The Dilemma was a bit of a departure from B.A. Paris' normal type of thriller/mystery but still had me wondering how things would turn out throughout the whole book. While the tension was held throughout the story I do believe a couple of chapters could have been removed to streamline the story. I do have to admit I was hoping for a bit more vengeance toward one of the guilty parties featured near the end of the book. The Dilemma had be feeling tense all the way through but I was still eager to keep turning the pages!

Livia’s having a 40th birthday party – a grand, extravagant party of her dreams with her friends and family all with her. But as the day of the party advances, we learn of some secrets Livia’s been keeping, and she’s not the only one. I have to say, after a couple of misses by this author, she really hits home with this one. Lots of suspense, but without the gore or harshness of a murder mystery. I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough on this one. It’s good, it’s real, and it’s a little heartbreaking.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.
Livie has been planning her 40th birthday party for years. She learns a secret about her daughter just weeks before the party. Should she tell her husband Adam? Adam also gets some news shortly before the party. This is a book of choices, secrets and heartbreak.

This book grabbed me right from the beginning. The author does an intricate character study while writing a story that holds your attention throughout. So many secrets are kept and slowly revealed to the reader. The author tells the story hour by hour as Livia’s 40th birthday takes place through various voices. The tense moments keep you turning the pages as we examine the effects on the family and their friends.

BA Paris is a very talented author, and she again grips the reader with this novel. Although I much more prefer her other type of thrillers, I could not put this book down either. The plot was a bit hard for me for my own personal reasons, but I know others will enjoy this read. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to get a peek at BA Paris’s next novel!

I was a little disappointed with this book. I had high hopes because of other books I’ve read by this author. Sadly this one did not deliver for me. The build up started off good. I was intrigued but after reading for awhile, the thrill factor was gone. I started to feel like a lot of this could have been solved if people would have just talked to each other. Shrug. The book did have some good moments. There are definitely secrets and lies, one really good one but it mostly fell flat. This one wasn’t for me but anyone that is a fan, I encourage you to read it and form your own opinion. I will continue to read books by this author and look forward to the next. I give this 3 stars.

Secrets are something that will destroy. They are never a good thing to have and an even harder thing to keep. Even the strongest relationship can be destroyed by the littlest secret.

Livia has been planning her fortieth birthday party for years. Making up for the shortcomings that life has provided her, she has her eyes set on the perfect party for her big day. That becomes threatened when she finds out information no mother wants to find. Information that will not only change, but ruin lives as well.

Adam adores his wife. He has been completely on board with this party from the get go. Everything is working out to be the perfect day that Livia has so greatly craved. Then Adam's world comes crashing down. He becomes the sole informant on an event that will change life as he knows it.

With husband and wife each harboring their own secret the events unfold one by one. Leaving you reading page after page in search of the truth and the aftermath that the secrets will cause.

B.A. Paris has done a wonderful job of showing what one will sacrifice to keep the one they love happy....even if just for one more day.

I absolutely loved this story.. Not your usual B.A. Paris thriller, but nevertheless it kept me riveted the whole way through. In my opinion this book is aptly named. This book takes place over roughly one day, a short time span that I feel was well filled with the dilemma that one of the main characters faced..

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me my ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Livia has been planning her 40th birthday party for the past 20 years. Determined to make this the party she never had for her wedding, she’s pulling out all the stops. Catering, music, and a guest list of over 100. The only person missing, is her daughter Marnie. Livia has been keeping a secret about their daughter from her husband, Adam. She’s decided to wait until after the party to drop the bomb on Adam, but little does she know, Adam has found out news of his own, and when it comes out, their lives will never be the same.
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I struggled with the rating on this between 2.5 - 3 stars. I was really excited about getting this because I loved Behind Closed Doors. I hate to say, this fell short for me. It had promise in the beginning and I read 30% in the morning. While I did start and finish in a day, by the 60% mark I was ready for it to be over. By the 90% make and maybe 30 minutes left, I highly considered DNFing this one. I pushed through though because I had come so far. I think the biggest problem I had was that there wasn’t anything beyond the two secrets from Adam and Livia. Each of them held a secret and the rest of the book basically talks about how they’re keeping it from each other and the impact it’s going to have when it’s revealed. I RARELY skim while reading, and I found myself skimming quite a bit towards the end. I felt like I was reading the same things over and over. This is not one I’ll think of to recommend, but I strongly believe everyone should form their own opinion if they find the synopsis intriguing. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t for me.

1.5 stars! ⭐️⭐️

Watch out...I’m annoyed and it’s about to show!

This will definitely go down as one of the worst books I have ever read. Without a doubt the worst by this author. Y’all. The 4 and 5 star reviews are baffling to me. B.A.F.F.L.I.N.G. For the love of God, someone please explain what I must have missed here!

The Dilemma is basically a short story that is drawn out into 260 pages of nothing. Literally nothing. This book is the furthest from a psychological thriller that you can get. Family drama? Sure. However, there’s just not enough happening here.

I was hoping for some huge, shocker ending. Something to justify these fantastic reviews. Nothing. Disappointing!

I love B.A. Paris’s books. I look forward to the next one - this one was just a huge letdown.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and B.A. Paris for my advanced copy to read and review.

The Dilemma

BA Paris works her magic storytelling within a very tight setting. She’s able to create a wide-reaching tale — in this case a family saga stretching 22 years and involving a long list of characters and an even longer list of secrets — and keep it moving at a quick clip. The reader will want to push further into the saga and discover more secrets from more characters. One thing I didn’t understand was the utter importance of this party to Livia; could a birthday party really consume a smart, family-oriented woman like her with such force?
This is one of the first books that made me feel like desperately flipping to the back, to find out if what I feared to have happened really does happen; it’s so well-spun that I have to hold myself back from spoiling the solve! You’ll love the pace and will be quite satisfied with the author’s storytelling.

I liked but wasn’t crazy about this book.. it wasn’t my least favorite BA Paris novel( that is Bring me back) or my favorite of hers ( the breakdown) , but was a solid book that I mostly enjoyed reading. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

B.A. Paris is one of those authors that I can count on for a scarily good time. Her books always follow that line of pure intensity and I couldn’t wait for this to make me uncomfortable. But I instantly knew that something was off with this one.

It started off normal and slow and it ended the same way. Where was the shock factor? Where was the harshness? Where was that line of the unknown? We’ve got none of that here. It was like B.A. Paris was abducted by aliens and they wrote this book.

The Dilemma was an okay read because it kept me entertained for a little bit but it was her dullest book yet. I wasn’t impressed with this one like I was with her others. She should stick with the intense because this one just didn’t work.

I was very curious to read this story as its formatting is different from the historical fictions I most regularly read. It is a contemporary, psychological drama taking place within a 24-hrs period. One would themselves what can possibly happen in a day to be able to write a full novel on. Well, now I understand. And you will not be disappointed.

This is the story or Adam and Livia, a happily married couple, parents of Josh and Marnie. B.A. Paris takes the time to fully describe Adam, Livia, their personalities, who they are, and where are they from. This is very important as those are critical to help you understand the way events unfold the way they do and their resolve.

Livia is planning her 40th birthday party. A major event. She has been planning this party for about 20 years, since she never had the wedding she wished she deserved to have. But then something happens... and it will change their life forever.

If you like suspenseful, psychological dramas, you will enjoy this one. I could not put it down because I wanted to know so badly when the news was/were going to be announced and how will those affect all the characters (sorry, no spoilers here). The self-questioning of the two main characters was at times exhausting to read and they kept questioning themselves on what to do, “Should I do this? Or should I do that? But if I do this, how is it going to affect that person?...” but, despite the lengthy questioning, the plot is good, makes sense and makes you wonder what you would do in a similar life-altering situation.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press (my favorite publisher 💖) for this e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book was not what I expected. I have read several other books by B.A. Paris so I was expecting more of a mystery or thriller. What I got instead was a suspenseful family drama about family relationships. Even though it was a departure from the author's usual style, I still enjoyed it because B.A. Paris is a good writer whose descriptions of characters' inner thoughts and motivations make a powerful emotional story.

The Dilemma is more of an emotional family drama than a thriller which may disappoint some B.A. Paris readers but it really worked for me. I enjoyed the nuanced look at family and relationships and there was the perfect amount of suspense tied in.

Everyone in this book has a secret and the question becomes, are they keeping them to protect each other or themselves? This was a total page-turner and also had you asking yourself as the reader what you would do in these unique situations. Miscommunication and indecision are the main themes of this novel and I loved the multifaceted look at how decisions are not always as easy as they look at first glance.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy.

I normally really love the books B.A. Paris puts out but this one just really didn't do it for me. It will be Livia's 40th birthday soon and her daughter Marnie is set to fly in to surprise her. Only Adam, Livia's husband knows because he has been the one talking to Marnie about the flights she will be taking to get home on time from overseas. The only problem is...well, there is a dilemma. And not only on Adam's end. Livia also has a secret. This is a story with a lot of mixed messages and crossed signals. No one seems to be honest with one another except for the couple's son, Josh, who seems kind of confused himself because everyone is lying to him. The book also had a bit of a letdown ending which I won't spoil for any of you who are planning to read this book. Just not my cup of tea this time.

Thank you to Netgalley, B.A. Paris, and St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is not what I expected from this author. What can I say that won't be a spoiler, except this book will stay with me for quite a while.

There is actually two dilemmas in this book that are well written about. You quickly become absorbed in the lives of Livia, Adam and their 2 adult kids.Its an emotional tear jerker on sensitive subjects and tugs at your heart. They tell their deepest secrets to us in in this family drama but not to each other. Will their secrets that are ultimately revealed tear them apart or bring them closer together? You will have to read this book to find out.
This is the first of her books that I have read and several comments on Goodreads noted that this isn’t her typical writing style since it is a very emotional read. I will look for more of her books to read.
4 stars for the book being intense , a bit repetitive but hard to put down.

Thanks you to NetGalley, the author B.A. Paris and St Martin’s Press for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

To say I loved this book would be an understatement. I am a HUGE BA Paris fan. She is one of my top five favorite authors. This book was not like her other books. I had read that in several reviews and was nervous to give this one a try, but like always, she knocked it out of the park!