I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

What do you do when the people you tell everything to, are actually the ones you have been lying to your whole life? For four best friends who have become more like sisters, that is the struggles. When the weekend comes for there normal get-together, all secrets are let out to air.

Secrets will always get a way to come out, and this book proves it fully. The book was so entertaining, I couldn't wait to finish it!

A story of four college friends meeting up for a reunion after 20 years which can be explosive when they play truth or dare. Great book that worked well being told by the four friends so that you get all their viewpoints and wonder if they ever really knew each other at all! The secrets coming out certainly held my interest and I read it in one sitting

Do we even know our friends? Do we think they could do anything harmful?
The lie and then the truth is damaging and then makes you wonder what other secrets are being kept?
This book had me gripped I wanted to know everything that I read it in one sitting.

4 friends met for a weekend and it was tumultuous when secrets soon were laid bare. Emily Cavanaugh ‘s writing made me their friend who looked over their shoulders, understanding life as it happened to them, and to me.

This year was all about
healing me from the inside out, and this book was perfect for me. It was kind and gentle in the way there was mystery and many hidden truths. I was engrossed on the tiny tidbits of their life.

The girls soon became my friends too as they left the grief of their old and found a way out. I loved how they forged out a new bond of their friendships.

The story might feel familiar, but it was still very warm, almost like apple pie. And yes, alcohol flowed over the weekend. hic…

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc of this book, all opinions expressed here are my own.

Her Guilty Secret by Emily Cavanagh is the first book I have read from this author.

This book is the story of four college friends who meet for a weekend away twenty years later. They have kept in touch, but how well do they still know each other?

Told from each of their perspectives in both the past and present, this is and easy, enjoyable read about family, friendship, truth and lies. Will they still be friends once the weekend is over.

This was an interesting three and a half stars read for me. It would make a good beach read.

This is the story of four women who were college roommates twenty years ago. They keep in touch but haven’t met up for a long time so decide to have a weekend away. They meet up at Elsie’s summerhouse. She is the one who seems to have it all, plenty of money and a loving family, but she is hiding a big secret from them all. Ada has a young baby and is suffering from post natal depression. After splitting up from her husband Ivy is facing bankruptcy and is contemplating working as an escort for the extra money. Libby, who was widowed a few years previously, has recently found a new love but has lots of reservations. So each of them are hiding secrets from each other and their families. These are gradually revealed over the weekend as tension rise amongst the friends. The author reveals each of her characters so sympathetically and really drew me into the story. She covers marriage, motherhood, mental health, money matters and enduring friendship. An enjoyable read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Four women, college friends, reunite for what is supposed to be a “catch up/reconnect” weekend. But it doesn’t go exactly as planned. There are layers of secrets going back to their time in college. The author did a good job of clearly defining each of the women and their personalities, but also clearly marked their place within the group. While I appreciated the insight that came with inner monologues and personal thoughts, I did think that some of the passages involving inner musings went on for too long. Ultimately, it was an intriguing look at female dynamics and how difficult it is for women to trust even their closest friends with their deepest secrets. For a detailed review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

Four college friends with busy lives, jobs, families and commitments affirm to take some time out and spend the weekend together at Elise’s second home to catch up on old times and have some much-needed down time.

The best laid plans do often go awry though and it is not long before Ada’s baby is coming along on the trip and the friends are rallying to try and feign a new found love of babysitting.

These four very different friends Elise, Ada, Libby and Ivy have kept in touch but all seem to now have different priorities and after a game of truth or dare, old secrets that have been hidden for years start creeping out and wreaking havoc on the getaway.

I loved how life-affirming this book was. That even the friends that appeared to “have it all” and are the most put together can be struggling too. It really reminded me that appearances aren’t everything and this can be so important.

Her Guilty Secret by Emily Cavanagh
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Women's Fiction
Release Date: February 12, 2021

Her Guilty Secret by Emily Cavanagh is a standalone book about friendships.

I found this was very interesting look into friendships and how everyone has secrets.

This was well written with great dimension. I really enjoyed reading it!

I'm so grateful to Emily Cavanagh, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley. This is a new author for me.

Written from each of the friends perspectives and each with their own unique voice.

What happens when old friends spend a weekend together? Will it be like old times or is that even possible now they are all women with responsibilites and worries .

Tensions and secrets are on the verge of being exposed…Tense and addictive as I whizzed through.

Is all as it seems for each of the women? And will their restful break be exactly that?

Published 9th February

Excellent story. I read this book in one sitting.

Twenty years after graduating college, four best friends/ roommates decide to get together for a weekend. Eventually they realize that they aren't the same people they were back then.

Ivy, Elise, Libby, and Ada went to college and lived together for four years. They were all best friends. They were each other's support system, through the good times and the bad. This weekend at Elise's vacation house on the Cape is a much needed break for all four women.

Ivy is going through a divorce, has no job, and is broke. Ada is suffering from postpartum depression and in major denial of it. Libby just starting dating someone after the death of her husband, and can't discipline her children. And Elise is having problems with her husband and her son is acting out in school.

But each woman is putting on an act saying otherwise until they slowly start to break down from holding it in.

When they play an old game of "Truth or Dare" Ada is asked a question whether she's been keeping a secret? And she has. Twenty years ago, she accidentally destroyed Ivy's future and she never told her. Now she decides to fess up. Only, is she doing it to purge her own guilt or to make Ivy stop blaming herself?

Sometimes secrets are better kept hidden.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I really enjoyed the story and it was a quick paced thriller. I will be recommending it to family and friends snd will be looking for more from this author in the future. Thanks again for the opportunity to read this book.

The friendship among 4 women is examined as they finally all spend time together in a getaway vacation. Secrets are shared, and lives looked at unflinchingly. Well written.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Four women become best friends in college and many years later meet up for a weekend together. During a game of truth or dare, a secret comes out about one of them. It would be a good beach read.

This was a great story, realistic, relatable and totally credible. Four friends of old haven't met up to spend time together in forever, because life, loves, jobs, children and family pressures all too often get in their way. Finally a get away is planned and they all manage to make it happen. They all live under the illusion of perfect lives, their social media posts acting as beacons to the outside world, but gradually as the story progresses we learn that things are not always as they seem.
This is a great read. It's enticing from the start, captivating and well written. I highly recommend it.

Four best friends from college get together, but it's 20years later, and everything has changed. Instead of seeing enough daily and knowing everything about each other, they haven't seen each other in two years and each has something hidden from the others.

Relationships are hard, marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Loss is hard. Being a mother is hard. Doing it alone is hard. Being vulnerable is hard, opening up to those that you love and respect.

I got so emotionally invested in this story, it was hard to put it down. I saw a piece of myself in each of those women - and not always a part I want to admit to. There's so much fear - fear of not being good enough, or having enough, or being enough - that we hide and we limit ourselves because we are scared.

Very well written and highly emotionally engaging.

Four old college friends decide to spend the weekend together  to reconnect but each hides a secret. Elise feels lonely despite her wealth and has been squirrelling money away but now her husband has found out. Ivy is almost bankrupt and has started working as an escort. Ada is hiding her postnatal depression. Widow Libby has found a second chance at love. However, there are more secrets from the past...
Her Guilty Secret is a great title as it can apply to each of the four main characters. They have been hiding secrets from each other as well as their loved ones. Yet for all of them, things are going to come to a head this weekend as tensions and personalities collide.
The four main women are all likeable, facing their own struggles and desperate to cling on to their lives yet terrified of what will happen next. I liked the strength of the women's friendship that ebbs and flows throughout the book. The realism of their emotions makes this an enjoyable book to read and there is a naturalness to the situations that makes us think 'what if it was me'.
We get to see different perspectives as each chapter gives us insight into one of the women's viewpoints. They are all treated equally by the author who shows us their version of current and past events through third person narrative.
Her Guilty Secret is an enjoyable tale of enduring friendship and modern life.

Old college friends get together – one excited to host them and the other three coming to the get together with mixed emotions

One of the things about lifelong friendships is the expectations these friends have from you and also how the patterns of relating to each other are fixed. The fact is that as we grow older we change, our priorities change and it’s important that we give old friends space and reassess our patterns of relating to each other. I think Her Guilty Secret brought this out beautifully.

Each of the friends had a secret that they were struggling with apart from the one big secret that threatened to bring up the past and break the tenuous ties that they had. Old hurts and unresolved emotions between start to show as they interact with each other and also each of them is trying to pretend their life is fine. A game of truth or dare changes the dynamic of their gathering and threatens the future of their friendship. Will they continue to be friends despite all this?

I didn’t know what to expect from the book but then found it hard to put it down. The author’s style of narration is really good. The problems that the women face in their individual lives are so real and relatable as is the nature of their friendship and interaction.

I will be looking out for more books from this author.