Mary meets Willa at a park, thinking she’s got a new play date friend and girlfriend to the bar for an occasional mom’s night out. In the middle of a nasty separation with her husband, Mary could really use the friend right now. But is Willa who she says she is?

With short chapters and alternating perspectives, this domestic thriller is easy to read and stay engaged in. With a little mystery, a little murder, and a couple questionable characters this novel will easily entertain readers.

I did find some motivation of the characters a little weak and lacking believability. There’s no major shockers or twists here, but I found the writing solid enough that I would try another novel by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an electric copy of Keep Your Friends Close for review.

When Mary meets Willa at a playground with their kids, she feels an instant connection. Quickly numbers are exchanged, play dates are arranged, and a friendship blossoms. However, after a margarita fueled ladies night where Mary spills her secrets about her ex husband George Wills seemingly falls off the face of the earth. Months later Mary has moved out of the city and is attempting to start a new life with her son along with finalizing her divorce. One day Mary runs into someone that looks like Willa, but this time she goes by Annie and is with a different child than the one from the park months ago. Drama continues to unfold when George turns up deal and the spotlight is turned on Mary. She must work quickly to clear her name and while leaning on support from Willa, Mary begins to uncover secrets that answer who Willa really is and whether she’s connected to George’s death.

Konen’s “Keep your Friends Close” is a great concept for a book that unfortunately doesn’t deliver. It’s quite slow to pick up, making the reader wait until about 30% of the way through before anything exciting happens. The middle section does have good pace and a few interesting twists, but the ending seemed a bit rushed a lazy. 2.5/5.

This book was lot of fun. I was worried from the description it was going to be too kid focused but it wasn’t. I love a con artist story and having it be a “mom friend” was cute idea I felt like the Mary and Willa had very distinct voices despite their similarities of being “outsiders” around children and wealth a lot. The setting was interesting. I didn’t feel like the end was a total surprise (although, I will say I think many people fall down the steps by accident!) but it wasn’t obvious either.



One thing—I don’t think chenille is the fabric the author is thinking of in the passage about wedding attire, Maybe she meant taffeta? Chenille is like a fuzzy sweater or blanket—not a typical fancy dress choice.

📜Keep Your Friends Close
✍️Leah Konen
📠Penguin Group Putnam
📚Mystery/Thriller, Fiction
🗓️Pub date: February 20, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @putnambooks for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨Mary is knee-deep in a custody battle with her soon to be ex, George, and desperate for a friend—someone to talk to. So it’s kismet when she meets Willa at the playground and they become fast friends.

✨One night over drinks, Mary tells Willa the shocking reasons she left George, and the next day is ghosted by Willa. Willa leaves no trace of a friendship.

✨Months later, as Mary is picking up the pieces to her life, and moves to a new home in upstate New York, she sees Willa again for the first time. Only now Willa has a completely different husband and child in tow, and goes by the name Annie.

✨As George is found dead, and Mary is suspected of his murder, Mary has nowhere to turn, but to her old friend, Willa. As evidence is mounted against her, Mary begins to wonder if Willa had something to do with George’s death.

✨This book was filled with twists and surprises, and was a quick read. Would definitely recommend!

#netgalley #keepyourfriendsclose #leahkonen #putnambooks #thrillerfiction#mysteryfiction #winterreleases #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ivegotbooks #killmewithwords #idratherbereading

What a fun, bingeable domestic thriller this one was! The premise was fascinating in that Mary’s friend Willa disappears one day and then reappears as a completely different person. I knew this would be a unique read, and though it turned out not to be the cat-and-mouse game I assumed it was going to be, Konen did a great job of keeping the action and reveals going, and the pages turning.⁠
There were a few reveals throughout the book that were a bit predictable, however the end was a total surprise in a way that really worked! ⁠
This one will get you out of a reading slump and if time allows, can be binged in 24 hours. Make sure you add this to your TBR’s immediately!

A title has never rang more true!! A great character driven book that has all the main themes of a wild ride: divorce, infidelity, friendships that aren't real and a dead ex husband.

The beginning of the book is a bit slow as the characters and back story is developed but Leah Konen turns on the gas and the back half really picks up steam. A solid read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great story. Marriage, divorce, custody. Friendship, trust, betrayal. Forgiveness. The haves and the have nots battle through the story. With a shocking twist of who done it. It seemed most characters learned lessons and changed themselves for the better while others seem destined to repeat old patterns.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an eARC of Keep Your Friends Close in exchange for my honest review!

This is the third Leah Konen thriller I've dived into so far, and I'm glad to say that her work continues to give me the enjoyable and briskly paced entertainment I'm looking for. Mary stands as a sympathetic protagonist to take us through this mystery, while Willa provides her own compelling layers through the cunning and the guts she displays as a con artist. I've got love for Mary's sister-in-law Cass as well. Sure, there's a tropey air to this book in regard to its twists of the plot and its themes of misogyny, toxic masculinity, class warfare, and motherhood. But even if they're not groundbreaking, they still grip me all the way to the satisfying ending.

Overall, I'm officially rating Keep Your Friends Close 3.75 out of 4 stars, which I'm rounding up to 4 stars on Goodreads. I'll continue to anticipate more of Konen's bibliography.

The statement: keep your friends close and your enemies closer has never rang more true!
This was really good, a great thriller and one that kept me thinking, guessing and completely engrossed for every single page.

I really enjoyed Konen's writing style and look forward to more from her in the future.

Loved it! Rich, complex, multi layered female characters drive the story of friendships, secrets and lies. Themes of divorce, infidelity and murder abound. How well do you know your closest friend?
The story begins with newly separated single mom, Mary, meeting another mom and toddler son at the playground. Willa has a son about the same age, the women become confidants and Mary finds herself in the first close female friendship since her separation.
The first third of the book is a slow burn, lots of necessary background information, but I felt it dragged. Having said that, the action picks up, red herrings fly taking the reader to a satisfying ending.
This would work well in a Netflix series. Great for fans of Gone Girl or The Last Thing He Told Me.

This is such a true statement! This will make you want to keep both your friends and your enemies ver close! A must read!

How well do you know your friends?

Who doesn’t love a twisty thriller involving female friendships? I’m sorry, please excuse my bias… w0men are crazy.

We are manipulative, spiteful and when pushed passed boundaries, we blte.

I was craving a dose of “crazy” so before I became it, I decided to read it.

Keep Your Friends Close

Yikes, bikes! This one right here sure is a doozy!

This book has quite literarily blown my mind.

I obsessed over every page. My eyes got bigger with every word I devoured. The twist is a gut punch you’ll never see coming.

Keep Your Friends Close, is a must read!

Check out this teaser:

Strangers on a Train meets The Family Next Door in this page-turning thriller by the author of The Perfect Escape

Isolated and embroiled in a custody battle, Mary is desperate for a friend. So when she meets the charming and enigmatic Willa at a Brooklyn playground, their connection feels fated. But during a margarita-fueled moms’ night out, Mary shares her darkest secret about her ex, George, and the next morning Willa simply disappears. No calls, no texts, nothing.

Two months later, Mary’s divorce is almost finalized, and she’s trying to build a new life for her son in upstate New York. On her first day in town, she runs into Willa . . . only Willa’s name is now Annie, and she’s got an entirely new family in tow. When George turns up dead and Mary becomes the prime suspect, she has no choice but to turn to her only friend in town: Willa. As coincidences—and evidence—pile up, Mary begins to wonder whether Willa had something to do with George’s death. Is the woman a friend or a foe, a confidante or just a con? Mary must uncover the truth before she loses everything.

What a ride! This rakes the old saw: Keep your enemy. Close and friend's closer!! To good deal You need to read this book

Keep Your Friends Close is a twisty thriller involving complicated female friendships and takes many surprising turns throughout the story. A great domestic thriller that will keep you guessing until the end!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM /G. P. Putnam’s Sons for this book.

I became totally invested in Mary and Wilma and their stories.

I loved hearing the story told from each woman's point of view and was continually switching my perspective and trying to figure out who committed the murder of George.

The book had me on the edge of my seat.

A great murder mystery to the end!

1.25 stars, rounding up. This was a hard one to get through for me. I thought the pace was painfully slow for more than half the book. I think a good chunk of the book could’ve been taken out, and maybe it would’ve been a more enjoyable/fast read. Picking it up ending up becoming a chore… Pretty predictable ending/plot line. I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly likable, which probably doesn’t help my overall review. It was just a very average, underwhelming read. I was hoping the ending was going to have the ultimate plot twist, but it definitely fell short.

Mary met Ella at a playground where their little boys were playing together. Mary was going thru a terrible divorce with her husband threatening to take her son. Ella is there for her.

Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen #eighthbookof2024 #arc

CW: divorce, death, murder, assumed identities, adultery

While going through a divorce, Mary meets Willa and they become instant friends. But a few months later, Willa ghosts her. Then Mary’s soon to be ex-husband turns up dead and Willa shows up with a new identity. Mary is now a suspect and has to get the bottom of both her husband’s murder and why Willa is suddenly Annie before she is arrested for murder.

The plot of this novel is actually a little more complicated than that, but that’s as basic as I can get without giving things away. This is a fast paced domestic thriller and I enjoyed the friendship at the root of it. I didn’t see the twists and turns coming, and boy, did they keep coming! My initial assumption was a Strangers On a Train sort of setup, and I’m glad I was wrong about that. This kept me entertained throughout, and is worth your time.

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for the advance copy. (Pub date 2/20/24)

#keepyourfriendsclose

Mary is divorcing George who comes from a wealthy family but he is a manipulator. They have a son Alex and George makes threats to Mary if she doesn’t do this or that he will take Alex away from her completely. Mary is trying to move closer to her family so she is in the process of finding a place to live and move forward when she takes Alex to a playground one day and runs into Willa. They became instance friends and they were both very different people. Willa wormed her way into men’s lives by stepping into to help them with their children. When the man would figure her out who she was she would move on.
Suddenly there is a murder and Mary is the prime suspect so she needs to quickly figure out who the murderer is.

This book will keep you guessing for sure and it was hard to put down. So many manipulators out there.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was just ok for me.

This book is marketed as Mystery Thriller, but there wasn't much mystery and I wasn't too thrilled. The most "thrilling" part didn't happen until after 85%. I feel like this was probably longer than it should have been. It was an easy read, I finished it in about 48 hours. The main vibe I got from this was 'Eat the Rich' and 'Don't change yourself for a man.' Which honestly, I agree with both. I think this book would be more suited for newly single moms. I am neither a mom nor having relationship issues, so maybe not the target audience.