The shocking death of a popular socialite mom at a party leaves the rest of the neighborhood reeling. Told from multiple points of view, this novel keeps the reader hanging by a thread in a dual-timeline plot until the ultimate reveal at the end.

Though I really liked the premise and some of the themes included in this domestic thriller (rich people behaving badly and an unlikely murder), there were some aspects that fell flat for me and parts that I struggled with. I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and end of the story, but the middle contained some content that I found to be difficult and very uncomfortable to read as a new mom (content warnings include kidnapping and a toxic relationship). It was not immediately obvious that these things would be a part of the plot, especially since this is an ARC which hasn’t been reviewed by many other readers yet. Despite this, I generally enjoyed the writing style and fast-paced nature of this novel, so I would definitely be interested in reading other books by Lucinda Berry in the future. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys domestic thrillers and reading about rich people behaving badly, though I would suggest checking content warnings prior to reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

The story was about rich moms of an exclusive club called the West Hollywood Moms Club. They decide to have a party for themselves where they dress up, drink and eat edibles. The club president and hostess Kiersten was found floating dead in her pool. The story was told from 3 POVs (Brooke, Whitney, Jade) and told from then and now.
The story read like something from Desperate Housewives or Real Housewives. It had affairs, betrayals, secrets and lies. It was filled with twists and turns that spins your head. There were so many unbelievable things happening. The ending was ridiculous.
Brookes mental health wasn’t portrayed well. They blamed her because she wasn’t stable. Instead of helping her, they shut her out.

WOW!! What a read!! This is one of my top 5 for the year for sure. It wasn't a 'dark' as some of the other books Ms. Berry has written (admittedly I've only read a few) but absolutely loved this classic 'whodunit'. Add in catty, boujee, and rich women and it's the perfect recipe for a great book! The back and forth between 'then' and 'now' was easy to follow and I didn't get lost (which is sometimes easy for me to do). I hope there are more books of hers written like this!

I thought I was really going to enjoy this book but sadly I didn’t.
There was just too much going on at once, I thought it would be a mystery and they would all be trying to find out who done it but didn’t stay on that topic for long and it was about a lot of other secrets from everyone involved.

I usually love Berry titles but for some reason this one just didn't do it for me - it was too over the top and dramatic , I like the psychological thriller she writes more I think.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book, but it was hard to root for anyone in this story. I think that all of the characters were unlikable, and it was hard to care about what happened to any one of them. The twists and turns are all over the place, and I wasn't excited to keep reading.

It was a struggle to get through the book, and when I got to the end, I was so confused because the characters somehow got even more unlikeable. I didn't like how mental illness was depicted in the book either. I think that the ending was all over the place.

Overall, I didn't enjoy reading this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas and Mercer, for an ARC.

This book was a ride. It really keeps you guessing throughout the book, and that ending…
Just when you think it’s time to wrap everything up in a neat little bow there’s another twist. It really makes you think about outside appearances and just how different things can be under the surface.

This book was a bit too all over the place for me and I don’t really feel it came together as one cohesive story but more two books trying to mesh and it just didn’t work for me. I love Lucinda and I’ll still read anything she puts out but this didn’t hit for me.

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE was an interesting story. Each of these ladies held secrets that the others knew nothing about. I didn't feel sorry about anything that happened to them, they were are horrible people. I was very curious about who had killed Kiersten, but I felt that the reason why she died was underwhelming. I did like the past and present timelines and POV's but overall, I just thought that this was an average book. Although this one was not my favorite of Berry's novels, I do still plan to read her future novels.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my gifted ARC.

This review will be shared to my Instagram @coffee.break.book.reviews in the near future.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Great read. A domestic thriller that does not disappoint. Good writing.

Not sure how to review this one! I can't say for sure that I actually enjoyed this book but it kept me guessing the whole time and I did not see the ending coming at all. I had a hard time putting this one down and wanted to see where it was going. I won't give anything away I think with this one it would be best to go in blind. Rated this this one 4 stars rounded up from 3.5. I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was really getting pulled in until the LGBTQ character line started. I am not interested in that kind of storyline.

THIS is the Lucinda Berry I love! Secrets upon secrets among best friends; I couldn't read this fast enough!

Would recommend if you love:
-multi-pov
-multi-timeline
-secrets galore
-friendship dynamics

I found the multi-pov & multi-timeline easy to follow and it added to the story as we find out glimpses of the past while going thru the investigation in the current timeline. The three POV are of three of the women friends: Brooke, Whitney, Jade. I love a story like this where the secrets are so layered and you don't know who is involved in which secrets with who else. Confusion and chaos and I am here for it :-)

One star off for the last chapter twists which seemed just for funsies. I didn't find them necessary to the storyline or added in any way to the end result of the book.

Overall I really liked this!

I really, really enjoy Lucinda Berry’s stories and Keep Your Friends Close is no exception. It is a juicy who done it set in a wealthy community. The chapters very from character to character and past and present, which makes it a fun read. Quick, fast paced and exciting!

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.