Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book, all thoughts are my own. This book grabbed me on the first page and didn't stop. This book is like rich Mom's club with a twist! Four women who are also good friends meet for an evening of fun and one of them turns up dead and the others are all suspects. This book goes back and forth to past, and present told by many viewpoints. Would totally recommend and I need more from this author!

Rich, Hollywood moms club. Lots of secrets & betrayal. KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE, alternates between three friends POV and goes between now and then. One friend is murdered and discovering the killer involves digging up lots of secrets 🤫
Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I really wasn’t sure how it was going to end! There were two lil bombshells at the end that 1) I didn’t see coming 2) I didn’t really like. Can’t say more w/o spoilers but I’m excited to see what people think when this comes out this fall!!!

Thanks NetGalley for the arc!

This book starts out strong and holds you until the end. It took a bit for me to get all the characters down as they’re all introduced in the beginning. Story was well paced whodunnit thriller mystery. Would definitely recommend to others.

Thanks NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this arc honestly.

I was lucky enough to read this ARC, and man what a ride! So many twists and turns that kept me guessing literally till the last page. I really liked this book- it reminds me of a more grown-up pretty little liars which I love. I really liked the multiple POVs and the twists. Highly recommend for my fellow thriller fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for allowing me this advanced copy of "Keep your Friends Close.”

Lucinda Berry is one of my favorite authors. I was so excited when I saw I could read this early on net galley! I had to force myself to put this book down once I would pick it up. As always another 5 stars from me. This book kept me on my toes and just keep me watching to find out what was gonna happen next. I’m usually not one for multiple povs but this book made me enjoy all of the povs.

Lucinda Berry always writes such compelling characters and this book did not disappoint. If Desperate Housewives met Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, this book would perfectly summarize those characters. The juicy secrets. The frenemies. The lies. The parties. The deception.
The Hollywood Moms club is having a party with 7 of their members when 1 of them ends up dead in the swimming pool. Accident or murder? As the book delves into 3 of the women, we can see that they each have their own motives. Brooke, spiraling out of control while going through a messy break up with her wife, has been a loose cannon. Whitney, the victims best friend, had a complete secret life to make up for her husband's reckless gambling. And Jade is hiding her lack of wealth from the other moms.

Would these motives drive someone to murder their friend? A juicy, soap opera of a book, I loved every minute.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC.

Yes one star but I am going to start off with the good stuff. Told from multiple points of view and we have Now and Then chapters, this is my favourite format style, especially for thrillers. None of the characters were likeable but in this case, it’s a good thing because they are all suspect but for them to call each other friends is a stretch, there is nothing friendly about this bunch.

This book started off well enough and I was clicking along at a good pace. It claims to be a fast-paced thriller and it meets the criteria but I had some HUGE problems with this one. My biggest problem was with how mental health issues were portrayed. It wasn’t very realistic and was so over the top by the end that I felt angry. But let’s just say the author did that for entertainment purposes…I get that so I figured this was a pretty decent three-star read and the reveal was a surprise because the author threw in so many red herrings it was impossible to guess and I liked that. There were a bunch of other problems I had with the plot…

SPOILER A killer lesbian wife who goes off the rails, the affair of the second best friend with her best friend’s husband who turns out to hate them both and runs away, the madame of the neighbourhood running an escort service and best of all… embryo theft…Not just one but she stole two embryos! END SPOILER

…that were so stupid and so cringy I was shaking my head and rolling my eyes so much my family thought I was having a seizure. It was all just so unhinged and wildly unbelievable. I have no idea how this book has such high ratings, it was so dumb.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

It you believe in the old proverbs you may change your mind. At times our friends are too close. Ever way you’ll love it.

Well that was a wild ride. Really loved this book and didn’t want to put it down. This was very much Real Housewives but make it suspenseful, dark and of course a murder. Loved the alternating time lines and multiple POV’s. This was a very fast paced read and the twists and turns were crazy. My only complaint is the amount of time “ohmigod” was said and the talk of Covid. With that being said 4.5 ⭐️

Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

During West Hollywood Mom's Club, one of the moms, Kiersten, turns up dead in her own pool. And it's certainly not an accident... Now all of the attending mothers are suspects in the investigation, and they all have something to hide. None of them is as perfect as they want everybody to think.
This is a psychological thriller, and I went in expecting it to be dark, and twisted, and disturbing, just like Queen Lucinda can write them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I'm really not a fan of these types of Desperate Housewives stories where all women do is bitch to everyone behind everyone else's back. We follow these women in multiple POVs and a dual timeline, where in the now we follow the investigation to figure out what happened to Kiersten, and in the then we learn to know more of where each character came from and how they are all tied together. I didn't guess the twists, but I didn't really cared. None of these women are likable, and I found it was hard to keep track on which POV we were because their voices weren't distinctive enough (except for Brooke). Kudos to the author for being able yo create characters that could get you wondering what your friends are hiding from you. It took a while to pick up, but otherwise it's a very quick read.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Lucinda has done it again,I love reading her books! She truly has a gift for writing!
Very fast paced with some twists! A must read if you're a fan!
Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read and review book!

This was a NetGalley approved read for me.
I devoured this book! The house wife thriller trope is one of my favorites. I was on my toes until about 60% and then I started to figure everything out. Oh the drama!! 4/5 stars ⭐️

Lucinda’s writing is always fast paced and I fly through these books. Her chapters are short which makes the book hard to put down. This is a classic “who done it” with different perspectives from each character. A group of wealthy mothers get together for a ladies night and a night off from their families to let loose. Someone ends up dead. I loved how the secrets of each character slowly unveiled themselves. I really loved the setting of this book and it gave me real housewives vibes. I’m rating it 3 stars because it is not my favorite of Lucinda Berry’s but I would recommend it to any thriller lover.

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE was a quick and captivating read that sucked me in from the first page. The different POVs were easy to track, although the jump in timelines threw me off on occasion.

Regardless, this was still a great read with a few unexpected twists. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from Lucinda Berry.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE!

"Can you live a dishonest life and still have good things happen to you?"

This story follows six (well, seven) mom friends in LA who all hide devastating secrets. When one of them ends up dead, all of these secrets begin to unravel. It was fast-paced and unputdownable. There was twist after twist, and I never expected any of it!

I really enjoyed this one. Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

Kiersten is found floating in her pool during a Mom's Club get together. The party guests are all regarded as suspects when it is found that it was no accident, she was likely dead when she was placed in the water.

The friends seem to turn on each other, and so many secrets are revealed. The story is told from multiple points of view.

There is just so much to unpack in this book! Lucinda Berry does a sterling job of keeping the reader engrossed and I found when a finger was pointed at one person, I should have been looking in a completely different direction!
Lucinda Berry is a master story teller, and I have no choice but to award 5 stars. My mind is still reeling!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️ This was my first Lucinda Berry (how?!!)
This is a solid domestic rich housewives thriller! I was on guard the entire time trying to figure it out and in the end, I didn’t figure it out. The twists were good-although some were slightly predictable- and some of the characters were delusional (kudos to Berry for creating a certain annoying, delusional, yet believable character haha)
I do understand the dislike for how mental illness was handled in this book, but I also think it is still bringing awareness to how society sometimes handles it. Shedding light in that helps us to do better!

Overall, I would definitely recommend.
Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I want to love Lucinda Berry, but can’t seem to get there. This one didn’t do it for me. The first half of the book was very slow and nothing all that interesting occurred. There were a lot of narrators throughout this and it took me quite a while to get everyone straight and figure out who was who. I found Brooke’s perspective of the story to be awful to sit through, but I understand why we did in the end.

Overall none of the characters were overly likeable but the ending was decent. Everything leading up to the ending could have been much more fast paced to keep the reader invested. I felt like this was more of a domestic drama than a thriller.

Lucinda Berry fans, you are not going to be disappointed when you read this one! I devoured this book in a day. It was a fast read (I love quick thrillers), a few POVs, a small circle of suspects, and so many twists. Some parts were predictable, some weren't. There was a lot to unpack in the end, and I was LOVINGGG it!

Keep Your Friends Close is available November 7, 2023.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for my advanced copy to review!

SYNOPSIS ⬇️
When Kiersten McCann, president of the West Hollywood Moms’ Club, turns up dead in her own pool, it quickly becomes clear this wasn’t an accident. And the party guests―all members of the exclusive club―are now key suspects in her murder.

Accusations fly, and three mothers find themselves at the center of the investigation. Whitney, Brooke, and Jade all have heavy secrets to bear…and possible motives for their friend’s murder. But as the police look closer, more secrets, betrayals, and sinister plots are revealed than the women could ever imagine.

With everything at stake, deceit threatens to shatter their illusions of the perfect life. West Hollywood will never be the same.