Keep your frienemies closer. This book made me second guess all the rich people on social media. What seeded underbelly is this other class hiding? Because in the book it was a lot. The twists never stopped. Such an interesting and fun read!

This is a bit off the wall and unfortunately was not my cup of tea. I love Lucinda’s work usually. The formatting of then and now was a good choice with the story.

The story starts with Kierston being murdered at a party with her friends. They are part of a group of new moms who all have children under the age of 1 and they're all fabulously wealthy (or pretending that they are). The police dig into each of their lives and all sorts of crazy secrets are revealed.

The story is told with 3 narrators and goes back and forth between the past and present. This was done very successfully and was easy to keep track of the different POVs. One of the narrators, Brooke, is divorcing from her wife, and Brooke is not handling it well - she starts to turn into a crazy, creepy stalker. Whitney runs a successful business that she hides from her husband who has a gambling addiction and is bankrupting them. Jade's daughter has cancer and her husband can't hold down a job.

The book felt like a soap opera or bad reality television. Everyone was so over the top and had so many secrets. It was an enjoyable read (I love bad reality television) but you have to really accept that you're in this Real Housewives type reality. The reveals got to be a little much and the author could have pared them back. The last chapter was so over the top, even within this over the top world, that I was rolling my eyes.

As others stated, I dislike how mental health is portrayed in this book (especially by a psychologist). Brooke is obviously having a mental health crisis and everyone just avoids her instead of getting her any help (including a judge during a custody hearing). It was sad/anger inducing.

I also kept forgetting that the women were in their late 30s/early 40s since they kept saying "ohmigod". I just looked it up and they said "ohmigod" 32 times. It was very distracting and made them seem so much younger than they actually were.

Overall, this was a decent (if dramatically over the top) story.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

This book really makes you think who your friends really are, everyone in this story “KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE” have dark secrets, I really liked how at the beginning of the story it starts strong, a mystery murder, this book has a lot of events that is so easy to follow, lots of mystery and it keeps you thinking what’ is going to happen next, I loved this book, I don’t want to spoil it but it was so good, so easy to follow and small chapters, I definitely recommend

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

Keep Your Friends Close, had me hooked from the very first page, with a Moms night “out” party, gone terribly wrong.

As the story goes on we learn that all the moms in this group of friends have dirty laundry they don’t want the others to know about, and they will go to great lengths to protect their families, no matter what the cost. If you’re into real housewives, then this thriller is for you! Lucinda Berry doesn’t dissapoint!

When one of the members of the West Hollywood Moms Club is found dead in her pool during a club party, the tight-knit group comes under suspicion in Keep Your Friends Close, a twisty thriller where the group’s secrets slowly spill out. This is not your usual “new moms club”, set in an affluent neighborhood, organized and closely vetted by Kiersten, the now deceased mom. As a savvy police detective investigates her murder, the moms predictably turn on each other, but that’s the only predictable part of this book, where friendships are not as tight as they appear, and the suspense ramps up with each new development. Loved the characters, as flawed as they are, and the dialogue flows easily throughout in this spellbinder. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not at as good as Lucinda Berry's previous novels. After the initial opening, i found it a bit of a slog. But it picked up and it ended up being enjoyable.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this!
This story is told in multi POV, multi timeline, following an A-list mom's murder at a mom's club party. It's a classic who-dun-it mystery story, where nearly everyone has motive and no one is telling the truth.
I really enjoyed the first 50% or so of this story. I was pretty convinced I had figured out the murderer and hearing how each of these women, with varying degrees of complications with wealth, sex, marraige, and their children, came to join this group. I strongly felt for Brooke, the clear scapegoat, and her B storyline of her divorce.
The second 50% of this book really lost it for me. It felt as if the author didn't quite now how to reveal the killer, so instead she threw every possible twist at the wall to see what stuck, and for me none of them did. The killer twist was intriguing, but every other twist and turn was just too much. Due to that, the ending (right on the heels of another twist) was too abrupt, and I found myself losing any kind of connectivity for the characters.
This isn't bad by any means: its twisty and interesting and plays a ton off of current day mom's and their struggles. But it tried way too hard to be innovative.

Thank you Netgalley & Thomas & Mercer for an eARC of Keep Your Friends Close by Lucinda Berry! Whenever Lucinda comes out with a new book I drop everything to read it, so I was thrilled to find this one on NG and be approved!

This is a fast-paced book and picks up right from the start, I couldn't put it down once I started and binged this one in a day. There exists an elite Hollywood Moms' club in which Kiersten McCann is the president - The book kicks off with her turning ip dead in her own pool while throwing a party. All the other guests are part of the club - Who would murder Kiersten...because this wasn't an accident.

LOTS of drama and multiple POVs in this one. Three different mothers find themselves at the center of the murder investigation, and each have major secrets they'd rather keep hidden. This took a wild turn at the end, as many of Lucinda's books do. I was like....what? Hold on to your hats, this is a roller coaster!

4.5 stars. A fast read full of twists and turns, and a lot of unlikeable characters! Loved it.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley. Thank you!

Keep your friends close was a book that had a bunch of layers. It was a group of friends who were women who were close than their husbands and children. One of the BFFs wound up dead and tried to find out who killed her while they were together and found out a whole bunch of other secrets. Overall I liked it. Might have been too much thrown in at once.

This one was a disappointment for me. I've enjoyed a lot of Lucinda Berry's work in the past and love how she isn't afraid to go dark or to uncomfortable places. This one started slow, then got totally off track, and by the end I just didn't care anymore.

The West Hollywood Mom's club has a fancy party where one of their own is found dead. How did it happen, was it an accident? This story did give a little bit of a Desperate Housewives vibe, but really did not deliver on good characters. Everyone was very unlikable and I couldn't find myself rooting for any of them. The book starts off with a bang and gets right into the body found floating in the pool, but then drags on with nothing for a long time. Some interesting secrets are revealed for many of the characters, but it didn't seem to contribute very much to the foundational plot. I got pretty invested into these secret lives of rich women, that I forgot I was supposed to care about the murder. When everything is finally resolved I didn't find it to be anything shocking or new. Then the final chapter...what was the point of that?? Just one more random thing to throw in. This book was just all over the place. Had Berry focused on one storyline instead of trying to incorporate so many different "crazy" secretes, I think it could have had a lot more potential.

Living the high life in the affluent community of Hollywood Hills, a group of new mothers have banded together and created an exclusive club just for them. Protected by NDAs and an invite only crew, the West Hollywood Moms’ Club loves to get together and let loose. The most recent event, a Moms’ Night Out party held at the president’s luxurious home, ends not with just a few bad hangovers, however, but with a dead body floating face down in the pool.

Kiersten McCann has always been the life of the party and seemingly loved by everyone she has ever met. So it’s a rather big shock when she’s lying dead on the pool deck while the police start questioning everyone who was there. What Kiersten’s fellow club members don’t realize quite yet, though, is that they’ve promptly gone from diehard friends to suspects. After all, this was no accident—it was murder.

Just as quickly as the rug is pulled out from under their feet, Whitney, Brooke, and Jade start throwing each other under the bus. As shocking as it may seem, these three polished women have plenty of deep, dark secrets that could easily have been motive for murder. And as the police start pulling one thread after another, the unvarnished truth turns out to be more scandalous—and sinister—than any of them could have ever conceived.

One by one, ugly secrets, backhanded betrayals, and nefarious schemes come to light. If this is what friends do to one another, then who needs enemies. But with the stakes as high as they are and with a detective ruthlessly digging for the truth, each woman must protect themselves at all costs. At the end of the day, someone killed Kiersten and her friends will now do whatever it takes to not be the one left holding the bag. Even, however, if it means deceiving each other left, right, and center.

How to describe Keep Your Friends Close? The only comparison I can make is that this was a bit of Gossip Girl, a dash of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and a big, heaping dose of murder all in one. Take that heady mix and chew on it for awhile. At the same time, what resulted from the somewhat melodramatic plot was a thrilling roundabout of secrets and lies that kept me guessing throughout.

The characters were, by far, the shining star in this one. A collection of wholly unlikeable women, their riveting problems had me from hello. Especially when their dirty deeds and horrifying antics started to make an appearance. Did they feel genuine and true? Well, no… Not really. Partly thanks to the reality show feel, each of the women came off somewhat over-the-top. Even so, just as I tune in for RHOBH every week, the car crash-esque feel had me slowing down to take a look.

The plot, unfortunately, was where Lucinda Berry started to lose me just a tad, though. For much of the book (about two-thirds of it, in fact), I was swept up by the slow reveal of secrets that had me gawking in very real glee, but as the climax rolled around, so did the unhinged-ness of the storyline. Following that up was a conclusion that, needless to say, felt utterly out of the blue. Ending on a note that seemed completely disjointed from the rest of the book, it didn’t seem to relate to anything that had happened thus far. Even worse, the last page then arrived without tying up the loose ends, which, IYKYK, drives me up the wall.

By the time that I sat back and digested all that I’d read, however, the dramatic turn of events did seem to fit into the soap opera feel. After all, these women’s lives were twisted to be sure. So it was unsurprising that the plot dealt out one magnificent revelation after another, especially given that this was a surprising fusion of domestic suspense and a very mild police procedural. Told via multiple POVs and dual timelines, I found it well-plotted and easy to follow. So, all in all, I’d say that while this was far from my favorite by Berry, it was a fun popcorn thriller all the same. Rating of 4 stars.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Lucinda Berry. It was fast paced with short chapters and the story was told from multiple viewpoints. It was easy to get hooked from the beginning and remained a quick read until the end. Although I liked the drama and secrets between friends, by the end of the book, it ended up being too much. There were way too many over the top things that happened! Maybe if some of them had been wound into the story earlier, it would have been okay. However, there were too many reveals all happening back to back which made for a messy ending, in my opinion.

I did like the author’s writing style for the most part though, so I’m definitely up for reading another book or two by her.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an eARC of #KeepYourFriendsClose by #LucindaBerry in exchange for honest feedback. - 3 stars

I’ve read two other Lucinda Berry books. I enjoyed her other book, The perfect Child and had high hopes for this one, but it fell short for me. The characters are all very unlikeable and it felts there was a lot going on at once. I need like that it’s a short and fast read

Lots of secrets in this set of LA moms. The book starts with the murder of the 'top dog'. The motive isn't clear. Until all the other mom's secrets are revealed. Fun read.

This book was JUICY! So much drama, so many secrets, AND a murder?! There was so much to figure out, and I loved it all.

Kiersten McCann, president of West Hollywood Mom’s Club, has turned up dead in her own pool at a party surrounded by her friends, which makes them the prime suspects. Everyone insists it wasn’t them, and three of the moms find themselves at the center of the investigation. Whitney, Brooke, and Jade all have heavy secrets they don’t want getting out, but Detective Perez is leaving no stone left unturned in this investigation, especially when those secrets could be motive for their friend’s murder. What nobody expected was that Kiersten had her own dark secrets as well, and that illusions of a perfect life are easily shattered, even in West Hollywood.

This was a nicely paced, fun read that kept me drawn in until the end. Everyone has ugly secrets and the ladies in the book had especially ugly ones that had me hoping every step of the way they would get theirs. The resolution was a bit disappointing as the one character you’re actually rooting for flies far off the handle and all hope for them is lost, but it did end in a definitive way that left me satisfied overall. Lucinda Berry remains a favorite of mine!

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for this ARC!

Publication date 11/7/2023

I love Lucinda Berry.

What I didn't love is her latest novel, Keep Your Friends Close.

And I'm sending greetings from Planet Outlier. You'll notice that there are many 4and 5 Star reviews for this one. It all comes down to what is palatable in the scheme of things.This novel was like sitting poolside during a hurricane. The horrendous winds were whipping lawn furniture and flamingoes at breakneck speed. Water was swirling in all directions. And what were we left with? Chaos and non-stop thrills and a tremendous amount of damage to mop up on the last pages.

We should have known when we were in the city limits of West Hollywood. Like Housewives of New York City on steroids......rich, pampered, so out-of-touch with the mere mortals. The cast of characters were so numerous to keep track of including sidelined husbands and lesser fish to feed.

But the six Golden Swans of the West Hollywood Moms' Club would be shaken beyond words. On an evening clad in Armani and Valentino gowns, this little group seemed to be reliving high school on their night out at one of their homes. You even had to sign a NDA in order to even be considered for membership. One of those gorgeous gowns will be floating in that luxurious pool......with its owner still wearing it. Dead, but not soon forgotten.

Here's where the who-done-it? comes in. Lucinda Berry, forgive me, but you threw every rock, stone, and stick at this one to thrill and shock your readers. But, in my humble opinion, we swam away from the murder scene into a tank of piranhas. The murder got away from us and the secrets and the backbiting took center stage. A mentally challenged individual was cut off from a life line to fit the red herrings into this storyline. Sad.

Yup, it's fiction. All fiction. It's just that I expected more from this talented author. Check this one out. You may certainly walk away with an entirely different perspective than I did.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to Lucinda Berry for the opportunity.

This was gifted by the publisher & Netgalley for reviewing purposes.

Lucinda Barry is back at it again with another thriller. This time the president of a Hollywood moms club turns on dead in her own pool. Only the guests are convinced that this wasn’t an accident. All of the members of this club are now suspects of you guessed it…… Murder. Everybody has secrets and everybody has motives to be the killer so who actually did it?

In true Barry fashion this book was a lot of fun. It was twisty it was domestic and it was just a good time. I don’t wanna say much more about it because I feel like anything that I say will be spoiler, but just know that if you choose to pick this up, I would check out trigger warnings Overall though, I think this will appeal to a wide audience of people, especially if you love mommy/rich people drama.

Every time I hear that Lucinda Berry writes a new book, I immediately get excited. "Keep Your Friends Close" is a book that had me guessing what was happening the entire time. The characters were all complex and full of secrets, which I absolutely love. Like all books the author writes, the ending was surprising and perfectly written. I will be telling everyone to read this book!