Thanks to Netgalley and for Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Never forget the garden and nice old lady from the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen… When it looks too good, it usually is…

When Emily life goes to sh” she has nothing to lose. Absolutely nothing… Being a Devil’s Advocate (and mum to a grown up daughter) I could see what Emily does wrong and point out her failures and ways how she could have saved herself some grief. But everyone should have their own story…

Emily takes her boss up on an offer noone in her situation could refuse. He offers her an escape. He offers her a pause. He offers her the world for close to nothing.

When Emily sees the grounds of the estate she is to work at, she is mesmerised. However, the author while painting a picture of paradise leaves some shadows and some sticks around to get the reader’s danger radar on… She does it so amazingly, you can hardly notice. But… remember the Snow Queen fairytale.

While settling in quite nicely, Emily begins to pick up on signs of disquiet very quickly. On one hand she opens up to her employer, the mistress of the estate. On the other, she is wondering why Wi-Fi does or phone does not work.

Bit by bit Emily is getting on. And when all pieces of the puzzle drop in place… she is trying to do what she does best – run away from problems. But she can’t. She decides to act, to grow up and to face her demons and those around her…

The horror of the story is not in gore and ugly details. It is in the beauty and luxury, endless money reserves and satisfying every whim. But the luxury is covered in sticky dust. And money seem to buy useless things. Moreover, the power that money give is used for evil.

I loved this book. I was shocked by the story. It was so beautifuly horrific and horribly amazing. The characters were drawn with scary precision and insight. There was noone to like, to identify with. They all had their falws and rottenness. They all had their secrets and forgotten memories. They all needed each other like a sore needs a surgical knife…

This book was unputdownable and was read in one sitting.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advance copy! Anna Downes did an excellent job depicting the setting with this one. I felt immersed in "the safe place" vividly with all five senses. However, that's where the greatness of this novel ended for me. I felt like the story had immense potential, but the writer played it safe, ironically. The plot could have twisted deeper, the characters could have been more complex and connected, and there could have frankly been more action. I realize this was a debut, and to come up with the plot in general was a great first step. It was interesting, but shallow in depth. I wasn't really on the edge of my seat as I expected I would be, nor was I surprised with the predictable ending. Ms. Downes definitely has potential as a writer, but I'd like to see her take more risks with her next book.

*Posted on Goodreads
*Will post on Amazon as well once available.

Thank you NetGalley and Affirm publisher for a free galley of The Safe Place in exchange for my honest review. The Safe Place kept me entertained and intrigued enough that I read it in one sitting on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I was drawn in by the idea of escaping the real world and staying in such a lovely remote place in the French countryside, yet thoroughly creeped out by the darkness that simmered beneath the surface. Emily Proudman is relatable and loveable because while she is incredibly capable, she is a hot mess who finds herself at a dead-end with not many options. When her employer, handsome and successful Scott Denny, offers her an opportunity to work as a housekeeper and serve as a companion and helper to his wife, Nina, and young daughter, Aurelia, on his isolated French estate, she quickly accepts the opportunity with not much thought to why he picked her or even why her presence is needed. When Emily arrives, she is startled to find she has no cell service, no wi-fi, and virtually no contact to the outside world, but this is soon forgotten as she bonds with Nina and Aurelia during wine-filled days lounging poolside. However, Emily soon discovers that Scott and Nina are hiding a dangerous secret that they will do anything to protect... even kill. The Safe Place is a superb debut by Anna Downes! My only criticism is that the ending felt a bit unfinished and left me with some questions. I won't go into details in order to avoid any spoilers, but I do wish we would have been told the outcomes of all the players, especially after being so invested in each of their stories as the book is written with multiple POVs.

To be honest, this book was really not for me, I found the story line to be lacking and I am still waiting for the suspense of the book to happen and I Finished reading it weeks ago.

Also for me there were many events that happened in the book that at the end were still left as unfinished, and I am now left very confused about how they fit into the actual story line and character development.

Lastly, the title of the book, for me there was never that moment of reading when the title of the book fits in and you are like, ahhhhh now I get it.

Really didn't enjoy this read

Thank you Net Galley for giving me an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Emily is a struggling actress with a troubled childhood. When Emily loses her job, she is presented with an opportunity for work in a secluded paradise by her handsome male employer. Emily easily accepts this position, unaware of what awaits her. As she arrives in the beautiful but secluded venue, she is met with a mysterious but ailing little girl and her equally mysterious but strange,friendly mother. What follows is a rollercoaster of an experience for Emily and a story that will keep the reader guessing. This book is a wildly entertaining beach read!

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/14908747-nicole-tornambe">View all my reviews</a

This book was a fun read! I honestly didn't think I would be so hooked, I read it almost straight through in one sitting. Emily is a failed actress and temp worker who has just lost her receptionist job and her agent almost at the same time. Like most people in her situation, she is behind on her bills, living in a small dingy flat and is too ashamed to return once again to her parents. Coincidentally, she has a chance encounter with Scott, the owner of the company she just got fired from. After saving her from an accident in the street, he meets with her and offers her a new position with the company, or to be exact, with him. Completely different to anything she's done before, she would be living in his seaside estate in France as a type of personal assistant to his wife, Nina, and daughter, Aurelia. Some housework, some renovation work, and occasional babysitting of Aurelia. Of course she takes the job and is immediately whisked away to a brand new life. Too good to be true? Of course!

She soon realizes something seems a bit... off. She has no cell service and the landline does not work. Aurelia has health issues but Emily never sees symptoms of them. She has full reign over the entire estate except the family house, where only Scott, Nina and Aurelia can go. And why does Scott go weeks without ever visiting? It's clear something isn't right but Emily has no idea how to figure it out. And is it really worth giving up her new charmed existence?

I love the way the author writes Emily's thoughts and dialogue, like a real person would talk to themselves and others. When something is weird, she notices right away just like the reader - it's not like Emily is clueless as to the oddness of her new employers and situation. You just feel like you're right there with her, in a virtual paradise, yet isolated and increasingly uneasy. Will she make it through unscathed? You'd better read this one to find out!

This was a great read that was hard to put down. I loved the slow build and how the last bits were wild. I was left with several unanswered questions, so if you like that kind of read, you’ll love this.

<b> I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review <b/>

I had my eye on this book for awhile on NetGalley, and finally decided to read it. I don't know why it took me so long! Usually when I am reviewing a book I make a list of things I want to talk about while reading. However I was so engrossed by this book that I barely took any notes. I take my reviewing pretty seriously, so the fact that I forgot to take notes speaks wonders for how amazing this book is.

From the very first page, I was engrossed. I think it is set up perfectly. I noticed, especially in the beginning, that there are little sneak peeks of something sinister going on. This really helped set the atmosphere. The author did a great job of making Emily's job at the villa seem calm and relaxed, and then randomly throwing a wrench to remind me that I was reading a thriller.

The book is told from multiple points of view. First we have Emily who is very down on her luck. She has a strained relationship with her parents, and seems to have a lot of growing up to do. I loved seeing Emily's growth throughout the book. While I love an unreliable narrator, Emily's reliability was a breath of fresh air. Secondly, we have Scott. Scott is extremely charming, but definitely set the tone for the thriller side of the book.

I thought I knew where the twist was going, but Anna Downes threw a curve ball and left me stunned. Overall, I highly recommend this book! It will have you dreaming of the french coast and racing to find out what happens!

As an Australian I always like to read books by other Australians or books that have Australia in it. So when I heard about Anna Downes and her connection to Australia and that this was her debut crime novel I was very excited to read it. I found it most enjoyable. The characters were really interesting and the storyline of the book was refreshingly new and very much on point with current newsworthy events. I can see Anna Downes becoming a great author if she can keep coming up with new and exciting ideas for her future books. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her next one.

3.5 Stars😢

To be honest, when I first read the blurb for this book I was super excited and quickly applied for an advanced copy via Netgalley. I held off on reading it for a while as I’m always a bit tentative reading new authors and I’m a bit disappointed as it didn’t grab me the way I thought it would. I feel like the hype inflated my expectations and then when I was reading, I felt like the writing style was a bit childish for my taste and I lost interest and wasn’t drawn into the story further😢

I’ll definitely think about trying to read this story again in the future and see if my opinion changes, but for now I’m thinking I might skip anything else by this author and stick to the ones I know.

I received an advanced copy via Netgalley and leave my honest review voluntarily.

I thought this was a good reading and enjoyed the story although it sort of unsettled me a little bit.
The story lures you in - a job which sounds too good to be true but for me the journey to the house in France being driven along endless roads with a driver the main character Emily did not know - gave me a sense of foreboding. Not only that there is no contact with the outside world. This set up the story very nicely for me.
As the story unfolds it appears things are not what they seem. The family, Nina and her daughter Aurelia are strange characters and made the sinister feeling in the book all the more real for me.
The plot was well thought out, it was a well paced book but I found the ending left me more questions than answers and I guessed what was going to happen.
As a debut novel I think I was a good read and one I would recommend to those who like thrillers.

Emily Proudman is down on her luck. Her acting career is non existent and she just lost her temp job as a receptionist. Unable to ask her parents for another loan Emily is lost as to how she’s going to pay for rent or food. running into her old boss Scott Denny seems like perfect timing, especially when he offers her a new live in job at his coastal property in France.

At first working for the wealthy Denny’s is a dream come true, there’s good food and wine and helping out with jobs around the beautiful property feels like a holiday. But as Emily gets to Know the family all is not as perfect as it seems. Taking the job was easy but leaving it alive is another story.

This story had a really interesting plot line as a domestic thriller and the mystery really drew me in. I did find it took a long time to get to the big reveal, although the author was dropping little bread crumbs along the way it felt really slow until the last 20% of the book which was so action packed I sped through to the end.

The story did leave me with a few questions which is very clever of the writer as it provides discussion points but I don’t particularly like things left to the imagination, I tend to like every plot line wrapped up in a nice little fully answered bow.
Overall a fresh and enjoyable read
Thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for the ARC to read and review

Facing an escalating number of life and relationship challenges, Emily Proudman eagerly accepts the lifeline her former boss, Scott Denny, throws her. Before she even really fully comprehends what she's doing, she's on a private jet leaving London and heading to the isolated luxury estate Querencia on the west coast of France, where she's to be the new housekeeper/au pair/companion/personal assistant/animal steward to the Denny family. In residence are Nina, Scott's beautiful Australian wife, and Aurelia, their sickly young daughter. Silent local Yves helps out with dirty or heavy jobs that need doing, but most of the time it's just the 3 girls there, alone.

The first few weeks are something of a honeymoon period. Emily gradually builds a close, friendly relationship with Nina, and even Aurelia starts to warm to her. She makes a few small blunders in her work, but overall she's proud of how quickly and how well she's settling in and the results she's producing. But there are a few things Emily finds puzzling; she can't connect to the wifi nor get a phone signal, even from the landline; Nina is very secretive and tends to run hot and cold; Aurelia's behaviour and moods are erratic; and what's that awful smell in the main house?

Things take a turn during Scott's long-awaited first visit (after her arrival) to the estate, and from there Emily begins to suspect that not everything is as it seems.

This debut from Anna Downes is a good, entertaining read with overtones of psychological thrills. I'd actually hoped for more, but the potential promised by the blurb wasn't quite met. There were a number of enticing little elements of the story that could have been developed to enhance the thrills, but ultimately they led nowhere, instead leaving me with questions unanswered. Still, I liked the characters and location, and enjoyed spending a few days with them.

I would give this read 3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading it, albeit finding the ending a bit predictable.

Emily's life is a right mess. Scott is a CEO who offers Emily a job as a housekeeper at his family's French estate. The estate is picturesque and secluded. Scott is based in London. Emily spends her time with his wife, Nina, and daughter, Aurelia. She works hard but also gets to hang by the pool and enjoy gourmet meals. It seems ideal on the surface. Something seems to lurk sinisterly behind the idyll though.

The story is told from a number of perspectives. There is something odd about Scott from the beginning. When you find out the mystery, it’s a bit of a damp squib though.

This was a quick and light read. Something to enjoy reading whilst on holiday maybe.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️. Enjoyable read, well written with twists and turns I didn’t see coming!

Emily Proudman gets a too good to be true job offer from her ex-boss, Simon Denny, which comes just at the right time for her as she’s broke, unemployed and is about to be evicted. She’s whisked away from London to France to act as housekeeper/au pair/personal assistant to Simon’s wife and young daughter. She finds herself in an incredibly beautiful, very remote estate somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This is her chance for things to be different, for her to be different. But there’s something slightly off about the place, the people and the situation...

Emily is a quiet, sometimes flustered, aspiring actress. She is trying to get her foot in the door and instead is met with disaster after disaster. She freezes at an audition, loses her job and is soon to be evicted from her apartment. Not knowing where to turn...she ends up being chased down by Scott (her ex-boss) with a job proposal...one that sounds too good to be true.

Emily is whisked away to France to become the au pair for Aurelia and house assistant to Scott's wife, Nina. At first everything is perfect and Emily can't believe her good fortune. Soon, perfect sways to suspicion as Emily begins to see that all may not be as it appears.

I saw this ARC all over Bookstagram and had to snag a chance to read it. It has such a slow buildup that I thought about DNFing but stuck with it. For me, it took until about 80% before it started to gain momentum. This is definitely not a thriller. More like a domestic drama with a very predictable bit of mystery. While I did enjoy the writing style and imagery, the extremely slow burn made it hard to fully enjoy, however the last 10% of the book will definitely have you flying through the pages. #thesafeplace #netgalley

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THIS BOOK. This one was a wild ride from start to finish. While I was hooked from the beginning, I could not put it down when I had only about 25% left. I honestly did not know what the ending was going to be, but I didn’t see THAT coming. Thrillers like this are always my favorite since you are kept guessing until the end.

DNF'ed this book, sadly. Could not get drawn into the story. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for early access to this title.

This was an interesting book that definitely had me confused about what was happening for the first half of the book, but then it came together. I read it quickly over two days and would recommend this as a quick beach read.

Emily, our main character, is kind of a hot mess. She's fired from her temp job and she is a struggling actress who is not getting any traction in pursuing her dream. While everything is falling apart, her ex-boss provides her with a job opportunity that seems too good to be true. Emily probably should have trusted her gut because, of course, strange things ensue as soon as she arrives.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I also won a physical advanced reader's copy via giveaway on Instagram.

This book was definitely a slow burn for me. I felt like it was dragging until about 50% into the book. I knew things were going to get good but I just felt like I was screaming in my head "Get on with it!" for the first half of the book. Once things started picking up though, I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed the flashbacks of Nina's past, as it really solidified the reader seeing what all Nina had endured. It definitely does not explain her actions, but it does make them a little more understandable.

This is definitely a domestic thriller, which are okay for me but I am just not a huge fan. I want thrillers that are pretty much completely action packed/thrill packed (If that's a thing) and keeps me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Not something that makes me think "Maybe I'll get to the good part eventually."

I felt like I could relate to the main character as I am adopted myself and have previously worked in foster care. I can really sympathize with the trauma that she had experienced in her past.

I read this one over a few days last week as I had thought it was being published 6/30/2020 but it looks like they moved the release date back to 7/14/2020. I guess I was over-prepared this time. That doesn't happen often!