Livia is turning 40, and this is a party that she's been looking forward to ever since her wedding- which wasn't everything that she dreamed that it would be. Today is the day for everything to go perfectly and according to plan- until it doesn't.

This book wanders away from the type of books that B.A. Paris has written in the past. Yes, it is suspenseful, but this is more of a family drama suspense. This book is about keeping secrets from one another. Secrets from husbands, secrets from wives, secrets from fathers and daughters. This book is about the things that families do in order to protect one another from pain.

I really wanted to like THE DILEMMA more than I did. It was well-written, engaging, and there was never a dull moment. It was written in chronological order, hour by hour, and as the hours ticked on I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. Perhaps the reason that I personally did not like this book as much as I wanted to was the gravity of one part of the subject, and my disagreement with one of the characters keeping a secret from the other members of the family. While I could understand the character's point of view, and why they chose to keep the information a secret, I did have a hard time with that portion of the story. It just seemed too monumental to keep that piece of information a secret.

While this wasn't my favourite of all of B.A. Paris' releases, this is still a worthy read and a fascinating dive in to one family's inner workings.

This was a slow slowwwww slow burn. I struggled a bit and it wasn’t too thrilling. I was hoping for more. If you like a family drama with secrets and poor communication leading to a “dilemma” or two then pick it up!

I can't help but say that I'm disappointed by this read. While I went in with high hopes for a thriller, the entire book made me incredibly frustrated and left me with a family drama instead. The entire premise hung on the fact that a husband and a wife couldn't properly communicate with one another, which was perhaps what irked me most...

The book is told from the alternating perspectives of husband and wife, Adam and Livia, over the course of 24 hours and a bit beyond. It's Livia's 40th birthday party, a night she's been dreaming of for half her life. Though her college-aged daughter Marnie won't be there to celebrate, she can't help but be glad because of a secret she's keeping from Adam (who has a secret of his very own).

It's worth noting this is my first B. A. Paris read, so perhaps I was wrong to have this expectation, but I wanted twists (or at least a good one!). Instead, I was just left feeling exasperated at the main characters and their exhausting inner monologues and lack of communication. I did enjoy the short chapters, though some of them were full of descriptions we didn't really need. Like another review I read mentions, you could skim pages and pages without missing a thing (which is exactly what I did with the last 10%).

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a family drama story and not my usual genre. I picked up this book because the author typically writes thrillers and I read a lot of those. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be about a husband and wife’s inability to communicate about the important stuff. That being said, it actually is a page turner. The story is tense and griped me pretty quickly. The book is one I’ll be thinking about for a while. I thought it was interesting that the author chose not to have any first person accounts from Marnie even tho the book centers around her actions. This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Thx to a Netgalley, Macmillan publishing and B.A. Paris for this ARC. I’ve read them all, and this one was pretty good. My head was a bit turning in circles as to what these characters were thinking and how they acted upon their thoughts . Can’t say I loved this one, but I’m a big fan of this author so I read any and all of her works . Still a 4star because even though it did confuse me to their thought process, but the author pulls it off in the end,

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me a copy of this ebook to read and review.
I have read all of B.A. Paris's book and was expecting more of a thriller along the lines of her first three books. This one felt like a relationship book. I did enjoy reading it, I felt it was well written and the characters well fleshed out. I just had a hard time getting into the story.

This is not a thriller but more of a family drama. Livia is turning 40 and has saved for years for a birthday party because she never had a wedding. Her parents disowned her when she got pregnant and married Adam so they have never been involved in her life. Adam did not seem to be a very good husband or father for the early years of their marriages. Livia discovers a secret involving their daughter Marnie and she knows she should tell Adam but is holding off until after the party. Marnie is supposed to come home for the birthday party as a surprise to her mother but there is a plane crash and Adam does not know if Marnie was on it or not. Adam does not want to mention it to Livia because he does not want to spoil her party. I enjoyed the book until about the two-thirds mark and then reading it became tedious. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I have to thank St. Martin's Press for sharing this Advanced Readers Copy of The Dilemma with me! I always find B.A. Paris's books to be totally gripping, the kind of books that I devour in one sitting, so I've been looking forward to this for a while.

The Dilemma follows Livia and her husband Adam on the day of her 40th birthday. As what's meant to be their perfect day, a day to make up for their dream wedding that never was, unfolds, Adam is faced with an awful dilemma and their family will never be the same.

Based on Paris's other thrillers, I thought The Dilemma was going to be a thriller but it isn't at all. Instead I'd describe it as a marital drama. I think I'd have enjoyed the book much more if it was marketed that way and I didn't spend the entirety of the book waiting for the real excitement to start.

As a marital drama though, The Dilemma is quite good, although I'll be honest – the question at the heart of the book seemed pretty cut and dry to me, not like a serious dilemma at all.

I wanted so badly to love this novel since I have loved other B.A. Paris titles but unfortunately, I just didn't love it. I felt bored throughout and was struggling to stick with it. The ending was sad mixed with happy, which was nice, but I just felt like there was so much unnecessary jargon to get to that point. I predicted a lot of it from the beginning. Thank you St. Martin's for the E-ARC of The Dilemma.

The Dilemma is the latest book by BA Paris. Livia and Adam were married young due to an unexpected pregnancy. Livia always felt that she had missed out on her big wedding. She decided to give herself a blowout party for her 40th birthday. A few weeks before the party, Livia learns something about their daughter that she doesn’t share with Adam. She feels bad not telling Adam but is afraid it will ruin the celebration. The day of the party, Adam learns something about their daughter. He decides not to tell Livia because he wants her to enjoy her party. Adam thinks it might be the last time Livia will be truly happy. The story goes back and forth between Livia and Adam on the day of the party. I gave it three stars because the “woe is me” – “what should I do?” dialogue got old. It is an interesting premise. I’m happy I read it but I enjoyed her other books more.

Livia and Adam and their children Josh & Marnie.
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It is Livia's 40th birthday and a big party is being planned, however everyone in the family is harboring a secret, thus the dilemma..

Livia's secret is that she has learned her daughter Marnie is having a n affair with the father of Marnie's best friend.
Adam's secret is that he knows Marnie is coming home from Hong Kong to surprise her mother.
Josh's secret is that he doesn't want to do his internship where his father has arranged him to.

When Adam goes to pick up the gift for Livia he checks the news on his phone and sees a report.about an eyewitness explaining a flight crashed just after take off at Cairo's airport.
Marnie's flight was delayed so he th8inks Marnie couldn't have been on that flight.

After checking the new periodically that day and night he learns that Marnie was on the plane the plane that crashed. How3eveer he decides not to tell Livia this as he wants her to be happy for a few hours longer and enjoy her party.

When Adam tells Livia he has something to tell her about Marnie, she thinks he knows about the affair, he tells her about the plane crash, He is furious that he didn't know about the affair and Livia's furious that he kept the news about Marnie until after her party..

Josh decides to take a different internship..

Livia and Adam eventually find their way back to each other through their shared grief..






.

When I initially saw this book was being released, I thought it would be a thriller. I think it's more of a family drama fiction type of novel than a thriller. I still really enjoyed this book, and there were definitely some plot twists, but having read B.A. Paris' other three novels, it was not what I would have expected from a thriller.

Some of the things I loved about this book were the pacing and the characters. I loved the altering husband and wife’s viewpoints leading up to and shortly after the wife’s fortieth birthday party. Each character is struggling with their own secret and when to tell the other, but not wanting to ruin the party, which made this book much more of an emotional read than I was expecting, because I could definitely feel for both of the characters! I also enjoyed reading about the internal struggles of each parent as the connected more with one child than the other, and the challenging relationship between father and son and the wife's relationship with her parents.

There wasn’t necessarily anything I didn’t like about the book, I just don’t think it is one that’s going to stick with me or one that I will remember six months from now.

Y’all, this is a non-recommendation. Lol. Maybe for the first time ever.

I received an advanced copy of this book and I always love this author. In fact, Behind Closed Doors was one of my favorite books a few years ago.

But this book?? UGH.

It centers around a woman who is all caught in her husband throwing her a huge 40th birthday party and the whole book takes place over 24 hours. He has a secret, she has a secret, and the whole time, I was screaming in my head, COMMUNICATE!!!!! to them.

It’s completely unrealistic, the plot seemed contrived, it just is a no. It was a no for me the entire time.

My dilemma was that I love this author and wanted to love it and just didn’t at all.

I don’t know if I’ve ever given a book only ⭐️⭐️ but this would definitely max out at 2.

I am already looking forward to the next one by this author!

The Dilemma is about a woman named Olivia, her Husband Adam and their two children, Josh and Marnie. Olivia has been planning her 40th birthday party for years as a replacement for the wedding celebration she never had. Marnie is currently living in Hong Kong and is flying home to surprise her Mother for her party. Only Adam, her Father, knows that she is coming home. When Adam hears of a plane crash out of Cairo, he immediately checks Marnie's flights. It's possible that she was on the flight, but with her connecting flight being late, Adam hopes she missed it. All day of the party he is a mess trying to keep the secret from his wife because he does not want to ruin her big day. Meanwhile, Olivia has a secret of her own. She knows that Marnie had an affair and miscarriage with someone they both would not approve of and this would ruin all their close relationships. There are only a few twists to the plot in this book. I found that it dragged on going back and forth between points of view and getting to the point about whether or not Marnie perished in the downed flight and telling Olivia about it. This book was also very different from other books I've read from B. A. Paris. Usually they are extremely thrilling and have an extreme plot line. I found this one to be a bit dull compared to the others. I would still consider it worth the read as it was a good story. If you are looking for something similar to the other's by this Author, don't be surprised when this one is not what you expect.

So, this is weird to review. I have been reading Paris for about a year now and this book really doesn't fit in the thriller category in my opinion. This is more of a "drama" book which isn't really a bad thing, but there's no real thriller here. Mystery fits since you don't initially get what is going on between the married couple (Livia and Adam). The back and forth POV for them worked well, but have to say that the whole ending didn't work for me. I don't know if Paris was going for irony or what when you find out that once again several people know the truth about something, but not all parties do. The big dilemma in this book was really surrounding secrets Livia and Adam were keeping from each other.

"The Dilemma" follows married couple Livia and Adam. The two married young and had kids, Josh and Marnie. Livia is excited to be celebrating her 40th birthday and has been setting aside money for years in order to get the celebration she always dreamed of. We quickly find out that something is going on though between Livia and Marnie. Livia is ambivalent about her daughter returning from her study abroad in Hong Kong to come home for the summer. Adam though is very excited about Marnie returning and has a secret up his sleeve for his wife's birthday celebration. He and Marnie have secretly planned for her to return in time for the party. However, something terrible happens and we follow Adam and Livia as they both keep something from each other. That is ultimately the dilemma. What would you do in similar circumstances?

I have to say that I didn't really get a fix on Livia or Adam. They both needed therapy. They are both happy, but have strained relationships with their children. Paris sets things up a bit better though so you can see why Livia and Marnie's relationship became strained. Paris shows us an incident between Adam and Josh that just shows Adam to be a jerk though. I also think that they should have showed us more interaction as a family. We kind of get plopped in the middle of this story and have characters thrown at us. For example, we get the set-up of the core friend group via a couple of paragraphs. Maybe it would have made more sense to show flashbacks to them all. I am not one to push for flashbacks here, but it just felt like the book was veering off into separate storylines which did not all come together until the end of the book when things were revealed.

The flow was up and down. Switching between Livia and Adam just changed up the tone of things. Also since we know what secret Adam is keeping it just made things worse for me as I was reading since I did not get his reasoning at all.

The book's ending really did not resonate with me at all because of what I said earlier. After characters realize the fallout from keeping things from each other, they went and kept things that another character should have been told. I hated the reasoning behind it and thought it was kind of BS honestly.

The Dilemma by B. A. Paris is a wonderful read!! Beautifully written, a heart-stopping, heart-rending drama and a family where each member is complex and relatable, this book held me captive from the beginning.

Adam and Livia are happily married with two children, Josh, 22, and Marnie, 19. Josh is about to start an internship, and Marnie is currently studying in Hong Kong. The story is told in both Livia's and Adam's voice, and occurs over the course of three days; the day of Livia's 40th birthday, the day after and one year later.

Livia has been planning a big celebration of her 40th birthday for years. She didn't get to have the wedding that had been planned for her, and she has always wanted a special day, both for herself and to celebrate her relationship with Adam. The day is finally here and she is so looking forward to the party she is throwing tonight!! All of the important people in her life will be in attendance except her daughter Marnie. But Livia is actually relieved that she won't be here. She must share something about Marnie with Adam; she's born the weight of this knowledge alone for months and plans to finally tell him tonight after the party. He has to know.

Adam has something he needs to tell Livia too, something that will devastate her as much as it has devastated him. After much thought, he has decided to wait and tell her after everyone leaves. He wants her to have the party she's dreamed of and planned for so long before he takes her happiness away.

This is a well-done character driven novel. It is emotionally charged and brought me to tears. I loved it! I don't give 5 star reviews often or easily, but there was no doubt in my mind on this one!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

I love anything by B. A. Paris and this was no exception! Love, family, secrets and betrayal all wrapped up in a mystery until the very end. The beginning was a little slow at times but the second half of the book kept me hooked the entire time because I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. Relatable characters and an imaginative nightmare of a story line! Great book!!!

#NetGalley #The Dilemma #St. Martin's Press

The story is told in the alternating voices of husband, Adam and wife, Livia. Years ago Livia's parents refused to give her a big wedding because she was pregnant out of wedlock. They haven't spoken to Livia in years and have never met their two grandchildren. Livia upset over not having her big wedding has saved money for years with the plan being to have a huge birthday party when she turned forty. It is now the day of the big party and both Adam and Livia are keeping a huge secret from each other, enter the dilemma. Both are trying to wait until after the party to spill their secrets, each not wanting to ruin the party for the other. The entire story takes place in the space of one day and night. This was a good story, it held my attention but it did seem to be a bit slow in parts.

Dilemma by B.A. Paris Reviewed on May 25, 2020
This is my 4th B.A. Paris novel. I read and loved “Behind Closed Doors”, The Breakdown”, and “Bring Me Home” all earning 4 stars from stingy star me!!!

I was looking forward to the next Ms. Paris novel. but yikes the reviews are all over the place.
After reading it I totally understand.

Yep not the typically psychological thriller that I was expecting but a “family drama”
.Hmmm wonder why the title isn’t called “The Party”.
I “get” that Livia wanted a party as she felt robbed of her dream wedding so has been saving for 18 years to have a party that she feels she deserves.

I am so so sad to say that this story was too much of a slow burn for me.
Reading about the party ~24 hours of it ~before~ during ~ and after!!
However, it just wasn’t a fun party to read about~ there is some sad family drama happening.

So this psychologic thriller fan was disappointed, however, I have no doubt that the next B. A. Paris will be to my liking!

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 30, 2020

Holy page-turner, Batman! B. A. Paris has established herself as THE go-to for a fast, thrilling story. I picked this up one Saturday morning and had read it within 4 hours. Her signature formula for writing short chapters with a hook at the end makes readers want to read “just one more chapter” all the way to the end and the “what would you do” plots is what sets her apart from other psychological thriller writers.

This particular story frustrated me. I didn’t like the characters and felt like they were self-centered and sometimes childish. My mother is just like Livia; focused on her own desires at the expense of her children’s happiness. I think that made it too real for me, seeing inside this mother’s head. That took away from me really enjoying this book, but I will continue to read Paris’s work, regardless of this one and its triggers on me.