Utterly unputdownable. You will loose track of time because you won't be able to put this down. I couldn't. Jennifer Hillier is one heck of a writer and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Wish that I could give it more than five stars. Happy reading!

Publish date April 21, 2020
Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s press and the author for giving me an e-arc for honest review.

This book is one of the best thrillers that I’ve read this year. Jennifer Hillier did a phenomenal job, I was hooked from the beginning. I honestly went into this novel with little to no knowledge of the main story-line, and the more I read it the more that I got caught up in the lives of the characters.
I love the fact that the author was able to vividly explain how each character felt emotionally while giving a clear understanding of each individuals past. She was able to walk us through the stages of grief within each characters lives, and what caused them to make the decisions they did. With that said, that twist at the end really caught me by surprise, and I had to take a moment to really appreciate what the author was able to execute.

I honestly enjoyed this book, and I am so thrilled to be able to share my thoughts on this novel with others.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier starts out with every parents worse nightmare. Marin is doing some last minute Christmas shopping and has her young son Sebastian with her. They are planning on meeting Derrick (her husband and Sebastian's dad) once they are done. She feels him let go of her hand and before she knows it, he is gone. This is the beginning of the first chapter and my heart was already invested in this book. I had to find out what happened to Sebastian. Fast forward a year, and Marin is a shell of a her former self. She has tried to kill herself once already, and then she finds out that Derrick is cheating on her. This is the catalyst that she needs to keep going. I won't say anything more than this, because that would be spoiling the book. But believe me when I say, this book has many turns and twists and kept me reading well into the night! It has everything I love in a suspenseful book, heart wrenching moments, anger, tears and jaw dropping moments too!
4.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Minotaur Books and St. Martin's Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Marin and Derek Machado are happily married and the parents of Sebastian, age 4. Marin owns several high class salons catering to wealthy women and Derek owns his own company.

While Marin is doing some last minute Christmas shopping in a busy area, she has a hard time keeping Sebastian from whining. He wants a lollipop that Marin has promised him when the shopping is done. Just as she gets a text from Derek, she drops her son’s hand to answer and when she looks down, Sebastian has vanished. After calling and searching for him, he is not found. Security cameras show him being walked out of the shopping area by someone dressed in a Santa costume. After 18 months and intensive nationwide searching, Sebastian has not been found.

Marin has been through hell as she hopes her son will be found. She has recently returned to work at one of her salons as her therapist thinks this will be good for her. In addition to the police work, Marin hired a private investigator to look for her son. She has found nothing until today when she calls Marin to tell her that she has discovered that Derek, supposedly on long and frequent business trips, has been cheating on her. Marin discovers the girl’s name is McKenzie, has pink hair, and works as a barista. Furious, Marin is out for blood. Someone may have taken her son but they will not take her husband. When Marin takes a daring step to ensure her husband stays with her, it may be a very bad move. But can she stop it or is too late? But most of all, will she ever find her son?

What a fabulous thriller! Great characters and such a wonderfully twisted plot. Don’t miss this one and join me in seeing what this author has to offer next.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Marin and Derek. Derek and Marin. A power couple in Seattle with self made wealth, large home with all of the comforts money can buy, and a son, Sebastian, conceived after several rounds of IVF treatment. They are the portrait of happiness and success, until one fateful December day when Sebastian is taken from Marin's side at a busy Pikes Place Market while she is responding to a text from Derek. Four minutes is all it took to steal a child. A lollipop, Santa Suit, and two hundred and forty seconds. In this short span of time the idyllic portrait of love and success is shattered.

The story resumes 16 months after Sebastian is taken. Lots of dead ends in investigations from the SPD and the FBI, both of which will keep the case "open" but as it ages have to refocus priorities on newer, current cases. I won't say much more about the plot because I don't want to provide spoilers.

Hillier has made a reputation of writing about dark, twisted people who do dark, twisted things. I was excited to get a copy of Little Secrets after reading Jar of Hearts, a wildly successful book published in 2018. Hillier's writing style speaks to me. I enjoy her characters, prose, and all of the nooks and crannies that she visits during the telling of a story. She has carved out a niche in the thriller genre and excels within the space.

Little Secrets was a great book. One of the things I like about the book are the three main characters all are flawed jerks. They have very human traits and tendencies. For some this may make some of their actions predictable, but I find the realism enticing and helpful in suspending my world for that of the story, This book is edgy, with many twists and turns along the way. Some of them I watched approach with the anticipation of riding the first hill of a roller coaster. Others caught me by surprise, which is always a splendid experience.

If you're looking for a good weekend read, that will captivate, enrage, and tug at heart strings all within the same chapters, then look no further. Check out Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier today!

I'm happy to give this book 9 out of ten stars. I received a free copy of the book from the publisher (Minotaur Books) and NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

I’ve noticed a lot of commentary the past month or so regarding what people are reading – whether it’s venturing out of their comfort zone because all of this lockdown time has provided ample opportunities for reading or, alternatively, those who are remaining firmly planted in their wheelhouses because the world in general has become different enough. I have found my tribe in those who have come out of the closet and admit they enjoy looking for something in the dark rather than the light, the crazy rather than the cozy, the stabby rather than the snuggly, the . . . well you get the picture.

Jennifer Hillier is an author who falls into that second category. She starts off with a simple enough storyline that’s already not for the weak of heart – a kidnapping at a local shopping center by a person dressed in a Santa suit. The chances of ever discovering the whodunit are obviously next to nothing, but the mother hires a private investigator anyway as a last resort when the case goes cold. A year later that mother (Marin) finds out allllllll sorts of stuff. Not about her son, but about her husband Derek’s affair. And she decides that if she can’t do anything to get her child back, she can do whatever it takes to save her marriage.

She’s just batshit. In the best possible way. Hillier’s mind goes from 0 to 60 and while her stories may be over the top and crazy, they walk the knife’s edge from getting too Lifetimey and campy. Really my only “gripe” about this is . . . . . God I hate face covers. They are just so generic.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Marin and Derek Machado are a power Seattle couple whose lives are shattered when their 4-year-old son Sebastian is abducted. The book focuses not on the abduction but on its aftermath. Sixteen months later, Marin has difficulty coping with daily life, and she and Derek have drifted apart. Then the private investigator she hired to try and find Sebastian tells her that she has discovered that Derek is having an affair with a young art student/barista. Learning about the affair gives Marin a purpose: she doesn’t want to lose the only family she has left and so takes steps to prevent this from happening.

It is certainly possible to have sympathy for Marin. The loss of her son, for which she feels directly responsible, leaves her devastated. She is not, however, a likeable person. Instead of directly addressing the elephant in the room, she chooses to be secretive and makes morally questionable decisions. Her only justification is that she is not thinking clearly because of her emotional state. The problem is that virtually every character in the book carries secrets and behaves immorally. (The title is an understatement because people have big secrets.) The only innocent is Sebastian whose absence casts a pall.

There are several twists and turns, as would be expected in a psychological thriller. A careful reader will not be shocked by the twists because there is ample foreshadowing. There are certainly sufficient hints as to the identity of the master manipulator. My objection is that so many characters are brought together by a major coincidence; even a character involved is surprised by the connections among people. Seattle is a large city, not a small town. I also had difficulty accepting Marin’s actions after learning about the affair; implausibility rears its ugly head.

Despite its flaws, the book makes for a compelling read. It is a fast-paced page-turner. It is not a book that will leave a lasting impression, but it is entertaining. And in difficult times, good entertainment is not a bad thing.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

My review can be found here: https://aubreysangle8.home.blog/2020/04/21/review-little-secrets-by-jennifer-hillier/

I LOVED “Jar of Hearts” by Jennifer Hillier so I was VERY excited to get an ARC of her new twisty, evil, strong female lead novel, “Little Secrets”. And she did it again. Jennifer has written about another “innocent young woman” who is willing to commit murder to protect what’s rightfully hers. And she does it in a manner that makes you, the reader fully support the idea! Marin and her husband Derek are a beautiful, successful couple, yet not above being victims of the worst crime possible: the kidnapping of their little boy Sebastian. Less than two years later, Marin learns that her husband is having an affair with a young lady who will most likely extort money from her family. “Oh, heck no”, Mama Bear says.
Marin turns to her ex-boyfriend and best confidant Sal for guidance. Sal knows some less than savory characters that just may be able to make Marin’s little problem go away. But things are never that simple, are they?
Marin has hired a pitbull of a private investigator, Vanessa Castro, to search for her son, but Vanessa doesn’t understand the command “Down” when Marin doesn’t want her to look while Marin’s doing a very dirty deed herself. We really like Vanessa. We really like Marin, too, because Hillier does such a fantastic job of explaining Marin’s deep and flawed logic.
You’ll run right along with Marin as she never slows down to come out on top and a bit wiser.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

This book started off very interesting, but ultimately I found myself bored. It just fell flat as the story progressed. I was definitely more interested in what happened to the missing child, and less interested in the mistress plot. I expected more from this novel, since I loved the authors previous book. I was just rushing through the story just to finish and hoping for something shocking to happen. The characters weren’t all that interesting, so my focus was lacking a bit. The end was meh and predictable. Despite not being wowed, I enjoyed all the descriptions of the main character ‘s grief over losing her child. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

She is fast becoming a go to author for me!! This book was such a stunning thriller leaving me late up thru the night not wanting to stop reading! It’s a must read thriller that will stick with you for a long long time!

4.5 stars - I was hooked from the very first chapter and could not wait to see what happened next. It was fast paced, gripping with lots of twists that kept me guessing throughout the book. It was intense in all the right ways! The writing was great - it was the first book I picked up by this author but it certainly won’t be the last! I have Jar of Hearts on my Kindle and it’s made its way to the top of my TBR list! I highly recommend reading Little Secrets ASAP!

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very fast-paced thriller about the parents of an abducted 4-year-old child. Note I said "parents" as perhaps only half of the story actually concerns the child abduction. Nevertheless, it is a great story line, very suspenseful, interesting characters, and depicts the agony/guilt a parent and marriage go through in this situation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC to read and review.

Woah. WOAH. What a wild, wonderful (though sometimes heartbreaking) ride!!! I can't even get over how much I enjoyed this book. It sucked me right in and didn't let me go until I'd finished. I am so unbelievably impressed.

It's been a really long time since I've read a thriller that I finished feeling like I'd just run a marathon. But that's how I felt finishing this one. The last third of this book was so action packed, I couldn't tear myself away from this story. There were so many twists and so much action packed into that last third!!!

Although I did guess one element of the ending (so I guess one half of the twist?) pretty early on, that was completely overshadowed by how action packed the ending was. So. There are only so many times I can say WOW THAT ENDING. You get the idea. THAT ENDING.

My only complaint about this book was that all of the action was packed into that last third. Yes, the beginning sucked me in immediately but from there until that last third, it was a lot of setup and not a ~ton of twists and action. So I just wish it would've been paced a little bit differently? But by the ending, that seems like a small complaint. And the part that I guessed is that Sal took Sebastian and it kind of bugged me that that was the case? I think the ~best friend (or any trusted person not being who you think they are) has been really overdone and I almost wish it would've been someone a little more ~unexpected. But all of the other twists involving Sal were really good so my complaint about him being the kidnapper is honestly very minor.

So. Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book!! HIGHLY recommend! If you're looking for your next twisty thriller, definitely pick this one up! It does not disappoint!! I can definitely see what all the hype has been about!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure!!

4.5 out of 5 stars! One of the top 3 books I've read in 2020!

On the outside, it seems like Marin has the perfect life - a successful business, a happy marriage, and a loving son, Sebastian. Her world falls apart when Sebastian is kidnapped days before Christmas. Fast forward to sixteen months later and Marin's life is still in shambles - she can barely function & her marriage is quickly deteriorating. The private investigator Marin hired to find Sebastian comes back with the devastating evidence that her husband Derek has been having an affair for the past six months. This is Marin's breaking point - what will she do to protect the family she has left?

Definitely a page turner that will keep you wanting to read more! The author did a great job with character development - I was left thinking about the characters days after finishing the book.

Thank you Jennifer Hillier, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #LittleSecrets #NetGalley

For all my thriller fans out there, you need to get a copy of Little Secrets, ASAP! This one has been all over bookstagram and let me just say, it is worth the hype!

I loved Jar of Hearts by Hillier so I was very excited to get my hands on Little Secrets and see what crazy twists would happen in this story. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been on a big thriller kick lately and Little Secrets is hands down my favorite of 2020 so far! I loved everything about it: the suspense, the short chapters, all the emotions (sadness, dread, love, disgust, happiness-I was all over the place). My best advice would be to go into this one blind and get ready for a crazy, binge read ride!

Initially the cover drew me to this book. It looked like a good, creepy thriller that would keep me on my toes. But honestly, that isn't quite what I got and I'm not in the least disappointed. This is the first Jennifer Hillier book I've read but I've noticed she's got a healthy backlist to choose from for future reads.

The book opens with Marin and her 4 year old son, Sebastian, in a crowded market place. It's a situation I've been in myself with a 3.5 year old child. A bit frazzled, finishing shopping, everything is crowded, your toddler isn't quite into this activity anymore and you're keeping their attention hanging by the sweet promise of a lollipop. And unfortunately, the more connected we are to our cell phones the less attention we pay to the world around us. A lesson Marin learns in the worst way possible. She lets go of her son's hand for a few minutes, tops, and he's gone. There is no trace of where he is now. He left the market within minutes of Marin realizing he was missing holding the hand of a Santa Claus and licking that coveted lollipop.

Any leads when cold fast and now Marin and her husband find themselves a over a year without their son, drifting apart, sinking in depression and self-destruction. And then Marin's private investigator finds one more nail in the coffin: Marin's husband, Derek, is sleeping with a pink-haired, slim, 25-year old graduate student and has been for the past six months.

Marin's already mired in her downward spiral and this only makes it worse. You'll be surprised at the depths Marin sinks to but you're compelled to follow her every step of the way.

I expected some creepy thriller of some sort. But this was so much more realistic and engaged me right away. As a mother of a young child, it's impossible not to immediate relate to Marin and fearfully imagine yourself in her shoes. What would you do? Would you go to the extremes Marin does? How can you really ever know.

Additionally, I was kept guessing. There was a sense of anticipation where I was trying to put some unknown puzzle together during the book. I didn't quite know what the pieces were, but in the back of my brain, I felt like there was some thread that needed pulled. This novel was compelling and raw and truthful and darkly honest and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.

I will be recommending this one to many, many people and I know the story will stick with me.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier is the perfect thriller. Currently, I keep switching off between RomComs and thrillers and this just got me into the perfect thriller mood. The characters, setting, and plot are well developed and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. A binge read perfect for a lazy day of reading!

OᐯᗴᖇᐯIᗴᗯ: Four hundred and eighty seconds is all it takes for Marin's four-year-old son to be taken from a public market. Marin's entire world stops that day and after the FBI declare the case cold, she hires a private investigator to keep searching. So when the PI calls her one day, Marin is sure she has news on Sebastian. But instead Marin finds out her husband has been having an affair. Unwilling to lose yet another important person in her life, Marin goes on the offensive to keep what is hers.

ᗰY TᕼOᑌᘜᕼTᔕ: Marin is one tough lady! I immediately connected to her strength and resilience, and knew somehow she would survive. The first part of the book was a slow-build, and I craved news on Sebastian, so I was a little disappointed at the turn the story took. However about midway through, there was a jaw-dropping, gasp-out-loud moment that sucked me in. Once I hit that point, I did not want to put the book down until I knew the ending. This was my first novel by Jennifer Hillier, but it will not be my last!

ᖇᗩTIᑎᘜ: ★★★★1/2

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

I love Jennifer Hillier’s books. Her books are well written, the plots are well done and her characters are well written.

A mother’s worst fear is losing her child. I couldn’t imagine. My heart was right in that story. I felt what Marin was going through.

And then the story twisted in ways I didn’t even think it could. Kept me surprised until the very end.

Highly recommend. I will continue to read books by Jennifer Hillier. She’s an amazing author