As a parent, I was hesitant to dive into this book. The storyline is based on every parent’s nightmare. For a few minutes in her own home, a mother turns her back on her toddler daughter, and when she checks on her, she is gone. A frantic search ensues, followed by notifying the police, but no trace of her child is ever found. She and her husband are bereft.

The ensuing year is unbearably painful for the couple despite a new baby, friends no longer call or know how to treat them. The husband has begun to accept his daughter’s death; the mother has not. A year after the disappearance, they attend a neighbor’s housewarming party for their year-long decorating project. The story picks up a fast pace from here, but it did not go where I expected it to go. This book is a testament that things, and people, are not always what they seem.

I enjoyed this fast and easy read and my first time reading this author. It was not exactly what I would call a thriller, but a good mystery/whodunit. I especially liked how the author delved into the couple’s relationship and the tenacity of a mother who would not give up. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read The Housewarming. I gave it 3 ½ stars rounded up to 4.

Great suspense! Susie's writing is beautiful. This book kept me fully engrossed, dying to know the next reveal. At the same time, it made me want to hug my kids a little bit tighter; you feel like you're right there with Ava, living every parent's worst nightmare. Wonderful book with a satisfying ending.

I was invested in this throughout and really gripped. I loved the characters of Ava and Matt, and especially loved Jen - she really jumped off the page despite having quite a small part. The slow unfurling of information was masterful, and the twist-within-a-twist was inspired. Highly recommended, and I will be looking out other books by SE Lynes.

Unputdownable. Anyone who loves Louise Candlish and Shari Lapena will be amazed by this clever page-turner. An intriguing and nerve-wracking tale that binds family, grief, loss and dark secrets. S.E.Lynes is a great story-teller and I can't wait to read more!

As a parent I know I have been there. The moment when your child hides when you are out shopping, for example, and for what feels like an eternity you cannot find them, (which is in reality 30 seconds) the hideous feeling of panic, of wanting to vomit, of the utter desperation, of struggling to get air in your lungs. This is exactly what Ava experiences when she comes downstairs to find her toddlers pushchair empty and the front door open. However, Ava doesn't find her daughter and a police investigation is launched.

What follows is an angonising drama of what happens when a child goes missing. The impact that it has on the parents, their friends and family and the community. It is well considered and, at times, quite difficult to read. A year later Ava and Matt still have no resolution to what happened to their daughter, but whereas Matt wants to move on, Ava is still immersed in the past. Their neighbours house party becomes so much more than a street get together. Matt views it as an opportunity to get Ava to move forward and live in the present, Ava can only see it as another opportunity to be reminded of their missing child.

This is where the story moves from the family drama into the suspense genre. The pressure that the couple put themselves and each other under to attend the party with their once close friends reveals more about the secrets and emotions that they have all kept hidden. There are quite a few twists and some shocking revelations before the book reaches its sad ending.

This is a solid read that wrapped itself up in a satisfactory way. Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Well....that was depressing.

Ava was upstairs for a few minutes. She just wanted to gather the laundry so she put her daughter in a chair and ran upstairs. Well, maybe it was five minutes because she needed the restroom. And then she needed her phone. And, I guess she needed to look at Facebook...and maybe comment on a few things. Regardless, it was only a few minutes - 15 at most.

Abi was gone and has been gone ever since.

This book explores grief and loss - and frankly, kind of drags...until the last 25% when everything rushes to an end.

Still - some people might enjoy it.

Thanks to netGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I finished this book in one sitting.

I need answers.

And I got them.

A truly heartbreaking read about the horror of losing a child. Literally.

I will definitely be looking at other work from this author.

A story of every parents worse nightmare. Your child goes missing, the story is narrated by the distraught parents. This is a dark thriller and definitely not what I was expecting. This read got my heart racing and constantly changing my mind. Did the parents do something? We're the neighbours involved?. A twisted read I could not put down I HAD TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!! Almost five stars.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Ava and Matt’s young daughter Abi disappears through the open front door. There is a massive search and all they find is her toy, Mr. Sloth, her hat and her coat. Without knowing what happens, they can’t find any closure.

I’m not a mother, so I just can’t imagine the suffering of your daughter being missing and your guilt of your part in her disappearance. How do you move on without knowing. At times Ava is with her therapist and discusses that each day is new and if today goes badly, tomorrow will be new again. How hard is it to remember tomorrow is a new chance when we ourselves fail in something trivial? She is so sick of neighbors and friends saying God only gives us what we can handle and everything happens for a reason. How many of us are guilty of saying these types of things trying to build someone up not realizing it may not be the first time they’ve heard that today?

The book bounces back and forth from the event in the past and the present. The early on family drama was a little repetitive, but the book really moved along once everyone attended the neighbor’s housewarming party. And while I suspected everyone I met in the book, including Ava and Matt, you’ll be shocked at the ending.

I recently finished reading The Housewarming by S.E. Lynes, and let me say this book is not for the faint of heart. I'd call this story a domestic thriller that centers around a missing toddler, her parents, and their friends and neighbors, but the bottom line is that any story about a missing toddler is, at heart, a tragedy.

The book begins with little Abi disappearing from her house; Abi is clipped into her stroller downstairs while her mom is upstairs, and when Mom Ava comes downstairs, Abi is gone. This section of the book is so well written, with pages of staccato, clipped sentences that absolutely convey the terror and urgency Abi's mom Ava is feeling.

There is an amazing amount of self-awareness on the part of Ava and her husband Matt. Abi remains missing a year later, and her disappearance has eaten away at both parents, and taken a toll on their friendship with their best friends. Although Ava and Matt understand the destructive path they are going down, they cannot stop it, correct it, or save themselves from it.

As far as what happened to Abi, I was suspicious of the right people, but I didn't know why I was suspicious of them until the story unfolded to explain it.

A few things about this book left me feeling dissatisfied: The big reveal at the halfway point of the book left me feeling shocked and distressed. The very end of the book seemed implausible, but perhaps it's just that I would have handled things differently than Ava does.

Possible triggers include missing child and miscarriage. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I went back and forth between 2-3 stars on this one. I really wanted to love this book because the premise sounded so intriguing, but sadly, it fell a little short for me. I honestly think that the way it was marketed played a huge role in my disappointment because it was marketed as a thriller and I found it to be more of a slow-burn mystery/drama. The first half was pretty repetitive and it didn’t really pick of the pace until about the last 15-20% of the book.

That being said, I did like the character development and the progression of the relationships in the book. I think if I would have gone into it expecting more of a slow-burn, character-driven story, I would have given it a higher rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my WOW this was such a great book! I couldn’t put it down! I absolutely LOVE the inner dialogue and how it sort of rambles the way we do in our own minds. I could totally feel Ava’s anguish and desperation. As usual, I suspected everyone and played out different scenarios in my mine just like Ava was doing. Yet the shockers kept coming and coming right up until the end! I always love Susie Lynes’ writing style and these characters and their situations and decisions will follow me for a long time! I absolutely recommend The Housewarming! 5 giant stars from me!

Huge thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this book in advance for my honest review!

This book is certainly an attempt at a sweeping and dramatic thriller, and it has all the right components. The characters are likeable, realistic, tortured, and there's a really incredible twist of fate that brings them all further into the orbit of each other. I really enjoyed the perspective changes in this book, and how the staggered action manages to entice the reader into thinking that there is something huge that is being built up to.

However, I found that the action didn't quite deliver as well as it could have. The climax of the story I really liked in some ways, but hated in others. In some ways, it was so mundane, and I expected nefarious- but then, I imagine it is a more realistic portrayal of these kinds of circumstances. I thought, however, that there was some real believability to how the characters responded to the horrific circumstances that occurred- which is certainly hard to do given the balance.

The title was also perhaps not the choice I would have made. The story goes far, far beyond this, and it was a bit of a misnomer- it makes you expect a mysterious house party where Bad Things Happen (TM). However, I do have to say I was all around quite impressed with the author's work- especially the fact that it managed to convey the fear, panic, and anticipation of the hammer falling.

Well that was sad....

Ava only left her daughter alone for a couple of minutes. Abi was in her pushcart, safely secured, what could go wrong? Every parents’ worse nightmare. When Ava comes downstairs, the pushcart is empty, the front door is open, and Abi is gone. She is left with heartache, guilt, despair and loss.

A year later, Ava and Matt attend a housewarming, Matt wants to attend believing it will help Ava to get her out socializing, to be around friends and neighbors. But little do they know that a single comment, will change things....

Secrets, lie, guilt, pain, heartbreaking loss, and the truth....

This book had a couple of twists at the end which I did not see coming. This book is not the usual fast paced thriller. It is slowed down so that you feel the devastating pain, loss and guilt that Ava is feeling. We get to see what happened in the past and the present. We also get to read the POV of Ava and other characters. As the story begins to unfold, the book does pick up and move faster.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

One tragic day changes the lives of Ava and Matt Atkins; their daughter Abi goes missing.
Their inner circle are distraught, the questioning continues but slowly over the coming months the case is eased off. But Ava can't let go of her inner feelings, she can't trust anyone even herself.
Another piece of brilliant creative writing by Susie Lynes.

The Housewarming starts with an emotional bang that had me pulled into a story so full of tension that it felt like it would snap at any at any second.

Written in the intelligent, twisting words that S.E Lynes is so well known for, The Housewarming is thriller not to be missed. The way the author wove past and present, and guilt and panic together, makes this book nothing short of genius!

*3.5/5
This was the first book I had read by S.E. Lynes and it certainly won't be the last!
The Housewarming is a tense and dark story of 2 people going through every parents worst nightmare: the disappearance of their child. From the outset, Lynes encaptures the reader and quickly immerses them in the living nightmare and tragedy in which Ava and Matt find themselves.
The first person narrative for Ava is very well done and you can really feel the stress, heart break, anguish and utter maddening suspense that she goes through the day Abi goes missing. The way that the narrative jumps from one minute to another and back again perfectly illustrates how much Ava blames herself for what happens and how this guilt is causing her to slowly unravel. For a year she has buried herself with guilt and has slowly become her own worst enemy by constantly revisiting that awful day.
The level of emotion was so palpable throughout the book and you could so clearly picture Ava, Matt and Neil as they all went through their own dark and sad journeys. Each person had their own secret and dark side of the story and bit by bit, it ate away at them until it could no longer stay hidden.
I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil the story but overall I thought it was fast paced, tense and had you hooked from the beginning. The characters were super strong and so well depicted. However...I did find the ending a bit rushed and anticlimactic. The story was gradually building up to what I thought would be a huge twist but I was a little let down with where it went. The first half / two thirds of the book show a lot of promise but then it just didn't deliver for me in the end. That sense of suspense and nail biting dwindled and the ending just wasn't as big or shocking as I thought it would be. I also think the title isn't right. There's a lot more to the story than just the housewarming.
But overall, for anyone looking for an intense, suspenseful and dark story, this is definitely worth a read. The pros do outweigh the cons and out of 10 I would give it 7.
Big thank you to Net Galley for letting me read and review this before publication.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review

A little girl is lost, was she taken, did her mother leave the door open, do their friends and neighbors know more than they are telling the police, so many questions .

This is a harrowing journey told by both parents who are suffering in their own way . The writing conveys the struggle of their loss and their emotions are laid bare and are palpable within the story. , This was a very good mystery well written with a very good ending , I give it 5 stars ,

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of The Housewarming by S.E. Lynes in exchange for an honest review.

Raising a two year old daughter can take its toll on any mother. Exhausted, Ava, longs for a few minutes to herself. Early one morning, she leaves two year old Abi buckled into her stroller downstairs while she uses the bathroom. Realizing that she has spent longer than she meant to in the bathroom on her phone, she returns downstairs to find the door open and Abi missing from her stroller. She immediately blames herself for becoming distracted and not watching her child carefully. After a year long investigation with no leads, the police stop looking into her disappearance. However, Ava will not give up on finding her daughter. What really happened to Abi?

This is a very thoughtful introspective thriller that ultimately asks, what would you do to protect the ones you love? It realistically depicts the emotions mothers feel when caring for their children as well as describing every stage of loss through the eyes of Ava and her husband, Matt. As a mother myself, It is easy to relate to Ava’s feelings of helplessness and self-blame. Through a series of lies, secrets and betrayal, the reader is led on a journey to finding out the truth about what happened to Abi and the sacrifices people are willing to make in order to avoid cracking the foundations of family. Lynes expertly makes everyone a suspect, however, I did figure out the twist.
My one critique is that there is a little too much introspection and not enough action to fully keep my entire interest the whole way through to the end.

4/5 stars

Wow! This novel is intense. There was quite a bit of repetition in the first half of the narrative as the main character dealt with the aftermath of the disappearance of her daughter. Once the twists started, however, I was completely gripped. I did not see the ending coming at all.

TW: This book focuses on a missing child. The ending was perfect for a thriller, but it was harder on me than I expected.