Another success for author B. A. Paris! Ever since reading The Breakdown, B. A. Paris has become one of those authors whose books I eagerly await. The Dilemma takes place over the course of a single day – Livia’s much planned for and anticipated 40th birthday party. Tension gradually increases throughout the day, as the reader becomes privy to a series of family secrets and misunderstandings between husband and wife, Noah and Livia. Told in alternating points of view, readers are required to sit back and wait patiently, with breath held, for the ultimate moment when each realizes that the excuse 'ignorance is bliss' is no longer true and all the family's secrets are revealed.

This book took forever to get into. It literally took me 4 months to read. I have previously loved all the books I've read by B.A. Paris so I jumped at the chance to read the ARC for the newest book. This one was just not what I was expecting. The story seemed to take forever to get started. By the end (around the last 20% of the book) it was finally to the point where I didn't want to put it down. I probably should have just added it to my DNF shelf, but I kept hoping it would get better.

Maybe I just couldn't relate to the characters. Or maybe it wasn't my style of suspense that was in the story; I have no idea. One thing I didn't enjoy was the switching back and forth between Adam and Livia. I always get confused when there are multiple POVs to the story. My brain just can't handle it I guess. The dilemma, which is mentioned in the title, ends up being 2 different dilemmas in the end and seeing how those came together and affected everyone involved is what finally made the story interesting to me.

I don't want to recommend this book, but I also don't want to say not to try it. It might be the greatest story for someone out there.

I really wanted to love this book, but sadly I did not. The Dilemma did not have a lot of mystery/suspense to it. I felt like B.A. Paris could have a few more curves to make the obvious, less obvious. The characters could be frustrating at times, a long with their dilemmas. I will say the ending did bring a few tears to my eyes and B.A Paris' writing makes this story easy to read.

Read this from netgalley. It was a good story about a daughter dying in a plane crash the day of her mom’s birthday party. The truth about her daughter having an affair with a married family friend comes out. The whole story is really about the 24 hours starting from the morning of the party. It was a quick read and an interesting storyline.

Livia and her husband Adam have never had a proper wedding celebration. Livia parents pretty much disowned her 20 years earlier when she became pregnant before marriage, in turn, they missed out getting to know their two adult grandchildren. Now Livia is about to celebrate her 40th birthday and a huge celebration is in the works to make up for the wedding she never had .

Here's the "dilemma": both Adam and Livia have a secret they've been keeping from each other. They don't want the secret to spoil the party as the guests are to arrive within 24 hours.

The story is told over a period of 24 hours in alternating chapters from Livia and Adam's POV. Initially, I couldn't wait to find out the "big secrets" but, soon I became frustrated by how the story began to drag and by how annoying the key characters were acting. I really looked forward to this suspense thriller. I've read everything this author has written and had enjoyed both the writing style and the pace of her earlier novels. This latest offering seemed so unrealistic and, even though it got off to a good start, it ending up being a letdown for me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC of The Dilemma by B.A. Paris to be published on 6/30/2020.

Adam and Livia are married and have two children; Marnie and Josh. Marnie lives in Hong Kong and Josh lives with his parents and is starting to plan his future. Livia never had the wedding that she had hoped for. She has been saving her money and planning for a 40th birthday party for years to make up for it. The day has arrived. It is the day of her 40th birthday party. Adam, her husband, has planned a surprise for Livia that she will receive at the party. However, on the day of the party Adam receives some horrible news. Livia discovers some shocking news as well. Both Adam and Livia spend the day internally struggling as to whether to share their discoveries with the other. Neither of the them wants to ruin the other’s happiness; especially on the day of the party; what a dilemma it is for both of them. The chapters of the book alternate between Adam and Livia as they share parts of their past and present day lives that help the reader understand what a “dilemma” they are both facing in regard to the information they are both holding secret The story will culminate the day after the party and they will be left with yet another “dilemma”; how do they proceed with their lives?

Although, not your typical B.A Paris read, this book will keep the reader wondering how it all ends for this family as the suspense slowly builds from the beginning to the end. B.A Paris has written another great book!!!! No “dilemma” on my part; I highly recommend it.

I have heard great things about previous books by this author so I was so thrilled to read this. The premise had me intrigued from when I read it and I was not disappointed.

The Dilemma takes largely takes place over the course of one day, a day Livia has been planning and looking forward to for years. But Livia has a secret that could destroy relationships. Her husband, Adam potentially has one of his own.

I was hooked reading this. I thought it was well paced and I was always wanting to continue reading to see where things were going next. The characters were interesting and well fleshed out. I really enjoyed the writing and the style of the book, and am even more interested in checking out Paris’ other work.

I would not classify this book as a mystery/thriller as it seems to be. I loved the drama of it and it feels much more like a family drama than any mystery or thriller. I think the labeling of it as such did make me keep wondering if there was going to be some surprise twist or shocking ending so I was a bit disappointed when there wasn’t, though I did enjoy how it ended and think it fits the story appropriately.

I knew when I saw this on netgalley I had to try to get my hands on it. I love B.A Paris. My favorite is The Breakdown and Behind Closed Doors. This wasn't on par with my favorites but it was still a suspenseful (if I could call it that? I'd classify it as a Family Drama) read. I did find myself getting bored a bit and skimming because the story wasn't kind of stagnant. I still love her writing and the way she moves a storyline.

I’ve enjoyed other books by the author but this one dragged on for me. It takes a long time to get to the point and then it feels almost anticlimactic. Meh.

I was anticipating this book for so long. I am a huge BA Paris. The book did not compare to her other novels. The protagonist, Adam, was extremely frustrating the entire novel. I waited and waited for something big to happen and felt the story remained flat. The added in story line of the affair went nowhere.

I love the author’s novels, so I was really excited about this one. Unfortunately, I was expecting a domestic thriller and got more of a family drama, which is not a genre I enjoy. Both main characters are keeping secrets that cause high tension through most of the novel, but the plot lost me once everything comes out into the open. Then, the suspense disappears and all we’re left with is yelling, crying and a lot of drama. Granted, there is a powerful reason for all this but I wasn’t too invested in what would happen because I just didn't like the characters. At all. Now, I can empathize and care about a dislikable character, but Livia is shallow and selfish. A woman whose main goal in life is and has always been throwing a big birthday party for herself at 40 is too unrelatable. I’m sorry to give this book a negative review, as I loved the author’s previous novels, but I have to be honest.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ St. Martin's Press!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Dilemma. This book was not what I expected at all. I loved Behind Closed Doors and had high expectations for The Dilemma, and it did not disappoint. The Dilemma was unlike any psychological thriller that I have ever read. I have read other reviews that criticize this book for being labled as a thriller, and I disagree. It is a thriller. but not the typical who-dunnit thriller. This book exposes the lengths that one will go to protect those they love even if it means hurting them. While I felt the book started slow and the narrator, Livia, to be pretentious and entitled, I couldn't put it down. By the end, I was left with compassion and empathy for Livia and have been left thinking about the book long after reading it. This book will challenge what readers expect from thrillers but in a good way. I give the Dilemma a strong 4/5!

I am well aware that a good thriller requires a certain amount of miscommunication to move the story along but the lack of communication between this husband and wife was unbelievable. Page after page of the same old tired trope of a couple not talking to each other. Adam and Livia are keeping massive secrets from each other all for the sake of a party. It’s a wonder their marriage was able to survive as long as it has.


Livia has spent 20 years planning this party for what she claims is a do over for the wedding she never got but it just came across as revenge on her husband and parents. She can’t get over being “wronged” by her husband, who bought a motorcycle without asking when they were first married and her parents who disowned her when they found out she was pregnant. Too much time was spent on Olivia whining about her parents cutting her out of their lives. This had no significance to the overall plot and only served to make her look selfish and immature. Her reaction to her husbands reveal of the secret he is keeping is completely over the top. I assume that B.A Paris wrote it this way as part of Olivia’s way of dealing with the grief felt in the situation but UGH I just wanted it to end. At this point I couldn’t take Livia’s narrative any more and just skimmed the last 30 minutes of reading time focusing only on dialogue.

The book takes place over the course of one day and the chapters are broken up into hours going from before the party starts until the big reveal at the end. Instead of increasing the tension this only made the book feel long and dragging; a reminder that all the crap going on could have been wrapped up in a shorter period of time. There were so many unnecessary attempts to increase the drama. This book could have been edited down to a short story or novella.

I found this plot differed a lot from the other books I’ve read from this author and is definitely not my cup of tea. I have a couple more of her books on my TBR cart and am still looking forward to reading them. I remain hopeful that she returns to the dark gritty storytelling that I enjoyed in Behind Closed Doors.

Good, easy, quick read. Would recommend to anyone who likes suspense. I have loved every single one of BA Paris’ books!

I must admit I am quite conflicted with this story. The Dilemma didn't turn out to be anything like I expected. And while that's not a bad thing since many books I read don't turn out like I expect them to, this one just left me feeling unsettled. I don't feel like I can completely comprehend what all I just read.

Perhaps it's because I had previously read Bring Me Back by Ms. Paris and that one kept me glued to the pages, a true psychological thriller, in my opinion. The Dilemma is being marketed as all types of "thriller" but I didn't find that to be the case at all, it's more a women's fiction story, I would say? With all that aside, I really struggled to stay invested in the story, mostly because so much of it felt repetitive and slogged down with filler. I just wanted to get to the meat and potatoes of the story and I had to force myself not to skip ahead to what felt like it was important information.

So both Livia and Adam are holding on to some pretty big secrets. Livia's secret that she's not telling Adam until after her 40th birthday party she's been obsessed with having for years now, really didn't seem like the earth shattering end of the world thing she was making it out to be. But every person feels differently about things they find out, so I didn't begrudge her that too much. The secret Adam was keeping WAS monumental, and yes I understand your wife has been dreaming of this party for half her life, but his news was way more important than a party that could have been rescheduled to any other day.

The lack of communication between this husband and wife felt like such a huge part of this story, and I felt myself wanting to shake both of them on multiple occasions. I felt a lot of frustration throughout this book, which really detracted from my enjoyment of this story. I think I set my sights too high on this one after enjoying the previous book so much.

The ending just sort of left me sad, too. Life is going on for Livia and Adam, but is it going as well as it could be, had they just told each other those secrets early on? We'll never know.

Overall, this book had a lot of promise, but I think personally for me, this one didn't live up to my expectations. I am still a huge fan of Ms. Paris and I look forward to reading more of her stories in the future.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

Adam and Livia’s marriage started out rocky. After knowing each other for a very short time, Livia became pregnant. Her parents literally disowned her and had nothing to do with her or her family for the next twenty years. This was always a hole in Livia’s heart, not being able to share her life and the lives and accomplishments of her children with her parents.

The communication or lack there of, within this marriage, makes this book painful to read. How could they be married this long and survive with the poorest of communication skills. Each main character has a ‘dilemma’ or problem situation they are holding back from the other. In doing so, they feel as though they are ‘taking care’ of their spouse and his or her feelings.

The book is mostly written as dialog between people. There is little action.
Most of the plot goes on in the thinking and the heads of the main characters.

Some readers might enjoy the interaction of all the characters. This just was not the book for me.

This author has been a little hit and miss with me, I've read all of her books. In my opinion, this one is NOT a thriller, but more of a family/relationship drama.

The entire novel centers around a twenty-four hour period and a married couple- Livia and Adam. The story revolves around Livia's 40th Birthday bash. Her daughter Marnie won't be attending. I was extremely frustrated at both of them to the point of wanting to scream at them. Livia was unbelievably obsessed with this party and Adam, well, he drove me insane with his actions.

I was getting frustrated and at the same time wanting to know where the missing daughter was and why these two parents weren't sharing what they knew! They just continued their "partying".

I did enjoy it, but there is quite a bit of repetition with the same events being repeated over and over caused much skimming because I was tiring of the party shenanigans, but I also really wanted to know about Marnie.

I was compelled to keep reading and find out the answers to my questions... Where was Marnie? What is going to happen? Is she going to show up at this party?

I won't spoil the ending, but I will say, it wasn't the end I expected. I'm sure Paris fans will enjoy this one, but for me it was a bit lacking in the execution and left me feeling a little bewildered. Really.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This story, for me, was a difficult read. Lots of hand wringing, secret keeping, constant worry and self reflection. Dialogue was sparse. About halfway through I started skimming just to get it done. Just not my cup of tea.

I am a B.A. Paris fan, so getting my hands on any book of hers is always a pleasure. I am drawn to her books because of the suspense and tension of each book.

What I Liked:
The majority of the book takes place over one day, which I really liked. Paris was still able to weave exposition into the current story, without it taking anything away from the story.
The book is told from the perspective of Adam and Livia, husband and wife. They each have a secret they are coming from each other, both regarding their daughter Marnie, and it was interesting to get the view from each of those characters.

What I Didn't Like:
The suspense in this novel is of a different sort than Paris's other novels that I've read. The tension gets built by the characters revealing more and more information to the reader, and by the characters developing more guilt as the story continues. Adam spent quite a bit of time reflecting on whether or not he could reveal his secret to Livia, almost to the point of me feeling exhausted with his constant back and forth. By the time he told Livia, I was more than ready for it.

Overall, the parts of this novel I liked far outweighed the parts I didn't care for as much. I definitely recommend.

I was surprised by this book and how it evolved. There are two dilemmas going on throughout this book. There are two main characters (who are married) and each has a dilemma. I thought that in some parts it kept going on as to whether or not they should share their dilemma, as well as how it would affect the other person, and their family members.

B.A. Paris is an amazing writer. This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be compared to the other books by this author. It's still interesting to read and I'm glad that I did. I think I felt frustrated in some ways by both main characters and wishing they would hurry up and share their secrets. It shows how holding a secret or secrets in can not only hurt you, but others in the long run. Yes, they were trying to protect others feelings, but sometimes that can back fire.

There were a lot of secrets in this book, too. Those were definitely surprising! If you have a takeaway message for this book, let it be that it is important to share what is going on so you don't have to go through it alone as well as how best to forgive others. It heals not only you, but other relationships as well.