This is a heart wrenching story of two women who meet one summer, and as the story progresses, more and more secrets are revealed.
Tessa goes to the lake for the summer with her two children, Katherine and Ben as life with her husband has reached a stalemate situation.
Rebecca goes to the lake for the summer with her three children, Zoe, Max and Charlotte as life with her husband seems to be crumbling around her.
The two women strike up an unusual friendship but slowly they become closer and the children learn to like each other too.
Tessa envies Rebecca in some ways but she knows she’s fighting something as at times she looks ill and she is worried about her drinking.
Things come to a head and then what follows is truly breathtaking.
This is a riveting read and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Overall this is a good read. I found it hard to keep reading this book. Rebecca and Tessa both have their own problems. As they meet and spend a summer together the cracks appear in their lives. The wealth and the spoiled kids made it hard to keep reading as I did not feel any connection with the characters. It was only towards the end when more is revealed about their pasts that I was able to feel empathy towards them.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Wow! I just finished reading The Secrets We Keep and my mind and emotions are still reeling! This novel touched upon so many troubling psychological topics, and was so powerful and moving. The characters were amazing and I was incredibly drawn to them, and I felt so many emotions while reading about their lives and what they were going through. I was enthralled right from the beginning and read every chance I got. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. I loved this book and will definitely be reading more by this author!

Thank You Net Galley and Bookouture for an early copy of The Secrets We Keep. Wow, Wow, Wow. I did Not want to put this emotional book down. It was sooooooooo good. The ending was a tearjerker. The characters were very real. Fantastic read. Thank you Kate Hewitt for a wonderful book.

The story starts off with a mother whose daughter's life is hanging in the balance. We are then taken back to when Tessa arrives at a holiday home and becomes friends with Rebecca who is also renting a holiday home leading back to where the story starts off. 

Tessa and Rebecca are very different women. I wasn't to sure about Rebecca to start with. She doesn't come across as a very nice person but as we get to know her she is battling with her own demons and my feelings soon started to thaw towards her. Tessa I found myself relating to more and was interested to see where this friendship was going to go.

The story deals with some harrowing subjects of which I think the author handled really well. They are certainly topics that readers will easily be able to empathise with.

This was such an intense and compelling read. There is an amazing build up throughout the story as you don't know quite what to expect or how things are going to end. I struggled to put the book down and picked it up at every opportunity. By the end I was an emotional wreck as I had been so wrapped up in these two women's lives.

The Secrets We Keep is a powerful and emotional read that had me totally transfixed. A moving and well written story that will pull on every readers heart strings. Loved it and will certainly be reading more by the author.

The story is based on two main characters Tessa and Rebecca. Two mothers spending the summer away. Neighbours at lakefront properties. Rebecca glamorous in her glass fronted modern, huge house and Tessa a little jaded in her dark and small cabin. With seemingly nothing in common they become friends along with their children begrudgingly.

This is a really moving story. Both have a back story of why they are there and their stories slowly come out. An engrossing book that brings the characters to life. A heart wrenching, emotional tale with a stunner of an ending.

Rebecca and Tessa are at different spots in the economic spectrum but they become fast friends when they both move to a lake in Upstate New York with their kids for the summer. Told in their alternating voices, this is about what happens when someone's secret finally takes over and the consequences of bad decisions. Tessa is the one who stays behind but things aren't exactly what she thought they would be. As is so often the case, this is one that's hard to review without spoilers but suffice it to say that it starts a little slow, picks up, and then has a disputable ending. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Well this has been quite a read, I thought the whole story was very well written and the characters came across as real and believable. Such an emotional and heartfelt read that really makes you think about things.

Okay so I'll be completely honest, the first part of this book was fairly slow in places but at the same time it was highly engaging which is what spurred me on, to keep me turning those pages. Suffice to say, I'm so very glad that I did read this right to the very end.

The two main characters Tessa and Rebecca each draw you in with such heartfelt, intense, real dialogues that you quickly become increasingly entwined in each of their lives/going ons and that of the lives of their children.

I loved how the story was told by the two main characters Tessa and Rebecca, as it really gives the story depth and different viewpoints. You truly get a feel for both of the characters, seeing how they coped, the decisions they ultimately have to make and all of the experiences/events they have to go through and how their perspectives of each other changed because of certain things that happen throughout the story. 

The second part of the book was a lot more fast paced, and so those pages were being turned a lot more quicker. I was quite simply hooked by this point, as had no idea how things were going to turn out for Rebecca and Tessa and for their children, all of whom played important roles throughout the story. There was one point near the end where my heart was beating so fast, wondering what the outcome would be for two of the children after a certain event.

As for the ending, well it certainly didn't end how I thought it would, was quite shocked to be honest. But despite that it has been a truly captivating and emotional read.

So would I recommend this book, well if you enjoy reading books of this genre then yes I absolutely would.

When Tessa McIntyre and her children go away for the summer, they rent a cabin on the beach. They meet their immediate neighbors, Rebecca Finlay and her three children. At first, it seems that the two families will not get along. The women could not be any different. However, for reasons unclear to Tessa at the time, Rebecca wants to befriend her. So, they begin to spend a lot of time together. For their many differences, they both have, at the very least, difficult marriages.

Tessa and Rebecca escape for the summer for entirely different reasons. Tessa is hoping to not just get away from the city and life that has for some reason become unbearable, including her relationship with her husband Kyle. Rebecca has been relegated to a "lesser" vacation by her husband, due to previous actions of hers. He has denied her their usual vacation in the Hamptons. So, she will just have to make the best of things. Enter Tessa and things just got interesting.

We learn quite a bit about Rebecca and the deep problems that she is suffering, and the coping mechanisms she chooses to deal with them. Tessa has her own demons, but rises high in this book as she spends time with Rebecca and her family. Poor Tessa blithely allowed Rebecca to steamroll over her life for a time.

While I was exceptionally connected to these characters, both the parents and all of the children, I was incredibly grief-stricken by the conclusion. I found that shift to be just a bit over the edge. I felt as if I needed a much-better resolution. Even knowing that this was designed to be an emotional read, I truly felt the twists were extremely overwhelming. The ending of this story left me wrecked. The issues dealing with mental health and self-harm were tragic and truly affected my sensibilities. With the exception of the shocking twist at the end, I found this to be a very well-written book.

All said, this compelling story was impossible to put down and I read it in one sitting. It is a fast-paced and emotional read all of the way through, if not rushed during the last few chapters. I have read Kate Hewitt before and will say that she has a fantastic way of pulling at your heartstrings. I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

You can’t outrun your problems! Two women end up as summer neighbors on a lake. Outwardly they appear as different as night and day but both are running away from their home life. The grass isn’t always greener...

It was obvious there were issues with each narrator but almost the entire book passes before they are revealed. The story starts slowly and picks up the pace halfway in and then explodes at the end! This was heartbreaking at times. People have complained about the ending but I thought it worked. I would recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.

Really interesting read. I found the characters likeable and the theme intense. Great writing style and strong storyline

I really enjoyed this book. The story of two women, one affluent and the other not, coping with their children during a hot summer away from home. Unexpected friendships bloom and grow. Secrets are revealed. The children are impacted by their mothers’ secrets, but they also have their own. This book was a real page-turner!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

"How do you keep your children safe when you can't even protect yourself?"

Tessa takes her children, Katherine and Ben, to little lake house for the summer. Within hours, they meet their new neighbours, Rebecca and her children, Charlotte, Zoe and Max - full of glamour, wealth and in a much larger house. Tessa has worries and problems, while Rebeeca is a glamorous mother without a care in a world....or so it seems? The families start living in each others' pockets, vital for what is to happen soon and Rebecca needs backup from Tessa.

This book is emotionally amazing! From the first few chapters, I was gripped; I read the first quarter of the book in one sitting, hardly able to put it down, wanting to know the secrets the mothers, and the children, were keeping, just as much as they wanted to know each others' secrets.

I love how each chapter is from each mothers' viewpoint, allowing the reader to see each situation from their perspective and not just taking the one character's point of view of the situation. I don't always find this works in books, but it worked perfectly in this book.

The ending left my emotions up in the air, just like Tessa and Rebecca, I suppose, trying to process what had happened.

This is the first book I've read by Kate Hewitt but will not be my last!

This amazing story about two women will pull you in, remind you of people you know or even yourselves and before you finish have you reaching for a box of tissues.

Tessa, an average house wife living in. Brooklyn takes her two kids and escapes to a rental home on a lake in Upstate New York, for the summer to take control of her life.

Rebecca, a wealthy housewife living on the upper east side of Manhattan has made some bad choices and instead of spending the summer in the Hamptons with her socialite friends, decides to rent a home on a Lake in Upstate New York,m.

These two women form an unlikely friendship, one last is doomed from the start due to the demons and secrets they keep hidden.

This is a brilliantly written story that gets your attention right from the beginning and does not let go u til you have read the last page. It will pull at your heart strings and break your heart at the same time and you learn that The Secrets We Keep really only hurt you and the ones you love.

I started this book and just could not get into the story. One family has a small cabin with no luxuries, and the other has everything. Both are miserable with kids that bratty. I just did not care enough about the story to finish the book.

One of the best amd interesting books ive read in so long , I read it over a weekend and struggled to put it down. Its the kind of read that envelopes you though , so strap yourself in for some very heavy heart moments. Wonderful cant recommend highly enough.

No matter how hard it is, the past has to be dealt with ...

I had the feeling throughout the story that nobody could be trusted. Everybody seems to be hiding a secret and it was as if, any minute, a bomb could explode.

The book is divided in chapters alternating between Tessa and Rebecca telling their point of view. When you crave a friend, you sometimes end up with something you did not wish for and that's when hell breaks loose.

It's a very enthralling and gripping book. It pulls your heartstrings so hard, they are on the verge to break.

Thank you, Kate Hewitt, Bookouture and Netgalley

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Once I got past the first chapter I was absolutely hooked! This is family drama at its best. Tessa and Rebecca both have summer rental houses on a lake. Their lives could not be more different, Tessa is feeling dowdy and invisible while Rebecca is beautiful and the life of the party - but each is jealous of how the other's life appears to be.
As they become more acquainted it becomes clear that each has their baggage. Can they help each other? Is it possible that they could make things better through this summer friendship - or are things about to get a whole lot worse?
This book gave me as a parent so much food for thought. In trying to be what others expect of us are we selling ourselves short? Do our families really know who we are? How much of an emotional rollercoaster can we endure?
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to review this book

My first by this author... but not my last... I'll be looking for more titles to read.

This is the story of two woman who are so different but actually quite the same.
Rebecca is rich and had left her husband for the summer to come to the lake with her children to figure out her life.Tessa is not rich but is a the lake for the same reason.

Tessa arrives at a lake house with her son Ben and her daughter Katherine.
The rental house is small but it's theirs for the summer.
They have the lake to themselves... or so they thought!

Rebecca is their neighbour at the lake staying in their huge beach house.
She has three children, Charlotte. Zoe and Max.
Zoe thinks she owns everything and she disrupts the beach where Tessa is playing with her children.
She tells them to go away.

Rebecca befriends Tessa hoping the kids will make friends and stay out of her hair.
She buys Tessa and her family a membership to the country club so they can go together every day.
As they get closer cracks suddenly appear in the relationship and it is quite clear both women have secret.

Emotional, suspenseful and entertaining novel!

I could not put this book down! I was hooked from the very beginning straight to the end. This story of Tessa and Rebecca begins with their summer journeys to escape their regular lives. The women and their children end up cottage neighbours in Upstate New York for the summer. They spark a complicated friendship and it was interesting to learn of the pasts and struggles of each woman. I was fascinated to read about how they interacted together, the bumpy path of finding yourself, marriage and motherhood. These two Mom’s are written so well and make these women completely relatable. I enjoyed how the chapters flip flopped the point of view of each Tessa and Rebecca, you felt that you understood them so much better this way. I thought this book was fantastic! An excellent read!