I recieved this book from netgalley and St. Martin's press in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely love B.A Paris and have read every single one of her books. The Dilemma is a switch up from the psychological thrillers I'm used of hers. This is more of a domestic drama with a hint of thriller. While it was totally different than I thought it would be, I throughly enjoyed and loved the story told from 2 different point of views between Livia and Adam. The layers of this story are so emotional and heart wrenching at times. I felt for both Adam and Livia as well as their entire group of family and friends!! 5 stars for me!

BA PARIS HAS A NEW BOOK. I have always loved B A Paris. Her books always twist and turn and the ending is What I didn’t see that coming. The dilemma is such a great disappointment. It is a vanilla book. With vanilla characters. It comes out in June so a good beach book. To waste time while you work on your tan

Livia never got to have the dream wedding that she and her mother always wanted because she got pregnant at seventeen and her parents disowned her and refused to pay for a wedding. Ever since, Livia had been tucking away money and planning for the day that she turned forty so she could throw a lavish party that would compensate for never having a wedding. Now she was turning forty and it was finally time. Preparations were made for an extravagant celebration and all of Livia’s family, friends, and co-workers were invited to the bash. Her husband Adam planned a big surprise for the celebration with their daughter Marnie’s help, and their son Josh had a few surprises up his sleeve as well. It seemed that the party would go off without a hitch, but then things began to unravel. There were several bombshells that threatened to ruin the day and as the party continued, the secrets started to drop in rapid succession. Like a game of dominoes, as each secret fell, it seemed to impact the next. Before the party was over, no one would be the same. This highly emotional novel demonstrates the secrets that families keep protecting those they love, and the repercussions that can result. Readers should be ready for a nail-bitingly tense read.

This was one book i could NOT put down. It pulls you in from page one and keeps you wondering on the edge of you seat.

I absolutely devoured this novel, ignoring all other responsibilities in life until I finished it. But it was funny because after finishing, I went back to Meggy’s review and noticed that although we both loved the book, it seemed to be for completely different reasons – which I always find exciting when a book touches readers in different ways!

As the blurb states, it’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she has been planning this elaborate birthday bash for twenty years. Yes, unfortunately, I said that this woman has been planning her birthday party for twenty years… Honestly, as soon as I learned that information, I almost stopped reading because I didn’t want to waste time reading about someone so narcissistic. Nevertheless, I pushed on – and I’m glad.

Anyway, I quickly learned that Livia is hiding something from her husband, Adam, but doesn’t want to tell him until after her party, for fear of ruining the last chance for all of their family and friends happily gathering together. My mind went a million different places, but once I realized it was in regards to their daughter Marnie, my mind went a million more different places. Guess what? I was completely wrong. Off the mark, nowhere close to what the real situation was. And I liked it.

Adam also has a secret, although initially, it’s nowhere near as serious as Livia’s. This is where I noticed a disconnect between myself and other reviewers. I was completely team-Adam from the beginning to the end of this novel. His secret was fun and exciting. Livia’s… Not so much.

Without hinting anymore about the meat of the novel, let’s talk about B.A.Paris’ outstanding characterization and amazing portrait of a normal, yet dysfunctional family. Rarely does a reader get the pleasure to meet such raw and honest characters. However, in The Dilemma, prepare to feel every bit of tension, joy, pressure, happiness, and sadness. Even better is the front and center theme in regards to lies. Lies are lies, regardless of intent. I struggled with this part a little bit, but a takeaway from reading this novel is – do not lie, even if you are planning a wonderful surprise for someone, do not lie. You want to surprise your family with a new car or a new puppy? Great! But don’t lie in the process. Want to get your loved one a secret gift or just do something nice for them? Wonderful, but don’t lie about it!

I saw a segment on The Today Show the other day and only caught a tiny bit of it but it was discussing lies in marriages. Even little tiny lies like “I’m five minutes away, almost there” when the person is actually still packing up at work can destroy a relationship. Then they went on to say that you should disclose any lies withing 12-24 hours of telling them. So is it o.k. to lie if there is good reason, such as wanting your partner to be happy? Is it o.k. to lie if you are planning a fantastic, amazing, fabulous surprise that you know will make your partner happy? You know, a few days ago I would have answered, “sure!” After reading The Dilemma, however, I may have changed my mind just a little.

The Dilemma is as relatable as it is shocking. Any of you out there reading this review could be any of the characters in this novel. Kudos to B.A. Paris for creating something so addictive and juicy, yet completely relatable and something I could honestly imagine happening to anyone. I’m only about 5 books in for 2020, but this is absolutely the best so far. Highly recommended!

*Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

My favorite book from this author! Totally not what I expected...the author kept me guessing the whole time.

This book left me overwhelmed with emotions. It should probably come with a trigger warning with regards to its subject, but then that will probably be a bit of spoiler. I have enjoyed the previous books written by BA Paris and this was no exception. This is by no means a thriller or mystery. it did not come with a blurb of it's own so I had no idea what to expect. It is more emotional and dramatic in a way. As you read this book you can feel a myriad of emotions. You can feel Livia's burden, confusion, anger, grief through each phase. You can feel Adam's burden due to his duty-bound behavior, the dilemma he faced in deciding what to do, his despair and grief too. The book is aptly named since!
As a mother, one can't imagine how torn Livia must have been between protecting her daughter and sharing her daughter's secret wit her husband. At one point I could not believe how a married couple had such important things that they kept from each other, and how it caused confusion when they assumed they knew what secrets the other was keeping. But it is not all that unbelievable. It happens, you want to protect the ones you love, you want "fix" things and so you give yourself more and more time before sharing things and life happens. It is not that hard to digest. I had my moments of frustration with the way Adam reacted, or did not do something as simple as making that phone call right away, but then again, each person processes facts differently and needs their own time to deal with emotions and logical, practical actions.
I have seen movies that made my heart wring and my head hurt, but the last 20% of this book made me spill actual tears, maybe because I could relate to the sadness this couple shared on a deep and personal level.
One lesson i learn though is that for any relationship to work, the lesser secrets you have the better, in the end the key to an easier relationship is to communicate, communicate and communicate!

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with the ARC for my unbiased review.

I loved Bring Me Back. Paris' writing style is effortless and engrossing, so I was thrilled to receive an eARC of The Dilemma from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.

I was no less disappointed by the writing in The Dilemma. Livia, a loving mother and devoted wife, is in the final stretches of planning a lavish fortieth birthday party for herself. Years of saving and months of prepping, hard work, and dedication lead to the ultimate dream party she's always wanted, and her husband, Adam, is determined to make it perfect.

Whatever it takes.

It sounds ominous when I type it, and that's exactly what I expected: ominous. Something disastrous, yet fantastical. A serial killer. A stalker. A long-lost sibling hell-bent on destruction.

What I got, however, was much more terrifying: wanting to be there for her mother, Marnie, decides to fly home from where she's studying in Hong Kong for the party, organizing the surprise with her father with the expectation of arriving at the party.

Only Adam knows she's coming, and when he sees that the plane Marnie was supposed to be on has crashed, he's the only one who knows of the potential devastation.

What ensues is a heart-wrenching look at what happens when the past and the present collide, when people show their true selves in the midst of tragedy, and how people deal with catastrophe and all the different layers. For this, I loved The Dilemma. Airing more on the side of suspense rather than thriller, I found this to be an emotional journey into depression and guilt. "Secrets," in this genre, have become synonymous with crime, murder, and obsession. The unreliable narrator instills this distrust where we think something horrible is going to happen because of an outside force or an intention to do harm.

Here, the villain isn't a manipulative stalker or a premeditated murder serving as a means to and end.
Here, the villain is guilt and how people cope with mistakes they make when they're younger. It's wanting so much to atone for the hurt you caused before you're unable to see the potential hurt you're causing.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and BA Paris has shown this proverb to be never more true than this story.

In spite of the beautiful sadness Paris creates, I had a really hard time getting over the lack of common sense. Adam draws out the purgatorial sense of doom for no reason. He ignores common sense. He creates drama for no reason. Nothing irritates me more than when characters choose to do something so easily solvable and pretend like it's not an option.
*spoilers*
Adam could've called the airline. The emergency number. He would've known right away whether or not Marnie was on that plane instead of hemming and hawing. I just couldn't understand why he wouldn't find out before he went to Marnie. Why he would've gone the most round-about way to finding out the information--even when someone tells him that's exactly what to do. Countless excuses of illness and lies when the answer was so simple. I wanted it to either be a more concrete reason to not touch base with the airline or to have him attain this information and hold on to it alone, struggling with the cold-hard fact that his daughter was dead and whether he should tell Livia before or after the party.

Overall, The Dilemma was a wonderful read. Well-paced, taut with suspense, and emotionally conflicted, add The Dilemma to your 2020 TBR if you love suspense that focuses on complex family relations, bloodless thrills, and hypothetical situations that leave you questioning your own choices.

I was so intrigued by this story, and yet completely disgusted with these characters at times. I had to keep reading though to find out what would happen with them. That is pretty much how I felt the entire read. It definitely held me captive, though it was a little drug out at times. It was such an unexpected story and I definitely look forward to more from this author.

I love BA Paris! This book was not at all what I expected. The characters were so relatable and could not figure out how to deal with the dilema they were both in. I did not expect what happened in the book at all. It was such a good read, and I totally devoured it in a day.

This book took me away from my typical genre. It was well worth it. It is definitely a tear jerker and makes you think about family dynamics, and your own moral compass. Great job!

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Who does it hurt more when you keep a secret, yourself or those around you? Livia, Adam, Josh and Marnie are a family. Each of them has a secret. They all tried to find the right time to tell their family what is going on in their life or a secret they know of another. Without going into much detail, this is a must-read book.

This novel differs from B.A. Paris previous novels. This isn’t a mystery novel or a thriller. This is about a family and the struggles that take a toll in each character’s life as they tried to find the right time to let go of this secret. Even though it’s not a mystery, there is a constant attraction of enigma that kept me reading. The characters are fascinating as they try to convince themselves why they should not tell others about what they know. There were so much emotions within this novel, I didn’t realize I was crying as I read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this fabulous ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so thrilled to be invited to read a galley copy of B. A. Paris's latest novel, The Dilemma. I got the invitation to read it, downloaded it, and read it all in a single day. I just couldn't put it down until I learned how the dilemma would be resolved. That night I had dinner with a friend and told her the basics of the story because I found it fascinating. A week later, I met another friend for dinner and did the same with her because The Dilemma was still with me. It's on both of their To Read lists now.

The beauty of The Dilemma is that it's such a simple story. Most of the book takes place in a single day. The primary characters are Livia, her husband Adam, and their two children Marnie and Josh. Marnie is a college student in Hong Kong, and Josh works in NY. The setting is Livia and Adam's UK home on the occasion of Livia's 40th birthday. Livia and Adam had had a quickie wedding when they were just teens, and she's always felt cheated out of that All-About-Me Day. So for 20 years she's been putting away money to save for a lavish 40th birthday celebration with all of the important people in her life, all of her family and friends.

Now the day has finally arrived, but both Livia and Adam each have a dilemma. Livia knows a secret about their daughter that will crush her husband when he finds out. Adam also knows something about Marnie that could destroy Livia and change everything for their entire family. What would you do? Would you be honest with your spouse and face the fallout or would you hold the secret for just one day knowing that nothing can be done to change the consequences anyway? One more day of happiness is the consequence of keeping the secret to yourself. Then again, when the secret comes out, will you be able to repair the broken trust that is the consequence of the secret you kept?

Paris's prose will pull you in tight and keep you turning the pages. I felt for both Livia and Adam, but you will be particularly empathetic for Adam and the decision he needs to make. As I said, it's a very simple story, but it just broke my heart. I loved every moment, and it has stayed me in the weeks since I read it. That's the hallmark of a great novel. Five bright stars from me.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic ARC of The Dilemma.

I should rename this book with my another favorite Led Zeppelin’s song name: “Communication Breakdown” or we may call it “Anatomy of Marriage” and deliver this heart wrenching, soul crusher, touchy story into talented hands of Noah Baumbach to turn this into a tear jerker movie. What do you think if we may have another realistic, memorable movie after Marriage’s Story.

I have to admit, I didn’t expect a dramatic family fiction when I started reading this book. When I saw B. A. Paris’ name, I thought I was about to devour a nail biter, eyes wider, grey cell crusher thriller story. So I may have given two stars after the disappointment but... I couldn’t because this is really good written fiction.

I truly loved Livia as a character, Adam and her marriage story made me cry, affected me deeply because in my opinion you’re not growing up till you get married and spend your life with someone, discovering yourself and learning more about your partner in crime! When you get married, you learn how to share, how to fight against tremendous challenges life is throwing at your way, because your marriage teaches you to be selfless, mature, logical. Mostly marriage also teaches you to be blind, mute and listen more, act lesser.

Livia and Adam were so young when they put their rings on and took their first steps to the parenthood when they were also young adults.

Livia is shunned by her family emotionally and financially. And Adam had real hard time to adapt his new life. He acted like spoiled brat/ baby boy who wanted to hang out and play with other boys, riding bikes, rejecting responsibility and put entire parenthood burden on his wife’s shoulders. He made so many mistakes and now he was adamant to pay his dues and atone his past marriage sins.

So our story starts at the 40th birthday party of Livia. She’s finally having quality time with loved ones and being pampered by her friends and family. But Livia is not really happy. She’s keeping a secret from her husband about her daughter. Her husband’s favorite, Marnie, their daughter, betrayed their trust and Livia is not ready to face to her daughter who is still in Hong Kong for her education. This secret could change everything about their family dynamics, their social circles and close friendships.

But guess what! Her husband is also keeping a secret, too. Their daughter is planning to make surprising appearance at her mother’s birthday. Adam is so happy and determined to compensate his faults and wrongdoings throughout their marriage by giving his wife the most special night she deserves.

Then he checks the news and finds out there is a plane crash and their daughter might be in very same plane. But he can tell it to his wife and ruin his day. Maybe their daughter missed the plane. Maybe she was alive, wasn’t she?
You wanna know what’s gonna happen? Go on and read it! It’s getting better at each page.

I enjoyed book’s realism about marriage, friendship, parenthood and the author’s way of questioning those matters with honesty. Only thing I didn’t like is the couple’s lack of communication because of their own reasons could be more frustrating than you could ever imagine.

And of course ending ripped my heart apart. So I’m giving my happily ever after four stars and recommend this heartbreaking journey to you. But please keep your napkins, tissues, any kind of tear driers closer and do not wail way too long like I did not to traumatize your lovely neighbors!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this meaningful ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published June 30, 2020.

I am so grateful to receive this early copy since B. A. Paris is one of my newly discovered favorite authors. This is her fourth book and the fourth one I’ve read.

The book centers around Livia’s 40th birthday party and takes place over 24 hours, being told in alternating points of view from the husband and wife. Each knows a secret and the chooses to withhold it from the other, but at what cost?

Review posted on GoodReads.

A decision that will change everything.
Knowing the truth will destroy her.
Keeping it secret will destroy him.

I've read several novels by B.A. Paris, but The Dilemma takes a very different turn from her previous work. The story itself is simple. A married couple, Adam and Livia, is celebrating Livia's 40th birthday, with their friends and family, in style...with a huge, high end party in their garden. The problem? They're both keeping life-altering secrets, and each is facing a dilemma as to when to break their news to the other.

While this plot doesn't seem particularly riveting, I nevertheless found myself glued to my Kindle, unable to look away from this train wreck-in-the-making. I found myself desperately, fervently hoping things would work out as the conclusion loomed closer and closer.

It's hard to overlook our protagonists' vexing decisions, and there were times I was muttering to myself, "Come ON." Yet, inexplicably, I quite enjoyed this book. Livia's party was a veritable boiling pot of emotion, and I simply couldn't look away. While I couldn't understand their choices, somehow, Liv and Adam were still deeply relatable.

The Dilemma is very slow burning, but it's also compulsively readable.

Feeling intrigued? If so, you can purchase your own copy of The Dilemma on June 30, 2020. I suggest you do. 3.5 stars rounded up.

**Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Wow! This story pulled me in from the start. Tons of ups and downs and you are never 100% sure how to feel while reading this book. Great story with a decent ending!

I received this ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

B.A. Paris has written four other mysteries/thrillers that I've read, so I wasn't surprised to see The Dilemma show up in this category. Having read it, however, it seems miscategorized. I didn't love this one and felt that it sort of went nowhere. Each of the main characters are in the midst of two different dilemmas centering around their daughter. Neither is quite ready to tell the other, but as a reader, there's really no mystery. I can't see myself recommending this to many readers.

***4.5 Stars***
The Dilemma is a spectacular emotional display of love and deceit in a marriage. Coming off the heals of the Break Down and Behind Closed Doors, The Dilemma is perhaps is B.A. Paris's best novel written to date.

Livia has been holding on to a devastating secret about her daughter Marnie. Not knowing when or how to tell her husband Adam, she tries to push it deep inside. After all, Marnie is his comeback as a father since he was absent for a large part of his older son's life. But everything is about to unravel during Livia's epic 40th birthday party when Adam's surprise present becomes a dark nightmare. Livia and Adam try to keep it together to enjoy perhaps a final moment before each other's secret is unveiled.

The Dilemma is a narrative that takes place over a day. Written in alternating perspectives, Livia and Adam, each chapter takes off where one leaves creating a seamless timeline. Livia's character is consumed with creating a life that she never had. Her mother and father, overbearing and stern, denied the young couple a true wedding. Adam is spending a lifetime trying to be a good father to Marnie, and a better one for Josh. He made selfish choices as a young father but his love for his children and wife is palpable. The majority of the novel reads like a stream of consciousness and the tension feels very real. I found myself consumed by the characters' choices, praying that the couple would survive each other. However, there were times I wished the Livia and Adam would wrap up their messy thoughts (a slow burn) and just talk to each other. But that is just how I handle my Dilemmas: HEAD ON! Overall a fantastic read. I look forward to Paris's next novel!

Thank you Netgalley, Martin's press, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Dilemma tells the story of the family drama that unfolds during Livia’s fortieth birthday that she’s been planning for years with the help of her husband, Adam. The whole book spans over the course of one day, a day that Livia has been obsessing over since she never got the perfect wedding she once wished for. If you can get over the fact that a forty year old woman is throwing such a fuss over her own birthday, it’s quite the fast paced read. As quick as it went, I connected with zero of its self absorbed characters, agreed with zero of their decisions, and cringed at the ending. I normally love anything B.A. Paris, but this is nothing like her other suspenseful thrillers.