenty years get by with having sex with a younger woman. Sal, a former ex-con and bar owner knows people.

However, the plot thickens. What are Sal, Derek, and his mistress keeping from her?

Everyone has secrets. Those secrets may just lead her to her son and who took him and where he has been? Will she reach him in time? What is the motive?

Lies, secrets, betrayal!. When love turns to hate and things get messy. You will be turning the pages as fast as you can to the explosive ending. I devoured LITTLE SECRETS!

This riveting thriller is fast-paCED, modern, chic, sexy, twisty, and unpredictable! Immersing —intricately plotted and smartly written, Jennifer is at the "top of her game."

What really makes this a stand-out novel, is Hillier's ability to get inside Marian's head. She experiences all sorts of emotions. As a reader, you are drawn into this web of deceit. She delves deep into the mindset of Marian after her son was taken. We feel her intense pain from the array of emotions of guilt, loss, revenge, and her downward spiral.

In LITTLE SECRETS, the author explores highly charged topics. Kidnapping, marriage, infidelity, friendship, motherhood, obsession, love, desperation, suicide, betrayal, grief, revenge, tragedy, and much more. Each of these involves secrets that spiral out of control.

BTW: the “Louboutin’s-twist” was priceless!

Stay tuned for my Q&A Elevator Ride with Jennifer coming April 21, 2020! We will go behind the scenes of LITTLE SECRETS and this acclaimed author. It is going to be fantastic. Move this one to the top of your list. I will also be hosting an upcoming Mother's Day Book giveaway contest.

#JdCMustReadBooks

A special thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. In addition, pre-ordered the hardcover and the audiobook.

My Reviews:
Little Secrets
Top Books of 2020
Jar of Hearts
Top Books of 2018
Wonderland
Top Books of 2015
The Butcher
Top Books of 2014

Prior to my Book Blog
Freak
Creep

Little Secrets was my first thriller by Jennifer Hillier and it was excellent! The title played well into this one as all of the characters are keeping some form of a secret from one another, ultimately tying together perfectly to create a thriller I couldn't put down. Her character dialogue and different perspectives were perfect and gave just enough insight into the minds and choices of the women involved in this story. I will definitely read more by Hillier and would love to see this one on the movie screen someday!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This was some creepy ass shit. I mean, all of these people were horrible. Sociopaths. And yet, somehow the ending felt satisfying.
But call CPS.

Marin, hairstylist to the rich and famous and owner of several upscale salons and her husband Derek's lives change forever with the abduction of their son Sebastian. Eighteen months later Marin is still unable to forgive herself for what happened. Unable to move on, thoughts of suicide fill her every waking moment as she waits for news on her missing son. When the private investigator she hires to find him contacts her, she can only imagine the worst. While investigating leads into Sebastian's disappearance, the PI learns that Derek is having an affair with a college student named Kenzie. Unable to lose another member of her family Marin takes matters into her own hands.

Little Secrets is a domestic thriller/mystery in which the investigation of their son’s abduction reveals a web of secrets and lies. This is a twisty tale in which each lie uncovers more discoveries and questions about those people closest to the main character. This was a new author for me and I am always looking for new to me authors to add to my list. The writing is engaging enough to keep me involved in the story. The only downside for me was that the plot was predictable and I figured out the twist pretty early on in the story. Overall I liked the plot, the characters, and I was able to finish this one in a day...a quick entertaining read.

**I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I was one of the lucky ones to be able to read and review Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier prior to release. I have read her work before and really enjoyed her dark twists and turns and jaw dropping moments. We follow Marin, whose son was abducted one busy morning, and watch as she goes through the motions to try to live her everyday life while awaiting word of her sons return. Naturally along the way there is a good deal of secrets and betrayals and heartache. Little Secrets was dark and twisty and full of suspense. This was an easy and quick read, although bit predictable I still found it very engaging and horrifying. If Thrillers are your thing you will not want to miss out on this one. Even if thrillers aren't your thing Little Secrets would love the opportunity to change that.
4 star Review.

This psychological thriller will keep readers engaged to the end. Marin's pain can be felt throughout this book as she continues to blame herself for her child's kidnapping. Derek's betrayal adds to Marin's emotional being that causes her to plan an desperate act. I liked that the steadfast private investigator, Vanessa did not give up and had empathy for Marin. The twists and turns kept the story moving along at a fast pace. Recommended!

Wow! What an interesting read!

Marin was out with her son, Sebastian (bash for short) and he was kidnapped! Fast forward a little over a year and her husband is having an affair, she can’t stand to lose someone else so she goes to extreme lengths to insure her future with her husband. The twists and turns in this book were unlike anything I’ve ever read. Definitely reminded me of a great lifetime movie!