what struck me was the gothic feel of a contemporary book. I felt like I should have been back in time and then up pops a facebook reference!

Seraphine and Danny are twins in a family of twins. But, there are no pictures and why would their mother commit suicide on the day they are born. After the death of their father, Seraphine finds a picture that was taken on the day of their birth but there is only one twin. She sets out to find the Au Pair that the family had during this time. The books goes back and forth between the past and the present. I'm normally not a fan of this but in the book, it works remarkable well.

Twists and turns kept me reading until I was done.

This was a book that I could NOT put down! The character had me from the start. I especially loved how I was never quite sure where this story was headed. There were new pieces continually added to the story. I would recommend this book to my library patrons that love contemporary mystery fiction

“”” The worst thing is: I have lost certainty of my family without gaining the truth I was seeking””

Family secrets, dying to be uncovered. Small town whispers of cloaks, rumors of family curses and sprites, all entangling Seraphine and her brothers after their father’s death. Seraphine’s a twin, but finds a picture of her mother holding only one baby. This sets the entire family into motion to find the truth wether they want it revealed or not. The intense family twisted drama is told mainly from the perspective of Seraphine and Laura, the Au Pair who fled the night Seraphine and her twin brother were born. The dysfunctional unfolding of answers kept me turning the pages until I knew their truth.

Seraphine was not my favorite character in this book. Felt like a flimsy premise for looking in to her parentage. Enjoyed the Laura/Alex/Ruth/Dominic story much more.

Although well-written and steadily paced, I kept feeling as if I'd read this story before, which is understandable with all of the psychological thrillers being published these days. It reminded me of BLACK RABBIT HALL by Eve Chase, and even THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY by Ruth Ware, a bit. I will definitely recommend it to my customers who enjoy this type of story, but it did not break new ground for me as a reader. Thanks for the opportunity to preview it.

Not since I read Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, have I enjoyed a mystery so much. Readers of old fashioned mysteries/cozies may like this book.

The book is more of a what-happened than who-done-it. Seraphine Mayes is a young woman in her twenties. Upon her father's death, finds a photograph of her mother that makes Seraphine question some of the beliefs she has had about her mother and her own birth.

Before, Seraphine sees the photo she believes she was a twin and that her mother had committed suicide just after her birth. However, the photograph Seraphine finds shows her mother looking very happy holding just one baby after her birth. The picture was taken by the Au Pair the family had at the time whose name Laura. The family lost touch with Laura after Seraphine's birth.

Seraphine believes that Laura knows the answer what happened to her mother and why there is only one baby in the picture when she was a twin. The rest of the book is split between two time periods. One is Seraphine's present day efforts to track down the truth and the other is Laura’s memories of the time she spent with the family many years ago.

Often, I find stories that jump from one time to another confusing and hard to follow. However, in this novel it worked and built up the suspense.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Emma Rous’ novel about a young woman who accepts a position as an au pair for a wealthy family is hard to put down! Ms. Rous’ debut novel begins simply and the suspense builds gradually, keeping the reader guessing until the final pages.

The novel begins in 2017 as Seraphine Mayes begins to sort through her father’s effects after his untimely death. Her twin brother and her older brother arrive to help. Seraphine finds an old photo of her family taken on the day she and her brother were born. But she notices that her mother is only holding one baby. Her older brother is there but where is the twin? Is her brother the baby in the photo, or is it Seraphine? She is unable to stop thinking about the photo. Her older brother thinks that the photo was taken by the family’s au pair, Laura. Seraphine is determined to find out why only one baby appears in the photo, and she sets out to find Laura.

The year is 1991 and Laura has taken a year off to prepare for university entrance exams. She accepts an offer from the Mayes family to be an au pair for their four year old son. In the beginning, Laura feels lucky to have a position that seems ideal. The family are gracious, welcoming, kind, and considerate. Her little charge is sweet, well behaved, and a joy to be around. But as time passes, Laura realizes that all is not as it seems. There are secrets that, if divulged, can destroy them and Laura as well.

Told in alternating chapters, Laura and Seraphine’s intertwined stories present a riveting, complex tale of family secrets, mystery, and the lengths people will go to protect their family. With a vivid sense of place and realistic characters, this is a novel you shouldn’t pass up!

Thank you to Net Galley, Berkley Publishers, and author Emma Rous for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this fast paced, engrossing novel!

One baby, or two...twins or not.... Intriguing "who am I" mystery whose ending I did not see coming. I am not at all sleuth-like as I read but in retrospect I find the bread crumbs.

What a great story! I wish I had had an entire day just to read it straight through! Seraphin questions family relationships when her father passes away suddenly. Is there a curse upon her home? Or is something else at work here?

I could not put this book down until I finished it. The plot was so interesting and the characters well-drawn. I can't imagine how it would feel to not know who you really are and where you came from. Twisty ending that I didn't see coming.

This story is told alternately from the viewpoint of two different women who have never met. The two story lines are more than 20 years apart and the reader is kept turning the pages, wondering if the two women will ever meet, how the two stories converge, and what really happened on the day Seraphine and her brother, Danny, were born.

The setting is a beautiful old estate on the Norfolk coast, a lovely house owned by Seraphine's loving grandmother, who will never say which of her grandchildren will inherit the estate. Seraphine loves the place intensely, and panics when she begins to suspect that she doesn't really belong. Seraphine searches for the truth the Au Pair, Laura, has spent her life trying to forget.

There may be a few too many coincidences to pull it all together in the end, but it never bothered me enough to stop reading. A fascinating family drama with a twist that catches you off guard and a final chapter that wraps up loose ends and leaves the reader satisfied.

The mystery builds as the characters develop. How life can be so complicated is basic to this story with so many twists and turns that it's amazing the author could keep it straight. But She does, and slowly and methodically pulls one thread after another until the reader can't wait to see the finished product!

This book had the feel of a Victoria Holt novel. This is a good thing, I loved these books when I was growing up. It has some of the same motifs: mystery, governess who is exiled from her family, and a crush on the male protagonist. While having the flavor of Holt novel it has it's own style. I liked that two characters shared the narration and that they were from different time periods gave the story some added intrigue. A nice mystery with enough twists to keep you hooked.

This is book is addictive .Laura takes a job for Edwin on a beautiful estate . Everything on the suraface is fine but this estate and the people in it are full of secrets and lies . Told from 2 point of. Views Laura the au pair and Sepraphine a daughter born on the estate that begins to have question . Twisty , gothic and sinister this book will be your new obsession after you read the first page

3.5 stars. What if you are not who you think you are? The mystery is told by two narrators, both young women. One tells the current story of trying to find out the truth about her family; the other tells the past story of hiding family secrets. Intriguing enough to want to find out what’s what but with an over-the-top, soap opera like quality . . . adultery, family secrets, superstitious folklore, and sad, pathetic women. Still, a page turner with a surprising reveal.

It feels unfair to judge a character in a book based on the plot contrivances they have no reason to see coming. Real life has no genre conventions, so real people couldn’t possibly predict them. All the same, both the narrators of this novel are pretty difficult to take, with their cliches and naïveté. The climax comes too late and lasts too long, and the ending is both too tidy and unsatisfying.

This is not a good book, but it is compulsively readable, which is easily confused for being good, so I won’t be surprised if it does well.

The Au Pair is the story of twins and death told in a mix of present day and flashback chapters. Writing in this style allows the author to control some of the revalations to pace the book differently than the traditional crime fiction/thriller. Unfortunately, the book is predictable, especially once all the characters are introduced - the style of the book limits how quickly character introductions occur.
Not as good as many of the reviews I read lead me to believe. I found the reveals predictable, the characters two dimensional, and the basically nonsensical.

4.5 stars

Such a page turner, I ended up finishing it in a day. It's just one of those good old popcorn eating reads in which you can't wait to see how everything unfolds.

Seraphina and her twin brother Danny were only hours old when their mother committed suicide off the cliffs of the Norfolk coast. Now an adult, Seraphina is mourning the death of her father. While going through his possessions at the family estate, she uncovers a family photograph of her parents, older brother Edwin, and a baby on what looks like the day she and Danny were born. But what strikes Seraphina is odd is her mother is smiling in the photo even though in a mere matter of hours she kills herself and there is only one baby in the photograph. What does this mean and will she be able to find the answers she is looking for even though so many years have passed?

In terms of sheer entertainment, this was a 5 star read. I loved the dual timelines of the present with Seraphina and the past with the au pair, Laura. The story does become a little complicated towards the end and there were times I had to pause and get everything squared away in my head before I could continue reading. I think some valid points could be made on whether the story is realistic however this book has that weird, creepy but fun, trainwreck type vibe that whether or not it is believable doesn't really matter much to me. This is the type of book you read when you want to escape from your life and read about the crazy, messed up lives of other people. A perfect vacation read!

I received a free copy in the mail from the publisher before my wish was granted here on Netgalley. All views expressed are my honest opinion.

I seriously did not see the twist at the end coming. I read this in one day, could not put it down. Great characters, told from two different perspectives 25 years apart. Easy to follow both stories and surprise ending. Highly recommended

Exhilarating! The suspense builds slowly with many unexpected twists and an unexpected ending. I couldn't put it down!