Ruby is an abused house wife starting a new chapter in her life after moving to Cottage Grove just outside of Nashville, TN. Her husband Tom has gone missing along with her daughter Lily. Ruby has been living on her own in the new house her and her husband had just built shortly before his and their daughter's disappearance. Ruby is out rowing on the lake surrounding the neighborhood when she discovers a human body wrapped in a tarp bobbing in the water. After Ruby calls the police the mystery surrounding the mysterious body in the water begins to unfold and secrets from Ruby's past begin to haunt her as she is the prime suspect in the case. Told in alternating time frames from 'Then' and 'Now', the secrets of Ruby's past and her present began to come out one by one as the body count rises in Cottage Grove. Will Ruby find the real killer before she is next?

I thought this was a very engaging plot albeit a bit cliche with the abused wife and traumatized past storyline. What I did not anticipate reading this story was the real killer's identity. It was not who I suspected it was, and I loved how the author ties up all the loose ends as the story comes to a head. The story kept me engaged as each 'Then' and 'Now' chapter revealed more and more about Ruby's identity and her troubled life with her husband. This was a solid 4 star read. I enjoyed the plot, but what made it lack that 5th star for me was the confusing details surrounding the timeline from when Tom fell down the stairs to Lily's return month's later. It was very back and forth and I wasn't able to get a handle on the timeline of things which left more questions than answers in my mind. I did enjoy the story and loved how it ended. I look forward to reading more of Rea Frey's books.

Quite complicated book about as series of murders in a new housing development in the US. Ruby is a wife and now a stay at home mother to a teenage girl. The relationship with her lawyer husband is not great and after an argument he disappears. When rowing on the lake in the neighbourhood early one morning, she discovers a body in the water.
There is a lot of abuse and mental instability in this book. The book is at times fragmented because it is told over different time periods in Ruby's life, this as well as (according to her) a dissociative disorder means that some of the clues are not easy to follow. The investigation is also somewhat disjointed, Ruby seems to be the culprit, but there is no evidence and she is not sure that she didn't do it either. I was not drawn to any of the characters, except perhaps Daisy. I could not imagine that someone with her history could be a long term nurse. Everybody had secrets, though they started to be revealed by other characters without very much investigation.
So now I have finished, I did want to know the perpetrator and was not particularly suprised by the outcome. It was not bad, but could be better, Ruby was too introspective in my view, the suspense not built up enough for the right effect. Trigger for abuse

What a thrill ride! It started out with a the shock of a dead body surfacing on a lake and takes off from there. Exclusive, expensive communities are not immune from death and we never know who is the killer. Definitely a must read in my book (pun intended).

This book kept me interested and I enjoyed it very much . I’m very appreciative that I had the opportunity to review the book

3.5 stars rounded down

My first book by this author! This story definitely kept me wanting to keep reading to find out what would happen next. I thought the last chapter was fantastic. I look forward to reading other books by Rea Frey

I normally like alternating timelines but had a hard time keeping track of which time I was in and how much time had passed. I think towards the end it started to get a little unbelievable but it ended strong.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange for a non biased review. Don’t Forgot Me tells the story of Ruby, who has a history that she is trying to escape. Throughout the book Ruby is forced to help the police, and prove her innocence, while also trying to help her family and neighbors. This was a great book, I really enjoyed the “Then” chapters that gave us a little more background on the characters. I would recommend this book to any reader that enjoys mysteries or thrillers. Thank you for reading!

This was a new author to me. The chapters alternating between then and now didn’t convey a good sense of how long it had been, days or years between events. It had me struggling to follow the events. Ruby and Tom have just moved to ‘his’ dream house outside Nashville in an uppity community around the lake. He’s a criminal defense attorney, she’s just retired from nursing, they have a teenage daughter, Lily. Ruby hasn’t gotten to know the neighbors yet. After she finds a body floating in the pristine lake she’ll get to know many of them. On top of all this her daughter is missing. Lily has issues and needs medication. Ruby seemed to have a shady past full of trauma and heartache. In an empty house she didn’t want, all alone, she joins the neighbor’s murder night game. If my daughter was missing I’d be on the phone harassing the police, or on social media posting for help or in my car every waking minute trying to find her. Ruby is drinking lots of wine, losing chunks of time and playing games.
Detective Ellis is investigating the body found in the lake who is certainly Ruby’s husband, despite her denials. Pretty soon there are more bodies and suspicion is always on the spouse first. Ruby is obviously the one with motive, no one else there hardly knows them. She doesn’t follow her attorney’s warnings to not answer questions without his counsel. There’s the Podcaster host, a single good-looking artist, another lawyer, affairs with open marriages, and more buried secrets than you can predict. A baffling who done it with dark unforgivable secrets and hidden pasts.
A digital advance reader copy of “Don’t Forget Me” by Rea Frey, Published by Thomas & Mercer, was provided by NetGalley. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.

I love Rea Frey but Don’t Forget Mw was just ok for me.
I quickly figured out who the killer was and was able to see ahead of what was coming.
As much as I love this author I could only give this story three stars.

Can’t wait to see what’s next

Ruby discovers a dead body one morning while rowing on the lake in her neighborhood. She immediately calls the police and cannot imagine who the body could belong to. However, rumors quickly begin to circulate, and Ruby is shocked to learn that everyone else in her community thinks that the dead man is her missing husband, Tom. Many of her neighbors suspect that she could have something to do with his death, so she becomes determined to uncover the truth about what really happened to Tom.

I really appreciated the pacing and length of this novel. Though it was under 300 pages, it was not at all lacking in plot development and I thought it was truly the perfect length. This made for a great summer vacation read and was a very solid thriller. The twists and ending were somewhat predictable to someone who has read a lot of thrillers, but I also found the execution to be well-done and I really enjoyed this book overall. I would recommend this novel to absolutely anyone who wants to read a thriller.

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

Ruby was trying to get a fresh start in a new community when a body is discovered. This story moves from then and now timelines, while learning about Ruby's past. She is married to Tom and has a troubled daughter named Lily. At one point, Ruby's mom tells her to find love, remember to play, have fun, keep learning, and most of all follow your dreams. In the end, Rudy was always running from darkness. 3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This starts off immediately in the first couple of pages and keeps building up right until the end. The past and present perspectives told such a sad story of a history of abuse, secrets and lies. However, there was so much tragedy and murder that I feel like I should have felt more emotion reading this than I did. The character development was done well for the protagonist but I never felt completely connected to the emotions I should with everything going on. I don't know what it was, the writing style was good, the story was as well, and it was a hard to put down read. I liked this and highly enjoyed it while I was reading, it just won't stick out at the end of my reading year. Three and a half stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy. I’m conflicted about my opinion of this book. It was ok but at times I was bored. Rating is more of a 2.5 not sure if I should round up
Or down. In the end I gave it a 2.

This book is a mess, with a stupid main character who's lying even to herself and thus to us, the readers. The book is readable, but the story makes me frustrated instead of entertained.

The book starts very strong and I thought it will be a very good thriller that I will enjoy. The descriptions of the found body and follow up investigation and the slow discovery of the past kept me glued to the book. But then the quality of the writing and development started slipping.

It crossed the high quality point when a second murder occurred, or the third. It is no longer relatable and a well developed novel but a cheap Hollywood movie like "Scary Movie". The reactions of people having their neighbors dying become superficial at best. The book loses its relatability, the following twists are no longer exciting and well thought through. To have a random serial killer - psychopath as your solution is an easy way out because nothing needs to be explained.

I think the author has potential and I hope future book avoids shortcuts, superficial events and these mistakes.

Thanks to Rea Frey and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. In return I give my honest review.

I've never read anything by the author Rea Frey, but I will definitely like to read more! Don't Forget Me had me gripped from beginning to end! There were a few times were I guessed who the killer was but then Rea constantly has you second guessing that not long after you've decided and this continues throughout the book.

I absolutely adored the scene in which the story is set, in an almost self contained purpose built faux community/village. There is something so cosy about it and yet there is this horrid and exciting murder plot going on. You want to live in Cottage Grove yourself, but maybe without the murder! Haha! I absolutely adore any author that can set me in and idealistic fantasy cosy realm and make me want it so bad in real life.

The plot itself is very gritty and at times extremely sad, a lot if the abuse that's talked about does happen in the world, there was a chapter that ended and actually had me crying, it broke my heart. It was a point of view of the main character as a little girl (I won't give any spoilers).

Although I loved the constant guessing and then doubting yourself with who the killer was, by the time we got to finding out, I then felt like the ending was a bit rushed and just chucked together, I think there needed to be more there. I don't know what, as I'm not a writer and Rea still did a fantastic story, but the ending just wasn't what I wanted I guess?

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this title to anyone that loves a good murder/crime/thriller. Very well written, good characters that you're able to keep up with and remember very well.

4/5 from me!

Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Rea Frey for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Domestic Violence

When a body is presumed to be her missing husband’s, a woman must unravel the secrets of her past to clear her name, find the truth, and put her conscience to rest once and for all.
I loved the fact that the narrator was an unreliable one thus causing lots of but not too many twists cropping up here and there.
For me, the final twist was somewhat expected but not in a way that it spoiled the overall reading experience. I also liked the alternate timelines.
Readers who enjoy domestic mysteries and characters with twisted senses of reality will enjoy this book.
3.8⭐.

In this latest thriller from Rea Frey, Ruby is out rowing on the lake when she finds a dead body. The police are sure it’s her missing husband Tom, who had a history of abusing Ruby. Ruby isn’t so sure. Meanwhile, there are more murders in the neighborhood, so it’s clear there is a serial killer on the loose, and despite the neighbors playing murder club at their regular get togethers for fun, they haven’t managed to catch the killer (I did love those meetings though!) Plus, Ruby’s troubled teen daughter Lily is missing. I loved this thriller. It was told in dual timelines, fleshing out Ruby’s backstory, both as a child where she had a very complicated incident happen that ties into the murder club, and earlier in her marriage to Tom, and also in the present day as the police work to solve the murders. It’s a fun domestic drama and whodunit and I always enjoy Rea Frey’s books. 5/5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for review purposes.

Ruby and Tom move from Nashville to Cottage Grove to start over. Ruby has "retired" from her nursing job at the local Nashville hospital. Lily, their daughter, is almost ready for college. Cottage Grove is the perfect place for Ruby and Tom to start their empty nest years. Tom is a lawyer and his career is better than ever. But trouble never seems that far away. First Lily disappears and now Tom. Are they together? Did he actually go off to find Lily? One morning during her row across the lake, Ruby spots a body floating in the lake. Everyone starts guessing who it is. Why is it everyone thinks it is Tom and why are the fingers pointed at her as the killer? The Cottage Grove "Murderlings" group comes together to try and solve the murder. Only before they have the chance to solve it, another body shows up! Do they have a serial killer in Cottage Grove?!
I really liked Don't Forget Me by Rea Frey. Frey kept me guessing the whole time. I loved the Cottage Grove Forums that were placed in between the chapters. The writing was easy to follow. The story went in between the past and the present of Ruby's life. It was easy to follow and I liked learning about Ruby's past. I will be recommending Don't Forget Me to my other reader friends and will look for other work by Rea Frey. Special thanks to NetGalley, Rea Frey, and Thomas & Mercer for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 4 stars for me
#DontForgetMe #NetGalley

thank you netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Don’t Forget Me is Rea Frey’s first “true” thriller book. it’s releasing on January 9th, 2024.

wow.. i’m speechless.. this was one of the books where i simply could not put it down once i started.

as you already know, i’m a romance reader. but i needed something to distract my mind for a while and again, a thriller book always helped.

i was thoroughly invested and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. and whenever i thought i had it figured out, i was wrong 🥲

overall this was such a great book. an absolute page-turner and unputdownable.

i really enjoyed the final twist and ending of the book. BUT DEAREST REA FREY, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU MEAN WITH THE VERY LAST SENTENCE OF THIS BOOK ? THANK YOU 😭😭😭

When Ruby and her Family moved to Cottage Grove, the last thing they expected was for all their secrets to come spilling out. It makes you wonder just how well you know your neighbors and maybe even your own family.

“Don’t Forget Me” was my first book by this author, Rea Frey, and it did not disappoint! This was a very fast and easy read full of so many twists I did’t see coming. I read it in about 24 hours and didn’t want it to end. An Epilogue would have been nice so we can know what happened after the last interaction, but maybe (fingers crossed) a sequel would be better!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this!