The story centers around Alice, a young American girl who travels alone to Scotland for an Au Pair’s job with the Davidson family. When she vanishes within the first month, a second Au Pair, Donna/Melanie, is hired to fill the vacancy. As Donna starts to investigate Alice’s disappearance, disturbing family secrets are discovered.

There were some things I enjoyed about this book; it’s set in the UK, it has well described locations, and a good strong female lead who brings the Davidson family down. Yay for girl power! The connection between the two Au Pairs I didn’t see but made complete sense once it was revealed. The Davidson’s were odd and really brought the creep factor to the story.

However, I did feel the story fell flat in the middle with lack of pace and nothing much happening, and the ending of the book was meh. All the loose threads were tied up through several chapters of pure info dumping—I’d have preferred showing rather telling tbh.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator books for the opportunity to read this early.

This book was an enjoyable read, I liked the way it switched between two characters. This has plenty of twists and turns throughout, along with a good ending. The characters were interesting, the story was great and has plenty of suspense and the style of writing was perfect.
This is the first book that I have read by this author, I’ll be keeping my eye out for more in the future.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading psychological thrillers.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Wow! This was such a heart-pounding book. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen . There was a lot of drama and suspense. That ending though…. 🤯

I love this book.. I read it with then a few days... Every moment I had free I read more. I love book that had a twist and you never know what's coming . The author was awesome. I kept wanting to know what was gonna happen next. You just have to read this and you won't be disappointed..

Quick read and I liked the way it started but took a dark turn and had some disturbing parts towards the end that I didn’t care for. The “twist “ seemed pretty obvious to me as well.

The Au Pair By Jane Renshaw is a thriller that follows Alice, a teenage girl who goes missing while nannying and the new au pair who thinks the family she now works for has something to do with it. It did seem to slow down towards the middle for me and I couldn’t get past the victim blaming. The Scottish lingo did prove a little much for me as an American. This was indeed a thriller and I enjoyed it. It was a solid 4 stars.

This was a great book. It kept me engaged and the storyline was intriguing. This story is about an American girl named Alice who became an au pair for a wealthy family in Scotland. Alice adored the children she worked for but she was weary of the rest of the family. One day Alice doesn’t come home. The family hires a new au pair. This au pair is very interested in finding out the truth of what happened to Alice. In my opinion, it was easy to predict who was responsible for Alice’s disappearance. The story remained interesting by the telling of the story. The story went back and forth between two characters and also between past and present until the two storylines eventually came together. The was really enjoyable to read.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this. ARC.

I thought this book was OK; it had a promising premise and there were some unique attributes, but I also found myself having to suspend disbelief throughout. The story centers on Alice, who is a young and naïve American that somehow managers to procure and travel to an au pare job in Scotland without the knowledge of her friends and family. She bonds with the 2 younger kids but finds that the rest of the family isn't all that they seem, and then she disappears without a trace a month later. There are alternating chapters narrated by Melanie (aka Donna), who replaces Alice in the job after she disappears. Melanie is also hiding secret, but is also determined to figure out what the family is really doing.

I didn't find the characters super believable- the things Alice did didn't really seem to jive with the background we were given on her. I felt the same way about the family mom Caro, and older sister Christina, who I felt never really developed cohesive characterization. Melanie was the one I felt was built out the most, but I had some questions there too. I also struggled a bit with the fact that Alice managed to make lifelong friends with the kids she nannied in less than a month; more time would have made the story more realistic to me. This all being said, there were some creepy characters that kept the book interesting, where I couldn't tell if they were just weird or truly sinister. The big twist was a little out there, but was also unique. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the house and thought the book was atmospheric in general.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but wasn't fully invested for the reasons listed above. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the advanced copy of The Au Pair by Jane Renshaw. Alice leaves home to travel to Scotland and gets a job as an Au Pair with a family on the coast in a secluded lodge. Her parents didn’t want her to leave and feared something would happen to her. Soon after starting her job, Alice becomes afraid of someone in the house and disappears. This story is told from 2 points of view, Alice and the nanny that replaces Alice. Who was she afraid of, and why did she disappear? This is a fast paced thriller that has a few twists and turns

Alice Snyder, an 18-year-old American au pair, arrives in Scottland overflowing with youthful naivete and optimism. She is on a mission to prove to her overprotective parents that she can handle being independent and responsible for herself in a foreign country; however, she planned to showcase that maturity by packing up on whim, running away overseas, and cutting contact with everyone until she can build an effective argument for herself…okay, so maybe not the best plan retrospectively. But she’s in Scottland now, and there’s no turning back!

She got the job after interviewing with Ken and Caro Davidson, and she is to be au pair to the children of the Davidson family—Christina, Tess, and Isabel. Once she arrives to Scallon Lodge, a remote hunting estate along Scottland’s coastline, she’s totally enamored by the perfect little family living their perfect little lives in their Hogwarts Castle by the sea. At first Alice only sees everyone and everything at Scallon Lodge as being so magical and picturesque, but she slowly starts to experience disturbing situations in the house and feel aberrant vibes around the whole family. Before she can figure things out, she suddenly vanishes.

Melanie MacFarlane (AKA Donna) is the replacement au pair who arrives when Alice’s disappearance is still very fresh. She immediately sees the family in a very different way. She’s older than Alice and not so easily impressed. Melanie thinks she’s got it figured out who took Alice, but she hasn’t worked out how or why yet. She’s on a mission to figure out what happened to Alice, save her before it’s too late (being dead is not an option), and hand over the person responsible to the authorities. Something sinister is a foot in that house, and Melanie instinctively knows there is a predator on the prowl. In a thrilling conclusion, Melanie must move quickly to avoid becoming the next victim and be ready to do anything it takes to find Alice.

This was a very well written suspenseful thriller! Full of surprises and heart-pounding moments, I really loved the plot and the writing style. It was a very fast read, and I was literally on the edge of my seat at times, deeply invested in the characters and getting to that next page! I really got Haunting of Bly Manor vibes when Melanie shows up. She’s able to see more clearly through the thinly veiled evil present at the house. She’s still questioning herself, but she knows something’s up, and she’s going put her Nancy Drew hat on to do something about it! She may not be ghost hunting, but she’s potentially hunting something much scarier---a killer hiding in plain sight.

I for sure recommend this book, and I will be looking out for more books by this author!

Thank you so much Net Galley and Inkubator Books for the ARC and the opportunity to share what I think! All opinions are my own. I have already posted my review to my Goodreads but I will be posting to my Facebook Group (The Book Banquet) on Friday 1/26. I will also be posting my review to my Amazon and B & N accounts on publication day.

Loved this book! It had me hooked from the first chapter. There was a gradual building of tension and suspense, mixed with cleverly drawn characters. The pace was good and I didn't want to stop reading - sleep could wait!
I'll definitely be reading other books by Jane Renshaw.

I really enjoyed this book. Tension, drama, different timelines and a great plot. What’s not to like! A genuine five star read and an author who I can’t wait to read more of her work.

While the plot is interesting and indicative of a great thriller, the execution is lacking for my taste. I wish the beginning of the book had as much momentum as the last third.

The premise of the book, The Au Pair, is great. A freshly hired Au Pair for the Davidson’s, Alice Snyder, travels from America to Scotland and goes missing after 1 month on the job. A second Au Pair, Donna McKenzie aka Melanie Macfarlane, is quickly hired to fill the vacancy. But Donna is hiding something. As she starts to look into Alice’s disappearance, secrets unfold surrounding Donna, Alice and the family they are working for.

I was not at all invested in the characters. I did not feel a connection until nearly the end of the book and it was a weak one. The Davidson family was odd. I wanted to find out what they were all about, but at the same time their stories were disjointed and not well developed. The end of the book seemed to have all the information but felt like it was dumped on the reader. I would have preferred a more gradual unraveling to keep me more interested and engaged.

Overall, I would describe this book as fizzling in and out. There were definitely some “ah ha” moments but I was not engaged as much as I like to be when reading a gripping thriller. I would have liked to have felt more of a connection to the characters and their fates. The ending was a cliff hanger which I am still deciding whether I liked that aspect or not. I would have liked a bit more clarity in the end. I don’t want to give anything away here but I have lingering questions.

Thank you to NetGalley, Inkubator Books and the author, Jane Renshaw, for the opportunity to read this DRC in exchange for my honest review.

This is one promising book. I thoroughly enjoyed the dual POV, and the characters are enjoyable. The plot is not overly original, but it is gripping overall. I deducted two stars because the storyline sometimes seem to move too slow. Parts of this book could be cut out without impacting the overall story. That's nothing a good editor can't fix, but the edits are necessary.

This was an okay book! I liked it and it had some creepy aspects but I did get a little bored. I thought the story was kinda out there and wasn’t that drawing. I liked it and finished it but it wasn’t a favorite.

The Au Pair is about a young girl, Alice, going to work for a family as an au pair. Alice goes missing and in the current time frame Melanie goes to look into Alice's disappearance by becoming the same family's au pair. I thought the premise of the book was good. I honestly did not find any of the characters in the book likeable. Alice was written using a lot of exclamation marks possibly to make her seem young but it just got annoying. The whole book was to long and boring. Nothing happened for far too long.

The Au Pair by Jane Renshaw was so captivating, it had me finishing this book in one sitting!

Told from dual points of view and in dual timelines, we see events unfold through the eyes of Alice, a young American au pair recently arrived in Scotland and, after Alice’s sudden disappearance and presumed death, her replacement, Melanie.

The points of view were interesting, especially because Alice and Melanie saw things so differently, it made me wonder which, if either of them, were seeing things as they truly were.

There were quite a few surprises as the story unfolded. The author was able to keep me guessing as to what was really going on at Scallan Lodge.

From the creepy uncle, to the isolated setting, the last minute visitors, to the unexpected reveals, this book was full of mystery and suspense. The ending was not one I saw coming.

If you’re looking for an atmospheric, psychological thriller, you might want to check out The Au Pair!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you're a Freida McFadden fan, you'll love this book. It definitely reminded me of "The Housemaid," mixed with "Kiss the Girls" by James Patterson.

When 18 year old Alice turns 18, she's ready for adventure. She wants to travel the world, even though her parents are against it. When she applies for a job as an Au Pair for a job in Scotland, she gets hired, and leaves without her parents permission. When she arrives to meet the new family, she immediately loves the kids she is hired to care for. The only problem is the parents, and the creepy uncle. Something isn't right, and she can't quite put her finger on it. After a month of being with this family, Alice has been reported dead, due to a drowning accident.

The next Au Pair, Melanie know's something isn't right as soon as she gets there. She begins to investigate Alice's death, but the family is very aware that she's asking too many questions.

This book had me on the edge of my seat! I was so nervous and excited to find out what happened to Alice, and to find out who the villain actually was!

Trigger Warning- The creepy uncle is a reported sex offender.

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An intriguing slow burn of a thriller filled with suspense. The characters are thoughtfully developed and the plot unfolds with menace and confusion. The story has complexities which makes it an engaging read. All in all, an engrossing and dark novel - it would make a great mini-series! There are some dark subjects addressed in this book which can be hard to read but ultimately they aren't gratuitous in any way.

I was hoping for a lot of intrigue as I started reading this book. It had some beautiful settings and some tension in the beginning and end. There were some parts in the middle that dragged on longer than needed. I was reminded of a book I read recently in which one of the POVs was that of a first time author. She was constantly editing herself and reminding herself of words that were fillers and unnecessary. She was needed here. The start and the end bring me to a good book.