Wow, what a great story! I can't believe the book took place in just a little over 1 day. I really loved the relationship between the main characters and how the story was told from two different points of view. Although I was a bit frustrated with both characters at times, I get why they each did what they did and loved how much they loved each other!

This was a great read, but I would expect nothing less from this author! I enjoy books that are written from two points of view because I feel that I know the main characters a little better and am not as invested in just one side as things unravel. The only bad thing about reading this is that now you will have to wait for the author to write their next book! B.A. Paris just has a gift and it is always a pleasure to read their books!

I usually love BA Paris's annual tomfoolery, but this one really missed the mark for me. Not nearly zany enough, a shame because I love her style of zany!

This was one of those books that just kills you. Absolutely dead. But written so well that you just have to keep reading. The subject matter is so heartbreaking and you just keep reading, hoping for the "right" outcome. Really good.

I loved the first BA Paris book- not enough stars in the sky to rate it. This book- not so much. It dragged a lot and was very repetitious. Part of the problem was it took place all in one day at the wife’s 40th birthday party. Both spouses had different horrible things they were holding back from each other. At any rate, I found it hard to believe both books were written by same author! It still am thankful to NetGalley for allowing me to read the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book takes place in one day. The family it’s centered around is getting ready for a 40th birthday party. Needless to say everyone is hiding a secret that’s going to come out and ruin this party. This book was very different from the authors previous works. I’d call it more of a slow family drama than a true thriller or mystery. Even though it’s my least favorite of this authors, it’s an entertaining and well written book. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the chance to read this book for an honest review.

I always enjoy a good B.A. Paris book and this one was no exception. This is the story of Liv and Adam as well as their two kids, Josh and Marnie, who are now grown. Liv and Adam had their kids very young and missed out on some things in life, including the big wedding that Liv dreamed of.

Now that life has moved on and the children have grown, Liv is throwing herself a 40th birthday party. She says she has been planning this for years and while some may think that seems a little frivolous, Liv admits she also may be subconsciously making up for the wedding she never had.

However, Liv is keeping a secret. It's something she wishes she didn't know about her daughter and doesn't want to tell Adam because she knows the devastation it will bring on him and their tight circle of friends. In the meantime, Adam is living life normally and helping Liv get her party off the ground. He wants everything to be perfect for her.

Then, something happens (not spoiling it here) and now Adam finds himself not wanting to confide in Liv. Now the couple is at a crossroads with each other and neither of them know it. What follows is (what I thought ) a roller coaster of emotions and the ramifications of when secrets are kept.

I really enjoyed this book. Again, without giving too much away, I found I was holding my breath for a certain outcome. I know I read some reviews where some people thought there would be no way Adam could have kept what he knows to himself and that it was weird that he did. However, I feel the author did a good job in describing Adam's motives in doing what he did.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this. I found myself quickly reading and wanting to get to the bottom of things. I wish SOME things would have turned out differently, but I thought it was a good read. Releases June 2020. All opinions are my own and no review was required.

My finger’s couldn’t quit turning the pages.

The wife has a secret. The husband has a secret. And that is The Dilemma by B.A. Paris.

Livia was the wife. Her character was annoying to me. All she focused on was her 40th BD party. I quickly got tired of hearing about it. Adam was the husband. I enjoyed his character even though he obviously favored their daughter, Marnie, over their son, Josh. There were several secondary characters to follow and they all wound through each other to create am awesome story about secrets.

The emotions while reading this book was a bit crazy. On the one hand you have a celebration going on, and then you start learning about the secrets Livia and Adam are keeping from each other, and your emotions go all over the place. Even though I got tired of hearing about Livia’s 40th birthday party, it was an integral part of the story.

There were many characters to follow through the book, but it was still an easy read. It grabbed my attention the minute I started reading. The writing was very good, and kept my fingers turning page after page.

If your a fan of Mark Edwards, you will love this book. It has the same kind of “I can’t put down this book” feel to it.

Thank you to NetGalley, B.A. Paris, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star book.

I found this book to be an emotional read about love, secrets, family, good intentions, grief, and forgiveness.
This book alternates between Livia and Adam’s POV and takes place in the span of one day. They each have a secret they are keeping from the other involving their daughter, Marnie. One parent is struggling with a secret that will affect not only their family but their entire group of friends and coming to terms with disappointment in their child. The other is holding something in because they know once it’s out everything will change and they want their spouse to have a few more hours of happiness.
Overall I enjoyed it but I struggled with some of the storyline. I love this author and can’t wait for her next one!

This was a book about a married couple with two secrets that they refuse to tell each other due to hurt feelings. I found this an interesting character study but I was more bored with it than I was excitedly reading it. It's very disappointing, because I'm such a big fan of B.A. Paris.

The Dilemma is one day in the life of husband and wife, Livia and Adam. The story is set around the 40th birthday party that Livia has been planning and saving for almost 20 years. Having gotten pregnant as a teenager, her parents disowned her and she never had the wedding she dreamed about, so this party was supposed to make up for that. However, Livia is keeping something from Adam about their daughter Marnie that will change how Adam sees her. He has always doted on Marnie; they have a special connection that Livia is afraid once Adam knows the news might jeopardize that. Adam is also keeping something from Livia; at first it is a surprise he hopes she will like but slowly morphs into a secret that he isn’t sure even he wants to know.

I have always been a fan of B.A. Paris’ work. This particular one I was unsure about the plot. I thought I knew what the secrets were and did not understand why it was such a big deal for this particular night. Why did they have to tell each on the night of the 40th birthday party? The buildup was slow but once I realized that I was wrong about what the secrets were I could not put the book down, I had to know what happened. Overall, I enjoyed the last ½ of the book; it left me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened. There was a lot of extraneous material that I was not interested in, because I just wanted to know what happened. I felt as if there was material added to just make the book longer but was not needed to move the plot forward. Is this Paris’ best book; not in my opinion, but it is a good read once you realize what the actual secrets are.

I have very mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately have to rate it 3 stars because it caused me extreme anxiety lol. Seriously though, I have a feeling this book might be a bit disappointing to B.A. Paris fans because it's not really a thriller at all. I'd definitely categorize it as a family drama that takes place over a day.

I don't want to give too much away (you learn a lot early on, but because the book summary doesn't say much, I don't want to give too much background either), but The Dilemma takes place on the day of Livia's 40th birthday. She's dreamed of her 40th birthday party forever and her husband, Adam, wants to make it absolutely perfect for her. However, both Livia and Adam are holding secrets from each other that they know they need to share... But both feel like they should wait until the party is over.

OK, so the secret Adam is holding onto is a pretty big one that needs immediate attention. I can be a serious procrastinator who often manages to carry on with a "no news is good news" or "ignorance is bliss" mindset. But Adam's secret? No way. I couldn't understand why he was making the decisions he was. Livia I understood a little more, but also as a character, I could not stand her. I don't require likable characters in the books I read and often love books with unlikable characters, but she just felt over the top to me. What 40 year old is so obsessed with having a birthday party? I also hated how she jumped to so many conclusions without having information. People in this book needed to communicate way better.

Normally, I love a book that has me turning the pages and I admit I read this SUPER fast because I had to know what was going to happen. But not really because I was enjoying it; more because I had serious anxiety about it. I mean, many would say that it takes true talent for a writer to create that kind of anxiety in a reader and I do agree and think B.A. Paris is an incredible writer... But it's just not the mindset I like to be when reading. Instead of enjoying the book, I sped through it just to see if what I thought was going to happen would happen.

I definitely think this book will find its audience and may even help Paris find a new audience. It's well-written and obviously got me feeling things. It's just not really the book for me!

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved B.A. Paris's <u>Bring me Back</u> and <Behind Closed Doors</u>. The endings were so breathtaking, the plots so twisted!

In <u>The Dilemma</u>, we have a married couple who are keeping big secrets from one another. B.A. Paris' writing is always intensely captivating and draws you in so that you can't put her books down. But in this case, I found that all that drama about Marnie's "misbehaviour" (I don't want to give any spoilers here) was a bit over the top. Yes, poor Jess was very ill and all, but this sort of thing is happening all the time. I've stopped being shocked by the sexual exploits of the very young. In fact, I've come to expect it: everyone feels free to sleep with anyone, whenever the desire arises: its a regular Jerry Springer show!

The emotional roller coaster in this novel can leave you a bit low here and there. The different points of view (Livia and Adam) created a lot of overlap: you often see the same scene played out, but from Adam's and Livia's separate points of view, which got a bit wearying after a while. (At one point, I wondered whether this was a way to extend the length of the story, because, action-wise, there wasn't much else going on except all except for the highly anticipated birthday party, then the "incident of the terrible news" and the revelations of the secrets Livia and Adam had been keeping from one another.

I'm going to rate this one a 3.9 out of 5, rounded up to a 4, because the writing was very good - as you would come to expect from B.A. Paris. This as a good read for people who enjoy slow building suspense and high emotional drama. (Slight spoiler alert: Get your hankies out!)

I wanted to love this book because I've enjoyed other B.A. Paris books, but this one fell flat for me. First off, I would not label it a thriller, it was more fiction family drama. I kept waiting for something surprising or even interesting to happen, but it just didn't. Everyone in this book had a secret and even though they were a close family they didn't confide in each other and that just bothered me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I truly enjoyed this book!
The author did a great job at giving hints here and there about the outcome, but it was never overly obvious.
It did keep me turning the page and I never got bored as I do with some suspense and thrillers!
Overall I’d give this book 4 stars! It was a great read, but I didn’t love that a lot of the issues were characters lack of communication(although that is SO many books, if we’re being honest)!
I’d definitely recommend it to a friend who’s interested in a gripping thriller!

This book gutted me. The author did an amazing job stringing everything along. Deep down, you know how it will end but you just want to hold onto that little bit of "maybe". Amazing, heartbreaking, tragic.

Fabulous book. Highly recommend

This was a fine read, and I enjoyed the suspense that builds throughout the book. I found the characters incredibly frustrating though as the entire plot revolves around them not communicating with each other. I was completely shocked by some of the truths that were revealed, as they were twists I never saw coming. Overall, I wasn’t happy with the character development or the ending. I was thoroughly disappointed in the outcome. Thank you to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I was so stoked to get an ARC of The Dilemma, by B.A. Paris - thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press! Look for this one on June 30th.

This book centers around Livia and Adam who married at a young age.  To make up for the wedding reception she never had, Livia is putting everything she has into throwing herself a lavish 40th birthday party. She is determined that everything is going to be perfect, but she and her husband are both keeping secrets from each other, ones they're holding off revealing until the party is over. ⁣
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When I first picked up this book, I thought it was going to be one of her signature fast-paced thrillers, but it's actually more of a family drama, and I struggled some with shifting my expectations.  This was slower paced, and I found my attention waning at times.  On the other hand, I also found myself not wanting to put this book down because I HAD to get to that big reveal.  I also found this book to be an emotional read (have your tissues handy!), and the tension I experienced was palpable as I waited for the ball to drop.  The very fact that I felt these things so acutely is the mark of a great writer.  All in all, I had mixed and contradictory feelings on this one, but I think many readers will love it, so definitely be looking for it on June 30th.  I'm super excited to see what B.A. comes out with in the future.
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I love this author!!!! But I was disappointed in this book. It was just way to slow moving for me and boring! I didn’t like any of the characters and just didn’t connect at all.

I think Behind Closed Doors, Paris’ debut thriller was fabulous. I will be honest and say that none of her subsequent novels have been that amazing, but The Dilemma was a particular disappointment. I think she can build tension well, but the revelation of the “dilemmas” was a let down. I just don’t think real people would have acted like the characters in this book. It’s hard to get past.