Emily Proudman is a mess of a woman. She doesn't want to be like her parents so she decided to step out and become an actress. Little did she know that was not as easy as it looks. Faced with financial hardship, she accepts a job from her old boss, Scott Denny. Now Scott Denny is famous and thinks he has the perfect person to help with his wife and daughter. He is offering her Paradise. Little does she know that Paradise is not all that it is cracked up to be. Escape she must. There will be consequences. At the end, she decides what she can live with.

Loved the cover.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this book. While the description gave me an idea it was going to be some form of mystery, I still didn’t know exactly what kind. I was surprised by this story.

This story played out in a typical drama movie sense. It bothered me a little that it took some time for it to get to the “good part” of the movie. When it did I was thoroughly creeped out. Some of the characters acted very suspect and I found it was hard for me to read at night in the dark. Every creak and noise I heard had me looking over my shoulder. Downes definitely knows how to up the creep factor!

My only complaint about this story is that there were times it was high intensity and suspense, and others where it was really slow and just seemed to drag out for chapters on end. I wish the whole book was as good as the last 25%-35% of it. I would be able to give it five stars. But unfortunately those slow moments made me struggle reading at times and knocked it down a star for me.

Aside from the ups and down of how I felt it flowed, I think the story was overall really exciting to read. The ending was crazy, twisty, and suspenseful. I read the last 1/3 of the book in less than two hours because of how good it was. I really liked the main character, Emily. Reading her story was like cheering for the underdog, but also really watching someone grow as an individual. I felt like she went from being really insecure and selfish to a well developed, responsible adult. I really enjoyed reading her growth throughout this story and feel Downes portrayed it very well. My favorite part of this book was the ending. Packed full of suspense and twists, I was constantly on my toes on how it was going to end. Downes left me guessing until the very end.

If I could use only one word to describe this book it would be sinister. Everything looks nice on the outside but there are so many moments sprinkled throughout the story that leave you with a hair raising feeling of unease. Downes uses such vivid imagery that this book really came to life in my mind. Which was unsettling when it came to the insidious moments. I did figure out the twist before it happened but as usual, it didn’t hamper my enjoyability of the story at all. I found this book, particularly the beginning, to be an exploration on manipulation and it was intriguing seeing it all unfold. This book is also told through flashbacks of our main characters and they were a great addition because they added a lot of depth, understanding and suspense to the book. The ending was fabulously done and I really appreciate the way Downes wrapped it all up.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes is a great read. When Emily loses her job and apartment on the same day, she bumps into her former boss, Scott Denny. He offers her a job she can't afford to turn down... and so she takes it. Before she realizes what is happening, she is arriving in France to be a live in housekeeper /assistant to Scott's wife and daughter on a huge, isolated estate.

This is a domestic suspense novel that is layered, with careful writing and characters that are intriguing. The suspense builds...slowly....as we realize there is much more to the house and each of the new characters. The narrative style is perfect - told from alternating perspectives we watch the story unfold through the eyes of both Emily and Scott.

I requested to read this book. Thank you to NetGalley for this temporary, digital advance review copy for me to enjoy. As always, my opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. Sadly I was a bit underwhelmed with it. The cover on this book is truly gorgeous and I thank publisher and Netgalley for my advanced copy. I know some of my friends truly enjoyed this book - it was a buddy read for my book club. I liked it and I am glad that I read it - I would still look forward to reading something else by this author. I think it was good for a debut novel.

Emily is feeling downtrodden with life when her boss offers her a job that sounds too good to be true. She will live at his estate in France, with his wife and daughter, and help with cleaning/upkeep and childcare. In exchange, she gets a credit card, vehicle and free room and board. She quickly says au revoir to her old life. It is clear that things are real weird, real quick. She might be surrounded by luxury, but all that glitters is not gold.

I was confused for 80% of this read. I did not have a clue where it was going. This in of itself, is not a bad thing. If in the end, it all comes together, and I am made to feel a fool for not seeing what was coming – you’ve got me hook, line and sinker. Instead, I went from completely baffled to realizing what was happening and hoping it was going to be something better. It was just fine. And my husband will tell you, “fine” is code for not fine at all.

This book fell flat for me. I liked the premise. It had potential to be better than it was. There was just too much going on and a lot of it was so out there, that it lost traction. When I am reading a thriller, it needs to feel like the storyline could happen to someone or it loses its edge. Without sounding too demanding, I want to be thrilled.

I wouldn’t add this to my summer read list. Actually, scratch that, I wouldn’t add it to my any season read list.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes was such a good summer read. I highly recommend for those looking for a fast-paced, quick, and engaging read. The cover was stunning and this was a great debut thriller!

Emily hits a string of bad luck starting with being fired from her temp job. That job was paying the bills while she was trying to make it as an actress however, she was striking out at her auditions. After getting fired, she quickly learns she has been dropped by her agent and the subsequent agency, a career death. On top of that, she is being evicted from her apartment. With no close friends and a poor relationship with her adoptive parents, Emily is out of luck and desperate.

In alternating chapters, we meet Scott. A wealthy CEO at the company where Emily was just fired from, he seems to be a puppet master with Emily's life. We find out that he is the source of her bad luck recently and he sets himself up to be Emily's savior, offering her a full-time job living at his estate in France to assist his wife and child. Emily, eager to please and get herself out of her current situation, accepts and finds out she had no idea what she was in for.

I loved Anna Downe's writing style, I didn't want to put this book down and flew through it over the weekend! It was engaging and the characters were well developed. I'm looking forward to her future releases!

Emily Is struggling in her life. She has lost everything and does not know what to do next. She has now taken a job for a rich producer at his French estate. She is basking in being in such wonderful company of his wife and daughter, but what she doesn't know is that the husband and wife hold secrets that could cost her her life. She is struggling to get out of her situation but has no way out. Gripping, mysterious and captivating.

Woo! What a ride! Let me start off by saying that Downes’ writing style lent perfectly to the creepy, unsettling, and uncomfortable feeling throughout this story. There are so many small instances of foreshadowing that make you slap your forehead at the ending. You know you should have seen it coming, but there wasn’t quite enough there to put it all together.

Each character was completely their own person and had some form of development as the story progressed. Emily’s past comes to us in pieces as she tries to figure out her present. Nina seems to be the perfect wife and mother, but the sense that something is not quite right with her become stronger throughout. Scott has some habits at the beginning of the story that we begin to see the reasoning behind much later. Aurelia is just… strange and unsettling, but she has her reasons as well.

Reading through, I really couldn’t have guessed where this story would end up. Yes, it’s abundantly clear from the beginning that there is something sinister happening in this beautiful home by the sea, but the ending reveal is far from what I was expecting. This story is unsettling and gripping. I didn’t want to put it down.

A cool, suspenseful read that I finished in one sitting. It's a quick, deft thriller with a multi-POV structure that keeps things fresh. The Safe Place never drags in places, and I felt compelled to read until the very end. Anna Downes wrote compelling characters that were a delight to read. While I wasn't totally floored with the big reveal, (it was a bit of a slow burn) the ending felt complete and wrapped up each thread nicely. Overall, I'd highly recommend this title. It was unique, fast, and it kept me turning pages the whole way through. Very entertaining.

2.5

Beyond that stunning cover that is just ideal for summer I don’t have a ton to say about this one so I’ll keep this fairly brief. Emily loses her job, her agent and her apartment in the same day, she’s not having just a bad day, she’s having the absolute worse day. When Scott swoops in and offers her a job as a housekeeper/sometimes nanny for his family in a gorgeous house in France she thinks all her problems may be solved and worst case scenario she gets to spend the summer somewhere beautiful. Of course nothing is as it seems and secrets abound.

So what went wrong for me? It was predictable and was missing that extra something special that a solid thriller has. Did it hold my attention though? Sure, it was entertaining enough but it went a little off the rails in the end and there was quite a bit of unnecessary fluff for me. Overall I was just very underwhelmed by it and can’t say I can truly recommend it to anyone who’s an avid thriller reader.

This captivating debut novel by Anna Downes had me hooked the moment I picked it up.

The exhilarating unexpected things that were happening to Emily kept me on the edge of my seat, looking for more thrills.

“The Safe Place” was suspenseful and riveting. You will love the surprising ride you go on when you read this novel.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.

I wanted to love this one, but ended up not finishing it. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mind set for it?

I think the goodreads descriptor sums this one up, summer suspense. It veers a bit towards chick lit, but the plot is suspenseful enough to elevate the book above that genre. I found myself abandoning other books I have on the go to finish this one because I wanted to find out what was going to happen. Enjoyable.

In my opinion this story was somewhat slow until about 3/4 of the way through and as a result I struggled to get through it until the last 1/4. Looking back I did, however like the writing style and the story enough to want to keep reading to see where the story would lead and eventually the ending was satisfying enough for me to rate the book with 4 stars. Overall, I feel the take away from the story is that your "safe place" is not always the place were you keep trying to get away to, but exactly where you already are. A good read overall that I would recommend to others.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
When your ex-boss offers you a new job that sounds far too good to be true...it probably is. This story is told mostly through Emily's eyes, there are a few other points of view as well, which I always enjoy. While this story was told well, and I will read anything else this author puts out, I found it a little bit predictable. That did not really take away from my enjoyment, I couldn't put it down once I picked it up!
Thank you to Anna Downes, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

3.5 Stars

It feels like my lower star rating is actually only because I"m not normally a big suspense/thriller reader. I find much of the story building process in books like this to be unbelievable/unrelatable which I realize is an absurd feeling to have when you're reading A BOOK OF FICTION. I know I know.

That all said, I feel that Anna Downes is a brilliant new writer. She's got an approach to creating characters that I feel only can come from the most observant of writers - like I actually can tell she is genuinely interested in people and relationships and quirks.. This gift of being interested in what makes people unique is going to take her so far in writing.

The book itself, a story about Emily who NEEDS a job and is handed the most unusual opportunity by the Denny family, is a dark storm. I love the idea of Emily looking after a child with peculiar needs. You never know the direction the story will take, given the apparent instability of Nina, the Mom. I see that others have talked about the plot's predictability. I suppose because I don't read many thrillers, I didn't have that problem. Downes is genius about keeping the mystery about the dark secrets of the family looming and that's all I'm going to say. Scary child, unstable Mom, desperate employee, it's good! I just think thrillers aren't always my speed. Especially thrillers that carry a dark cloud of impending doom...I'm too fragile!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for giving me the chance to read this! I'm always so amazed by the books you put out into the world. You're definitely one of my favourite publishers.

Emily is down on her luck so when her former boss offers her an opportunity of a lifetime, moving to his French estate to help his wife and daughter as a housekeeper/assistant, she thinks it’s too good an opportunity to pass up. Emily settles in well to life in the beautiful, remote French countryside but as time passes she starts to realize that all is not as it seems with Nina and Aurelia and that, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is!

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and I was instantly hooked. If you’d asked me at the half way point what I thought of this book I’d have told you I was loving it but as things progressed in the second half of the book I felt a bit let down. I guessed the twist quite early and was disappointed to find that I was right. I was really hoping it would surprise me and go in a different direction. I really liked Emily’s character, though I did find her naivety to be a little unbelievable at times. Despite not being blown away by it I did enjoy this one and it was a quick read. I would definitely read future books from this author as her writing style really drew me in!

There is nothing like a glamorous French estate to create a summer book setting. In sort of a fairy tale beginning Emily can leave her financial woes in London to become a girl Friday for a woman and her young daughter in rural France while the husband stays in London. Of course, it is not exactly a bucolic job. In fact, things soon fall apart and Emily fears for her life. Lots of plot tension and I can see this being turned into a movie. Although this was not my favorite book, it was a satisfying story and kept me entertained. It was good escapism.

This book felt very predictable but was an ok, quick read. Nice diversion for the summer and COVID worries.