Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of this novel.
Expected pub date: April 21, 2020
Marin is a successful hairstylist with an elite clientele, and her husband Derek is a hard-working entrepreneur. After several bouts of IVF, the two are blessed with a son, Sebastian. While out at the market one day, Sebastian disappears, last seen leaving a parking garage with an individual dressed as Santa Claus. Marin, of course, blames herself and her relationship with Derek is left in shambles. Refusing to give up on her son, Marin hires a private investigator to continue the search for Sebastian that the FBI and police have ceased. When the PI uncovers secrets about her husbands’ activities, it leads Marin down a dark road where even darker secrets are revealed. Could her husband possibly have had a hand in the disappearance of her son? Is Sebastian still alive?
“Little Secrets” is the newest novel by Canadian novelist Jennifer Hillier. I am a huge fan of Hillier’s creepy horror novels, such as “Jar of Hearts” and “Creep” and although this one was good in its own right, I would classify it more as a domestic suspense as opposed to outright horror like her previous novels. That being said, “Secrets” has just as much drama and intensity as any other Hillier novel.
Marin and Derek are characters, for all their flaws, are both suffering the loss of their child. Though both characters are not entirely likable at all points in the story, it is this fact that generates pure sympathy for them both. Their honest and dysfunctional marriage breakdown is heart-wrenching and emotional, as both deal with their grief in very different ways.
The story starts hot and keeps going, and it held my attention from the beginning. Although the plot has some predictability, in general there is enough suspense and surprise to keep the pages turning at a rapid pace. The outcome is predictable as well, but oh-so-justified and satisfying. Well-told and emotional, full of suspense, with authentic characters dealing with very real struggles, “Little Secrets” will put you through the emotional wringer and have you at the edge of your seat.

Just finished reading Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier, and thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish!

Great writing with lots of twists and turns. I really like this author's style of writing. I had previously read her book " Jar of Hearts", and will definitely look to read the rest of her books

Thanks you to The NetGalley team, St. Martin's Press, and the author for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I am also from Toronto as is the author, and currently live on the west coast in Vancouver BC. I often visit Seattle - so the setting of this book was very realistic to me.

Great book!

#NetGalley

Holy moly...this might literally be my favorite book that I have read this year. It’s definitely in the 1st or 2nd position. I have loved all of Jennifer Hillier’s books, and was absolutely thrilled when I got approved to read and review this one. I had no idea how much I would actually love it.

16 months ago, Marin and Derek’s young son, Sebastian, is kidnapped. Marin understandably falls apart in the aftermath. She attends a support group, has a therapist she doesn’t like going to, and has had moments of self-destruction. Then one day, the PI she hired to find Sebastian calls her to let her know of a revelation...Marin’s husband, Derek, is cheating on her. No matter what, Marin will not lose another person in her life.

LITTLE SECRETS is so gripping that I literally just spent 5-6 hours reading it because I couldn’t put it down. The story is so well written, and the characters are fully fleshed out. There are many twists and “a-ha” moments that I couldn’t fathom. I warn anyone who reads this that you will be hooked from the start and all the way through the emotional conclusion (I had a tear or two in my eyes).

As a bonus, “The Vanishing, with Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and Sandra Bullock has always been one of my all-time favorite movies...very disturbing and suspenseful. I was thrilled to see it discussed in this novel and how well it fit into the character’s thoughts.

If this isn’t one of the most talked about books of 2020, I will be truly shocked.

Thank you so much to author Jennifer Hillier, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an ARC.

Little Secrets Review
Unfortunately, Little Secrets by Jennifer Hilliard doesn't cover any new ground. A child disappears, the mother blames herself and attempts suicide, the father has an affair, all ends well. Within that framework, the reader is treated to blackmail, prostitution (or professional girlfriends if you prefer), ransoms, voyeurism, stalking, rampant social media, and general lying.

The premise is solid but Hilliard gives away most of the secrets in the way her story unfolds. There is no nuance. The hints/clues pretty much hit you over the head when they're revealed. The book is an enjoyable but predictable tale that will entertain the reader and make you want to read her other books.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really want to give this book 5 stars. I fell in love with this author after reading Jar of Hearts and then I went back and read all her other books. I think the bar was set SO high with Jar of Hearts - this kind of let me down. There were some aspects that I really loved, such as the main female characters. I love how the author was able to make me feel empathetic toward a mistress. I enjoyed the PNW setting and the attention to detail. But the whole thing was really predictable. I feel it is a “who done it and why” kinda book - The Who was obvious from the beginning. The “why” clicked by halfway through the story. After that, I feel it dragged on. It’s worth reading, but not my favorite book of this year.

I absolutely loved this and stayed up until 3 AM to finish it. Terrific, richly drawn characters in an emotional maelstrom that kept me whipping through the pages. Amazing twists in the suspense had me gasping and talking to the pages. Hillier gets better and better with each book.

Why I loved it: Y’all. This book was incredible! It has all the thing I love in a mystery and thriller without the gore. The characters are well developed which really propels this novel into another level. I thought maybe I had this book figured out toward the middle. Let me tell you that in a way I did....but not in a way that I expected and that was so refreshing for me! I found myself sitting on the edge of my chair reading the last couple of chapters. I just had to know what happened. This should definitely be added to your TBR pile!
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Rating: 5/5⭐️

Everyone is hiding something in Little Secrets, but none of their omissions are small- in fact most are enormous and all are shocking. That perhaps is the biggest irony of Little Secrets-for a relatively slim novel it has a boatload of twists-each tied to the other by the thinest of threads but taken together they pack an almost seismic punch. Marin is with her four year old son Sebastian at Pike Place Market in Seattle a few days before Christmas. When Marin is momentarily distracted by her ringing phone Sebastian slips from her grasp and is never seen again. Video shows Sebastian leaving the market with a person dressed like Santa Claus, but no leads develop and the case goes cold within weeks. Over a year later Marin and her husband Derek remain grief stricken and are basically strangers living in the same house. Without telling her husband Marin hires a private detective to help find her son, and while the PI finds nothing new regarding Sebastian's disappearance, she does uncover something else...Derek is having an affair with a much younger woman. This news pushes the already fragile Marin over the edge, and she becomes determined to save what's left of her family, no matter the cost. Little Secrets starts out slow, but the momentum builds with each page, culminating into a barn burner of a thriller. While your head will be spinning from each new revelataion, once you finish Little Secrets you'll look back and think "why did I not see that coming?" Kudos to Miss Hillier for writing an intensely satisfying book that is both gut wrenching and spine tingling-it's predicted to be one of the best selling mysteries of 2020-and there's nothing little about that.

There was nothing little about the secrets this book had. I have been impatiently waiting for Jennifer Hillier’s next book to come out. Jar of Hearts is one top 3 all time favorite books. It was the first book I read my this author and I was blown away with how good she writes. This book did not disappoint. It was different, less graphic, more of a domestic thriller vs. serial killer book.
It starts with a missing child, a husband and wife’s secrets, and a plot and outcome that you will never guess. You will not be able to put this book down. And Jennifer Hillier, please write another book. I will be impatiently waiting.

This was another hit! Loved the story line and the suspense carries through the end! Five stars!!! I love her books

Wow!! That was certainly a twisted page turner!! This was so very good!! It kept me guessing to the end. Definitely add to your list! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

Marin is shopping for last minute Christmas gifts with her 3 year old son, Sebastian. She is looking for that special gift for one of her friends, while Sebastian is pulling g away from her to go get a lollipop. She wrestling with him, looking at her list, and trying to answer a text message from her husband, Derek, who is waiting for them at the food truck. Then she receives a call from her longtime ex-boyfriend, Sal. In the process of trying to juggle all of this, she notices that Sebastian has managed to escape. She becomes very frantic and panics, when she can’t see him anywhere. She calls her husband and tells him she has lost Sebastian. Because both Marin and Derek are well known and somewhat wealthy, their story made the national and international headlines. The couple offered a one million dollar reward for the return of their son. The security tapes show her son walking calmly out the front gate holding the hand of Santa Claus and holding the lollipop that he has been yelling about. A year and a half later, there was still no word on their son. The FBI had basically put this case on the back burner. Marin has been taking pills and drinking to get through the days. She has also been attending a group of parents that have lost their children. Derek has shut down and won’t talk to Marin about their son. Marin owns 3 salons and eventually returns to work. She only cuts VIPS hair and celebrities. She manages to get through her days, but she will not give up hope that her son is still alive. No ransom was ever asked for. Who would be so cruel as to take her small sweet Sebastian? Why did they take him? She just can’t understand it. To top things off, the P.I. that she has hired to look for her son, finds out that her husband had been having an affair with a twenty something pink haired girl. Her friend Sal, who was her former boyfriend from college, encourages her to hire a fixer to take care of the problem. What will Marin do? Will she hire the fixer? Will she pay him a half million dollars to take care of everything? Will she confront her husband? Is this why he has become so distant? Will she ever find her son? What an spine tingling psychological thriller this book is. I loved every minute of reading this book. The plot was definitely genius. I never would have thought of it. The character development was very well thought out, and displayed all the emotions and flaws of each person. The reader could definitely relate to each one. You have to read this book!!

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier was a gripping thriller about Marin, a mother living with the loss of her son, Sebastian who was kidnapped 16 months ago. One day, the Private Investigator Marin had hired shocks her with the news that Marin's husband has been cheating on her with a much younger woman. As Marin discovers more about her husband's affair, and considers solutions to her problem, she begins to uncover more information that may lead to the truth about her son's disappearance.
I became engrossed in this story from the first chapter. I could relate to Marin's loss of her son, as a mother myself, as well as her anger towards her husband. I highly recommend readers clear their schedule for this one, as you will not want to stop once you start! 5 stars!

Marin and her husband were living a perfect life...success, love, and a beautiful little boy... until, in a matter of seconds, he disappears. Marin’s life falls apart. Her every thought is consumed with finding Sebastian. After a failed suicide attempt, she moves through the motions of her life just trying to get through each day. Her best friend calls her every morning to ask “You alive?”
Then one day, when she thought nothing else could go wrong, Marin discovers her husband is cheating on her with someone much younger. This knowledge consumes her and she sets out to save the little bit of family she has left. Little Secrets is an intriguing tale with lots of surprise twists and turns. Five Stars for the thrilling suspense!

I read Creep and Freak by Jennifer Hillier years ago and found them disturbing and page-turning. Hillier is a thriller writer that is willing to “go there” so to speak, meaning scenes could be graphic and disturbing but she didn’t hold back. I found that to be less the case in Little Secrets, it was more of a traditional thriller that plays nice. However, that said, the writing is very good. The dialogue never feels forced and she handles changing who you feel the “bad guy” to be quite deftly without me ever feeling mislead by the main characters. Instead the remain relatively trust worthy narrators despite questionable morals which i don’t think is easy to achieve. This was a very solid thriller with exciting plot twists. I would recommend to anyone who loves this genre.

After Jar of Hearts, I'll read anything Jennifer Hillier writes and Little Secrets was one of my most anticipated titles for 2020. This one lived up to expectations, a dark and gripping twister that I sucked down in one huge gulp. Jennifer is master at creating complicated, flawed characters who feel 100% human and relatable, and Marin was the star of this one. I loved her, I fussed at her, I cried and cheered for her. A riveting, terrifying thriller.

This was a very engaging and entertaining book. It kept me on my toes throughout the novel, eagerly awaiting what would happen next. I definitely recommend to anyone who loves a good thriller!

A five year old boy is kidnapped by Santa in a Mall. His mother blames herself and falls apart to the extent that she attempts suicide. It is now sixteen months later and she, though still fragile, is roughing her way through daily life without her son when she, through the detective she had hired to look into her son’s case, learns that her husband has been having an affair for six months. She looks up the mistress, a 24 year old graduate student with pink hair, and decides she is going to do something about this. I won’t go into details because of spoilers, but will let you know the reader learns more about her, her husband, her best friend and the girlfriend in each chapter of the novel. The secrets don’t come out until the climax. The lies of commission and omission come out then too. It was gripping reading. Thanks to Net Galley and Minotaur for an ARC for an honest review.

How am I going to read another book after this one?

I love when a book forces me to stop and take a deep breath just to be able to continue. Little Secrets is gripping and heartbreaking. It hooked me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. I read it every chance I could get and wow, it did NOT disappoint.

I suggest not reading much about this one before jumping in. The story is worth unfolding as you move through it. I admit, I’m sometimes a wanna-read-spoilers kind of girl but, thankfully I didn’t search out any on this one! Also, this book is full of AMAZING quote-worthy material!

It is certain to remain on my top reads list for a long while.

You know those books that just suck you in, and won’t let you go? Jennifer Hillier’s Little Secrets is that book. Centered around a successful mother whose devastated after her young son goes missing, this sharp domestic thriller also tackles infidelity — and the aftermath. Hillier is a master at storytelling, and this book falls right in line with her others. A must read in 2020!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.