The Housemaid's Secret is another page turner that keeps you reading well into the night.

Millie is back and finally landed herself a job with Douglas Garrick and she is instructed never to open the door to his wife's room as she is very ill.

Well we all know Millie and Millie will champion anyone she feels is being threatened.

Is Douglas's wife at jeopardy.

I don't want to give anything away: its a journey that you will love to follow with twists and turns that will have you cringing for Millie and at the same time cheering her on.

I love this series and cant wait for the next adventure of Millie.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a read I wont soon forget.

I loved everything about this book! I don't know how this author continues to find twists and turns that are so unpredictable. I'm hoping to one day see these stories as a series or a movie!

The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden is the second book featuring Millie. The plot was similar to the first book but still felt fresh. Millie’s need to help women in need is admirable, if not a little pathological. Millie goes to work for Garrick’s. The story is told from Millie’s POV and from Wendy Garrick’s POV. I really enjoy the characters’ progression throughout the book. This is a twisty, dark, and delicious book. Highly recommend.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

There is something highly bingeable about Freida McFadden’s addictive writing. Ive read both books in The Housemaid series now and I couldn’t put either book down!! It’s so fast-paced, knee-jerking, and intensely suspenseful, that you just have to keep on reading.

However, where FM excels at creating plot twists and epic storylines, she flounders at creating complex, relatable characters. I’m so thrown off by how naive and shallow everyone seems to be! There are certain times I want to shake the characters and tell them to wake up or grow up! Especially Millie. For someone who was in a similar situation prior, she shouldn’t be so easily fooled (again!)

Pick this book up if you’re in the mood for great suspense, without becoming attached to the characters.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded to a 5!

I absolutely adored Millie’s first book - The Housemaid - and to fully understand and enjoy book 2 you need to read the first one FIRST. Millie has a reputation for helping women and children escape the very abusive / negative environments of powerful men… in various ways - some very much legal, some… not so much.

While I did enjoy this twist on the initial story, the first half of this book felt a little dull for me! I wanted more build/anticipation as you worked to find out what was going on.

I felt like Brock or Broccoli 😂 was an annoying side character and didn’t bring all that much value to the book. I felt that i could have used less of him and more build between Doug & Wendy and their relationship to Millie.

Once Millie finally started blowing off Brock and spending more time helping Wendy, the book took of for me, and i ate up every second.

As always Freida has an impeccable way of blowing up your mind in the last 20-30 pages of the book, and i was mind blown, jaw open the entire last 20% of the book!

I love that there is a small open ended potential for Millie to have a third book and 🤞🏻 Freida keeps writing Millie & Enzo’s story!

The Housemaid’s Secret, by Freida McFadden, is an entertaining whodunit, #2 in the series featuring Millie Calloway, a housemaid in New York City. It is easily read as a standalone, although I recommend reading the first book, The Housemaid, for its engaging storyline and the back story on Millie’s escapades.
In this book, Millie is a bit older and wiser, and now has a criminal record, so finding a good job is tricky. When wealthy Douglas Garrick hires her, she is grateful even though he is incredibly picky and has a mysterious chronically ill wife who never leaves her rooms in the apartment.
No spoilers here, the action picks up as Millie becomes curious and concerned about the wife, deals with a stalker in a black Mazda, and undergoes police scrutiny for her efforts to help the wife.
This story is told from two POVs, Millie’s and the wife Wendy’s, thus the reader is treated to a well-rounded picture, the how, when and why, of the mystery. Millie is very likeable and continues to be driven to assist women victims of domestic abuse. The secondary characters are a bit more two-dimensional, but consistent and well-involved in the plot.
McFadden’s writing is top-notch! She gets the pace of the story just right, fully engages the reader as the plot unspools, and in a fun writing device, leaves a short teaser at the end of each chapter, prompting the reader to wonder “what’s next” each time! There are excellent, and surprising, twists near the end that made this a very satisfying mystery read!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Millie is back, now in a steady relationship with Brock and has put what happened with the Winchesters behind her, she has just landed herself a job working for The Garricks in their swanky penthouse apartment. While Douglas Garrick is showing her round he tells her that his wife Wendy is very ill and shouldn't be disturbed in the guest bedroom where she sleeps. With Millie's past she wonders whether there's more to it, but accepts it until she hears crying through the door one day, then sees bloodstains on Wendy's nightgown when she's doing the laundry and knows she has to knock the door. What she sees makes her determined to help Wendy and make Douglas pay for what he's done.

The Housemaids Secret is the second book in the series, having bought the first book back in 2022, and this one now available, I decided to read them in order and actually read them back to back while the first one was still fresh in my mind. It was lovely to catch up with Millie again and see her getting on with her life, settled and happy, but things are never that straightforward are they? This second book has a similar theme to the first in the layout of the story, told from a dual perspective, this time being Millie and Wendy. It is equally as dark as the first with just as many unexpected twists and, as with the first, I raced through it and found it to be a really enjoyable read. It can be read as a standalone but to understand the background of Millie I recommend reading this series in order.

I'd like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

I have seen a lot of strange things in my years cleaning houses. A lot of bad things too. For a while, I used to try to fix some of those bad things. But I haven’t done that in a long time.

4.5 ⭐

I liked it! And I was scared I wouldn't because I loved the first book so much, my expectations were set pretty high. But this one was also fun and exciting, with cool twists and clues that made me unable to put the book down.

The Housemaid’s Secret follows Millie once again, as she is trying to get a job to help her get through college. But surprise, surprise - there's something off with the family she started working for.

I'm not going to say much more, I’ll let you find out for yourselves everything she gets through. But in case you're still wondering if you should pick up this book, it definitely has my recommendations. It was one of the better thrillers I’ve read recently and I enjoyed it a lot.

If you want to see my much more in depth review, you can check it out on my book blog NovelOnMyMind.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars! Frieda’s writing always has a way of making me stop what I’m doing and binge read. The Housemaid’s Secret was no exception. I pulled an all nighter devouring this sequel and it definitely was worth my while.

If I had to pick out one flaw, it’s that Millie’s character still seems a bit naive. She set herself up several times over again to either be attacked or accused of a crime simply because she didn’t ask enough questions of those around her.

That being said, the twists and turns were extremely well written. Just when I thought I knew where Frieda was going with the story, the opposite would happen. I loved the plot and can’t wait to see if there’s a book 3 in this series!

Another wonderfully twisty read from Freida McFadden! If you think you know what to expect after reading The Housemaid, you’re wrong. Freida McFadden continues the story of Millie, and it’s a thrilling ride of twists and turns that will keep you glued until you know how it ends! Clear your calendar and tuck in - you won’t regret it!

Millie is BACK! I enjoyed this book and it was a fast read. That said, I liked the original better. This one was easily predictable, but I was still shocked at the last twist. Everything a good thriller should have!

Rating: 4 star
Genre: Thriller

Thoughts: At first I was worried that this book was going to be a repeat of the first Housemaid book, I was wrong! This book sucked me in right away. I reached the halfway point thinking I had it all figured and boy, was I wrong about that too! I loved all the twists and turns, hidden clues, it kept me hooked the whole way through.

The Housemaids Secret by Freida McFadden is a well written suspenseful novel that I really enjoyed.

The characters are well written and fleshed out.

There were multiple twists that kept me guessing.

Another great read by this author .

Another great read from Freida McFadden.
I read the Housemaid fairly recently and absolutely loved it, so I’ve been looking forward to this one.
We join Millie just as she’s about to lose a job and learn that she’s now studying as well as working.
She soon finds another job working for the Garricks. They live in the penthouse and Millie is in awe of the apartment.
Douglas Garrick tells Millie that his wife suffers from ill health and she’s not to disturb her in her room. This is fine until Millie hears her crying and wants to check she is ok.
Things take a turn for the worse and soon one of them has blood on their hands.
This is a gripping psychological thriller that is split into different parts so we see things from different perspectives.
I love Millie and hope there’s more books in this series.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Housemaid’s Secret by Frieda McFadden

Published: February 20, 2022
Bookouture
Pages: 318
Genre: Psychological Thriller
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Freida McFadden is a #1 Amazon, USA TODAY, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author and practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. Freida’s work has been selected as one of Amazon Editors’ best books of the year, and she has been a Goodreads Choice Award nominee. Her novels have been translated into over 30 languages. Freida lives with her family and black cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.

“I can never, ever walk away, even when I should.”

Millie has put some distance between her and her past. She has moved on, and she is trying to be better. She enrolled in college and is dating a new person. When she gets hired to work for a tech CEO, she figures it will be a regular job until she sees what is in the guest room.

OH. The twists in this book were deliciously twisted and expertly delivered. The build-up was perfection, and the execution was divine.

I love Millie so much. She has a good heart and a murky past. But she isn’t a bad person; she wants to help people. Women, specifically, escape dangerous situations.

I did not see any twists or turns coming in this book, and they all gave me whiplash! The beauty in this plot was the simplicity and the complexity- you will understand after you read it!

The way Freida writes her characters and concocts her plots with wickedly brilliant. There is such a deviously curated method to the madness, and I am obsessed.

The book opens with Millie nannying and housekeeping for a self-centered rich woman that treats her horribly. When Amber fires her without notice, Millie is desperate to find another job and quickly. That’s easier said than done with Millie’s past and prison record. Millie is ecstatic when tech billionaire Douglas Garrick offers her a job cleaning his penthouse apartment and cooking for him and his wife. However, his wife never leaves her room and Millie soon has a bad feeling about this, but she needs the money.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Housemaid book and let’s be honest just all of Freida McFadden’s books in general. I was really excited and honored to receive this second installment as an ARC. It was full of amazing twists and turns just like any Freida McFadden book. I truly enjoyed it and devoured it very quickly. I just liked the first one a little bit better, but isn’t that always how series go? For that reason, I give this sequel 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. I highly recommend it to anyone that loves twisty thrillers! I can’t wait to read Freida’s next book!

⇢Recommend reading book one prior to reading this book or review. Potential spoilers ahead.

Summary: When house cleaner Millie takes on the wealthy Douglas Garrick as her newest client, she is taken aback by his never seen wife Wendy and the “illness” that keeps her locked away. Then one day, Millie finds a bloodied bathroom and hears sobs coming from Wendy’s room. What she sees upon knocking on her door will forever change the course of Millie’s life.

Thoughts: I didn’t think if possible, but I somehow loved The Housemaid’s Secret even more than the first in the series. Action packed, twisty per usual with the perfectly executed game of cat and mouse, I could not put this one down. Lucky for me, it is short enough to binge in a sitting.

There is nothing like a morally grey character you cannot help but root for, and McFadden gives that to us in droves with Millie. I fear her as much as I love her and cannot get enough of both her backstory or her current day predicaments. I so hope we get at least one more Millie centered tale.

Read if you like:
•twisty thrillers
•bingeable books
•domestic suspense
•dual pov

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

"Millie, the heroine, is back, better than ever. Twisty, crafty, and humorous—this is one powerhouse of a series!"

Freida McFadden, the queen of psychological thrillers with a twist, returns following The Housemaid with the highly anticipated followup, THE HOUSEMAID'S SECRET.

Cleverly plotted, complex and multi-layered, Millie discovers that she is not the only one whose life is built on secrets and lies and comes face to face with a master manipulator. Will she be able to turn the tables?

It all started with a simple cleaning job. Now it might end with her blood mopped off the cabin floor. This is how the book begins and then jumps to three months earlier.

Picking up from book #1, Millie finds a new cleaning job but loses it quickly when the woman's child, Olive, starts calling Millie mama.

Millie has an apartment in the South Bronx with some freaky sleazy neighbors. She has accomplished quite a lot since the last book. She and Enzo (love him) have helped women and victims escape abusive relationships. However, he had to return to Italy to take care of his mom, and she had not heard from him. They made a perfect team and she misses him, but clearly, he was not coming back. It has been a year. Enzo knew about her past and she did not have to pretend around him as she did with Brock.

She has also gone back to college to get a social work degree. She will be able to help people and stay within the confines of the law. Enzo encouraged her. For now, she is doing a part-time bartending gig but needs to make more money. That is rather difficult with her prison history.

She has been dating Brock for the last six months, an attorney from a well-to-do family, but he does not know about her past, nor is she planning on telling him. He is perfect, except for a heart pill he takes daily for a condition he developed as a child.

However, he is putting pressure on her to move in with him. That would solve her housing problems, but she just cannot give up control of her life. If she tells him about her past, she will lose him.

Millie finally lands a job that is too good to be true. She meets a man named Douglas Garrick, who lives on the Upper East Side just west of Central Park, on the penthouse floor with a doorman. Like $20Million.

The owner is the CEO of Coinstock and seems friendly but Millie cannot stop thinking about the closed door on the second floor. The wife who could not come out to meet her.

She lands the job, but one stipulation is his wife Wendy is sick with a chronic illness and she stays in her room. Millie is not to disturb her for any reason. Tell someone they can't do something, making them even more curious.

But Millie soon cannot keep from thinking about the woman in the room. She hears her crying one day and then sees blood in the bathroom. She must help her. But the last time she tried to help, it returned to haunt her.

What is behind the locked door?

Clearly, this woman is in an abusive relationship and is afraid of her husband. She must help her. Something sinister is going on. She cannot allow this man to kill his wife.

Then the creepy neighbor comes around her apartment and she must protect herself. If only Enzo were here. Then she senses someone is following her.

What is going on between Wendy and her husband? What happens next is not what Millie expects. Now someone is trying to set her up once again. She cannot go back to prison. Nothing is as it appears.

Is Enzo back? Will Detective Ramirez believe her? Someone is dead. Someone else will wind up dead.

Told from the POV of Millie. Then we hear from Wendy's POV around 60% into the book, which is creepy, and flashbacks of four, three, two, one year, and six, four months before to a few weeks earlier to the night of the murder.

Predator or prey? Cat or mouse?

Wow! McFadden does a masterful job of creating in Millie a complex character, making her both scary, sympathetic, and appealing. A balanced thriller with dark humor that will keep readers surprised, pleased, and shocked as Millie unfolds her revenge comeback plan once again!

Loved the Epilogue - three months later!

Revenge drives this twisty jaw-dropping thriller, and the author keeps the suspense high throughout. As always, there is a twist you do not anticipate. Readers will root for Millie as she tries to even the score. How will she ever trust again?

I loved Enzo, and he is a perfect match for Millie. Every time I read his name, I thought of Enzo (plumber) on the show Younger, also Italian that married Diana and loved him as well. I enjoyed this one even more than the first one and hope we get a #3 and more, Millie! I adore this author; the 12th book I have read by her (have not posted all the reviews yet).

Thank you to #Bookouture and #Netgalley for a gifted e-ARC.

Blog review posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins |#JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Feb 20, 2023
Jan 2023 Must-Read Books
My Review of The Housemaid 5 Stars

This book is even BETTER than The Housemaid. It starts off a bit slow, building up the suspense and the creepy sense that there is something bad coming. Freida does an excellent job of making the reader feel just as uneasy as Millie feels when she takes a new job for a suspicious millionaire CEO and his “sick” wife.

Even if this plot may sound like something you’ve heard before I promise it is totally unique and there are twists you 100% will not see coming. While I was reading this I really felt unsettled, just as Millie feels trying to make sense of things. This sequel was an excellent way to wrap up Millie’s story while also giving us a wild ride along the way.

Whenever I read a Freida book I make it a point to try to identify possible clues and figure out the big twists but I have yet to be successful. I highly recommend checking this out, ESPECIALLY if you were a fan of The Housemaid.

I flew through these short mysterious chapters! The characters were very well done and I loved the way the ending turned out.