2.5 stars, rounded up

Soooo
This one is a very, very slow starter. It features two timelines, one from the 1990s where Anneliese is Suzy's nanny, and one from the present day where the two of them reconnect. There are hints that this book isn't as straightforward as it seems, but it isn't until probably 60% into the book that things actually start to come together into a semblance of a suspenseful thriller.

At 80% I pretty much knew where everything was going, but I was still interested enough to finish. And when I finished I was shaking my head saying "what on earth did I just read?"

I had quite a few problems with this book, one main one is that I didn't like any of the characters. I thought they were all either mentally ill or narcissistic or sociopaths, and none of them believed that anyone else had their best interests at heart. For a bit I thought that Sue/Suzy was pulling herself together, but she kept going off on weird tangents of violence and bizarre behavior. I wish that the narrative had been a bit more straightforward, because the core story here isn't too bad, but I kept getting distracted by strange behavior. Like why would Sue believe this stranger over her best friends? Every page it seemed like she was getting drunk and passing out or falling asleep at Anneliese's apartment, taking her clothes off for some odd reason. For a while I thought there was something sexual going on between Sue and Anneliese, but that didn't seem to be what was happening so it made it all the more bizarre.

That said, if you can get past the first half of incredibly slow build up, the second half is much faster paced and has some surprises. This is Flora Collins's debut novel, and I do see promise in her writing and look forward to seeing what she can come up with next.

A recently orphaned (in her 20s) woman reconnects with her childhood nanny and finds that not everything is as it seems.

Told in two timelines, this is an exciting debut for a new author. While I did find some parts too repetitive, this was still an exciting and engaging read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Sue has had quite a bit of trauma in her life. She’s recently lost her daddy, the only parent she ever really had. Her mama passed when Sue was just a bitty thing. The last year all Sue’s done is hide out in her apartment. She’s worked from home, though after a year, her employer is getting pretty antsy to have her back in the office. Other than her best friend Beth, Sue has lost contact with everyone.

When she runs into a former nanny, Anneliese, Sue is barely staying afloat. Meeting back up with her former nanny gives her the anchor she needs to reality. But as bits and pieces of her former life when Annie was her nanny start coming back to her, Sue has to wonder if allowing Annie back into her life was a blessing or a curse.

This was a crazy, twisted novel. It is an interesting look at how mental health can affect your ability to function from day to day. Also how another’s mental health can directly affect you. I was kept pretty engrossed in the story, especially with the flashbacks to Sue’s childhood with her mother and nanny in the big house. No spoilers, but the ending was entirely unexpected.

Sue Keller is going about her business when she hears her name called on the street. Who is this older lady? The lady claims she used to be her nanny, Annie. And so begins a slow build up of Sue remembering her nanny and immersing herself into Annie’s life to learn about her mother. Sue’s mother passed away when she was young and her memories are distorted. This book alternates between past and present, and deals with mental health. Overall this is a 2.5 round up review. Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, and the plot sounded exactly up my alley, however something about this one didn't manage to hold my interest. Every time I tried to pick it up I kept putting it down and leaving it for a while. I found the characters hard to relate to, but I did like the concept of the story. The story is all about our main character named Suzy who was basically raised by her nanny when she was younger. Now with alternating time jumps we jump between young Suzzy and older Suzzy who is now dealing with the loss of her father only to run into her nanny again. This should be a happy tale right? However what happens when the Nanny takes an unhealth interest in Suzzy's adult life? And Suzy falling into old traps starts to slowly lose all contact with the person she was before leaving her friends, her family, as well as her job in order to connect with her newly found nanny again. Interesting plot however all of the time jumping made this book really hard to follow, and I thought that there were to many plots happening at the same time and leaving one or two of them out would have made for a much cleaner read. The book was also very slow paced especially considering the plot I thought it would pull the reader into it more. There were lots of things I liked about this book but there were a few things that I didn't. None the less I was very pleased to be able to review this book.

Really, I should have liked this book more than I did. It's a psychological study of a woman who had a few months with a mentally disturbed woman as her nanny (when she was just three) who then ran into this nanny again in her mid-twenties, shortly after her father's death. She's vulnerable and easily manipulated, but she's also wishy-washy and unlikeable. I'm not usually put off by books filled with unlikeable characters, but these characters were just *particularly* hard to like for me. The book was well written and might be something that fans of Gillian Flynn would appreciate, but there is a protracted scene of animal cruelty that will bother some folks and a lack of plot and direction that might bother others. It's not a bad book, and I think some of your patrons may well enjoy it, but it wasn't one that I really enjoyed.

Expected pub day: November 30, 2021

Thank you @harpercollinsca and @netgalley for the gifted eARC to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

Sue Keller is struggling after the death of her father. She happens to reconnect with her childhood nanny, Annelise Whittaker and the two quickly grow close as Sue craves connection and information about her past. But there’s a lot that Annie isn’t sharing with Sue…

On the surface, this is a domestic thriller about a girl, her nanny and a lot of family drama. But what set it apart for me is the way it explores grief, family and the need for human connection. Instead of being angry at some of the characters for their awful acts, I felt sad and often sympathetic to them, which speaks to how well they were developed. The dual POVs and time periods added richness. and the ending was a satisfying conclusion to the story.

This is a solid debut novel and I look forward to reading more by Flora Collins!

Will definitely recommend this one to friends! I enjoyed the plot development, twists, and narration. A+!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. This book was definitely creepy, and it was a slow build from a somewhat mundane depiction of two women's lives into a compelling thriller. In general, this is a solid novel exploring our memory of the past and how it can spill forward into the future. A good choice for emotional thriller fans.

Slow Burn Psychological Suspense. This is one psychological suspense that features a tremendous amount of active gaslighting, so be aware of that up front. The actual conflict here is slow, told in two perspectives in two different time periods - from the nanny's perspective in the mid-late 1990s, and the child's perspective as a now-adult circa 2020. In the present, we see the child as a sort of aimless, emo-chic drifter overwhelmed by recent events (personal, not global - the real-world insanities of the era are never mentioned here, thankfully) and the nanny appears to be perfect... at first. In the past, we see how non-perfect the nanny actually is... and discover quite a bit that ratchets up the tension for the reader in the present day scenes. Solid work that fans of the genre will likely enjoy. Very much recommended.

One of the themes of books I love to read is about Nannies and then of course I love my psychological thrillers and mysteries. Nanny Dearest had ticked all the boxes. I do have to admit that this was a weird story and was quite a slow-paced novel. Years ago, when Sue was a little girl, she lived in the country with her mum and dad, and then her mum died and she and Dad moved to the city. Now years later Sue is a young adult and her dad has passed away leaving her by herself. After her dad died, Sue lost herself as without her dad, she didn't know who she was and then this eventually led her to become a reclusive hermit. One day Sue is walking the street and she hears her name. It is Annie who we learn was Sue's nanny when she was younger before her mother died. Yearning for any attachment to memories of her family and life, Sue and Annie start to spend more time together. Spending time with her is a positive for Sue as it means she is coming out of her shell and finally being happy. What will happen though when strange things start to happen and it's almost like Annie is wanting Sue all to herself. Nanny Dearest is a past/present novel and has flashbacks of Annie's nanny days to a younger Sue to now. Sue got away from Annie once before, but now that Annie has her back will she be willing to let her go again? Find out in this edgy psychological thriller that includes Mental Health issues - Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins.

While I think this was a solid debut novel, I don’t think the journey of reading this was worth the “reward” of how it ended. I wish I liked this as much as the description led me to believe I would. But I had issues with how little really happened, especially in the first 70% of the book, and how quickly things wrapped up after being so slow. However, I did enjoy the dual timeline, the disorienting tone the writing took around Annie, and the style. Hopefully my issues with pacing will be resolved in future books!

Sue Keller is devastated when her father suddenly dies. Her mother had past away some years ago, so she is now missing both parents and only in her mid-twenties. Right when Sue most needed a friend, Annie comes back into her life. Annie was Sue’s live-in nanny in her family house about 20 years prior. They were close back then and quickly rekindle their relationship and start to spend a lot of time together. Sue starts to learn some disturbing details about Annie’s time as a nanny in their home. Will she be able to uncover the mystery set around her departure all those years ago?

I was highly intrigued by the premise of this book by Flora Collins. This was a slow burn psychological thriller that took me a little time to get into. But once I was into it, it was a great story. The multiple time lines kept my attention and led to a good ending!

Many thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Realistic fiction. Sue's father dies, so now she is an orphan. But then she re-crosses paths with her old live-in nanny, Annie. She feels, once again, connected. Fond memories of her childhood begin to resurface. She is so happy to be reconnected until...

First off like always I want to say a huge thank you to the publisher HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada), MIRA, the author Flora Collins , and to NetGalley for the invite to join this blog tour as well as letting me read and review it. Now on to my thoughts for her first I would say that she hit it out of the ball park. Its the type of thriller that shows you that no matter what you think you known about a person or what they tell you about themselves , you will never truly know that person and you should never put your trust into someone on what they say , because no matter what , everyone has dark secrets that they want to keep. It also shows just what happens when you trust someone that you just meet to help watch your kids and how far that person will go if they love said kids as their own. There are secrets, lies, twist and turns that will make it impossible to trust both of the main characters. Its emotional and as well as engaging though out the story and at times you feel sorry for the both of them .

I'm definitely in the minority with my 2 star rating but this story fell flat for me and I could not connect with any of the characters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my early review.

I'm usually down for a psychological thriller with a good mystery twist but sadly this book seemed to drag for me. I see many 4 star reviews but this wasn't my cuppa tea.

The premise is the young toddler Suzy is left to be reared by her nanny Annaliese. Suzy's mother dies when she is young and Annaliese is the mother and rock for the little girl.

The story is told from two perspectives. As an adult Suzy runs into Annaliese and connects with her again. Suzy's father had died recently and she was feeling alone in the world. The former nanny inserts herself into her life, giving Suzy a feeling of love and protection which she was missing. Before long Suzy abandons her friends and other interests, including her job.


The characters didn't connect with me at all and I felt zero empathy. After a while I skimmed and had it not been the obligation of a review in exchange for this complimentary copy, I'd have moved on. Again, lots of folks seemed to like this book but I was not one of them.

Publication date November 30, 2021 by Harlequin. Genre: General Fiction Adult, Mystery and Thrillers.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

I highly recommend nanny dearest. This is a story of rich older parents who leave the raising of their toddler daughter to the nanny. The nanny loves their child as her own. Maybe a little too much

I have just finished reading Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins and I have to say WOW. I want to thank Net Galley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is definately a psychological thriller, exploring the effect of grief and the need for connections in life. It also explore's how personal trauma affects a person throughout their life, and the importance of taking care of your mental health and developing and nurturing a good support system.

The author tells a story about two women who meet later in life but their connection was formed when the youngest girl (Suzy) meets up with her childhood nanny (Annaliese) Suzy lost her mother very young and is just recovering from losing her father as well. Being reunited with her former Nanny gives Suzy the warmth and comfort that she so desperately craves, but in so doing, she cuts off all ties with her friends and even her job.

What follows is an interesting journey between a desperate former Nanny who is obssessed with Suzy,and a young woman who is trying to recover her life and be happy.

What happens? Well, you will have to read the book to find out. But the book is very well written and the character's though flawed are very rootable. There aren't any huge WOW moments, but there are enough dramatic moments so that the book does not dissapoint.

For anyone who likes this genre, I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.

Cheers