There are no surprises in this novel but the characterisation is masterful and allows you to see aspects of your own life in each character so that you really care what happens to each of them.

**Chapter 9 is missing. Chapter 10 is duplicated** I think it messed with my mindset. When I didn't even realize an entire chapter was missing until chapter 10 started over, it made me dubious. If I can skip an entire chapter without noticing, that kind of speaks to the story development.

Three estrange sisters converge after the sudden death of their mother. Allison is the eldest and a workaholic realtor. She is married and childless. She still lives in Seattle where they grew up. Leah, the middle child, is a recent widow. Her daughter is off at college. She is a middle school librarian in Chicago and has not returned home to Seattle in 20 years. Jillian is a pilot. Single and bisexual, she lives in NYC when she is not working. While she does occasionally speak to both sisters, she is not close to them.

They get to know each other while realizing they didn't know their mother at all.

The story alternates between all three POVs.

Laurel Lefkow narrates the audiobook. My initial reaction was that she sounds to old for the characters. She also mispronounced a lot of words.

I would recommend sticking to the print version as opposed to the audiobook. While I can deal with the age thing and the mispronunciations, she narrates for all three sisters. It makes it hard to keep track of who the narrator is. So not a fault of hers, but it does impact the level of enjoyment.

As far as the story, it was OK. Allison was hard to like. All three sisters had their moments, but Allison had virtually no redeeming qualities. They all did grow and find some sort of closure in regards to their mother. And a lot of understanding of their mother and each other.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for the book #HerSecretLife by #AnnaECollins. This book was full of emotions, suspense, abuse and secrets. I loved it and all the lessons taught and learned by the characters. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

4 STARS

Her Secret Life was not what I expected, it was even better! I thought this was going to be a mystery/thriller when in fact it was not. The characters were well developed, the storyline went from past to present and this one was hard to put down. This was my first Anna Collins book, but it certainly will not be my last.

Publication Day: Jan. 31, 2024

This was a fantastic book. I don't typically enjoy alternating viewpoints, but it works well for this book. Throughout the book you get to know the various characters from childhood to adult. I don't think this book is really a mystery or a thriller its more of a family drama. The story really shows how loss can bring a rather dysfunctional family together. The book focuses on three sisters that live across the country from each other. They don't really have a relationship with each other but have to come together after the unexpected death of their mother. We learn a lot about the three sisters lives but really not much about the mother. When the story opens Leah is coming home unannounced and finds a neglected home and her mother is dead. Her mother's body is recovered from the lake. The first twist comes when it's discovered that the mother has been living in a cottage that the girls will now inherit. But why didn't they know? We then find that this is just the first of many secrets their mother has kept. The sisters all have secrets as well. If you enjoy a family drama this is a good read.

Her Secret Life by Anna E Collins. From the title I thought it would be more of a thriller but I still enjoyed this book about family relationships and how secrets bubble away under the surface of a deceitfully calm façade.

Three daughters – all very different from one another – must come together as their mother has died under unfortunate circumstances. The sisters are not very close and their relationship is strained due to certain issues. Over the course of the next couple of weeks the sisters have to learn to trust one another as they find out hidden aspects of their mother’s life.

A charming book. Thank you NetGalley for my advance listening copy.

Trigger warning: Talk about abuse and suicide and troubled marriage.
3 1/2 stars
#HerSecretLife #NetGalley

Thanks to Bookouture Audio, NetGalley, author Anna E. Collins and narrator Laurel Lefkow for allowing me to listen to an advance audio recording of this book. I love well written thriller mysteries and this book did not disappoint me at all. Three sisters are brought back to their childhood home after their mother’s apparent suicide. Old secrets have a way of festering under the surface and these women may not like what they find out about their mother or each other. Highly recommended for fans of Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.

Anna E. Collins is a new author to me, so I was excited to read this book. Her writing style is engaging and this was a fast paced read. I love stories about dysfunctional families and was emotionally invested until the end! Three estranged sisters come together to grieve the sudden death of their mother. The details surrounding her death were surprising and made me want to find out what happened. The setting and the artwork is beautiful and the author does a great job with each character's progression. We end up learning much more about the sisters and their lives more than we do about the mother's life-but that's often the case when unspoken issues spanning an entire childhood are swept under the rug. The communication between the sisters felt authentic and very relatable. The ending tugged at my heart and I happily recommend this book! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was incredible! I loved listening to her voice.

2.5 stars

There were several things about this book that didn't work for me.

First, based on the description, we are led to believe that this a gripping page-turner about estranged sisters who come together after their mother's death and find out she has been hiding something from us. Well, this is absolutely not what this book is about. It is more women's fiction, nothing happens, and the "secret" is underwhelming and not even revealed until about 60% of the way through. The mother is barely mentioned, this secret is barely mentioned, and even though the title is Her Secret Life--we don't know anything about their mother.

Second, the book is told from the alternating viewpoints of the sisters, Leah, Jillian, and Allison. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was monotone and I honestly could not distinguish between any of the sisters.

Third, this book tells and doesn't show. Using dialogue to drive a story is not my favorite. I did not feel a connection with any of the characters, didn't understand why they were estranged, didn't have a feel for why their relationship was the way it was between them and with their mother.

The ending tries to tie it all up but it was not a cohesive read to me and I would not compare it to Liane Moriarty or Diane Chamberlain as this book is not in the same vein as books by those authors. Maybe if the description was different and/or there were multiple narrators for the audiobook, my rating would be different.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a well written piece of womens fiction centring around the lives of three practically estranged sisters who are thrown together again after the death of their mother. A small amount of mystery surrounds the mother's death but the key strength of the book was in the character development of the sisters as they processed their reactions to family secrets being revealed and the different back stories understood.
It is a touching and powerful book highlighting the dysfunction that plays out in families when secrets are held and communication wires crossed. The narrator presents the multiple POV well throughout.
I am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced listener copy of this audiobook and am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Her Secret Life... This was a good, fast paced general fiction story. I liked how Anna wrote the characters and how she transitioned between each sisters point-of-view. The story was easy to follow and keep track of each characters story line. My only complaint would be on the cover of the book. To me, it looks creepy, almost like the 'mothers secrets' should be a dark past leading into her being murdered or something that would be in a thriller. This book isn't marketed as a thriller, but the cover could be misleading and I don't believe it reflects the overall themes of the book, which I thought was love for your family, hope, and knowing you're stronger together.

The narrator was great! The audiobook was enjoyable and I loved all of the different voices Laurel did. It made it very easy to follow each character.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio, and Anna E. Collins for the audio arc!

I was excited to have the opportunity to review Her Secret Life because Anna E. Collins is a new author for me. The group of three sisters was fun to get to know. I liked the story being from their perspectives. I went in to the book thinking it was a domestic thriller. It is more of an adult fiction novel with whispers of mystery. The best part of the book is learning about the sisters and their relationships amongst each other. The minor mystery, as referenced in the title, refers to the mother of the sisters. It’s not much of a secret and it was easily figured out. However, the meat of the book was about the sisters and their reconciliation of the effects of their upbringing. It was touching without being too sappy. I truly enjoyed the journey and highly recommend this book.

Her Secret Life is compelling from beginning to end. The writing is excellent and though, in a book of this length, we don’t get a lot of depth into the characters’ lives, this is a satisfying read. The overall message can resonate with anyone - families are messy, we never know another’s complete story, and there is always hope for reconciliation.

This is an excellent read! I definitely recommend.

In Her Secret Life, three sisters who have become distanced from each other, and their mother, are reunited in the wake of her passing. Coming together means facing up to the difficulties of their own pasts, present issues and future worries.

It's a lovely and emotional tale of these varying strands being knitted together again while being a great reminder of the subtle art of communication and its importance to all.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Laurel Lefkow who does a great job! I do recommend the audiobook if that is of interest!

Three estranged sisters are reunited upon the suicide death of their mother. The family was dysfunctional and as the women grew up and left home, a lot of their baggage is carried with them. This traumatic event reunites the women and helps them grieve not only their mother but also deal with past hurts.

As you walk on this journey with the characters, the imagery of the art and the lake are beautiful. The story is well written and the characters and their relationships are well developed. It also was refreshing to see the familial cycle of domestic violence broken.

Highly recommend!

I loved this, and it thoroughly deserves every one of the 5 stars I’ve rated it.

A story of 3 sisters who are pretty much estranged being forced to come back together following the death of their mother, each sister has a really well written back story and we go in quite deep with their individual experiences and personalities.

In losing their mother, they gain inheritance, and within that inheritance is a backstory of a life their mother held hidden for all of their lives.

Heartfelt, touching, unique and inspiring.

All the stars ✨ #Jorecommends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

This is the first book by this author but won't be the last!

I love the writing and how it starts off revealing secrets and the sisters all just not trusting one another. After all secrets are revealed when their mother dies and they trust no one.

This is told in multiple POV and after listening to the book it has twists but the end makes you feel like this is the way a family should be .

Hands down 5 stars!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review

This is described as a 'gripping and heart wrenching page turner' and while it certainly is moving, and an engaging work of women's fiction, it's more along the lines of a cozy Lifetime movie than dark women's fic. Everything about the marketing screams thriller (or at least dark women's fic) to me - the title, the cover, the blurb, the tagline. There's nothing of thriller in this. This is a nice, but quiet, story about three sisters getting to know their mother after her death.

📚 Series or Standalone: standalone
📚 Genre: women's fiction
📚 Target Age Group: adult
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Will I Reread: no
✨ Recommended For: fans of quiet women's fiction, lifetime movies, people who want to read an uplifting story about recovering from domestic abuse

💕 Characters: 3/5
💕 Writing: 4/5
💕 Plot: 3/5
💕 Pacing: 3/5
💕 Unputdownability: 3/5
💕 Enjoyment: 3/5
💕 Book Cover: 1/5 (4/5 for a thriller, but it's misleading)

Thanks, NetGalley and , for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A woman returns home for succor after the death of her husband only to discover her childhood home surrounded by police tape; her mother has been killed. From the state of the house, it’s obvious that her mother hasn’t lived there in a long time. She and her sisters work to unravel the mystery surrounding their mother….. and themselves