3.75/5, This was a pretty quick read and I didn’t expect the twist/reveal towards the end. Somewhat unbelievable but a decent read for summer. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

4.5 Stars rounded up!

I do love a thriller when it has a psychologist as it’s protagonist and this one did not disappoint. Someone is stalking and WATCHING Dr Lana Lander’s well known patients as they soon start showing up as criminals or associated with known criminals.
Cal Murray, journalist, is trying hard to find out who this stalker is and to protect Lana from any further harm as they are getting to close. Time is running out and he needs to solve this puzzle quickly; however, there is one piece he has missed.

With an unreliable narrator, a quick tempo, a ton of romantic suspense, murder, lies and mischief this is one of my favorite stalker thriller books I have read and you should check it out now!

Thank you @suzyapprovedbookstours, Bantam Pub and PRHA for the gifted copy of this sensational twisted suspense.

Rating : 3 out of 5
Blurbs :
Dr. Laina Landers is good at her job. She’s an accomplished therapist, dedicated and compassionate. When she is summoned by a panicked patient who is being held hostage by her husband, she intervenes and dissuades him. Laina becomes a media sensation. But as her star rises, a target is placed on her back.

Not everyone is impressed by Laina’s achievements. Someone has it in for her and is targeting what matters to her most: her patients. One by one, Laina’s patients spiral after they receive unsettling gifts that mock their deepest fears and hidden traumas. Liana’s own home is targeted, in a mysterious break-in where nothing is taken, but left behind is the same message sent to her patients: Watching you.

Enlisting Cal Murray, an ambitious and charismatic investigative journalist to whom she has an explosive attraction, Laina must examine her patients’ lives and her own to identify the culprit. All she knows for sure? It’s someone with access to her records. Someone who wants to destroy her stellar reputation, shatter her newfound success, and even, perhaps, end her life.

Thoughts : Not really difficult to get into this book but it's not the best murder-mystery and psychological thriller book that I've ever read. It's enjoyable once you understand and follow the pacing. It's just like a normal therapist-patient psychological thriller, you find out there. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

Whew! I thought this to be a pretty intense story. Well crafted and really liked how it all came together at the end, Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While the reviews for this were serviceable rather than raving, I really enjoyed Convince Me, so decided to give it a go. Wouldn't call is great, but it's definitely quite good and solidly entertaining. Could've done without the romance angle, but I empathized with the main character for her relateable flaws and noble intentions. Therapy stuff is always interesting to me, and all in all this was a pleasant way to pass the time.

Privacy started out a little slow for me, but I was eventually caught up in the intrigue of trying to figure out who was behind the mysterious notes and targets toward therapist Laina Landers' clients. I kept changing my views on who did what, and why. Only at the very near end did I hazard the correct guess, but what a ride to get there!

It was interesting to read Laina's backstory as it slowly came out to her new love, Call Murray, the reporter assigned to interview her. Watching the cautious closeness enfold the two of them was sweet and exciting. What I didn't understand is why the author decided to give two characters the exact same name, the reporter and his friend, the cop. It was slightly confusing, and seemed pointless.

Overall, the book was full of intrigue and suspense, with a killer (pardon the pun), twisty ending that I didn't see coming.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House - Ballentine publishers or an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

when reading this, I was rethinking my life choices so many times cause I was like omg what would happen to the MC like wtf! And this did not fail at all and was a great fast paced book!

I don't think I ever suspected the true culprit, so that's always a win for me. I can't say much else without spoilers, though, but I thought it was pretty darn good.

Dr. Lana Landers is a therapist who takes pride in her work, and she plans to grow her successful practice by opening a new faculty to help teenagers. Her life changes when one of her patients holds a gun to his wife’s head and she’s the only one who talks him down and it’s caught by the news, she’s now a media sensation and her face is everywhere.
Investigative journalist, Cal Murray sees Lana has his next big story and his way to a top news anchor position. So now Cal wants to know about this mysterious therapist, who is she? He becomes infatuated with her and soon Lana is curious about this reporter and they become close.
Lurking in the background someone is out to get Lanas patients and they are being threatened by someone who knows their most damaging and private secrets. This mysterious person sends them a “gifts” that relate to their dark secrets with a note that says “watching you”. Lana is trying her hardest to help her patients but it’s hard when someone is sending them gifts that cause them to snap and not trust. Lana and Cal begin to investigate but can this gift giver be right in front of them and they don’t even know it?

Decent book. Not my favorite read. Slower than I typically read. Average rating at 3 stars. Average story line and characters.

Privacy by Nina Sandowsky is about a therapist (Laina) and a publisher from the local news unit and how they met for the first time when the reporter,Mel showed up at a sticky time. They meet several times to discuss what had happened. They have great chemistry ,they both thought, enough to build a marriage together? There were several twists in the book.
I felt like I have read this story with a few changes quite a bit lately. I did not question the story until a bit more had gone on in the book. I did read the book all the way to the end. I only groaned a few times. It would be a great choice for a book club.

Well written and a page turner.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A little slow to start but a big twist at the end. This is kind of a who-dun-it kind of book. Although I did consider it at one point I was still surprised by the twist at the end.

Dr Laina Landers is a psychiatrist with lots of patients that come in daily. Some of the patients have high profiles. One of her patients tries to kill his wife and Dr. Landers steps in and stops the horror. Cal Murray is a news reporter following the case.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and Bantam for the chance to read this book. A very interesting book.

Dr. Laina Landers is a beloved and successful therapist...but somebody has it out for her and wants her to fail. Her patients are being targeted, but what is the ultimate aim? To hurt them...or hurt Dr. Landers?

I loved this one and it really kept me on my toes. I was guessing up until the very end and thought it was a fun and fast summer read.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Do you love stories about a therapist who gets in too deep with her clients?

Do you enjoy reading stories about a reporter in pursuit of the next big story?

Do you relish a tale about a stalker?

Well, hold onto your hats, this book takes all those ingredients and combines them into a brand new recipe, and it’s a yummy dang recipe that will have you licking the final page just to make sure you got all the crumbs!

In this one, we alternate between chapters showcasing three different perspectives. First, we have Laina, a therapist who begins her time on the page by attempting to de-escalate a situation involving a husband, a wife, and a gun. Next, we have Cal, the reporter who wants to unravel the secrets that led to this shocking event. Finally, we have the stalker, who quite simply reports on all the watching this person is engaged in.

This is one of the fastest-paced books I’ve read in quite a while. It grabbed me from the first page and kept me in a chokehold throughout its entirety. Each perspective is captivating and expertly told. The tension increases with each passing scene. The author propels you from one mind-blowing revelation to the next. This is a book (and an ending) that you don’t want to miss.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be tapping my fingers impatiently until Nina Sadowsky writes another book. She’s freaking fantastic!

Great plot and kept me thinking until that surprise ending! New author for me. Loved the characters.

An interesting, engaging plot and good characters. I did struggle a bit with inaccuracies of the profession of the main character, but that may come from working in the profession. It might have been better researched, but it also fit the situation when the book concluded. A fast read that kept me reading to find out what happened next.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Ballantine, and Nina Sadowsky for an ARC of this book!**

"Privacy is like sleep - something you don't appreciate until you have to go without it."-Helen McCloy

Nina Sadowsky explores the ins and outs of what it means to have it and to unwillingly or WILLINGLY be without it in her latest thriller, a quick and thought-provoking suspense novel meant to keep you guessing...about how much we have...and how much it takes just to stay alive!

Dr. Laina Landers runs the Better Help clinic, along with partner Harley, and she has fully embraced her calling. As a therapist, she naturally hears everything from the mundane to the salacious...and things at the clinic are on the up-and-up until one client loses his cool....and is found holding his wife at gunpoint. Laina is summoned to the scene to talk him down, but it is here she catches the eye of Cal, a journalist who is intrigued by Laina, in more ways than one. (wink wink)

Though she's able to diffuse this particular situation, once Laina's face is splashed all over TV, her journey into the public eye brings forth a series of odd events. Laina's patients begin receiving gifts...but hold the thank yous, because these gifts are of the blackmailing sort---and all indicate that the giver knows EXACTLY what's going on in Laina's sessions. Has Cal and Laina's romance not only clouded her judgment, but kept her just distracted enough to let an interloper in...to destroy her credibility, her work, and even her life?

I've been a Sadowsky fan ever since Just Fall, and this was another solid thriller. It's set up in a three narrator structure, where we bounce back and forth between leads Laina and Cal, but there is also a third mystery narrator, whose chapters are simply titled "WATCHING" and peek behind the curtain at this individual's voyeuristic tendencies. Nothing too complicated here in terms of plot and structure, and this one also starts with a bang, as the almost-crime happens near the beginning of the book. I didn't initially know about the romance angle, but luckily Sadowsky handles it well and it felt very realistic between these two characters.

This may also be the first book I've read since the era of COVID that MENTIONED COVID without making it the entire plot...apparently, that IS possible! There's certainly a plethora of issues to be discussed related to the pandemic, our human reaction to it, etc., but it was so nice to have characters that acknowledged the situation without it having to feel shoehorned into the plot somehow.

On a more disappointing note, much like Sadowsk'y's last book, I figured out the twist pretty early on...but in THIS case, I actually didn't mind at all! This was a fun ride and I was curious to see how things would play out in the end (and of course, there's always a tiny part of me that is wracked with self doubt in these situations too, so obviously second guessing myself comes with the territory.)

What also set this book apart from so many other mindless thrillers I've read lately (you know who you are) is that Sadowsky's last chapter is FANTASTIC and really gave me pause. She wrote this novel during the pandemic and the entire last bit of the book is essentially a springboard for you to think about what PRIVACY means in your own life, and what is truly left of it in our world today. This was unexpected, but gave the book a little extra oomph to set it apart from the pack and left me with something to chew on. Fiction or non, drama or thriller, there's always room for you to take a piece of what you read away with you...and not only did this section inform some of her inspiration for writing, but helped to take a story-line that wasn't entirely new and make it feel fresh, relevant, and NECESSARY. You know...just the way PRIVACY should be!

4 stars

After one of Dr. Landers patients called her, while holding his wife hostage at gunpoint-and she talked him down-Laina became a media darling-attracting the attention of a new reporter in town, Cal Murray-a guy with a nose for a good story.

And, an attraction for the good Doctor.

It would appear that Dr. Landers is an accomplished therapist with a strong track record-until all of the patients she has supposedly helped, start ending up on the news-AS THE NEWS!


EVEN IF IT HURTS

But what should prevail? Truth or Privacy?
How much pain can any of us carry before we break?