Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an early copy of this book.

The synopsis of this book is slightly misleading. It gives the impression of a different type of story, which it was not, maybe until the last 100 pages.
It took me awhile to finish this because it just wasn't holding my interest, and it was just pretty odd with no driving plot most of the way.
Without giving too much away, Emily is offered a job over seas by her former boss, and from there she figures out some things she wasn't meant to.
The ending raises more questions than it gives answers to, and after all that build up, I was hoping for more. Overall, it was just okay. It fell pretty flat, and it wasn't really what I thought it would be.

GOODNESS!!

So, Emily’s life is a flaming hot mess. Her dreams of being an actress are going nowhere fast, and she’s just been fired from her temp job. Enter Scott, her boss. See, he’s been watching her and pretty much engineered her getting canned, BUT does he have an offer for her!!

Scott’s wife, Nina, lives in their uber-fancy-schmancy compound in France with their daughter, and Nina could use some help, so Emily is offered the gig. She’ll be their...well, whatever they need in exchange for living in a fairytale with a salary, paid expenses, a car, and anything else a down-on-her-luck girl could want. Sure, just sign the non-disclosure agreement, and you’re off to Paradise.

If only.

This book is a page-turning fiend of a story. I was so tense and full of anxiety and I didn’t even know why. I was uncomfortable and downright twitchy from the first page. As the story started to unfold, it was like reading an old fairytale and knowing that something bad was coming and not being able to stop it. “No, Snow White, don’t eat the apple!” “For the love of all that’s holy, Sleeping Beauty, stay away from spinning wheels!” I had climbed onto the Anna Downes Express, and it was headed right toward a disaster, but I didn’t want to get off the train. I was loving the bumpy ride!

If you’re looking for a fast-paced psychological thriller that will allow you to shut out the world for a little while and bask in some good old-fashioned dysfunction, look no further, you’ve found it. Enjoy.

I enjoyed this book and felt like it was an easy read and a safe venture into the psychological thriller genre. This book was not the most compelling or suspenseful, but I still enjoyed it!

I'm not sure how to describe my feelings about The Safe Place. It definitely kept my attention, (even after figuring out the twist by 60%) and I enjoyed the author's writing. I really liked Emily, and I really liked hating Nina. I think I'm torn over Scott. Outwardly he was a complete alpha, but then his inner thoughts were very weak. And of course, my heart breaks for Aurelia.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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While I enjoyed this book for the most part; up until about 75% I was unsure where this book was going. I was looking for a murder, some sordid event, something, anything really. To me it just seemed like what it was; Emily is hired to be a caretaker/personal assistant/ nanny/ live in friend to Scott Denny's wife. Which to be honest was a bit weird to begin with... Emily was hired as a receptionist through a temp agency to work for Scott. When Emily was let go from that company, Scott ran into Emily on the road when she was having a tough go and offered her the perfect job (for someone who had no qualifications) with great pay and beyond amazing benefits. It was a no brainer for Emily to accept. Once there while things seemed a bit odd Emily began a great friendship with Scott's wife, Nina. And that pretty much sums up the first 75%, without giving too many minor details away.

It was after the 75% that things started to really pick up and get me interested. This book is like a mustang it went from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds flat. While you may have picked up on some of these weird circumstances in the beginning, nothing prepared me for what Anna Downes had in store. The one thing that still has me curious.... What happened to Emily as a child; what is she suppressing? This is the thing that is sticking with me; and may drive me a bit nuts for a while.

I received an advance copy of this book from net galley. The book had interesting characters and was suspenseful. It left the reader wanting to know what was going to happen next. I couldn’t put this book down. Spoilers: Emily loses her job gets a housekeeping job with her former bosses family. Things start off well but then things take a turn. The book leaves you wondering what happened to the daughter as you get some back story throughout. Nina starts to show her true colors in the book as Emily pieces things together. I would definitely read another book by this author

Book review 📵🚷 Emily’s life is a mess. She wants to make her life out of acting, but it’s not working out like she hoped. Currently fired from her latest job, her boss offers her a new job that is beyond her imagination. A secluded mansion in France helping his wife and daughter with the day to day. What could go wrong?
This book is compulsively readable. I didn’t want to put it down to adulting! The loved the writing style and couldn’t believe this is her first book!! I like Emily’s character because she was so sweet but also a hot mess. Everyone has secrets and I couldn’t just put together what was going to happy and I love that in a thriller. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book comes out in less than a month July 14th! Go check it out for sure!

Thank you @minotaur_books and @netgalley for my review copy!!!

This is a super entertaining book, it's a very intense thriller that kept me interested from start to finish. This book starts with Emily Proudman, who is a mess, she has just lost her job and her apartment, all in one day. Imagine that, from one day to the next you lose your job and the place where you live, it is without a doubt a frustrating situation. Fortunately, Emily meets Scott Denny, a very successful businessman who has a personal problem and is looking for someone who can help him. Furthermore, Scott offers Emily a job as a housekeeper for his beautiful estate located in the rural French area. Emily accepts and embarks on her journey to the French province. However, there are details Scott does not mention to Emily and she is about to find out. A sensational thriller that made me curious about Scott's situation. I love the part where Emily meets Nina, Scott's wife, because it seems like everything is normal, and that the life they lead on this property is one of absolute happiness. A must-read book for those who like the excitement and mystery that Emily is about to witness. I thank NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I love the book cover design for this one as it practically begs you to read the book during the summer or while on vacation. The story hooked me from the beginning because it had a creepy factor to it in which I wasn't entirely sure which direction the author was going to go because it felt like there were endless possibilities. I do have some mixed feelings about the big reveal and the last quarter of the story so that's why I landed on a 3.5 star rating.

Emily's life is a bit of a mess at the moment. Scott Denny is a CEO and he offers Emily a job as a housekeeper at his family's French estate. Desperate for money, Emily accepts the job. The estate is beautiful although very secluded. While Scott works in London, Emily spends her days with his wife Nina, and their daughter, Aurelia. Emily works hard sprucing up the place but she also gets to relax by the pool and eat good food. Sounds like a plum gig for Emily, right? Well, this story has thriller and suspense elements, so of course something ain't right.

The story is told from multiple perspectives which I think was a wise choice by the author as it clued in the reader that something was off with Scott pretty much from the get go. (That's not a spoiler) You know this isn't an ideal situation for Emily, but you're not sure what is wrong, or at least I didn't have a clue. And that brings me to the reveal. Somehow it managed to be both surprising and lackluster at the same time. Perhaps other readers saw it coming a mile away but I was caught off guard which is a positive in my opinion. The problem is it feels like an ordinary, uninspiring revelation. I thought the author had a good setup to something awesome and it just didn't meet my expectations. Once you find out the "big thing" it's kinda downhill from there.

Even though I didn't think this book quite met its potential, I thought it was a pretty decent read. If you are looking for something fairly easy and quick to read, this isn't a bad choice.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

THE SAFE PLACE by Anna Downes left me wanting more, more understanding of the characters and their immense flaws. Lots of unanswered questions after turning the lat page.

When Emily finds herself fired from her temp job she is not sure what she is going to do. Her acting career is going nowhere and she has not close friends or relatives. While Emily is pondering her future her ex-boss offers her a job that is too good to be true; should be Emily's first clue that things are not as they seem.

Emily arrives in a seaside paradise to be a nanny, a maintenance person and a companion in an extremely isolated area, again too good to be true but Emily is still not catching on that something is amiss.

The story moves at a fast pace and I read it quickly with mostly enjoyment. It wasn't til the very end I was a bit disappointed. Just wanted to know more. I enjoyed Ms. Downes writing style and anticipate reading another of her books.

Although I remained engaged while reading this book, I felt there was an overly fantasized story line, excerpts that seemed more typical of a romance novel than thriller, and a sometimes garbled narrative. It was an easy, summer read, but not quite for me.

An excellent story, told from the three main characters points of view. Emily, a wannabe star, working as a temp, meets her good looking married boss, Scott Denny, in an unusual manner. His wife Nina, lives in France, not the UK, it is even gossiped about the office workers, that he hates his wife. Emily is hired to work as a housekeeper, companion to Nina in France, on their isolated, private, gated, park like estate,with a view of the Mediterranean. Emily firmly believes that her life is finally looking up, but is it? Great read, unique, page turning suspense, with a lot of great personality written in.
I highly recommend! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee.com

Emily's life is a hot mess and her employer offers her an opportunity that is too good to be true! Although, things aren't quite they seem to be or go the way that Emily wants them to.....

The Safe Place is a pretty predictable thriller that has been seen before in the thriller genre. In my opinion, it's not something that was overly special in my book. It has a very predictable plot and that ending just left me wanting more and too many questions that were not answered.

I was hoping that it would have gone an entirely different way that I had planned out in my head... but haha I guess I can win em all eh? ;).

Overall, this was a quick and fun one. 3 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 7/14/20
Published to GR: 6/14/20

The Safe Place caught me by surprise, I really thought I had an inkling to the story - and, nope, the ending was so much more than I could have thought! I loved this story, the characters and the breath of France. The story starts with a young woman, an actress, who is having the hardest time making it. She works temp jobs, lives in a crummy place with a horrible roommate when she runs into her old boss. My how her life has changed. This is a compelling suspenseful story, you can't put it down! Thank you #MinotaurBooks#TheSafePlace#AnnaDownes#NetGalley

I realize I’m not in the minority here, but this was a bit of a let down for me. Yes, throughout the entire book was a sense of foreboding but nothing really happened. The final reveal was a bit of a let down and considering in how much detail we learned about the daily lives in the first 1/3 of the book the ending was really skipped over. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

This was a wild read! So many loops and turns! Plot twists I didn't see coming! Wow!

Emily is a struggling actress living in London who has lost her job and her acting agent. With no future she can see and at her whits end, she is offered an amazing job as a personal assistant/housekeeper to her ex-bosses wife. Everything from room, food and a vehicle will be provided to Emily. It also happens to be at a beautiful, remote, ocean-side estate in France. It is just what Emily needs and she is so excited for the opportunity.

She hits it off with Nina, her ex-boss's wife, and their five year old daughter, Aurelia. Aurelia seems to be mute, and has a rare disease where she is allergic to the sunlight. Her mother dotes on her and even home schools the child. This gorgeous estate has everything they need and they never leave the vast and remote property. Emily's job responsibilities range from fixing up the guest house, caring for livestock, traveling to town for groceries, and just providing company for the mother and daughter duo.

Scott, her ex-boss, rarely visits his family. Wildly rich and successful, Emily is lead to believe he is just a busy business man. She starts to wonder privately whether the marriage is in shambles. When Scott finally does come to visit, it is very apparent that not everything is okay. He seems oddly distant with his daughter, as if she is a complete stranger...

As the days progress to months Emily slowly starts digging into this strange family's weird quirks. What she discovers puts her life in danger...

Like I said, this was a wild read! I thoroughly enjoyed every single page! The author does an amazing job setting scenes and building characters. With every new plot twists I wanted to read faster, yet slow down so it never ended!

The Safe Place is due to be released July 14, 2020 here in the U.S. and you will want to pre-order now so you have it as soon as possible! It is a phenomenal beach or pool read! 4 stars!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an advanced digital copy (as well as St Martin's Press sending me a physical ARC) to read and give my honest review!

Happy Reading!

A nicely done debut by Anna Downes. 3.5 stars

The Safe Place kept me engaged throughout, and with one minor tweak (which I'll mention below), this could be a truly outstanding novel.

Told almost entirely from Emily's point of view, there are also a few chapters told from Scott's perspective, as well as some sections from an unidentified voice. I'll be honest, the unidentified sections fooled me. I suspected something very different. [I thought they were told from Emily's adoptive mother's POV at first...NOT Nina's. I still stand by my belief that would have been a more effective story line...and would have somehow tied the characters more tightly together, which ultimately never ended up happening.,

The reason I decided to round down from 3.5 stars is simple...the book left us with a few unanswered questions. Remember that tweak I mentioned above? The epilogue needs to give us more information. It felt incomplete. Instead of using it to tie everything up and fill in the plot holes, which would have ultimately left the reader feeling satisfied...it instead felt generic and mundane. [We spent the entire novel getting to know these characters, yet we don't really find out what happens to ANY of them...except maybe Scott. And did anybody else feel as though this book was loosely based on the Madeleine McCann's disappearance, or was that just me?

This story is well worth a read. I'll definitely be reading Ms. Downes future works...as she hones her craft, I foresee some truly incredible works coming our way. I, for one, am excited.

Available in the U.S. on July 14, 2020!

**My sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Presso for my review copy.

BOOK REVIEW: The Safe Place
AUTHOR: Anna Downes
PUB DATE: July 14, 2020
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RATING: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5 •
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SYNOPSIS: Emily considers herself a failure. She can’t make it in the acting world, she’s running out of money 💰 , and just got fired from her job. Things are looking down, that is until Scott offers a job she can’t refuse. Whisked away to France 🇫🇷 , Emily becomes the live-in assistant to Scott’s wife, Nina, and their sickly child 👶 . Emily’s living the perfect life until things get strange. Is the child really sick 🤒 ? Is Nina really mentally stable? What’s Scott’s motive?
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PROS: I read this book in all of a day and a half! I couldn’t put it down!! Anna Downes wrote so swiftly, but with great detail. I quickly was able to put myself in Emily’s shoes. Run 🏃‍♀️, don’t walk to get this on July 14!
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CONS: NONE! This is everything and more that I expected from a thriller!
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Thank you so much @netgalley , @anna_downes_writer , @stmartinspress and @minotaur_books for the AMAZING ARC! 📚

NetGalley ARC | If you are looking for a psychological thriller, don’t miss The Safe Place by Anna Downes. I don't love giving star-ratings, but I'd say this one is 3.5 stars,

I loved the suspense and international setting. The storyline is well-written and quickly paced. Find seduction and a light read about a family living in deceit.

You can see my complete review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/july-2020-book-releases/

Thank you to the author and publisher for a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What starts off as a very intriguing read pretty quickly turns compelling as you try to work out exactly what is going on and why the main Husband and Wife characters are why they are.

As the story evolved all I could think of was Madeleine McCann.

Ultimately I found this a really sad story but a very enjoyable read. A book I shall be recommending to our customers.