I just finished reading The Nanny by Ruth Heald for a book tour with Bookouture and here is what I thought about it.

20 years is a long time for the past to come back and haunt you but this is what happened to Hayley.. During her time abroad, the baby she was looking after goes missing. The guilt ripped her apart every day but she did her best to live through it.

A woman ends up on her doorstep to rent the room she has. She looks familiar but she thinks she is imagining it. Then a man wants to do a story on the kidnapping and he is asking questions she doesn’t want to answer.

Can she keep from having her past collide with her present? Can Hayley stop a secret so devastating from ending her marriage? Can she keep her daughter safe from the dangers the truth might bring?

This book…. THIS BOOK! I wasn’t sure I had figured it out the whole time. It kept me guessing right to the very end. I love books like this. The kind of read that keeps twisting you around until you aren’t sure what way up or down is. Even the end was a twist to end all twists!
Hayley and Lars have a daughter together and a life, with some financial issues but nothing a lodger won’t help with. Trouble is, she has a face that reminds her of the past and I loved watching how all that unraveled. It was so great seeing all the strands coming together to blow your mind.
The story strandles to time lines. The present and 20 years previously and I usually don’t like books that jump around the way this one did but it actually made a lot of sense to write it the way the author did. It helped bring the whole thing to the kind of climax any thriller reader loves to have.
The pace was well done and I never felt that the story waned at all. I felt terribly sorry for Hayley all the way through. You really feel for what she lived through. I found the character development was well done for the limited amount of time spent on anyone else. It all came together really well and the ending just explodes out and you won’t be able to help saying WHAT!!!!
Are you a thriller lover? Do you like feeling like a pretzel? THIS HAS TO BE YOUR NEXT READ!
5 stars. Take all the stars! Brilliantly captivating masterpiece.
Thank you to bookouture and #netgalley for the privilege of reading this book!

Somehow, I only recently managed to discover Ruth Heald’s books, and I knew straight away that I had found a new favourite author.

This latest novel is superb. I found myself totally drawn into it, and I just couldn’t stop reading it.

The story has a dual timeline, and goes between the events of 1999 in Thailand, and the present day. I really liked Hayley as a character, and I was really intrigued as to what might have happened to baby Chloe. Hayley didn’t strike me as a character who would intentionally harm Chloe, who she was really fond of.

As the story unfolds there seem to be multiple potential scenarios and so many people keeping secrets. I was really struck at how, when Hayley recalls her time in Thailand, she was so young and couldn’t even see how badly she was being treated. David and Julie were really taking advantage of her. When the plot all comes together at the end, it all makes perfect sense.

Really cleverly plotted, with enough twists, turns and secrets to keep you riveted, this psychological thriller is a must-read.

3.5/5 rounded up to four.

This book is a flip back and forth tale of a woman who may or may not have stolen a baby from a couple she was working for. What has Hayley done? What does she know? Where is baby Chloe?

I was rushing to the end of this tale to see what had happened to the little baby and what Hayley was hiding. The ending will shock you and coke up quickly.

Thanks to bookouture and netgalley for this arc!

I am a big fan of Ruth Heald, having loved some of her previous books.
The Nanny is a gripping, fast paced and clever thriller and is unputdownable. All qualities that are a must for me in this genre.
The dual timeline adds a new interest for the reader as Hayley balances her new life with her past. There's a lot to keep track of- the timeline, the characters and their relationship together made the denouement something to behold. I would recommend readers keeping their concentration when reading this one!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A captivating read, full of twists and turns and an explosive conclusion. A recommended read.

The Nanny is an immersive page-turner. It’s provocative and shocking and hurtles along at breakneck speed.

The past forges the present; that’s a fact that’s well known. How long can we keep running before it catches up with us? We can lace up those Nikes and get a head start, but the funny thing about our past is that it’ll always know where we are, where we reside; its GPS is continually trained on you. Some people are lucky in the knowledge that their past harbours no secrets, no skeletons in the closet – but for some, as is the case of the protagonist, Hayley, her past is something she’s worked hard to bury.

The Nanny is one of those rare novels that engages you from the start and holds you captive until the end. It’s entertaining; it makes your heart skip a beat, and there are too many “OMG” moments to keep count. It pays tribute to the old saying – you can’t trust anyone or anything. Finally, it makes you appreciate your boring life; although not much happens, at least you’re not left trying to swim through the murky waters of the past.

Okay, so Hayley is a multi-layered character that I felt immense sympathy for. First, the reader gets an insight into her past and present – the present-day Hayley is a mother to six-year-old Alice. She works in Student Services at the local university. She’s married to Lars, a successful businessman working incredibly hard to keep them afloat; they are undoubtedly facing financial ruin if he doesn’t land an important contract. Her mother stays with them as she declines with Dementia; she has a carer, Michelle, who comes in daily to help her but fears she might need to up her hours as her mother’s memory worsens. Hayley is worried for another reason. However, student Ryan, an aspiring crime writer, is interested in the case where a baby girl went missing in Thailand – a girl she nannied for, a secret she’s determined to keep. He wants to write a true crime story about it and thinks it’ll be his big break.

Hayley spent her gap year travelling, found herself in Thailand, and nannied three beautiful girls – Eva, Emily & baby Chloe. She loved the job but hated Julie, her employer; her husband David was nicer to her, but neither bothered with David’s children from a previous marriage, Eva and Emily. It broke my heart how they were treated and then ostracised when Chloe came along. However, it was only going to be a matter of time before things came to a head.

Don’t assume you know the end of this story; nothing is as it seems; you’ve got a jigsaw in your hand with about 10 bits missing – you don’t know that until the crucial moment. Ruth Heald is a mistress of compulsive plots – I found myself chewing on my nails; I was that nervous. There is nothing not to love about The Nanny.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Great thriller!!! Lots of unexpected twists. The twists kept me interested and made the book less of a cookie cutter of other psychological thrillers.
Really good one.

I loved this very twisty book. I was constantly trying to guess who the culprit was and getting it wrong. This was a quick read but it was so good I just couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This is the first book I have read in a while that I was racing through, not wanting to put it down. The chapters alternating between 1999 & present-day were a great tool to build suspense. I loved the vivid descriptions of Thailand and the backpacker life. Two of the twists I saw coming but not for a while into the book. Two other twists surprised me. If I am mentioning 4 twists, this is clearly a twisty novel!

I was a little disappointed in the ending but it may just be my personal preference and desire for a different outcome. Also, without spoilers, I think one character's reactions to events are not at all believable as it would take superhuman strength to not react to the situation this character was presented with. You will know immediately what I mean once you read it!

So this book had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish and i loved that twist at the end.A definite recommendation

thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read so i can give an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are my own and arent influenced by anyone else

This is an enjoyable story told in two timelines and two countries. Some great characters and lots of twists to keep the reader interested. . Another great story from this author. Well done Ruth !!

This book left me reeling! Full of twists and turns, I had a hard time putting this book down!!!

The Nanny is told in two timelines with each chapter titled so there is no confusion. In the past, we see Haley as a nineteen-year-old who is backpacking in Thailand and takes a job as a Nanny. Haley instantly forms a bond with the children in her care. She adores them and stays at this job even when Julie, her employer is less than nice to her. In the present we see Haley as a married mother who takes in a Lodger due to experiencing money problems.

Her lodger begins to ask questions which make Haley uncomfortable, such as what happened to the baby who went missing twenty years ago?

WOW! This book took me by surprise! I loved the two timelines and how the author gave us little bits on information in each. As Heald built her plot, I was fully absorbed and invested in what was happening and tried my best to figure out how the book would end. I was WRONG! I love when that happens. It makes the final resolution even more enjoyable.

I found this book hard to put down. I just HAD to know what whapped and what was going to happen.

Gripping well thought out, and a page turner!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ruth's books are always page turners and this one was no exception.

The story is about Hayley, a young girl travelling with her friends around Thailand. Short of money, she accepts a job as a nanny to a British couple and their three children, Emily, Eva and baby Chloe. It seems like the dream job until Chloe suddenly disappears and Hayley is initially blamed, although later released. Fast forward twenty years and Hayley is married with a young daughter of her own, Alice. But the secrets of the past and the tragic events that took place all those years ago are never far away from Hayley's thoughts, coupled with a new lodger who may not be who she seems.

Hayley is your classic unreliable narrator and I loved how you never quite knew whether you could believe her or not. She is likeable however and so I found myself rooting for her. All the characters are richly drawn, some were downright evil, but believable nonetheless. The Bangkok scenes were expertly captured, I almost felt I could smell and taste some of the descriptions! The dual timelines also worked really well, drawing you ever closer to what really happened, and the twists! At least one twist left me gasping out loud!

A book I'd highly recommend to all. Can't wait for Ruth's next book!

Thanks to author Ruth Heald, publishers Bookouture and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

1999

Julie and David McFarlane live in Bangkok, Thailand. They have two daughters from David’s first marriage staying with them temporarily and Julie is expecting a baby any day.

Hayley Taylor has been in Thailand with two friends touring around and enjoying the sights. When her money is stolen, she needs to find a job. So, she responds to an ad for a nanny with the McFarlane’s. By now, Julie’s baby, Chloe, is born and she wants to go back to her job as a doctor. Hayley has full responsibility for all three girls day and night in addition to cooking and cleaning. It’s a lot of work, but she loves the girls and wants to give them the attention and love they need.

When Hayley finally realizes she cannot take Julie’s abuse anymore, she resigns. But then Chloe goes missing and Hayley is arrested. Kept only overnight in jail, she is released and returns home to the UK.

Present Day

Hayley is now married to Lars and mother to 6-year-old, Alice. Hayley’s mother lives with them because she has been diagnosed with dementia. Lars works in his office upstairs at home. However, his company is not doing well and money has become very tight for them. They realize that if they take in a Lodger, the money from that will help with some of the bills. Johanna is the perfect person and they welcome her into their home. But, she reminds Hayley of someone and she wonders if the past has come back to haunt her.

Switching back and forth in time, little clues come to light and we see a bit more each time of what happened in Thailand and who the characters are. Hayley is keeping secrets and doesn’t want to upset her family. Now, she wonders whom she can trust.

A good story here with lots of questions. Readers will boo-hiss Julie and David and root for Hayley…maybe. Come read this book and see if you can solve the puzzle.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When eighteen-year-old Hayley accepts a job as a nanny for British couple David and Julie while in Bangkok she can’t believe her luck and quickly bonds with baby Chloe and her sisters Emily and Eva. But tensions soon rise between Hayley and the couple and when little Chloe disappears the same night that Hayley leaves, she is blamed and questioned by police. With no evidence the police release her and she is free to rebuild her life.

Twenty years later Hayley is married with a young daughter of her own but is still haunted by what happened all those years ago and the secret she’s been keeping ever since. A secret that is now at risk of being revealed.

Tense, twisty and unpredictable, The Nanny is a compelling thriller. The story alternates between timelines as it tells the story of what happened in Bangkok and current events. Hayley is an unreliable narrator and we are never quite sure what secrets she is keeping or if we can really trust her. All the same, she was a likeable character who I enjoyed reading and felt a lot of sympathy for during her time in Bangkok. There are some well-written background characters such as Johanna, who I liked but never fully trusted. But it was Julie who was the best character for me. A new mother isn’t your typical villain but Heald has created someone I truly despised and, quite frankly, needed telling where to get off.

This is one of those books that really keeps you guessing for most of the book and just when I thought I’d got it all figured out, the rug was pulled from under me with another shocking twist that changed everything I thought I knew. As the suspense builds to a heart-stopping climax, I was on the edge of my seat and reading in breathless anticipation.

A first-rate thriller filled with mystery and foreboding, The Nanny is a riveting page-turner from one of my must-read authors.

First, I want to thank Ruth Heald, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

O.M.G. WOW!! Inspired from the 1990s Louise Woodward case, The Nanny is one of Ruth Heald’s most fascinating reads to date! The Nanny was gripping, fast paced, addicting, intense, heartbreaking, tragic, secrets, wicked twists, shocking revelations galore that you will not see coming! Go put this on top of your TBR list!! You won’t be sorry!!

Ruth chose to start off The Nanny in an out of the box sort of way. She posted a newspaper article of the specific event that would set the tone for the book. She hooked me into the storyline as instantly she knew how to pull hard on my heartstrings!

What I thought was different about this book compared to others that I have read it this book didn’t just have one but two prologues to it.

If I had been blessed to be a mother (which I am not-yet a proud Auntie) however, I too like Hayley would be worried and overprotective over Alice!

I liked how Ruth set most of this book in Bangkok, Thailand. It gave the book a little cultural feel to it.

This is one book that had situations and characters that if you blinked you would miss something important. Infact, I ended up going back and re-reading parts of it to make sure that I didn’t miss anything!

Well I absolutely loved The Nanny. The description alone gave me chills and I was totally engrossed in the story from the first chapter. I enjoyed the dual timeline as we learnt more about just what happened when Hayley was on her gap year in Thailand. It was a complete page turner which I just could not put down, Fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

"For years you’ve been keeping a secret...But now she’s back..."

I fell in love with Ruth Heald with her explosive debut "The Mother's Mistake" and have thoroughly enjoyed each book since, with her stand outs being her debut, "I Know Your Secret", "The Woman Upstairs" and "The Wedding" . Now I can add THE NANNY to that list. Hands down another five star read. It is edgy, fast-paced and filled with plenty of tense moments and secrets in abundance. What's not to love?

Hayley Taylor is married to Swedish businessman Lars with a five year old daughter Alice. They have a happy marriage and the perfect life together. But Hayley has a secret...in fact, she has several. None of which she has told Lars about.

Twenty years before, in 1999, Hayley was a tourist travelling in Thailand when she landed a job as a live-in nanny for David and Julie McFarlane. Her role initially was to care for David's two daughters from his previous marriage, Eva and Emily, while their mother was recovering from a motorbike accident and until she could take the girls back to England with her. Julie, in the meantime, was heavily pregnant with her own daughter and had no time, nor desire, to care for the little girls who were just four and five.

When Julie's own daughter Chloe was born a few weeks later, Hayley's work then extended to also caring for the baby's needs from feeding to changing to bathing...to pretty much everything her mother should have been doing, Especially considering she had ten weeks maternity leave. But instead, she returned to work early and left all children in Hayley's capable care. Julie didn't have a maternal bone in her body. I often wondered why she even had a baby when she had no desire to actually care for and seemed to merely want her to get older so she could chat with her. Is it any wonder why it was Hayley that Chloe constantly looked for? Was soothed by? Not enough for Julie, she became jealous of her daughter's attachment to her nanny.

So when Chloe suddenly disappeared one evening, all eyes turned to Hayley. She was pulled in for questioning by the police but later released with not enough evidence against her. But David and Julie continued to blame her for their daughter's disappearance and Hayley returned to England with a cloud hanging over her of a time she would much rather forget. Which is exactly what she did.

Now married to Lars, who knows nothing of her experience in Thailand, Hayley keeps that aspect of her life firmly behind closed doors. So when they advertise for a lodger to help pay the bills, Hayley expected it to be the answer to their prayers, not the undoing of her past. Johanna answers the ad and when Hayley opens the door it's like looking into the past. And Johanna seems to be the perfect lodger. She is friendly, helpful and efficient, even assisting Hayley with Alice and her mother who has dementia and also lives with them.

But is Johanna too good to be true? And when things start going missing from her hidden trove of secrets she keeps stashed at the back of her cupboard, she starts to wonder what exactly has she opened herself up for?

But Johanna isn't her only problem. A student support worker at her place of work, Ryan, has decided to write a true crime book investigating the disappearance of baby Chloe in Thailand...and he wants Hayley to fill in the gaps for him. Hayley does her best to fob him off but Ryan won't be swayed and Hayley begins to wonder has her time finally run out?

What an intricate web Heald has woven with THE NANNY! The complex plot, the fast-paced narrative, the unreliable characters, the secrets, the lies, the seamless transition from the present to the past...and a reveal you won't see coming! It is page-turning and addictive from start to finish and I would have been finished sooner had it not been for our beloved Queen's sad passing.

The descriptions are vivid, the storyline realistic and the characters equally unreliable and untenable. The reader is transported to Thailand in an age before the widespread use of mobile phones or internet so one must imagine what it must have been like stuck there with no means of easy communication that we take for granted today. From the hot humid weather on the streets of Bangkok to the lush extravagance of her employers' apartment to present day London, we are completely absorbed throughout the seamless transition between past and present and both the storylines as they unfold. I had a theory which I thought was a little crazy at the time but was then shocked to discover I was spot on! From there, everything began to fall into place...and yet one mystery still remained. What happened to baby Chloe? Can you unravel the mystery before the big reveal?

I absolutely enjoyed THE NANNY and thoroughly recommend it to fans of Shalini Boland, Kim Slater, L.G. Davis and Kerry Wilkinson.

I would like to thank #RuthHeald, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheNanny in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Absolutely loved this addictive psychological thriller and it was a definite page turner for me.
First book I’ve read from this author & it certainly won’t be the last.
This is one of those books that holds you in it’s grasp & you won’t want to put down until that final page.
The twists are brilliant & they just keep coming.
Told in two time lines with the first being set in the 1990’s Hayley Taylor is having a great time back packing in Bangkok with her friends.
She suddenly finds herself with no money as her purse has been stolen & she has no means of supporting herself.
If she wants to stay her only choice is to find a job.
When the chance of a temporary live in nanny arises she jumps at the chance to earn herself some money.
20 years down the line & we find Haley back in the UK with her husband & young daughter Alice.
Things get a little tight financially & they need to take in a lodger named Joanna to make ends meet.
Hayley is a little hesitant at having Joanna to live with them as she can’t rid herself of the feeling she knows this girl.
Is she something to do with the deep secrets she holds of her past or is it her imagination playing tricks on her.
It all seems ok on the surface but bit by bit her past life starts to catch up with her.
If you enjoy psychological suspense thrillers you are going to love this.
Brilliant well written story that held me to the last page.
Loved it!!!

The Nanny by Ruth Heald is a fantastic domestic suspense thriller. From the first chapter I was completely immersed in the story and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out how this story was going to develop. This is a fast paced and utterly gripping read that I couldn’t put down. A book I highly recommend to fans of domestic suspense thrillers.