First love: so undefined yet all consuming...

Where the line between love and obsession often becomes blurred, and when the bad doesn't seem so bad, because it's its own twisted version of love.

The plot could have been taken off of any nighttime news show. A missing girl's body is finally found dead after many years, with ties to a serial killer(Calvin) and even worse, her best friend at the time and the serial killer's girlfriend. (Geo)

Told from Geo's point of view, the story bounces between past and present, leading up to the horrible day that changed Geo's life forever. At times I really liked Geo, and at others I was appalled....Getting to see how Geo got to where she was in life and the decisions she made to bring her there kept me riveted. In fact if I'm honest, I much preferred the past story line over the present, which is what held me back from rating this higher.

One of the things I like about this author is that she writes authentically flawed characters that make sense to me. They may be damaged, dark, narcissistic, and much worse, but they are portrayed realistically, at times even showing a vulnerable side that I find intriguing.

This is a well written mystery that I think any mystery lover will respond well to!

This story line is very brutal in places, including a rape scene. But I could not put the book down. I had to find out where the story was going and who did it. Lots of twists--and I was wrong about who did it

Even though what Geo did was despicable, she is still endearing and you can't help wanting good things for her. The twist at the end made the book. It was an intense read that is hard to put down.

JAR OF HEARTS introduces readers to Georgina “GEO” Shaw, a successful pharmaceutical executive, with a dark secret she has kept hidden for 14 years. Now her secret is out and Geo faces the end of her career as well as her upcoming nuptials with only the prospect of several years in jail in the foreseeable future.

This is a tale of psychological suspense fueled by disturbing obsession coupled with sex, lies, deception and murder. Author, Jennifer Hillier, tears into the narrative with the energy of a hungry animal giving the reader plenty of shocking twists and turns to digest. Just when you when you think you have it all figured out, someone throws in a monkey wrench that opens up old wounds and memories in this shocking page turner.

This novel moved like a fast train, making me wonder: what happened to Geo in the past, and how do those events impact what's happening now? Geo is arrested for her part in the murder of her friend, but we don't really get to know the details until the end. Part thriller, part mystery, the book keeps you wondering and guessing.

I don't want to spoil the plot twists (though they're not too shocking for the avid mystery reader), but I will say that this novel had me torn. I loved the pace and thriller aspect, but I didn't like the graphic elements of the crime (which did nothing for the story), nor the 'twist' in the end, which made me thoroughly dislike the main character Geo.

A good mystery if you like a juicy, shocking read. Not so recommended if you read for character...

Thank you for this Advanced Readers Copy!

This book is incredible. It is a complex plot as an easy read. Although the main character was caught up in some difficult issues, you couldn't help by cheer her on and wish for her peace. This book will have you guessing until the very end! Highly recommended. I will definitely be reading more Jennifer Hillier books!

“The past is always with you, whether you choose to think about it or not, whether you take responsibility for it or not. You carry the past with you because it transforms you. You can try to bury it and pretend it never happened, but that doesn’t work. Geo knows that from experience. Because buried things can, and do, come back.”

Jar of Hearts gripped me from the start! A story that pulls all kinds of emotions, it’s honest and real, it’s shocking, and it’s full of twists that keep you engrossed to the end.

This story gives you mixed emotions. The writing is very detailed and leaves nothing to the imagination. It’s precise and well written. I enjoyed the way it was broken into parts. I especially enjoyed how the mystery is slowly revealed through these parts and pieces. The author does a great job of making you feel everything Georgina Shaw goes through throughout this story. Georgina’s past is catching up with her, but all the details of that fateful night have not yet been uncovered. As details emerge, and the story unfolds, these complex characters leave you stunned.

“But the guilt? It never leaves. It hangs around like a bad smell that no amount of bleach can eliminate. You can get yourself a new life, get yourself a new love, go to jail for the terrible thing you helped do…but the guilt is still there, stinking like an invisible piece of rotting garbage underneath your bed that won’t go away no matter how many attempts you make to clean it. Because that smell-of rotting flesh, of rotting soul-is you.”

I really enjoyed this book. The story was solid all throughout the book and it ended with a bang! Really good twists and turns - some of which you could see coming with all the build up/some of which were totally shocking! This is my first book from this author, but I will definitely be checking out more of her works.

This was a fun mystery! Kept me wanting to find out more. In the beginning i wanted to hate the protagonist, but in the end, it all turned around. Bravo, good read!

This review is also posted in my blog :
https://onewordtoomuch.wordpress.com/2018/04/30/jar-of-hearts/

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Net Galley for a free copy of this book in trade for an honest review

It’s a complete story of love triangle, betrayal, the foolishness of youth, spiced with jealousy that leads to murder and story about second chances in life all written in a perfect package. Supporting the story is characters with emotional burdens that makes me feel sometimes sympathize, angry, or confused. This is a story that part of it you could relate to. Whether you’re the popular girl (like Angela Wong), or the unnoticed beauty (like Geo) or the helplessly falling in love but get no response (like Kaiser), or the cute guy with mental issue (like Calvin), each reader could emotionally attached to it.

Since the beginning, the story is getting back and forth between the past and the present. The story opens with the trial of Calvin James and Geo is sitting in the witness stand. She’s been hiding the secret of Angela’s death for 14 years and finally has to paid for her sins. Along the way, we got an insight on how Geo’s life in prison and what happen on the past. The story is easy to read and the transition between the present and past is done smoothly. But with each step, the past is revealed little by little that lead to the night of murder.

At first the plot is quite straight and easy, but it get twisted when there are 2 murders that looks like the Sweetbay Strangler style. Did Calvin do this? The clues are thrown in the previous chapter and the truth comes out later. I think this is a drama with a crime twist.

Characters are both strong and weak, as well as sick and sane, this book got the complete package. Geo as the main character is pictured as the popular pretty girl, independent but somehow falls with the wrong guy. But she came out strong and dare to take what life offers her: a second chance in love and life, making things right. Kaiser is your boy next door, someone nice, honest and dedicated to what he believed. He’s as tormented as Geo about Angela’s disappearance and death. He’s more tormented to see that Geo is more interested in Calvin than in him. Calvin is a conflicted character, there are things unconnected between his behavior. He could kill women by choking and raping them, but he can’t bear the sight of blood when he buried Angela’s body. This is a killer with a heart? Not sure how to categorize this guy though.

The end is quite surprising. Never see it coming. This is the first book from Jennifer Hillier that I read, but I would love to read other books from her.

Recommend for those who love a good crime and mystery story with a twisty plot and lots of drama.

The description of Jennifer Hillier’s “Jar of Hearts” intrigued me, and I believed I was in for a treat. Reading the novel, however, soon blunted this feeling.

There are pages and pages of the author telling us how the characters feel, but little of the emotions show in the action, making it difficult to embrace the people we’re supposed to care about. It’s not that the author didn’t offer the information. It’s there, but the presentation is what transform the potential of an exciting scene into a vanilla blandness. On occasion, this bled into the dialogue, leaving the characters with unrealistic conversations.

Many instances contradict with my personal knowledge of how prisons are run. Inmates (especially in multiples) living in Maximum Security would find it almost miraculous to escape, Maximum Security is not “gen pop,” and Max inmates do not live in dormitory-style settings (perhaps there have been instances of maximum security inmates living this way, but it is hard to imagine it being allowed to happen). Questioning suspects by officers not allowed to offer Miranda rights wouldn’t occur (at least, not in the random manner described) and daily listening to lawyer-inmate phone conversations would constitute violations of lawyer-client privilege. The idea of paying a prison officer $100 a month for information that could be obtained at no cost – especially to a police officer working an active case – doesn’t make sense, though it is more believable than a Maximum Security inmate being given sharp objects and allowed to work in the prison barber shop or kitchen. I could go on, but you get the idea. A few hours of deeper research could have legitimized much of the background the author presented. The creation of a fictional prison didn’t bother me in the least. Twisting and bending normal prison procedures did.

Authors at times strive for whatever will inject a high level of surprising events, the “twist” that at times provides high satisfaction to readers. Sometimes, the best plots are those that contain the most simplistic elements. I felt enough suspense that the simplistic plotline would have succeeded. Ms. Hillier performed well in this area, the flip-flop of past and current events neatly dovetailing as she worked toward the climax. The multiple twists inserted at the end didn’t work for me, and the explanation to justify a major change in direction seemed rushed. Additionally, the abrupt change-in-direction of the major characters did not ring true, especially with those who I would label as psychopaths.

I completed the book because I was caught up in the suspense aspect I previously mentioned. I truly expected “Jar of Hearts” would finish with more power and believability than it did. Coupled with the elements listed above, this is an offering that will appeal to some readers as well as Ms. Hillier’s most devoted fans. Two-and-a-half (rounded to three) stars.

Really riveting book. One of those books you don’t want to put down and don’t want to do anything else until you’ve finished it. Really liked this one. Haven’t read a book that grabbed me and held my interest in a really long time.

When Geo was 16, her best friend was murdered by Geo's boyfriend. Geo unwillingly played a role in the crime and as a woman in her early 30s, spends time in prison. While she is in prison, her ex-boyfriend escapes. Murders begin and they are eerilly similar to the murder of Geo's friend. Geo is set to be released and she believes these murders to be a warning to her.

The book flashes back to the past, where we see the relationship unfold and understand more about the original crime. It also focuses in the present time, where detectives are working to solve the current crimes.

The book is a dark, edgy ,shocking, deeply terrifying psychological thriller. It is very fast paced. I found it to be a unique book, very different from the usual thriller. I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to Macmillan/ Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read Jar of Hearts, by Jennifer Hillier.

As Georgia, aka Geo, and her best friend, Angela, head to a high school party for fun and excitement, they don’t have any idea how exciting the evening will be. One of the girls will not make it home and the other girl lives with the secret of that night for years. Calvin, the handsome older boy, has won the heart of one of these girls, and will change her life forever. The reader is kept in suspense wondering what really happened that night, who will be missing next, and how will anyone survive this terror in a small town. This book is a real page turner, keeping you guessing right up to the end. What an exciting read!

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. Let me start off by saying it was amazing. This is the first book i have read by jennifer hillier , amd definately will not be the last.

Kaiser ,Angela, and Geo , are the best of friends in high school. Everything is wonderful until Geo meets Calvin. At sixteen years old she falls head over heels with him. Hes older and mysterious, with a dark side that Geo sees but at sixteen she chooses to ignore . At that age we dont listen to anyone and this will change her life forever. When Angela disappears and is found murdered and dismembered no one suspects Geo or Calvin and she leaves Calvin and memories of that day far behind . A successful businesswoman she still has the fear that the police will show up and arrest her for helping Calvin cover up the murder of her friend, and finally they do.

Fourteen years later Geo and Calvin are convicted for Angela's murder. Geo serves five years and gets out expecting to move on and rebuild her life again. Unfortunately some secrets you just cant put behind you and forget about them because they come back to haunt you....
This book gave me chills at times at other times it made me sad. I love how the author lets us see the point of view from Geo at 16 and Geo after prison at 35 . We view life and love so differently as a teenager than we do once we are adults. This book is a must read i could not put it down until i knew what Geo has been hiding all these years. Anyone who loves a good thriller or mystery will love this book.

Reading this story was .....Wow, just amazing really.
I had some serious anxiety while reading this book. Those characters, the setting, the overall story was really just brilliant.
This was my first time reading a book by this author. I very much enjoyed this story and look forward to reading her other books.
I received an ARC e-copy through NetGalley.
#JarofHearts #NetGalley

I definitely wanted to finish this book sooner!! Sucks being busy a lot but wow! Jennifer Hillier did not disappoint. This was my first book of hers to read and I was highly impressed. Georgina Shaw, Geo, was once in love with Calvin James...the serial killer wanted for the murder of at least three different women. One of those being her best friend Angela Wong. 14 years later, Angela’s body is discovered and Geo was the only person who knew what happened. This book will grab ahold of you and keep you anxious to know just what will happen. You think you know it all and then Hillier hits you...

This is my first book by Jennifer Hillier and I went into it blind, but knowing anything about her writing style nor anything about this book.... I was pleasantly surprised! This book had a grip on me from the first chapter. I could not turn the pages fast enough to solve this mystery !

A dark thriller at its finest, Jar of Hearts is well written and well plotted. Juxtaposing the point of view of a convicted con and a police officer, this story keep me reading until the last gruesome page. Horrifically graphic at times, this gripping tale of friendship, love, and betrayal will not disappoint.

I loved this story. The protagonist, Georgina Shaw, Geo to friends, is as complex a character as you will ever meet. Early in the story she’s snatched from her successful, high profile job and packed off to prison for a series of poor choices she made as a teen. Bad boyfriend, a night of insanity, the murder of her best friend, and a collision of circumstances ruin her life, and those of many others. And poses the question: What happened to Angela Wong? And where is her body? As the narrative moves back and forth in time, her actions and motives are exposed as the plot twists and turns, ultimately leading to a shocking conclusion. Well written and paced, this is one you must read.

DP Lyle, award-winning author, lecturing, story consultant