I try to steer clear of books that center around rich, snooty women and their drama because they make me want to puke. But I couldn't pass on a Lucinda Berry book, and I'm glad that I didn't. This story was crazy! Loved the twists, which I never saw coming. There were some red herrings that led me to believe I knew what happened, but, of course, I was led astray. I didn't like any of the characters so I could care less what happened to them. I did feel sorry for Brooke, but her stupidity made me angry. Good old karma won out in the end and it was bittersweet and satisfying. I have to think that the title of this book is sarcasm at its finest. The last thing I would want to do is keep any of these women close. I definitely recommend this to all the Berry fans, thriller fans and anyone looking for a fast read! Even more so if you're like me and enjoy seeing privileged snobs getting exactly what they deserve.

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

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

Wow, what a wild a crazy ride this book was. It definitely had me on my toes from beginning to end. When one of the friends of a group of Hollywood elite moms drowns in a pool at a party, nobody seems to know what possibly could have happened. As we delve into the lives of these women, we find more secrets then the craziest episode of desperate housewives! You will be guessing from the beginning and as the secrets unravel, the truth slowly but surely comes out. Just when you think things couldn’t possibly get any worse….

Lucinda Berry has done it again! She has created a wild ride of emotions, relationships, lies, love and deceit! Everyone knows those couples that look like they have it all! Everyone watches them enviously and we are mesmerized by their perfection.

Keep Your Friends Close follows a close knit group of wealthy friends who are newly recent parents. Some of them have been lifelong friends while others are joining the journey. Their weekly meetings are all about swapping ideas and complaints about lack of sleep, breastfeeding and husband issues.

In order to maintain their own identities and friendships they decide to have a party for women only! No babies, toddlers or husbands invited!

Whitney hosts this glamorous event with flare until her BFF is Kiersten is discovered floating face down in the pool. Once Detective Perez becomes involved at the crime scene the friends soon learn not everyone is telling the truth. Kiersten’s death soon becomes an investigation with the word homicide upsetting and terrifying everyone.

Each of the 5 friends are now under suspicion for Kiersten’s death. Husbands are secretly called in to answer questions. Secrets are exposed all around and the definition of friendship is in question.
An excellent read leaving you questioning who in your life you can trust!

Lucinda has quickly become the author that I'll read everything they publish! This one captured my attention right away. Love the mystery around the group of Hollywood friends. Well done. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Lucinda Berry's latest novel, "Keep Your Friends Close" was a quick, thrilling read. She always delivers and never disappoints!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC of Keep Your Friends Close. Wow! Lucinda Berry did not disappoint! With myself being a psychology major, it was fascinating with how she worked in mental health, etc., into this book. A friend is found dead at one of their West Hollywood Moms' Club parties. The question is, who did it? The twist and turns that occur, one will be surprised! I felt like I was watching a desperate housewives and a csi episode mixed together, or even a Lifetime movie! Highly recommend this book!

Lucinda Berry never disappoints! At times I was a little overwhelmed with the friend drama, but I spent every minute aching to know “whodunnit” - and boy does this book twist and turn to get you there! Definitely give this one a read!

I’ve enjoyed many of Lucinda Berry’s books, but this one had too many preposterous twists for me. Sometimes I felt like I should be taking notes to keep track of each woman, her children, her spouse, etc. I’ll still read this author in the future, because there’s no denying she’s talented.

This is a wild one! Each of the characters has some pretty serious secrets, and slowly, all is revealed in a jaw-dropping way. This was a quick, very entertaining read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good read! I literally could not put it. This book starts fast paced and with a bang and the pacing was so good till the end. This book follows wealthy moms there who are in a friend group, when the book starts we see that one of the women in this group was found dead in the pool which sparks an investigation. As the detective and 4 women in the friend group try to figure out what happened to their friend so many secrets are revealed and they realize that there are so many lies, drama and secrets between them all.

So this was juicy I thought of it as gossip girl meets desperate housewives with a murder to figure out. The drama kept me so interested in figuring out what these women were hiding. I love the way everything unfolded, there’s money problems, spousal issues, deranged lies and so much more. I thought this book well written and flowed so well. The ending was twist after twist. I wouldn’t call any of the twists very shocking but I liked it because it was earned. The book built up to twists at the end and it felt in line with the characters that I’d been reading about.
Overall this was a great read and if you like mystery/thrillers with a lot of drama you should read this!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this arc for an honest review.

This was a pretty good domestic thriller about the destructive results of leading a “perfect” life at any cost. The characters were interesting, but I did sometimes have to look back to a chapter title to remind myself who was narrating, so it would have been nice to have more distinctive voices for the characters. Even so, the plot kept me interested throughout the entire book, and I read it in two days.

She’s back with a banger guys! This story revolves around the Hollywood elite and tests the power of friendships and what happens when they are broken. A wild but thrilling ride!

The West Hollywood Mom’s Club party ends when host Kiersten McCann is found floating in the family pool. Her severe head injury shows that this was no accidental death. The police have three immediate suspects - the women who were still at the party when the body was discovered. Whitney, Jade and Brooke don’t seem to have had reasons to kill their friend but, as each narrates her version of the events that led to the party, they slowly reveal the deep secrets they have been hiding. And what secrets these are! Adultery, domestic violence, addiction and much more have been hidden behind the closed doors in their exclusive neighborhood. The events that precede the shocking conclusion are both disturbing and heartbreaking.
Keep Your Friends Close is a tightly plotted, character driven thriller that is impossible to put down. As you get to know these women, you won’t like them but you will feel sorry for them. And you won’t want to live in their neighborhood! 5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lucinda Berry for this ARC.

The first part of this book, I wasn’t super invested but I’m glad the last 50% redeemed itself.

A group of friends are at a party, where they find their friend dead in her pool. Nobody knows how she drowned but the police suspect foul play.

All the women have secrets, their husbands have even bigger secrets.

This is quite a friend/family drama that I was 100% invested in finding out how kiersten ended up drowning at her own party that she had thrown.

I received this book for free from netgalley in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to the publishers as well for this free arc.

I this was my first Lucinda Berry book and while it was a decent read, it wasn’t my favorite. The book followed a group of women with money in an exclusive moms group. I feel like this plot set up has been done a lot. One of them died and the book revolves around figuring this out amongst other drama. The twists were not overly crazy until the end and then I felt like it got so far fetched that she should have just quit while she was ahead. This was a fast read and it was interesting, but still just an average 3 stars for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, Action, intrigue, mystery, revenge, murder, great who done it, great plot twist, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

If you were a fan of Desperate Housewives, this book is for you. A group of friends, high powered in an exclusives moms group. One of them is murdered at her home during a party. There's six suspects. As the story goes on, lies and secrets all come out culminating with more than one deadly and sad reveal.

Okay, so hear me out. Picture the ladies on Real Housewives of Orange County or New Jersey all apart of a murder mystery. They all have the drama that would be perfect for this type of book 😉 Real Housewives meets Clue. Someone was murdered with some type of weapon, now we have to solve the crime. The perfect whodunit, the perfect psychological thriller, the perfect book to keep you on the edge of your seat. Also would be the perfect movie.

I loved every part of this book. I loved the different points of view. I loved how we jumped from past to present and learned little tidbits throughout. I loved how I was constantly second guessing my ideas on who the murderer was because every person in the book had such different pasts that could make them unstable. The ending to me I couldn’t decide if it was a cliffhanger or you can kind of just use your imagination for what happens to the characters, but either way I enjoyed every minute of it. Would he more than okay with a second book coming along eventually!

This book was fun! I love a good rich people behaving badly story and this definitely fit the bill. Had a bit of a Big Little Lies vibe which is always a good thing!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and finished in just a few days, I needed to know what was going on! It was a fun read with the different perspectives, and the present vs past to see where each characters head space was. I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong, and DANG there were 2 twists that sent me reeling! Rating this a 4.5 ⭐️ - subtracting a half star for the overuse of “Ohmigod” - it was SO overused. Also for the use of so much branding, TikTok, Covid, etc I personally don’t like when I have to lock my brain into a specific time/space because I feel like it takes away from me putting my own imagery into the story.