Jennifer Hillier has made my Favorites list, which isn't easy to do. She wrote a superior suspense novel with no "pure" good guys or bad guys, only complex, believable characters. While I was able to figure out *part* of how the book would end, I certainly didn't figure it out all the way. Hillier is a careful writer, crafts a really good story, and allows her reader to get tangled up in a web that truly does build suspense. I was so sure that she had made a slip about a character's age (it's important) that I combed back through the book after I finished reading it to prove it. Well, no---she made no such error. Her writing was so subtle that it was MY error because I made an assumption, one that I'm sure she intended readers to make, and that made all the difference. One of the best books I've read this year!

5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was going to give this book 4.5 stars, but what the hell.....let’s give it ALL the stars! So worth it!

This was my first Jennifer Hillier book and let me tell you, it makes me want to drop ALL of my responsibilities and go find everything she’s ever written and devour them immediately!

This book lives up to the hype friends! It had every single element that I look for - not only in a good book, but also a perfect thriller! I found myself staying up till the wee hours of the morning on several occasions, not wanting to put this book down! It’s really that damn good! This will go down as one of my top reads of 2020.

Marin’s son Sebastian disappears while shopping right before Christmas. Of course, she is devastated and drowning in guilt. It takes a toll on her marriage and eventually she find out that her husband, Derek, is having an affair with a twenty something, pink haired barista. Let me tell you...this scorned gal is NOT someone you want on your bad side. What transpires is nothing short of a roller coaster ride full of twists and surprises. Things you do not see coming. Not little secrets...more like gigantic secrets!

There really is not one likable character in this entire book, which only made it more fabulous. Ms. Hillier did a superb job of developing these heinous individuals and you can’t help but love reading about each one of them!

The final twist and ending was everything! I was literally on the edge of my couch. It was kicking my anxiety into full blown turbo mode!

You’ve been warned...be prepared to get sucked in immediately and never look back!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and Jennifer Hillier for the advanced copy to read and review.

No one does psychological thrillers like Hillier! This is the sixth title of hers I’ve read and loved! She’s done it again; I think she can’t possibly top her last book but this one…this one most certainly tops them all.

A parent’s loss of a child is devastating. Oftentimes, it can difficult to relay that range of emotion on the page. The author excelled at crafting Marin’s character. What she experiences, from guilt and sadness to rage and anger, is pure and genuine. As a mother, I felt it, too. Within a matter of a few pages I was completely invested in Marin’s character and the next devastating path fate dealt to her.

As the story continued, and I followed Marin on this journey to regain control of her life, I was not at all prepared for the destination. The sheer volume of twists, turns and “WTAF-ery” I experienced as I read compelled me to finish this book in one sitting. There was no way I was going to put it down, not even for a moment.

If you haven’t read Hillier’s other titles, order them now from your favorite independent bookstore. All of them. She’s one of the few authors I will auto-buy, without even reading a synopsis, for I know I am destined for an absolutely thrilling read. Though others have compared Hillier’s titles to those “Girl” books, there is no comparison. Hillier is on an entirely different level. Highly, highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for sending me an advanced e-copy of Little Secrets in exchange of an honest review.

My first book by Jennifer Hillier and I am a fan of her writing now. This book is fast-paced, well written and very addictive. I was able to read it through in 2 sittings because I simply couldn’t put it down.

Little Secrets is about Marin and Derek whose 4-year-old son is taken. While suffering from the inevitable grief of her son’s whereabouts, Marin finds out about her husband’s infidelity until she decides that she is not going to let anyone affect her life anymore.

This book is about grief, deception, infidelity, suffering and secrets. The cast of characters is not overwhelming at all. A reader gets to read from the perspective of both the wife and the girlfriend. They both are likeable, sympathetic but with their unlikable actions, they garner grief. The supporting characters are also well written to keep the guessing game on.

The author has done a commendable job in weaving the story about child kidnapping and infidelity without losing the plot and the thrill. The story writing is fabulous and the narration is flawless when the relevant background stories are inserted wherever needed.

A fantastic psychological thriller which is fast-paced and well written, go grab your copy of Little Secrets. It is out tomorrow, April 20, 2020.

I received a free advance copy of this from NetGalley for review.

Marin Machado has the kind of life that everybody on Instagram pretends to have.

Or at least she used to…

Marin is a very successful hair stylist whose clients include the rich and famous, and her husband Derek is a handsome self-made millionaire. Their life style is all glamorous comfort, and their fairy tale existence includes their four year old son Sebastian who they both adore. Unfortunately, it all falls apart in an instant when Marin loses track of Sebastian in a crowd of holiday shoppers, and the surveillance cameras make it clear that he was abducted by a man dressed as Santa Claus. Despite a highly publicized investigation there’s no clue as to what happened to the child after that.

Eighteen months later, and Marin is halfheartedly trying to pull her shattered life back together. Unwilling and unable to let go of the thin hope that Sebastian might still be alive she hires a private investigator to keep looking after the cops have shelved the case. In the course of digging into the backgrounds of everyone involved with Sebastian the PI discovers that Derek is having an affair with a young woman. With the last bit of her once wonderful life falling apart in front of her Marin turns to her old friend, the slightly shady Sal, for comfort. And Sal just so happens to know a guy who ‘fixes’ problems….

I read Jennifer Hillier’s Jar of Hearts after being impressed with her on several panels at Bouchercon last year, and two books in I’m completely sold. Her prose is compelling, and she has a knack for creating characters who do bad things yet you still find yourself rooting for them. In a book that has a lot of stuff going on she still manages to delve into Marin’s mindset as well as eventually giving us the mistress’s side of the story. While Hillier doesn’t shy away from digging into every parent’s worst nightmare she also keeps the rest of the plot at a constant boil so that it doesn't feel like misery porn.

What impressed me most about both books is that the premises almost sound like cheesy TV movies you’d see on Lifetime, but they don’t play out in familiar ways at all. Instead Hillier spins the plot into dark and twisted directions that would make a TV executive break out in a nervous rash.

I know that there’s a lot of people who just can’t handle missing child plots, and honestly, if that’s a problem for you then you might give this a pass because while there’s no graphic scenes involving children the book does hinge on delving into the hell of what a parent would go through. I also suppose that this is one where some might ding it for having ‘unlikable’ characters, but again, while they may be flawed I found them sympathetic and understandable.

Overall, it's an exceptionally tense and well done character based story constantly surprised me. What more could you ask of a thriller?

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for the arc and the finished hardback copy in exchange for a review.

I hadn’t read this author before so was not sure what to expect. This was really good! A really tight thriller that didn’t go off on tangents or seem ridiculous.

Marin and Derek are a wealthy couple in Seattle. When her son is abducted while Marin is out shopping, she doesn’t know what she will do with herself. Fifteen agonizing months later they still haven’t found him.

Meanwhile Marin is finding out all kinds of secrets about the people she loves and trusts. What will she do with the information she finds out?

This was a page turner for me and I highly recommend it!

**5++ Stars**

Jennifer Hillier is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite authors! I absolutely devoured Hillier's Jar of Hearts, which was one of the best thrillers I've ever read (and I believe it is either going to be on the screens soon). Little Secrets was also a fantastically wild ride of a book, one that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page!

As a mother, my absolute worst fear is something happening to my child, especially if it is something that I could have prevented. This is precisely what happens to Marin, who is the mother to four-year-old Sebastian.

Sebastian is kidnapped in Seattle's famed Pike Place Market. It's Christmas time and Pike Place is even more bustling than it normally is, as it is a huge tourist trap during the entire year. 

It only takes one second for Sebastian to slip out of Marin's hands (literally) and then he's gone....maybe for good. The person who abducted him was smartly dressed as Santa Claus - a guise that made it easy for Sebastian to be snatched. The FBI investigates and fails to find any leads. 

Needless to say, Marin is absolutely crushed. But if anything is good about Marin's life, it's that she has a great deal of money to spend on finding her missing son. She hires a private investigator, who turns up questionable and shocking information about both her husband and her former boyfriend. Her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman, a woman Marin begins to investigate as the possible kidnapper.

But lots of people who are in Marin's life are hiding secrets - and one of them has her son.

This book was SO exciting and thrilling. It will make for a great read if you are stuck indoors during the pandemic right now, or on the beach this summer. You will not be able to put this book down! I am absolutely 100% sold on Hillier's books. She is one of the tried and true authors I can read and count on to spin a wonderfully intriguing story that I cannot stop reading! 

Thank you to Jennifer Hillier, the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this fantastic book!

3.5 stars

Marin has the life. She is married for almost 20 years to her dream man, owns a successful beauty salon that caters to some movie stars and is super rich. Get used to hearing the chick is rich because you gonna hear it a lot in this book.


Then Marin's world comes crumbling down one day when she is out shopping and he son goes missing. Missing as in someone took him.
Marin's life changes. She doesn't care about anything since her son is gone. (I did like this character by the way)
She had hired a private investigator when her son went missing trying to find out anything about what happened to him.

Then she gets a shocker. Her wonderful husband is cheating.

Husband needs a throat punch. In the nuts.

Husband has a little chick on the side that has big plans.


This was pretty entertaining. It was kinda formulatic but I was eating it up like watching Lifetime in my pjs.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

Little Secrets follows Marin Machado, a celebrity hair stylist, who is on a downward spiral following the disappearance of her young son. She finds out her husband is having an affair with a 24 year old barista and loses her ever loving mind. We’re supposed to justify all of her actions because her son is missing, but Marin makes bad choices. And I figured out what really happened about halfway through the book- get your shit together, Marin! It’s pretty obvious! I do like Hillier’s writing style. In a genre flooded with mediocre writing, Hillier is a breath of fresh air. This storyline didn’t really do it for me, but I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a well-written, fast-paced thriller..

Marin's 4-year-old son disappears while they are Christmas shopping. He is not found. Marin goes into a downward spiral. When the FBI and police stop looking, Marin hires a private investigator. Months later, the P.I. tells her that her husband has been having an affair. Marin goes into a RAGE with livid FURY.
I enjoyed reading this book because we meet several characters, see their backgrounds, relationships and secrets. The title Little Secrets puzzles me; it should be Big Secrets!
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

This is my first book by this author and I loved it! Little Secrets was gripping and emotional. I love how there author developed the characters while incorporating so much scandal. I couldn’t put this book down once I started it and I’m sure it’s going to be a hit!

I have to admit, I did not have high expectations going into this book. I have never read a book by Jennifer Hillier, nor have I heard of her before. A lost kid, an affair... seemed like it would be another middling 'thriller.' But WOW. This has been the best mystery/suspense book I've read in a long time!

It took a while to get into the story- I have a 5 year old boy and the thought of losing him during an inattentive moment in a crowded place scares the hell out of me. Knowing that that would be the plot, it was very difficult to make it through reading that beginning scene.

The storytelling for "Little Secrets" is beautiful and interesting. The characters are not relatable, but they are not supposed to be. I doubt anyone wants to imagine themselves as the mother of a missing child, but Hillier made it feel very real and emotional.

I don't want to give away any spoilers by going into the nuances of the book. Instead, I highly recommend that mystery fans read it. "Little Secrets" is memorable and very different from other books in the same genre. I loved how everything played out!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book. I wish much success to Jennifer Hillier for this crazy fun whirlwind of a story!

This book was soooooo good! As a mother though I didn’t know if I could handle it. Those first few pages... holy moly! I caught my heart racing several times throughout the book. The twists were excellent and the plot kept me interested the entire time. The resolution was completely satisfying. Highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to review this book. I will post this review today to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page @thatreadingrealtor.

Wow! What a ride! I loved Jar of Hearts and Little Secrets was just as good, if not better! I was immediately drawn into the story of Marin and her missing son Sebastian. I did have a guess at who the bad guy was going to be around the 50% mark but the additional twists that were thrown in I did not see coming at all! I didn't want to put this book down and was always eager to pick it back up. Around the 80% mark the story had picked up so much that I was really glad my afternoon was free so that I could finish the book. As I was reading I realized that I didn't really care for any of the characters (except the missing child) because they had all done something or had a secret that just made me dislike them. The interesting thing though was that it didn't matter! I still had to find out what happened to everyone. Normally when I don't like the characters I also don't like the story but that was not the case here. This book was absolutely fantastic and anyone who likes thrillers/mysteries needs to pick up a copy the day this book comes out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Little Secrets is the kind of thriller that makes you run late or stay awake much longer than you planned - one more chapter, just one more, I have time to fit one more in!

I went into this without knowing anything about the plot. I had enjoyed the author’s previous book Jar of Hearts and had seen some positive reviews - and that was all I knew. If possible, I think it’s better to go in without knowing much of the plot.

At the very start of the book, Marin is at Pike Place Market with her 4 year old son a few days before Christmas. It’s very crowded and they are both hot and tired and ready to be finished. Marin lets go of his hand for a couple seconds to reply to a text...and when she looks back down, he’s gone.

From there - this story will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what’s going to happen next. I also loved the writing and there were a number of sections I highlighted for the way they were written. Early on I figured out what ended up happening - but there were still things I didn’t see coming and it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of this read. Highly recommend if you love thrillers!

Thank you to Minotaur and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Content warning: missing child, suicide, domestic violence

Shortest Summary Ever: Marin and her husband Derek have the perfect life - money, great careers... but it all changes in seconds when their 4 yr old son is gone. Vanished. Kidnapped. As time moves on, Marin stands still stuck in a world of “what if...” and when she learns that everything she thought was perfect may be blowing up in her face? Boom!

Scrappymags 3-word review: Intrigue and Betrayal!

My thoughts: Uh boy ... this is a tough one - in odd cases I’ve encountered this where I loved the story, BUT hated the I’m-supposed-to-be-smart-but-do-dumb-things protagonist. Marin is wealthy, beautiful, has celeb clients in her hair salons and has an idyllic life that promptly blows up when her son disappears. She had my sympathy, and in fact I think some of the best parts were showing how a couple would survive something so tragic, but then (without spoilers) she learns things and behaves in a way that an intelligent woman WOULD NOT... example: you want to engage in something highly illegal I. Which you are CERTAIN to be investigated? You don’t text your BFF about it. ID Channel 101.


And that kind of wide-eyed “oh but I’m so pretty" naivety grated on my nerves. And Derek? Straight up douche. Not an “I’m in grief” douche who seeks some action with another woman, but an "I cheated on my wife when she was pregnant” award-winning grand champion blue ribbon douche. However - I’m not supposed to like every protagonist and the story engaged me - kept me turning the pages. My intrigue was piqued and revelations were well done. It’s a paradox, but because the story was paced so well, I suspended some disbelief and went with it... and was entertained.


All my reviews available at scrappymags.com

Genre: Mystery/Contemporary

Recommend to: The mystery folks who can suspend a little disbelief, have a like for material things, etc

Not recommended to: cozy mystery folks or the opposite - gritty mystery... it’s a contemporary in-between. Avoid if you can't tolerate improbable weak female leads or "poor little rich girl" moments.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press (a definite fave!) and Jennifer Hillier for this ARC. Happy to provide my honest review.

Little Secrets is a fantastic take on the abducted child thriller, dealing with more than just an abduction. It delves into grief, into how we deal with loss, and has a cracking subplot about what it's like being "the other woman." I loved, loved this, so much that I even read it as I was in the ER (after my heart stabilized and yep, all fine now) And the big bad? Holy sh*t, I should have seen it coming but I didn't and I was left almost as bewildered as Marin, the mc. I did find the ending a little too neat but sure enjoyed the mayhem and mystery along the way. Recommended.

I was granted this novel from Netgalley as an eARC. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

I started this late Friday night, binge read it Saturday, and finished it around 1AM Sunday.

This book is compulsively readable. The twists are exciting, and there are certain things you think you've figured out only to have the rug pulled out from beneath your feet.

However, despite all of this, I found parts of this book overly predictable, and despite thinking one thing I usually had it figured out by the time the was truth was revealed. I also got vibes from a book I had read previously despite the large amount of differences in plot and character's motives.

Overall, this is a good book. A good introduction to domestic thrillers for those looking to jump into this genre.

Before picking up Little Secrets, I was coming off of a dark romance binge so this was a highly anticipated and much needed break to get back into my bread and butter; psychological thrillers.

No matter the genre (except for maybe literary fiction) I am the kind of reader that must binge read. I never want to forget plot details, specific traits about characters or even how the book makes me feel. These are important details that add to my enjoyment of the story.

That said, Little Secrets, turned me into an emotional mess. One chapter I am grief-stricken to learn that a mother’s worst nightmare has come true and I immediately can sympathize with Marin’s pain, and in the next I am white-hot angry to find out about Derek and McKenzie Li––the other woman. I cannot blame Marin for the feelings or thoughts she even has. She has lost her precious child and fears she is losing the only other connection to him that she has; her husband.

As this story unfolds, Marin is faced with choices that no one ever believes they will have to make. Between a husband-stealing mistress, attempting to reconcile a marriage, the never-ending mystery behind a missing boy, and a “fixer” who can solve at least one of those problems, Marin begins to unravel and is tempted to make a decision that could end at least some of her pain.

I found this story to be so emotionally triggering, and it truly can be for any mother to live through this kind of trauma in Little Secrets. Though I am not a mother, I found myself feeling traumatized and it is quite a feat to create those feelings in your readers. Jennifer Hillier narrates this book through such a scope that evokes such suspenseful and emotional disturbance that it makes it impossible to stop reading. Though I was able to hypothesize the twist and ending, I still found great enjoyment in the writing and the unfolding of such a dark and disturbing tale of heartbreak, mystery, and betrayal.

This is the first book of Jennifer Hillier’s that I have ever read and I have no clue why! After completing Little Secrets it surely will not be the last.

I received a free e-copy of Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier from NetGalley for my honest review.

A brilliant and deeply dark story of relationships, marriage and motherhood. This book is a must read. A twisted, roller-coaster of a ride that is written to perfection.