Ok when I saw this I thought “mmmm not sure I’m in the mood for a girlie book?!” Well I was pleasantly surprised.!!
These four friends met at college. They meet up after not seeing each other for a couple of years. Now and again they try to meet up but everyone has stuff going on. There is concerns that maybe they aren’t the same people now and therefor their friendship is questionable. Things come out over the weekend about each of them ....... can they become closer than they were when they entered the holiday house? Absolutely loved this book and it’s a 5 star from me!! Need to keep an eye out for this authors books!

PUBLISH DATE- 12th Feb 2021

Thanks #netgalley #bookouture #guiltysecret #emilycavanagh

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I love when psychological thrillers involve complex friendships and layers of secrets and that is exactly what this book has! I don’t want to give away spoilers, so I will just say this; WOW! I loved this book and will be telling everyone about it!

Her Guilty Secret is all about secrets , those you keep to protect someone and those you keep to to not only hide the truth but protect yourself.

Its about loyalty, friendship and family.

Four college friends get together for a weekend retreat /reunion . People change after 20 years but does friendship?

All four of them have their own problems with family and all have kept a secret in one way or another.

The pages will turn fast as you learn to love these ladies and admire the strength of their relationship.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a satisfying read.

A nicely told engaging story
It is a much recently told story though about old teenage friends meeting up for a weekend and bringing with them their secrets, problems and resentments
There was no massive psychological secret in this story though, more a story of women’s friendship and how it survived the decades and although they had all changed they come to realise they all need each other, there is as said plenty of lower scale secrets and one fairly big one
I liked all 4, all of them different, had had or having challenges and I liked how the story was part the reunion and part their pasts and present, it all fit together nicely and flowed well
They interacted well and it all was kinda relaxing tbh, if you are looking for a solid, truthful, friendship affirming read then this book is for you and am basing my scores on that

7/10
4 Stars

I received an ARC from Bookouture through NetGalley for an honest review. Four women who were best friends in college are reuniting for a long weekend. It has been a few years since they have seen each other. When they arrive at Elise's summer house at Cape Cod, no one wants seems to want to be there. It isn't turning out the way they thought it was, and each woman has their own problems they are dealing with, but they try.
One of the problems they realize is that they don't communicate anymore. Back in college, they were always talking and when they left college they still did. Then as each woman created their own life, there wasn't time to do everything so the friendship took a back burner.
As the women started opening up and really talking they discovered they were getting back some of what they had in college and they did start enjoying their weekend. One of the women said she didn't have many friends at home and when she thought about it, she realized because she always compared them to what she had with these women when they were in college.
Each woman learned a lot this weekend and made plans to do it again next year, but as they wonder, will they actually do it. Life does have a way of getting in the way of things and as women, we all know that friendship sometimes gets taken for granted because of all the other pressing matters in life. This is a book most women can relate to even the guilty secret.

This novel was an enjoyable enough read. But it’s a novel that I have seen/read in other works before. There’s no real suspenseful secret betrayal for the reader as that secret is given away pretty easily. But it is a true portrayal of female friendships and how at one point in time when we though our closest circle of friends we had as young adults would never alter. Some are indeed lucky enough to have the sam friends and quality of friendship 20 years later, but many do not. Because at its heart, people can and do change. An honest enough portrayal of how the passing of time alters who we are in the past and present..

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

I absolutely loved this book! Four college friends get together for a girls weekend years after college. They all have different lives and their own secrets. Can they and their friendship survive the weekend?

I loved the four characters, Ivy, Ada, Elise, and Libby. Each has their own story and hardship that they have carried with them. Without close friends like they were in college, they have to handle it alone.

I think this is a great story of friendship and the importance of having good friends.

Four BFFs from college reunite after a two year hiatus for a long weekend of rest and relaxation – in other words, no spouses or children for three days of down time. Over the years, time and distance have stretched their once-close bonds of intimacy where they could share anything and everything with each other and now each one carries the weight of maintaining a façade of having it “altogether” in their respective lives. Predictably, as the week end unfolds, cracks appear in their demeanor and their shared vulnerability leads to a greater sense of connection and caring.

The initial chapters of the book were so grim in presenting the protagonists’ challenges that I almost abandoned reading it. I enjoy storylines with strong women overcoming challenges, but how likely is it that all four women would be experiencing personal crises at the same time? One woman is a widow struggling with guilty feelings over a new relationship and her children’s potential reactions. Another is a divorcee (all but for signing the final papers) after her professor/husband gets one of his students pregnant and leaves her on the brink of bankruptcy. A third woman has such severe security issues from her childhood that she squirrels away thousands of dollars jeopardizing her marriage. Lastly, one woman with a relatively new marriage and a nine month old son is teetering on the edge of a total breakdown from unresolved grief and postpartum depression. At the core of all this drama is a long-held secret that threatens their continuing friendship.

I did not find the characters particularly likeable nor engaging with all the figurative hand-wringing and victim mentality. The backstories do provide the rationale/motivation that lead to the current situation, but the lack of self-responsibility and/or blaming of others for their circumstances did not make for sympathetic characters nor an inspiring storyline. As with many other current novels, this book spends an agonizing amount of time and space providing great detail of the protagonists’ dilemmas only to resolve the issues in a rather simplistic manner in the last few chapters. While this book does illustrate the benefits of honest communication and trust in oneself to have the strength to be vulnerable, I was disappointed for the reasons listed above.

My thanks to the author, Bookouture, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication

Holy drama land sister!!! This book seriously sucked me in from the get go! Four friends - four "secrets" - a weekend away... What could possibly go wrong? It's heart breaking how accurate this book is, in describing even life long friendships. As women, we all strive to seriously have our crap together - and we don't. Not even close. And we surely don't want those closest to us, to know that we are total failures - so we tend to fudge stories a bit, hide details at times and plaster a big ole happy face on when we're feeling vulnerable. Throughout this weekend, each secret comes out - and one HUGE one causes a heck of an explosion. Ultimately - as women do, we figure it out. I really enjoyed this book - but another new to me author - that I can't wait to add to my "pre-order" list (you know, authors that I'll buy without ever reading the synopsis on the back - because I already know that I'll love it). I'd like to thank Netgalley for giving me a digital ARC of this fabulous book in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book after being in a reading slump and looking for something new. I was picked to read this book from NetGalley and was excited to try it. I really liked the characters and connected with them on different levels. Navigating motherhood at different stages in your child’s life is always tricky and you hope that you’re doing a great job and that they turn out a good person! I was guessing due to the title of the book and description which one of the women had the guilty secret. I really enjoyed the way this book kept you guessing until the very end. I also appreciated the way that these women were bound together and how each of them perceived this friendship. I have a group of women that are bound by our husbands and we go back 20 years as well and I enjoyed reading this story with a similar friend group (minus the secrets) and seeing how friendships change over time even though they are deeply woven in our history and life. I would highly recommend this book to any woman that is looking for a new book and I actually already have!!! Thank you again NetGalley and Bookouture!

A great story of friendship and love, secrets and lies. I loved all four women and the journey they have had. I related to each of them in a different way which is one of the reasons this book had me hooked from the first few pages. I finished this book in 3 sittings as I just couldn’t put it down. I’m looking forward to reading more from Emily Cavanagh.

A Game Of Life...?
A tale of friendship, love, lies and secrets as the reader is privy to the innermost thoughts of four friends who gather one weekend over a bottle of wine. As a game of truth or dare progresses what secrets will be revealed? Will the weekend bring them closer or further apart? Some compulsive reading on the game of life from Emily Cavanagh.

Tension filled, secrets being unveiled and friendship.

This book was really good. I really loved to read the different points of view from the four characters and loved to seeing them develop throughout the book.

There was some mystery and a lot of tension but seeing the characters overcome obstacles and learning from them was really enjoyable.

The narrative and plot were really well constructed and I felt this was quite an interesting read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

You remember at school and you had some good friends, great friends even and you shared everything? You had each other’s backs, were there for each other in good and in bad times. There were no secrets between you …
Then marriage and children happen and even though you never lost touch, the contact is not the same anymore, but that does not mean you are not best friends anymore, right?
Maybe it’s time for a little reunion to prove just that and have a happy relaxed weekend away from the every day life. That’s just what the doctor ordered …
Did their friendship stand the test of time and are secrets meant to be revealed of stay buried forever?
This is a story that I liked a lot. It’s about friendship, second chances, facing and dealing with your problems. The author managed to add the exact right amount of emotion into the mix. 4 stars

Thank you, Emily Cavanagh and Bookouture

If you love books about the ups, downs and friendships of people’s lives then you will love this !!

Elsie, Ivy, Libby and Ada went to college together and are meeting for a weekend away at Elsie’s summerhouse. Now in their forty’s they friends lives have all taken different paths. All of them are struggling in their own ways but will they finally share their problems with their oldest friends ?

There are plenty of secrets and lies between the group of friends but will the whole truth come out over the weekend ? Will a secret from their college days be revealed ? What will be the repercussions?

A great story about the ups and downs of four women’s, very different, lives. I loved all the characters although all very different.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Long term friendships can be tricky, especially if there are four in the group and you don’t see each other on a regular basis. Life tends to get in the way. For Elise, Ada, Libby and Ivy, getting away from everyday family pressures for a girl’s weekend should be a great idea. Each woman brings her problems and secrets from the past with them. Will the revelations about the past and their current life bring the women closer together or drive them apart?

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I like this author. I really enjoyed this book, the characters and the storyline, well worth a read.

Elise, Ivy, Libby and Ava shared their college years at Harper's, and it was an entirely different experience for every one of them.
More than twenty years later, they are going to spend a weekend at Elise's Cape Cod beautiful summer house. But just at the moment every one of them is getting ready to jump into the weekend, their minds start to overthink. Are they willing to meet the otbers? Are they ready to leave their homes and families? But overall, are they going to share their real lives with friends that were the greatest at one point but feel like strangers after many years without frequent contact?
I loved this book! It's the perfect combination of common history and private thoughts. About aging and growing up, sometimes forcefully. About friendship, love and goodwill. Overall, it's a story about life.
The characters are masterfully developed and the pace is remarkable.
It's the first book I read from this author and I hope it will not be the last.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley and Bookouture for a FANTASTIC novel of Her Guilty Secret. What a PERFECT weekend read. I just LOVED the friendships of the four women, just a feel good book even when things were tough in the plot. I am sooooo sad its over.

Some of us look forward to "girls" weekends, others not so much. Those female bonding trips can be fabulous, but occasionally fail to meet expectations. In Emily Cavanagh's "Her Guilty Secret," each of four women friends carry varying amounts of baggage to a long weekend on Cape Cod. They've been pals since college, but the years have eroded some aspects of their friendships, whether they want to admit it or not. Somewhere along the line, they stopped confiding in each other, especially about unpleasantries that might make them seem less than perfect and successful. Cavanagh has drawn relatable characters who, being human, garner both empathy and annoyance, which seems pretty relatable for a sisterhood of any length. As the group's overachieving, somewhat controlling, but nonetheless gracious hostess endeavors to stage a perfect weekend, the cracks in their relationships begin to come to the surface, including one 20-year-old secret that changed the direction of one of their lives. Will they turn on one another, or ultimately forgive and lend support? Will the Cape Cod weekend bring them closer together, or further fracture the fragile friendships? Have the relationships run their course, or are they all in it for the long hall? Cavanagh deftly leads us through the ups and downs, laughter and tears, deceptions and truths of four women who ultimately reveal their true selves in ways they haven't in a very long time. A good book to take along on YOUR next "girls" weekend.