Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier.....all I can say is WOW! This was a great psychological thriller that kept me guessing from page one and didn't stop until the last page! Hillier does an amazing job of keeping you guessing and lets little secrets out from time to time without giving up her biggest secret. Little Secrets is about a mother, named Marin, who looses her son close to Christmas while out shopping. He seems to disappear into thin air. What happens next can't be seen as judgement to anyone, because what would any of us do if our child disappeared? So many secrets were revealed and secret lives that each had been living. Did it cost them their child? And how do you go on if you never find your child? So many different situations arose in my mind that quite frankly, I hope I never have to experience in this lifetime. I loved the writing and the ease which the book flowed. I actually devoured this book over a two day span in between working and all. The setting in the pacific north west is an amazing place! I highly recommend this book to others and I will be looking for other works by Jennifer Hillier. She did an amazing job with this one! Special thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
@StMartinsPress #NetGalley

In a crowded shopping area, Pike’s Marketplace in Seattle, on the Saturday before Christmas… “all it took was a lollipop, a Santa suit and 4 minutes” for the world to irrevocably change for this mother, dragging her into an abyss she never imagined. Maybe for the father too, as it explores the myriad of emotions this brings about and how each person grieves differently but just as deeply. Marin and Derek are the parents, wealthy and successful. Expecting a ransom request they wait, and wait and wait. It never comes. Why? Where could little Sebastian be? Who has him and what are they doing to him?

Little Secrets? Seriously? They sound pretty BIG to me. I’m still reeling from all I never expected as this story unfolds. Wow. This, of course is emotional, how can it not be when a 4-yr-old child disappears off the face of the earth in the few seconds it takes to answer a text from his father.

I was totally blown away by the construction of this novel and the talent it took as a writer to choreograph this masterful effort into one we just can’t let go of, even when we need sleep desperately. This was one of my fastest reads in some time, but it captivated me so that it was well worth losing a few hours sleep over. I never saw the ending coming like it did.

I don’t want to say anymore about the plot as it is just too deliciously calculated and must be experienced. The characters are intriguing, if not likable. You will come across a few whose eyes you want to scratch out or worse, but that’s all in the thrill of reading this psychological thriller. For me this was an introduction to author Hillier, but you can bet I want more. Jar of Hearts sounds dark and twisted, but tantalizing.

Predicting Little Secrets will be at the top of the charts when it’s released in April, 2020. My sincere thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and of course the author for my complimentary copy of this dynamite novel. All opinions are my own.

Fabulous read! This is the second book by Jennifer Hillier that I have read; the first being Jar of Hearts. Hillier is easily becoming a new favorite of mine.

I absolutely loved Little Secrets. I was completely pulled in after the first chapter. The character's are written in a way that it is easy to become emotionally invested. I was immediately drawn to Marin, feeling completely heartbroken for her. I found myself rooting for her and then wanting to scream at her throughout the entire book. Like I said, emotionally invested.

With each page, I found myself clenching my hands and holding my breath, never knowing what was going to happen next. The twists and turns Hillier takes you on in this novel are nothing short of thrilling.

5 out of 5 for Little Secrets. Jennifer Hillier does it again!

Thank you to Netgalley, Jennifer Hillier, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for a free ARC copy of Little Secrets. Releasing April 21. 2020.

First off I feel like I should say this, I enjoy mystery books the most when I go in blind with it. My friend is a major mystery reader so I pretty much just read whatever she tells me in this genre without knowing much about the book. I think going into this book blind like that made me enjoy it that much more. This story hooked me early in and kept me wanting more and more all throughout. I know some of it was predictable but I also found the ending to be surprising and twisty. Maybe I just went in naive with this but I really had some OMG moments with this one. It was really well written and flowed so well. The revelations were done nicely and all in all I just really enjoyed the whole thing. I found myself not wanting to put it down. Definitely worth the read!

Content warning: sex scenes, some profanity
Trigger warning: infidelity, suicide, abduction, murder, loss of loved one

4.5 stars!

This is one fast paced and engrossing thriller! I adored the writing, the tempo, the setting, the twists, everything about it!

I really think this one will be huge in 2020. So enjoyable - highly recommend!

Wow, just wow. I enjoyed Jar of Hearts but this was on a whole different level. I finished this book with tears streaming down my face. A book that is suspenseful, surprising, and evokes such strong emotion is really rare. This was an excellent read and I really enjoyed it.

I'm a big fan of Jennifer Hillier, so I couldn't wait to read Little Secrets! After her son goes missing, Marin's life is torn apart, and her world is upside down. She barely talks to her husband, and she can't focus on anything but finding her son. Sixteen months later, she's still working with a private investigator, hoping for a break in the case. When the PI finds out her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman named Kenzie, Marin decides to take things into her own hands. Kenzie can't get away with trying to steal her husband. 

I will admit, that lately I've been burned out on "missing child" books, but this one worked phenomenally for me! I loved that the book had two overlapping stories happening. One more focused on Marin, and her attempt to grieve for her missing son without giving up hope, and the other where she finds about about her husband's affair, and feels nothing but rage and anger. These plot lines intersect and interweave, and I loved it. 

I don't want to give anything away, because I feel like Little Secrets is a must read! What I will say is that I love the way the story was told. We had chapters from both Marin's and Kenzie's point of view, which I really enjoyed. Both women have their faults, and both women compare themselves to the other, so I liked seeing that play out. I also really enjoyed the reveals in this book! There are just enough layers unwrapped that the reader can figure things out on their own if they are paying enough attention! 

I rated this one 5 stars, and can't wait to see what Hillier writes next!

First, I want to say this is the first book I have read by this author and it was a fantastic book. Lately, all the psychological thrillers except for a few have been obvious and so unrealistic, that this book was truly a treat to read. Once I picked it up to read, I couldn't put it down till I finished it. The book revolves around a couple who have their child kidnapped. The parents are devastated and this takes a terrible toll on both parents especially the mother. In the time period in which the child is kidnapped Marin, the mother hires a Private Investigator and after about seven months after the kidnapping, the P.I. notifies Marin that her husband is having an affair. From that point on the twists and tuns are unbelievable. I do not want to give away any spoilers but I never saw the end coming or even suspicious of the culprits involved. I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC for an honest review. I want to thank net galley for this ARC and if I could I would give it 10 stars. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers with twists and turns then this book is a must read!!!

Well, this was a great of a book.

It gets quite devious and what happens will definitely surprise you.

This is extremely suspenseful and, while you won’t like some of what our characters do with their lives, most of them are ultimately relatable. Kind of: you may hate what they do, but you don’t hate them.

This is the kind of popcorn read that you simply won’t want to put down until the very end…and then you’ll be disappointed that it’s over!

A truly fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Jennifer Hillier, for allowing me an ARC of the book for a voluntary review.

This author has a winner!!

I absolutely loved everything about this book, from the first page to the last.

The author has a beautiful written and suspenseful book, based upon things that could happen to any of us at any time. The amount of seconds it takes for Sebastian to disappear, in such a short amount of time, and then for Marin to find out that her husband is having an affair, really wakes Marin up.

The story is very well written, suspenseful, full of wondering and sometimes anger and I thoroughly enjoyed it! 5 out of 5. Can't wait for the next one by Jennifer Hillier.

Marin and her husband Derrick are a prominent couple. He runs a business making energy bars that made $30 million last year and Marin is known for her celebrity clientele and owns several high-end beauty salons. Sebastian, their four year old son is the center of their universe. On a busy shopping day in an open air mall days before Christmas, Sebastian goes missing. She only let go of his hand for a moment to respond to Derrick's text and Sebastian was gone. Almost a year and a half later, all the leads have dried up and the media are chasing other stories. Marin is a shell of her former self and can't stop believing that it is all her fault. Her marriage has devolved to just two people occupying the same house. Most of the time he is away on business and she kind of prefers it that way. When the PI that Marin hired without telling Derrick asks her to come meet at her office, Marin is terrified that it is bad news about Sebastian. Instead, the investigator stumbled across something while following another lead...Derrick is having an affair. This news breathes new life into Marin. This twenty-four year old art student with pink hair named Kenzie cannot be allowed to destroy what is left of Marin's family. While commiserating with her best friend Sal, he jokes that he knows a guy if she wants the problem taken care of. Marin is intrigued because she knows that Sal has some unsavory connections. She hires the hit man and then changes her mind, but events are set into motion that will lead to Marin discovering what really happened to her son.

When Marin and her son Sebastian venture out to complete some Christmas shopping all it takes is one second of Marins lack of attention to cause her son to go missing. Of course Marin is panicked and starts looking all over but he’s nowhere to be found.
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Over a year passes and there is still no sign of Sebastian. She is overwhelmed by grief and her marriage to her husband Derek is in peril. She continues to blame herself and wonder how her son could simply vanish.
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This book was absolutely fantastic and I had such trouble putting it down. All of the characters were amazing. The book had a terrific mix of sadness, thrills, and mystery. Parts of the book also made me think about the book The Arrangement (don’t want to give any spoilers)
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I loved the fact that I had no idea how the story was going to end. I highly recommend the book to everyone. I have been waiting for a really good story for awhile and this was it. It comes out in April 2020 and you should definitely think about buying it.

Very reminiscent of Greer Hendricks’ and Sarah Pekkanen’s An Anonymous Girl, Hillier excels at putting the reader in the head of two women whose lives have been twisted by the men in them. Tactfully utilizing deception, humiliation, lies, manipulation, and kidnapping (!) — each in a surprising new way — the characters in Little Secrets are everything you don’t want in a relationship.

Primary protagonist Marin Machado has it all (doesn’t every woman at the beginning of a thriller?), until one day her son is abducted in a busy shopping market. After a grueling investigation, he still hasn’t been found. A year and a few months later, Marin’s life is in shambles. She and her husband barely speak, she’s lost interest in her successful salon, and she’s dealing with crippling depression.

Marin soon learns from the private eye that she hired behind her husband, Derek’s, back that Derek is trying to move on — with another (much younger) woman, McKenzie Li — a juicy twist, if a bit predictable.

After months of being consumed by nothing but thoughts of her son, Marin is relieved to have somewhere to focus her energy and rage: right on McKenzie. It takes her one day to make a decision that will change the course of the lives of all the novel’s characters in unexpected ways.

Little Secrets has all the best elements of a thriller and twists I honestly didn’t see coming. I gave this one four stars, however, because the element of women bringing down other women is ~real~, and that really took away from my enjoyment of the narrative. Write a thriller about a woman who wants to murder her husband, not his mistress, thriller writers! Or better yet, make it a lesbian couple! Marin and McKenzie both get their chances to be better at various points in the novel, and although it took me a bit of eye-rolling to get there, this one is still worth the read for those who love a good twisted thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t even know where to start with this one! Took a bit for me to get going with it. Not because the story was lacking or how it was written. Hillier’s writing style makes for an easy read, made it easy for me to connect to the characters & really feel them in the book, almost like I could see the characters as I was reading. How they’re described and how they speak- it was like
I. was. in. the. book!

At first for me it came across as your every day couple, perfect parents with the perfect child in their perfect life. Even in the beginning Marin just didn’t do it for me, she just reminded me of a soccer mom meets Real Housewives or something. Meh give me some excitement! Didn’t take long though as soon as they lost Sebastian you find out who Marin is deep down. You get to meet Marin’s inner demons & find out her own secrets she’s harboring. I just couldn’t stop reading, where is Sebastian?! How does Mackenzie fit in to this mess?! With every character introduced and twist in all their separate stories it gave me book anxiety ha. I didn’t really expect anything until at least 3/4 of the way into the book which I like, I hate when I’m able to guess what’s happening early on. Sometimes authors don’t do a good job of going between characters, I’ll find myself forgetting where the last character left off when they bring it back to them. Not this book, perfect separation of the characters and still maintaining their connections. This is everything I want out of a book/thriller, kept me on my toes and had me rooting for some of the characters. Not sure what I think about ‘part’ of the ending but I guess it goes with the nature of the book & Marin’s character. And am I the only one that was hoping for an alternate story for Sal & Marin? With how the book ended I’m glad I didn’t get it because it was necessary, but as a different ending/different version of the story..😊

My first Jennifer Hillier book and oh how I am hooked, I’m going to have to read some of her other books now and see if they’re just as good as this one!

Huge thank you to netgalley for approving my first book with them, so appreciative!!! I am pretty excited my first netgalley was a five star to boot especially when my last couple reads were just ‘ok’ ⭐️

#netgalley

Absolutely the best psychological suspense novel I’ve read in years. Twists and turns galore, but never unbelievable, which I appreciate! With surprises around every turn, you will have trouble putting this down.

I so enjoyed this fast paced psycho-mystery. There was a lot going on throughout the book – a kidnapping, illicit affairs, possible murder-for-hire, extortion, connections among acquaintances, and, of course, secrets.

The author did a great job keeping it all straight along with keeping the story moving. It was a page turner from start to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Little Secrets. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it. Good work, Ms. Hillier.

From the very beginning this book gripped and held my attention. The tragedy of losing one's child is the understandable impetus for Marin's extreme and sometimes dangerous behavior in her relentless search for her son. What she ultimately finds is both soul crushing and unbelievable.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC for my free and honest opinion.

All I can say is WOW! This book had a lot of twists and turns and it kept my attention to the very end. I would definitely recommend this book if you like fast paced thrillers!

From beginning to end, this book was amazing. I was hooked from page one. This is my second Hillier book- my first was Jar of Hearts which was an amazing read too. I highly recommend it to any thriller fans. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

Little Secrets
I don’t usually read or like mysteries and thrillers, but somehow this book caught my attention. Seeing all the five star reviews, I was wondering if I was reading the same book and it just confirmed for me why I don’t read mysteries. I found this book boring a lot, I didn’t feel that all the characters previous sex life added to the story and found the huge ransom payments unbelievable. The ending was also very predictable. Overall, no more than two stars for me.
Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced copy.