Thank you NetGalley, Joffe Books & T.J. Brearton for access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Emily's daughter Joni brings her boyfriend to the family lake house to meet her parents, things don't quite go as planned. For starters, they're engaged. But more important than that, Emily knows this young man - only she knows him as Thomas Bishop, not Michael Rand, a boy she interviewed in her job as a clinical psychologist fifteen years previously after the death of his father. Her suspicion grows after seeing a text on Michael's phone that says "did they buy it?". Is he the young man from her past? If he is, why is he lying to everyone?

Psychological thrillers are my jam. I love them, and it is the genre I read the most. This one did not disappoint. It was a bit slow to start, but once it got rolling I read for a few hours until I finished it (something I can't say about a lot of the books I read).

From the onset, it seems that the Lindman family is your typical family. (Mostly) Happily married and successful parents, a son who has worked hard to get his life together and is the apple of his parents eye, a troubled but working on it daughter. But, the cracks begin to show fairly quickly. Joni still hasn't forgiven her parents for her youth, Emily is a touch neurotic and hyper fixated, Paul is aloof, and Sean is struggling to find his purpose.

The characters, if I'm being honest, aren't totally likable. They all have some quirk or tic that crops up fairly early that makes you question their motives. Emily presents as a clinical psychologist who has her act together, but we quickly see that she may be an unreliable narrator. As the story progresses, you're unsure who you can trust and who's version of the events happening is accurate. The pace of the story, and the breakneck speed at which what you thought you knew is turned on your head was well done. It did get a bit confusing at times, but I chalk that up to the speed that I read the book.

I found myself thinking about the story while making dinner about halfway through and realized I had a prediction about the twist/ending. While I wasn't totally right, I wasn't totally wrong either - which was a refreshing change of pace from the thrillers I've read recently.

All in all, totally enjoyable.

I grabbed a copy of Her Perfect Secret as I have previously read a few other novels by T.J. Brearton, so I knew I was in for a treat with this one! I am so glad that I did because it transpired to be an amazing, compulsive read and I didn’t want it to end.

The author has done himself proud with this psychological thriller. This book was so so good! The story focuses on Emily when her daughter, Joni, brings home her new fiancé, Michael Rand. Emily recognises him believing him to be Tom and not Michael. Tom was a young boy Emily helped years ago when his mother went to prison. I was totally riveted watching the story progress and the tale really hurtled along. I just had to know what happened next and the twists and turns all lead to a nail-biting finale. A 5 star read for sure!

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Joffe Books via NetGalley at my own request. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Her Perfect Secret by T.J. Brearton is the first book I have read from this author and where have I been!!! It was a gripping psychological thriller.......I loved it! I was hooked from the beginning till the end This book had lots of twists and turns throughout which made it a good read.

I highly recommend this book and will be reading more from this author in the future.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.75-4 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley, Joffe Books & T.J. Brearton for the chance to review this book. I’m sorry it took me as long to read as it did (holidays -_-).

This book follows Emily who is a therapist. While on a family vacation, her daughter brings home a fiancé. Emily finds something very familiar about the boy, she believes he is a previous patient with a dark past… but he has a different name. She goes to prove/find out if he is who she thinks he is.

I really wanted to love this book. The characters and their pasts, along with just the mystery and trying to connect the dots as it the story went on.
But at times, I felt like it drug a little bit more than I liked.

I believe one of the reviews or synopsis I read said if you’re a fan of Teresa Driscoll, Lisa Jewell, etc. you would enjoy and that is a true statement.

This was an interesting and fascinating book. It had me guessing during many twists and turns. Definitely a surprising finale and one I very much enjoyed.

The story focuses on Emily when her daughter, Joni, brings home a new fiancé, Michael Rand. Emily looks at him and is pretty sure his name is not Michael but Tom, a young boy she helped years ago when his mother went to prison.

There are many twists and turns to this story. This is a group of people with many secrets and even more problems. Emily seems to analyze everyone's actions, Paul is laid back and oddly detached, Joni has had issues with drugs and makes every conversation an attack about her past. While I liked the story, I didn't much like the characters. there was nothing going on that made me care about what happened to them. As soon as Emily meets Michael she becomes obsessed with him and finding out whether he is a risk to her daughter and family.

3.75⭐️
My first book by this US author. It came highly recommended.

Dr Emily Lindman is a clinical psychologist whose daughter has turned up at their lakeside holiday home announcing her engagement after a whirlwind romance. She is taken aback as her fiancé looks just like an older version of an 8 year old patient she saw 15 years ago who reported seeing his mother kill his father.
She is suspicious of him, he has a different name and history, but it seems too convenient. Then she sees a txt preview on his phone saying did they buy it which sets her suspicions in overdrive.
She is now a woman on a mission.

Emily is the main narrator, the reader has the past and present events gradually revealed.

It has a good hook, but then drops to a slow burn. The plot keystone moments are spread. The suspense starts to build, but it only smouldered for me.
I like the format used to unravel the past and the truth.

I didn’t engage with any of the characters or find them likeable. Emily seems overly controlling and a bit neurotic, and potentially unreliable. I also find her quite irritating. Her constant agonising reappraisals get tedious.
Some of her actions are inexcusable.
Joni comes across as a spoilt brat.

Fav quote ‘ She’s fine, I’m fine, everybody’s fine.
F-I-N-E = fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional’

To sum up I enjoyed it, but it didn’t wow me.

So is her daughter's boyfriend the kid she counselled years ago after his mother killed his father? Has he come back for revenge? (And, the bigger question should have been WHY would he be coming back for revenge? But the answer to that question comes way too late. The paranoia (deserved or not) was excessive. It went on too long for my tastes without giving any basis for that response. It wasn't very balanced. And when things started falling apart, too much fell apart. It was overkill. I think perhaps this is one of those situations where the author should have finished the book and then gone back and removed something, like Coco Chanel and her jewelry.

The title is Her Perfect Secret but there are many in the book with secrets not just the main character. Who is lying, who is using others for their gain and what secrets do the past hide? The author does a great job of forcing the reader to question each characters motives and keep them on the edge.

A Solid Mystery At Heart…
Who can be believed in this compelling psychological suspense? Do we have an unreliable narrator? What we do know, for sure, is that this is no perfect family. With a cast of well crafted and credible characters, this is gripping from the off and soon becomes a rollercoaster of conflicting perspectives. A solid suspense but with an equally solid mystery at its’ heart.

Thank you @netgalley and T.J. Brearton for a copy of this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book had me hooked from the first page. I read this in two reading sessions with one being as long as 5 hours. The characters were all likable but the main character did get on my nerves at different times in the story. The plot was interesting and it had me glued to the story that I couldn’t wait until the story started to come together. I kind of guess the ending after some parts started to come together but the twist at the end took me by surprised. The one is a must read. I will read more from this author. All in all, I give this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

OH, My Goodness! What would you do? Her Perfect Secret by T.J. Brearton hooked my interest from the very beginning. Emily, a psychotherapist, is happy her daughter is coming to the lake house for a visit. But her daughter brings a special friend they had not heard about. Joni tells her parents she and Michael are engaged to be married. Emily has a big problem when she meets Michael and recognizes him. Michael looks like an adult version of Tom, a young boy she treated as a patient years ago after his father was brutally murdered. Emily also has a secret about Tom and his family. This just will not end well for anyone in the room!
Her Perfect Secret is intriguing and I enjoyed the drama and intense plot of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

2.5/5

This is by no means a bad book. But it's not great either. My main problem was our MC. The main character, though she had some good qualities, wasn't that great to me. She was uninteresting and even in her best moments she felt like she was a unprofessional and overall boring person who happened to be caught up in the otherwise very interesting plot of this story. Another thing is I didn't feel like I was reading about a person I felt like I was reading about a character (which technically I was but that's not the point). It brought me out the story tons of times and that is the biggest downfall of this story. I think if overall the character was better and I was more immersed this could've been more of a 4 star book but it is what it is

This was an interesting read with a lot of stuff happening, but it was rather long and I felt like some of the action just didn’t need to be there. The story centers on Emily, whose daughter brings home a new fiancé who Emily (who is a psychologist) thinks she treated years ago when he was a child. He had a different name and says he is not that person but she remains suspicious, as his testimony is what convicted his mother of a murder, and she is soon to be out of prison.

There is a vague creepiness throughout the book when the characters interact, which I enjoyed. There were some twists that I saw coming but a couple I didn’t see coming, and while the story was a bit over the top (no professional would act like Emily did with regards to her job!), I was fascinated by how it all came together. That being said, there was a lot of action that just didn’t need to be there, included 2 separate dramatic side stories which I honestly felt wouldn’t have altered the book at all if they just weren’t included; this aspect made me feel like the book was just trying too hard.

Overall, interesting read with some good surprises but is just a little “extra” in terms of both length and storylines. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First book i've by this author and it won't be the last! It was everything a good murder mystery should be, without the romance (which is perfect IMO)

So much going on in this book I found it difficult to keep everything straight at times. The characters are all well drawn and they all have their own secrets. There are so many twists and turns that Every time I thought I had it figured out the next chapter would prove me wrong. The ending was a surprise and that always makes for a great book for me. This is a very cleverly written story that is different from a lot of others that I have read in this genre. I highly recommend.

Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this amazing arc for my honest opinion.

Her perfect secret by T.J. Brearton.
THE PERFECT FIANCÉ OR A MURDERER’S SON?
It’s him. Tom. I helped put his mom in prison for life. She killed his father.
I recognize the sharp nose and flare to the nostrils. His thick eyebrows and defined cheekbones. But mostly it’s the eyes. Sea green.
THE CONCERNED MOTHER
But my daughter, Joni, keeps calling him Michael. And they’re here at the lake house telling us they’re getting married.
SHE LOVES HIM. BUT I KNOW HE’S LYING.
It must be him. But what do I say? Suddenly I’m thrust back fifteen years, looking through photos of a violent and bloody murder scene.
I can’t be 100% sure.
We haven’t been the perfect family. But we got through it together. I will do anything to protect us, to protect the life we’ve fought for.
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?
A very good read. Little slow but readable. Likeable story and characters. 4*.

This was a super fast read filled with suspense! Emily is a therapist who helped treat a young boy named Tom who witnessed his father’s murder 15 years ago. Present day, Emily believes that Tom, now an adult guised as Michael, is engaged to her daughter. Emily digs into her old case files trying to find clues to prove that Michael is actually Tom and in doing so, discovers some pieces of the puzzle that may not fit as well as initially thought.

Her Perfect Secret is set to release tomorrow, December 16, and I finished this instant hit just in time! So, first and foremost, my mind is absolutely blown. This was such an insane psychological thriller.

After reading "Gone" , by TJ Brearton, I knew that I had to get my hands on Her Perfect Secret. I can say without a doubt in my mind that someone is going to pick this up for a major motion picture. This novel holds all the keep components for a huge success.

My attention was instantly grabbed and I stayed completely invested throughout the entire novel. The twist is not one you will see coming and as many times I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this thriller! You will not be disappointed!

HER PERFECT SECRET by T.J. Brearton reveals a woman unraveling when she thinks her daughter’s new fiance is the boy whose mother she helped lock away in prison 15 years ago…

This is the first T.J. Brearton book I’ve read and, I have to say, it was an enjoyable, wild ride!

Not only was this book extremely fast-paced - I actually could not put it down - but it came in with those twists that made me lean into it that much more. The time jumps, setting, and overall mystery kept me fully engaged.

I did dock this one star for some unbelievability, but if you’re looking for a quick weekend read, I highly recommend picking this one up!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: December 16, 2021