The book is described very aptly as suspenseful, compulsively readable, and darkly twisted psychological thriller. It is not as simple as it seems based on the description. It is so much more. The book is a lovely description of relationships and the small things that can build or break them. It has the whodunit factor, the psychological thriller bits, the domestic drama angle as well as a whole mysterious angle. You will guess things many times while reading this book and more often than not you will be wrong! This book consumes you, it plays with you and is hard to put down. The author almost taunts you in to guessing things and then goes on to show you how twisted the plot actually is.
The ending was unpredictable and I loved it. The alternating before and current points of view work well for the plot and make it more engrossing. The pressure that the characters feel is relate-able based on all the police questioning. The characters are brilliantly developed and easy incite a strong emotion for. Highly recommend this book!
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
#NetGalley #HerOneMistake
My reviews can also be found on romasharma.blogspot.com

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Gallery books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! If I am being honest - I LOVED and was slightly obsessed with this book. Read on to find out why!

The plot: I normally put in the whole synopsis but I feel like it is a little bit misleading - it is probably supposed to be! The book started out normally enough but quickly had me entirely hooked, and ended up restoring my faith in thrillers. Long story short: Charlotte and Harriet are best friends, and Harriet trusts Charlotte to take her daughter Alice to the school fair. With three kids of her own to watch, plus Alice, the young girl just vanishes. Enter a large-scale search, ruined relationships, and one total psycho. As soon as I got my first hunch of who did it, I read the rest in one sitting. Absolutely could not put it down, it just kept getting darker and more exciting as it went!

The style: the point of view switches back and forth between the two main women, moving the story along. It went from the present to the past and back again, painting a larger picture of Harriet and Alice's lives. I loved the dual POV this time because two totally different stories were being told, and it kept me just itching to find out what happened next.
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The characters: I did like both women and their kids. They are likeable enough and although they stay fairly one dimensional, the unfolding relationships are important and there is good dialogue. I honestly don't have much to say about the characters, the relationships are well described though and the strain is real. There were a lot of random female names thrown out at first that was a little confusing but did not distract.

General impression: This is such an easy 5 stars. I felt the end coming about three separate times, and wasn't right any of those times. If I wanted to put it down after about 50%, I couldn't have. It was truly an exciting and compulsive read, and anyone who likes thrillers and suspense NEEDS to read it. This is a debut novel too and I am so impressed!!

Full review can be found online at. https://onenursereader.wixsite.com/onereadingnurse-1/home/her-one-mistake-by-heidi-perks

A suspenseful book compared to Big Little Lies and The Couple Next Door will definitely get my attention! Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks is getting a lot of advance acclaim and its the four and five-star reviews from my fellow book bloggers that made me take a look at this novel which promises to be full of twists and turns.

Here’s the full synopsis:

Charlotte was supposed to be looking after the children, and she swears she was. She only took her eyes off of them for one second. But when her three kids are all safe and sound at the school fair, and Alice, her best friend Harriet’s daughter, is nowhere to be found, Charlotte panics. Frantically searching everywhere, Charlotte knows she must find the courage to tell Harriet that her beloved only child is missing. And admit that she has only herself to blame.

Harriet, devastated by this unthinkable, unbearable loss, can no longer bring herself to speak to Charlotte again, much less trust her. Now more isolated than ever and struggling to keep her marriage afloat, Harriet believes nothing and no one. But as the police bear down on both women trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened to this little girl, dark secrets begin to surface—and Harriet discovers that confiding in Charlotte again may be the only thing that will reunite her with her daughter….



This novel is receiving lots and lots of great reviews so my expectations are high. Other reviewers are saying Her One Mistake is chilling…gripping…riveting. Make this one of the top picks for January!

Due out on January 8 2019.

This was a fantastic, page turning book. I was hooked from page 1.
The author wrote some sensational story lines as well as believable characters.
I was guessing until the very end.

Harriet hovers over Alice, her only child, most would agree, to a fault. When she finally entrusts her best friend Charlotte to take Alice to a school fair, the worst happens. Alice disappears!

Charlotte, of course, panics. How could something so devastating have happened to 4-year-old Alice? After all, her three children are fine, only Alice has disappeared.

Emotions are high as the police interrogate everyone. The reader vacillates as the story moves along at a rapid pace. It's a whodunit that will keep you guessing to the very end.

My Thoughts

What My Concerns Were: Nothing

What I Liked Most: If you've read many of my reviews, you know I like a book to hook me from the get-go. This book certainly meets that criteria. You will be hooked and guessing up until the end.

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
This book was so good. Could not put it down. From the turn of the first page the reader was drawn in and then it was a wild and bumpy ride to the last page. A great psychological thriller that kept this reader guessing. Just a really great read.

Charlotte was supposed to be looking after the children, and she swears she was. She only took her eyes off of them for one second. But when her three kids are all safe and sound at the school fair, and Alice, her best friend Harriet’s daughter, is nowhere to be found, Charlotte panics. Frantically searching everywhere, Charlotte knows she must find the courage to tell Harriet that her beloved only child is missing. And admit that she has only herself to blame. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for letting me have the chance to read this book first time reading her books would enjoy to read more by her. I thought I had this book figured out by there was alot of twist had me on the edge of my seat very good suspense mystery book

This was a really engaging and page-turning tale, which I quite enjoyed. I felt like I read half of it with my fingers over my eyes because I was so afraid of what would happen to the characters (especially poor Alice!) next... The Big Reveal TOTALLY caught me off guard - even though in hindsight it probably shouldn't have - and I flipped pages even faster once I reached it. The pacing was consistently edge-of-my-seat throughout and the characters were very well developed. Their miseries and frailties and (eventually) small victories of daily life pulled me in and never let me go. This was a very good read, for all the horribles it describes, and I will definitely read Perks again...

This book was unpredictable and completely mesmerizing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, it turned another corner. Talented writer with ability to draw out the reader’s emotions. I highly recommend this book.

This was a typical, run of the mill. domestic thriller, in which a child goes missing - not the first of its kind and certainly not the last. However, a refreshing element is added in which there is a lot of conflict between parents and friends - victim blaming and finger-pointing really add depth to an otherwise potentially banal story.

It seems that the theme of gaslighting has taken on a whole new sub-genre in psychological thrillers lately. What becomes interesting is how the author uses this device to move the plot forward. In this novel, I think it works well as one of our protagonists slowly becomes aware of what is going on. It's cleverly done and leaves you wondering how straight forward or twisted the road ahead will become.

Now I'm ready for a female character strong enough to look a guy in the face and say, "Are you trying to gaslight me? I don't think so." That would be a great plot twist.

Suspenseful with a surprising answer to "who did it". Heidi Perks wrote a good representation of mom's and their children.

A child is missing, which has to be the most absolute worse nightmare for a parent. Harriet, a helicopter mom, on a very rare occasion had entrusted her one and only friend, Charlotte, to take her 4-year-old daughter, Alice, along with Charlotte's three young rambunctious children to an outdoor school fair while she attends a bookkeeping class. After a stop at a concession stand for cotton candy, they head to the "Jungle Run," a large inflatable that stretched back to the very back edge of the field. As Charlotte and her daughter wait in the shade while the other three children take off towards the back to enter the run, she takes a minute to check her phone, her messages, texts, and Facebook. As her son and daughter slide down the end of the Jungle Run for the second time, Charlotte becomes panicked when Alice cannot be found.

The reader is hooked from the very first page as Charlotte Reynolds is being relentlessly interrogated by the police thirteen days after the abduction of Alice at the school fair. The book is basically divided into three parts--Now, Charlotte's Story, and Harriet's Story. Charlotte's Story is a combination of the police investigation and the more public perspective of the affected lives of Charlotte and Harriet. Once you get to Harriet's Story, be forewarned, the personal perspectives are even more in depth and revealing, and you will not want to put it down.

It is difficult to comment more without giving away any spoilers, but this book is definitely a must read. I am thankful for the opportunity from NetGalley to read an early release of this book in exchange for an honest review, and even more thankful for the three-year investment by the author and her editing team for producing an exceptional read.

Fantastic read. It really pulled you in from the the beginning and didn't let you go. It was a total surprise ending for me. Well written with excellently developed characters, it didn't want you to put it down. You NEED to read the book!I

*thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for for a fair and honest review*

This was a fast-paced psychological thriller that kept me quickly turning the pages to find out what happens next. It offered a fantastic twist!

When Charlotte's best friend Harriet knocks on the door and asks her to watch her daughter, Alice, for the day, she doesn't hesitate. Harriet never goes out and never leaves her child's side, so Charlotte is happy to take Alice along with her own children to the school fair for the day. What promises to be a fun day for the kids even if it's more of a hassle for Charlotte, turns into a nightmare. After Alice gets in line to go on a ride, she never reappears and can't be found anywhere on the fairgrounds. And Charlotte only looked at her phone for a minute (and checked Facebook)...

A fast-paced, original psychological thriller that will have readers quickly turning the pages to find out what happens next!

"Her One Mistake"
By Heidi Perks
Gallery Books


Contemporary Fiction -- Release Date: January 8, 2019


It's every parent's nightmare to discover their child has gone missing, but more heartrending is entrusting your youngster to a friend and learn they've either been abducted or run away. Charlotte Reynolds, friends with Harriet Hodder tried many times to talk Harriet into giving up her obsessive hold over five-year-old Alice by offering to watch her or let her play with her children. One day, Harriet finally decides to let Charlotte take Alice along with Charlotte's three to a fair at the kid's school.

Alice and Charlotte's two oldest rush to play on the Jungle Run leaving Charlotte with Evie, her youngest, waiting on a nearby bench. When Charlotte's two arrive without Alice, she panics. She's only glimpsed at her cell phone, so how could the little girl be gone? Where is she? Did someone take her? Kids can take off in a split second, yet Charlotte didn't believe Alice ran away.

Sick with worry and grief, Charlotte wonders how she is going to explain this to Harriet. When Harriet hears her baby is gone she won't talk to Charlotte. Why couldn't she keep her eye on Alice? As the police investigate, the animosity between the two women swells and Harriet's overly protective husband Brian, grief-stricken about Alice's disappearance, blames Charlotte but more so, Harriet for allowing her to go away with someone else.

Tension builds as time passes with Harriett believing she is crazy and an unfit mom. She distrusts everyone but needs Charlotte. Can she trust her friend after she's been slandered for not taking better care of Alice? However, Charlotte is the only one who can help her. Secrets are exposed as this psychological thriller climaxes with an unexpected ending.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

It all started at the school fair…

Charlotte was supposed to be looking after the children, and she swears she was. She only took her eyes off of them for one second. But when her three kids are all safe and sound at the school fair, and Alice, her best friend Harriet’s daughter, is nowhere to be found, Charlotte panics. Frantically searching everywhere, Charlotte knows she must find the courage to tell Harriet that her beloved only child is missing. And admit that she has only herself to blame.

This was my first time reading anything by this Author and she didn't disappoint. She has you hooked from page one. There are so many twist and turns and the ending will leave you speechless.

I highly recommend this book.

Harriet lets her daughter, Alice, visit a school fair with Charlotte and Charlotte’s three children. The first time she has let Alice accompany another adult, the child disappears.

The chapters alternate between points of view of the two women as well as between two time frames, “before” and “now”. Although a few things are a little too convenient in this psychological thriller, it is well written and engrossing. The author gives readers a lot to think about concerning friendship, jealousy, and guilt.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel.

Harriet was very protective of her daughter Alice, to the point that she has never allowed anyone else to watch her. When Alice was 4 years old, Harriet decided to sign up for a bookkeeping class and entrusted Alice with her only friend Charlotte. Charlotte was ecstatic about watching Alice as she has offered in the past. Charlotte has 3 children of her own so she decided to take the four children to the school fair. While at the fair the unthinkable happens...Alice goes missing. Was she kidnapped or simply wander away and get lost?

I loved everything about this book. Just when I thought I had the mystery figured out, another twist would happen and I wasn't sure how it was going to play out. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a good mystery.

I look forward to reading more from this author!