THE SAFE PLACE, though filled with tension, didn't pull me in as much as I thought it would. Downes did weave together an intriguing thriller, but I wanted it to move a bit quicker. Again, this is a me thing and for others, the slow burn of the narrative will work.

At first, I was completely enthralled in this tale, but then it started to get boring and repetitive. I finished about half of the book and gave up. I didn't find it interesting enough to learn what happened at the end.

3.5/5!

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day. Scott Denny is a successful and charismatic CEO, who just happened to be the one to fire Emily from her job. He now sees her in a new light, as a possible solution to a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly.

THE SAFE PLACE is a light, popcorn suspense read filled with tension and intrigue. From the moment the reader picks this one up, you can tell something is wrong. From the timing of Scott’s offer to the stunning paradise location to the seemingly picture perfect wife, everything has a catch. Finding out just what the catch to everything is was a fun mystery to solve and while not terribly complicated, it was plenty to keep my attention. I would have loved to have seen this story take a less predictable route. There was so much opportunity to use the setting to escalate the tension to the next level. The upside to this is that THE SAFE PLACE can easily be a beach read or a lighter suspense novel for someone looking to get started in the genre. At the end of the day, I had a lot of fun with THE SAFE PLACE and I’ll definitely be looking forward to Downes’ next release!

🎧: The narration for this one was done by the author and I thought Downes did a fantastic job of bringing her story to life! I could feel through her narration how invested she was in the story and it really shined to make this one a captivating listen.

I am sorry for not reviewing fully but I don’t have the time to read this at the moment. I believe that it wouldn't benefit you as a publisher or your book if I only skimmed it and wrote a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for not fully reviewing!

What a premise!

A successful and charismatic CEO offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.

This book definitely counts as a Psychological Thriller and kept me engaged all throughout the story! Additionally, the location, scenery and atmosphere of the book setting was just magical! I felt like I was in the story vacationing in the south of France.

The story is kind of predictable but still very entertaining and I absolutely loved the ending. Great summer read in my opinion!

I received a free e-copy of The Safe Place by Anna Downes from NetGalley for my honest review. I give it 3.5 stars.

A wonderful debut with intriguing characters and a great story line. I enjoyed this book very much but I wish there had been some more suspense.

All is not always as it seems. Emily's dream job becomes a nightmare when deep, dark secrets are slowly revealed. A beautiful and isolated paradise estate with unprovoked attacks, unexplained illnesses, and paranoia. What is going on?

Everyone falls on hard times at some point in their lives. If they are lucky enough then things will turn around with hard work and determination. Sometimes though things don't turn around no matter how much effort you put into them.

Emily has fallen on nothing but hard times. Even when she was little her life left little to be desired. Now she's just trying to stay afloat and prove her somewhat distant adoptive parents wrong. That's not going to happen now though thanks to her recent firing at her job.

Her luck however seems to swing in a way that she's not familiar with. She's offered the job of a lifetime. Sure she has to make a lot of concessions and sign an NDA agreement, but what's the worst that could happen?

The story that follows is a sad insight to the lengths that the wealthy will go to in order to hide the skeletons that reside in their oversized closets. Closets that Emily should leave closed, but can she resist the pull to see deeper into how the other side lives?

Intriguing and captivating, The Safe Place is definitely a great way to spend your weekend.

Engrossing, intense, gripping, entertaining, weird, and predictable are words I would use to describe this great book! Great job Downes!

Hands down the best narrator ever! Of course that would be Anna Downes herself.
Because she wrote the book she has the perfect knack of hitting the emotion and laughter at the perfect moment. Yes, other narrators can too but when you are narrating your own story it’s magic!

I’m hoping to read more by this author and that she will be narrating all her books.
Great story with interesting characters. Love it all.

I loved this one!!! I recommended to friends and family alike. It was page-turner! I'll continue to recommend.

was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. It was a great thriller. I found it very entertaining as well as a quick read. It had lots of twists. I was very invested in the characters and their stories. This is a must read for thriller lovers and I will be recommending it to my friends. I hope to see future books from this author in the future. Thanks again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Emily, Scott and Nina are thrown together in a twisted psychological thriller. The characters each carrying personal "excessive baggage" are all hiding something from each other, but Emily becomes the pawn.

Great read! I wasn't sure I'd like this book when it started, it was a bit too 'chick lit' for my usual reading on the basis of dizzy young office worker has a crush on her handsome boss. But as the story unfolds the tension slowly cranks up and I found it hard to put down. I loved it.

Oh my, this book…I don’t even know how to put my thoughts into words. This book was intense and twisty and such an entertaining read.

This was one of those twisty thrillers that immediately captured my attention and I couldn’t stop reading. It was also one of those thrillers that confused me to where I couldn’t even form my own theories about what was going to happen because it was so crazy and bizarre, BUT I MEAN THAT IN A GOOD WAY! I love thrillers that I can’t figure out anything that’s going on, I like to be surprised throughout the whole book without guessing the plot twists within the first 100 pages.

Major kudos to this book and its gorgeous cover. I’m very excited to read more by this author.

*Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review*

Emily’s life is falling apart - she’s lost her job and apartment - when she is asked to move to a remote French location in order to be a caretaker/companion to Scott’s wife and daughter. As she approaches the beautiful French villa fir the first time, she thinks about how lucky she is for this opportunity. Emily meets the wife and daughter. At first things go really well, but then strange things begin to happen that cause Emily to question who Scott and his family really are and what secrets they may be hiding.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this and found myself drawn into the story. The characters, especially the daughter, were interesting. It was definitely suspenseful but the ending was a but predictable.

Rating: 3.5/5 rounded up.

The Safe Place would be a perfect suspense/thriller to pick up in the summer if you're looking for a French locale getaway without leaving your couch. I'd highly recommend picking it up when you're on the beach, lake, or the pool if you're looking for a book that will draw you in and keep you here with its fast pace.

I did find it a bit predictable, but that could be expected when the the characters are all in one setting for the majority of the novel in a forced proximity scenario. The short chapters and the three POVs really kept me looking forward to picking the book back up.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

When I saw this cover, I thought this book would be SO good. I had high, high, high hopes for the book based on cover and summary.

I was so wrong.

Ok, we all know that I don’t love twists for twist’s sake. Let the twists MEAN something. But let’s add something else to the list of things that will make me scream: Naive women.

EMILY. Good grief. I know your life is crap. I know Scott’s offer sounds like a dream. But girl- wake up. Something ain’t just right about this whole set up… and that is before you get to the house.Naive women make me tired………….

I knew I was in trouble when I started skim reading. But I kept on because I was hoping it would catch my attention.

And I think part of the problem was I didn’t care for any of the characters.



What I liked:

The cover.

Bottom line: For me, this book just did not deliver. I skim read. I found myself bored at times. I wanted something to wow me, shock me. I got nothing. Not recommending.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

Emily just lost job that she doesn’t like, she is dumped by her agent and she is homeless. She goes to an interview and is hired by the CEO as housekeeper on a French estate he and his wife have purchased. She shows up at this beautiful place and is immediately taken with Nina and her daughter Aurelia. But things just aren’t as they seem. Somebody has secrets that they want kept secret at any cost. 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

this is another book that I had mixed feelings about. It's slow to start, but held my interest. The author did a great job at building the scenery. It was very easy to visualize the settings. I wanted to visit them myself.

I've seen this book described as a modern gothic story, but I didn't quite get that feel. Perhaps because the setting is a modern estate on the French coast. Also, despite the gothic/suspense characterization, for most the book, nothing seems particularly threatening.

The ending of the book felt drawn out and not very satisfying overall. I also didn't feel any chemistry between the male lead and either of the two women. The connection that he is supposed to feel with Emily, just seems vague and out of the blue.

Meh, I get that this is a debut and it was decent but feel like this is a tired and overdone plot. Was ok, but didn't engage me as much as other books have that have a similar plot.