I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I kept telling myself, "if this is the big twist, I've had it figured out and that would be lame." Well, this book took the obvious twist and twisted that and the ending was perfect. The suspense all-throughout made it extremely hard to put this book down and the writing style as well as a lack of any errors made it a very smooth read. I think this is the first NetGalley ARC that I have read that didn't have any mistakes that I picked up, so I have to give props for that!

This old friend conncection with a secret dark past that becomes exposed has been done time and again. It's nothing new and unoriginal.

When I requested Our Little Secret from NetGalley, I had never read anything by Lesley Sanderson, but now I want to read everything she's written! I really enjoyed this novel and couldn't wait to find out what everyone was hiding and what really happened to Hannah. I liked the characters, particularly Louise and Amy, and it was easy to see how much Hannah's death had affected them. I was surprised by the ending too, so that was a plus. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read Our Little Secret...I highly recommend it, and I'm happy to have discovered a new author to enjoy. : )

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this a lot, its a great story and fans of physiological thrillers will love it

A group of friends get back together for a special birthday, trouble is they've not really spoken much over the last few years. They're all hiding something, and when the birthday girl announces she's having her party at the same place their friend disappeared from years ago they're all worried what might come out!

It's full of the twists and turns you want from a good thriller and I'd highly recommend it.

This was an easy read. Had a slow build up and explosive ending. The start felt a bit disjointed but the plot settled in half way through and drew me in. An intriguing page turner albeit a bit predictable.

Thank you netgalley for the arc

*4.5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really interesting read, with likeable characters. It wowed me with the secrets being kept, and the lies and obsessions.

I enjoyed this one and it had an interesting ending as well.

My Review:

Omg, omg, omg!!!!! What did I just read. This book was spectacular. Oh my what a twisted read this was. So this was my first book by Lesley Sanderson and she knocked this one out of the ballpark. I will definitely be reading more of her books. This was a stand alone novel.

This book was about a group of friends who came together after many years of being apart. Some of them still talked but some went their own way. As you see there was a tragedy long ago that separated them. It tore them straight to the core. But there was one member of the group that decided its been long enough and wanted to relive the past. So she got the group together and wow did the secrets spill out. What was this tragedy? How did that affect each member of the group? Will they finally learn the truth? You find these answers and so much more by the end.

I want to start off by saying how much I loved this book and I couldn’t put it down for the life of me. I had to know what was going to happen next before I could even eat or sleep. This book was just that good. Let’s talk about characters. Well I loved them all. They all had their own unique qualities that they brought to the table and it worked really well together. It really brought the book alive and I felt like I was part of their group. I felt what they were feeling. Now on to plot. The plot made this book for me too. I just love a book that has so many juicy secrets that they are ready to explode off the pages. Who doesn’t like to find out what someone is hiding, I know I do. But my favorite part of this book was that twisty ending. When you have that many people with that many secrets you better watch out. A cat fight waiting to happen. I loved how the book came together at the end and you finally got the answers on what happened so long ago.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

15 years ago, just before finals and graduation,one girl disappears and is found a few days later in Blackwood Forest. Her death is ruled a suicide and Hannah Robinson's group of friends leave university, broken by events but young enough to pick up, use those degrees and make a start with jobs, relationships and new places to live. The shadow of the past is never that far away though and eventually, Amy, the group 'mother' wanting to reunite the friendship group, invites the girls to her newly inherited cottage to ostensibly celebrate her 35th birthday, but really to come to terms with what happened all those years ago.
Louise, Kat and Daisy oblige. After all, their friend is in remission from breast cancer, so they should be celebrating, even if the cottage happens to back onto Blackwood Forest.
The 'party' held over an Easter weekend is the setting for Our Little Secret. The formula is not new; a group of people brought together where over the course of a few days, long buried secrets are uncovered and The Truth is revealed to expose distant darker deeds. Just because the concept has been used a lot lately by authors, it doesn't mean this novel isn't entertaining or an enjoyable read. It was quick and easy to read and I liked the contrast of the country style idyll of a cottage with a bright yellow door with the murky mist of a death in a forest.
However, this particular novel seemed to never change pace particularly and in places I felt the dialogue was repetitive. The plot seemed a bit static. The women clearly have different lifestyles and personalities which adds some depth to the novel but the fleeting use of a reporter rehashing the story as a podcast doesn't really add the tension you would expect. Each of the four girls have something they are holding back and a game of Truth or Dare quickly descends into lies, blame, and all sorts of personal claims against one another and in some cases, current partners.
Overall, quite a good read, but in an overpopulated genre I felt there needed to be a bit more oomph and a bit more of an assault on our detective senses for it to have a fighting chance of standing out.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Our Little Secret in exchange for this, my honest review.

A reunion of college friends to bring out the truth about a colleague’s death. The character building felt inadequate and the events predictable though with some good twists in the end. A couple of characters are left off after two or three chapters and the conclusion felt rushed after a slow beginning. 3.5 rounded off to 4

Our Little Secret by Lesley Sanderson is a thriller about a group of friends from college who spend a weekend together after going many years without seeing each other. Their friend Hannah allegedly hanged herself many years prior, and the friends come together to celebrate a birthday but end up discussing Hannah's death. They discover some inconsistencies, and then the real story of Hannah's death comes out. This story kept my attention; but, unfortunately, I found the majority of the characters to be unlikable. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

A college reunion years after a good friend disappears, what could go wrong?
Amy, one of the leaders organizes a long weekend desperate to find out what happened to their friend. You are in for one heck of a surprise! The book starts off a little slow introducing each girl, but it picks up one fateful Saturday night when the group decides to play truth or dare.

Louie, one of the main characters isn’t up for any of this. Her marriage has been on the rocks since her husband had an affair. As the group gathers, they learn that the police are looking into Hannah’s death.

What happened to Hannah? Read to find out!

This book was okay, but not great. It honestly fell a little flat for me. It was a quick, buteasily forgettable, read. 3 stars

Louise and her old university friends meet up years later for a birthday party near to where their old friend Hannah committed suicide, everyone is apprehensive as it was a very sad time for them all.
A game of truth or dare brings out all their secrets.
Took a bit of getting into, the characters were difficult to like and the storyline slow and predictable.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

College friends who aren't as close as they once were, reunite for a weekend to celebrate one member's birthday in Lesley Sanderson's Our Little Secret. They were a group of six friends, one whom committed suicide after the only boy in the group broke up with her and starting dating another group member.

After Hannah's death, the friends go their separate ways, some meet up once in a while and others stay close - but not as one group. For the first time in 15 years, the old gang is back together.

Louise's marriage has been rocky after her husband's affair, she has no desire to celebrate this weekend with old friends. But Amy is the group's defacto leader and she had a cancer scare and wants to celebrate her life and remember Hannah.

It's like a seance has gone bad. The friends learn that the police is looking into Hannah's death. There is no evidence that her death is a murder and not the suicide that they all thought. These people were Hannah's closest friends - is one of them the prime suspect? Is one of them a murderer?

Gripping thriller, a very good story that will keep readers guessing until the end.

I've been a fan of Lesley Sanderson since her fantastic debut, The Orchid Girls, and Our Little Secret is probably my favourite yet. Fast-paced and twisty, this book is utterly gripping and emotional.

i very much enjoyed this author never disappoints very twisty and addictive ,Louise and Amy are best friends . Amy s birthday is coming up and she wants to have a get together with there old Uni friends Kat , Daisy .. but one friend is missing Hannah she was found dead in the woods 15 years ago Louise has never forgiven .Daisy and Sam for hurting Hannah all those years ago . and Louise has given her husband a second chance as he had an affair and she never knew who the other women was not saying no more but how it all unfolds is just so good so recommend all this authors books .

This book focuses on Louise, who, along with her close knit group of friends form college, spend a weekend at their friend Amy's cottage near the area where the 6th member of their group, Hannah, allegedly killed herself years ago. Amy invited everyone because it was her birthday, but also because questions have arisen about whether Hannah's death was actually a suicide and Amy wants them to get together as a group and see if their collective memories can help piece together what really happened.

The book takes place over a period of a couple days. The first half of the book mostly sets the stage, and the 2nd half of the book moves at a faster clip as secrets are revealed and tensions are high. I got an idea of who the characters were and what they were like, but the characterization didn't quite gel for me. I found it hard to believe that none of them had ever talked about Hannah's death in the past, when they were supposed to be close friends and they all said this was the worst thing that ever happened to them. Louise hadn't ever even told her husband of many years about Hannah at all. I found that odd.

I had an idea of who the villain was but the way it unfolded still provided a few twists and made for an interesting climax to the story. I thought that more could have been done around the storyline with the journalist and the overall reasons for re-opening Hannah's case.

Overall, decent read with a pretty good ending, but didn't fully do it for me, based on my lack of connection with the characters and what felt like some missed opportunities. I give this a solid 3 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Our little secrets follows a group of friends meeting for a reunion at a cottage where one of their friends was found dead by suicide. This is the first book i’ve read by this author and I enjoyed it! The writing style reminds me of Laine Moriarty, whose books I really like. The beginning was a bit slow, It was hard to tap in to all the characters and get into the plot, but after halfway in when the group starts to play truth or dare, it was a page turner. I wanted to figure out what happened! It was full of secrets which get revealed in an satisfying way. Overall, this book was a lot of fun and a good read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was written during the lockdown and plot tends to take place in one place which is nice for us who are also not going anywhere. Very interesting and different characters considering they were old friends. Good plot told mainly through the eyes of Louise. I will definitely look up more of Lesleys books. Will recommend to everone.

Books about groups of friends hiding secrets and exposing past lies rely greatly on the characters and their interactions. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with a single one here. After kicking cancer, Amy throws herself a birthday party. She invites all her friends from college, including the narrator Louise, and plans a remembrance of their friend Hannah, who disappeared and was then found dead by her own hand. Now, the reader imagines that it was not so straightforward and that by the end of the novel we’ll find out what really happened. It’s hard to give a bad review, since it must be very hard to write a novel but I found the plot predictable and the dialogues too contrived. There is an absurd amount of attention paid to drinks, be it water or cocktails, and other details that don’t add anything to the story. I’m glad to see other reviewers liked this novel, it was not for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Bookouture!