Well that was a lovely surprise.
Generally with this many moving pieces something will fall through the cracks in the plot.
Hillier manages to pull everything together seamlessly.
F*cking with your mind without anything becoming convoluted or repetitive.
Highly recommend this to freaking EVERYONE!!!
Much love to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my DRC.

Ummm... WOW! This book was crazy - but in a good crazy where you can’t flip the pages fast enough. It was also heartbreaking and emotional especially for someone that’s a mother. Hillier did a fabulous job writing this. I figured out what happened and who was involved about 25% before it was revealed but I was not disappointed as there are still some extra twists. I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for gifting me a review copy of Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier.

To be honest, I almost couldn’t get through the first four chapters. Not because there was anything wrong with the book, but because it’s set in Seattle. I live in Seattle. The first character we meet is the mom of a young kid. I’m also a mom to a young kid. That kid gets taken in the first scene. Ever. Mom’s. Worst. Nightmare. Basically, I had to keep putting the book down every few pages to hug my daughter.

But I persevered, and I’m glad I did. This is one messed-up, twisty story…and I loved it.

I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, but they were fun to dislike for the most part. The story really moved along at a quick pace too. Its 336 pages seemed shorter than that, and once I stopped putting the book down to force my toddler to cuddle with me, I read chapters five through 34 in one sitting.

I can’t say too much about the story without giving anything important away, but it’s definitely worth a read.

I finished this book a couple weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about it. I felt the same about Jar of Hearts, so Jennifer Hillier is an auto-buy author for me now! Her writing is stellar and her books are unputdownable. 5 stars from me and can’t wait for her next book!

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

An emotional, dark and compelling thriller.

PLOT SUMMARY:
Marin’s worst fears are realized the day her four year old son Sebastian goes missing. Kidnapped from a busy market place while Marin was texting with her husband Derek...Marin will never forgive herself for letting go of his little hand. A year later, with no sign of Sebastian, Marin and Derek are still together but their relationship is fractured. Coping with their grief and guilt in different ways has driven a wedge between the once happy couple. So what will Marin do when she receives even more devastating news? A woman on the edge...her reaction to this latest development will shock you….

PROS and CONS:
So much action! Kidnapping, cheating, lying, betrayals...it goes on and on. Also, the three main characters: Marin, Derek and Kenzie were a triangle you just could not look away from!

I do feel the book blurb gives away a bit too much????? That’s not taking anything away from this book however...it’s dark, addictive and thrilling. I did question some (most) of Marin’s decisions...but hey, she wasn’t in her right mind, that much was clear! The pain she was going through was obvious and I thought the description/development of Marin was very believable. I wouldn’t wish those experiences on my worst enemy.

Little Secrets has a dramatic and emotionally layered plot that builds to a startling reveal...it’s a wild ride, with some very serious subjects dealt with in a responsible manner.

YES or NO:
It’s a YES! Jennifer Hillier is a seriously talented storyteller (and a proud Canadian)...I highly recommend this one!

4 Stars

What I Loved:
Little Secrets was such an amazingly well-written story. I was completely entranced by it! I loved how I kept thinking I knew where the plot was headed, and then a twist, and I’d be completely off-guard again!

How I Felt:
How have I never read a book by Jennifer Hillier?!?! Her writing is amazing! I have NEVER cried while reading a mystery/thriller before. This is a first for me. Her ability to draw every possible emotion from the reader was impressive. I fully enjoyed this book, and I look forward to reading another one by her!

The writing was excellent! I mean, I cried. And it’s a thriller! Who cries reading a thriller? Well, I did, and I can’t really tell you why because that would be a spoiler, and I don’t do that. BUT I will say that Jennifer Hillier connected me to the characters in such a wonderful way. They were people my heart went out to…and a little bit because I’m a mom and the book got to me. Regardless though, I was feeling this book deep down thanks to the writing. I loved it.

The characters were all filled with their own secrets that they tell you about a little at a time throughout the story. Marin is a mother who let go of her son’s hand for a few seconds, and he was abducted. It’s terrifying for anyone to think about, but watching the aftermath for her was heartbreaking. I liked that she had different people supporting her in different ways and that we got to meet them. It made the whole story feel well-rounded.

The story begins with the abduction of Marin’s son. I liked that we jump forward in time 16 months after the abduction. The story references incidences that happen during that block of time, but I liked that the present day was somewhat removed and made the abduction feel a little less raw, emotionally. Marin finds out through her private investigator that her husband is having an affair. She becomes obsessed. Trying to balance the disappearance of her son and the news of this infidelity has her heading over the edge. I liked that the story jumps into the POV of the mistress for a while. It was an interesting perspective and made the story move at such a fast pace. We knew what Marin knew, and then what the mistress was up to. It created an excellent story that had me guessing over and over again about what, exactly, was going on!

Overall: I loved every word of Little Secrets. I was sucked in at the beginning, the middle, and the end. I truly couldn’t put it down. With excellent writing, great characters, and a plot that kept me on my toes, this was a thriller I loved.

Content Warning:
This book contains references to and discussion about child abduction, suicide, murder, adultery, and physical violence.

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend Little Secrets for readers that enjoy a thriller that will keep them guessing, and doesn’t have that dreaded slowdown in the middle!

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

What a great thriller! I was all over the place trying to guess and just when I think I have it, I’m wrong. So good!

Scene:: Pikes Place Market ::;Seattle in December

Marin is shipping with her 4 year old son Sebastian,, she lets go of his hand while taking on her cell phone.
hen she ends the call Sebastian is no longer there..

Security footage shows him with someone dressed at Santa Claus heading to the underground parking lot.

A year and a half later the private investigator informs her that her husband has been having an affair.

Marin pays $250,,000. for a fatal accident to happen to the mistress.
Her husband end the affair and the mistress disappears and he receives a ransom request for her in the same amount that was demanded for his son,.

Marin learns that her longtime friend is in debt from the private investigator and that he did jail time. She was talking to him on her phone when her son disappeared.

Marin and the private investigator go to confront her friend and realize her son is still alive.

Little Secrets is a dark and twisted read filled with relatable and flawed characters, a wide range of emotions, betrayals, manipulations, grief, and secrets. Oh, so many secrets!! The book blurb does a nice job of laying out the story line and I hesitate to add anything to it because the less you know, the more you'll enjoy the book. You're in for quite a ride with this one!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars from me, only because I liked Jar of Hearts a bit better. I still plan to watch for any and all books written by Jennifer Hillier!

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is one of the best thrillers I've read in a while! I was super invested in the story. It had a good plot, the characters were well developed and the ending was not predictable. I love it when I get surprised by an ending and can piece together all the clues that I missed, and this book definitely hit the mark with that. I would highly recommend checking this one out!

Fair warning, you'll need to dedicate a solid block of time to read this all at once. Little Secrets, is the very first Jennifer Hillier book that I have read, and it is not going to be my last. Holy Moly was this an amazing book! It tied for the position of my favorite book for March 2020 and honestly I haven't been able to get into another since. I've had to switch up my reading genres to lean heavily on historical fiction and fantasy lately, because this one was such a good thriller.

Marin has the perfect life. The perfect husband, Derek. The perfect job, owning her own set of high end salons, and the perfect little boy. When her son goes missing while out Christmas shopping with Marin, her life has been totally wrecked. More than a year later and Marin is learning how to piece her life back together slowly until she releases her husband is cheating on her with a 24 year old. All of Marin's rage and frustration comes out and she turns toward one of her oldest friends to help her get rid of this problem. This book really digs the message home, that you can never really know someone.

In the very first chapter Hillier gets your heart racing. I could feel the panic of Marin and Derek losing their son. As the story went on my anticipation kept growing, so much so that I actually HAD to binge this book in one sitting. I cannot remember the last thriller I read where I was completely blind sighted by the turn of events.

The characters themselves are brilliant and the fact that Hillier brought so many parts of what it's like to have a missing child into the book was fabulous. She brings a lot of facts into the story as well about missing children and the statistics around the children being found. What I liked most about her portrayal though was the lack of uniformity between how parents grieve, how couples cope, the age, demographic, social economical, and have the children were abducted. While this story focuses mainly on Marin's son disappearance, we meet a whole slew of personalities suffering the same traumatic experience in their own way. The added level of depth mixed in with the thriller aspect was the perfect balance. 

I recommend this book for anyone who love a good book, and I think it'll be one of my favorites for 2020!

I don't even know where to start on how much I loved this book. It really sucked me in right from the beginning. I had to put it away for a bit after the first couple of chapters because I got too into it any my anxiety got the best of me with feeling like I was there and it was happening to me. I've been a huge Jennifer Hillier fan since Jar of Hearts. That was my favorite read of 2018, and I really think Little Secrets will be my favorite of 2020.

I was drawn to the characters in this book from page one. Derek is kind of a dick. Sal is pretty much like most guys from my hometown. Kenzie deserves everything that comes her way, although I did sort of begin to understand her towards the end.

I did have an idea of what was going on and towards the middle, but that didn't detract anything from the book. My heart was pounding almost every step of the way!

I absolutely loved this book! From the very beginning, I was drawn in to the interesting story. The action starts immediately with the disappearance of a small child. I adore Seattle so I was happy this was the setting to the story. I did figure out the big twist pretty early in the book but there were plenty of other twists to enjoy. I highly recommend this one if you like a good mystery!

I was worried before reading this. As the mother of 3 boys I wasn't sure I could handle the fact that the main character's life revolves around the fact she can't move on from her son being kidnapped. I worried it would seem too real for me. Honestly, I am glad I pursued this anyway because I ended up really liking this fast paced thriller.

I will say that it started out slow, but interesting. The main character, Marin, is a successful business woman married to a successful man. They seem to have a dream life and marriage and that all crumbles down around then when their son is abducted.

In Part 1 of the book we meet Marin. Almost a year after her son was abducted she discovers her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman. Now on top of all her grief over her missing son,she has a new mystery to solve. Who is this woman in her husband's life? How did they meet? How could he just move on with his life? She even starts online stalking this girl and shows up at her work to see what college-girl Kenzie is all about.

Part 2 of the book is from Kenzie's perspective. She's a college student working in a coffee shop and sharing an apartment with a roommate. She knows who Marin is. She knows that Marin and her husband are super successful and very rich. This is not Kenzie's first time becoming the mistress of a rich man...

What started as a dark, gripping thriller soon turned into a woman-hating-woman domestic thriller. Though I stayed entertained, I was just confused as to why the two types of thrillers had to mix. It seemed like two separate mysteries held together by a very thin thread.

Then ending was rushed and boring. Predictable at the least. It's hard to get into why I hated it without giving the "who done it" away.

Overall, it was a quick read and it did entertain me. A 3 star read for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an eARC to read and give my honest review.

"Little Secrets" is set to be released April 21, 2020 here in the United States. It is a quick and fun read for all those that are self quarantined during this COVID-19 epidemic so pre-order now.

Happy Reading!

After reading the first couple chapters of this book I thought maybe there had been a mistake in the synopsis. What I was reading didn't seem to match up with what I thought I should be reading. Regardless of my slight confusion I was completely hooked and very intrigued as to how Jennifer Hillier was going to connect the dots. This book is consuming and while I ended up reading it over the span of two days I could have easily got through it in one. Written as is a dual narrated story going back and forth between Marin and McKenzie, I noticed a significant difference in the voice of each of these characters and it added a lot to the story for me. Marin is written as a mature albeit damaged woman and McKenzie is written with a very childish tone. The characters are so well written that the fact that I didn't like any of them didn't take away from how much I enjoyed this book.

I would have loved to give this five stars but the ending goes a little bit off the rails and I wasn't a fan of how Marin deals with the aftermath of the kidnapping . I don't agree with the choices she made and it tainted the story just a little for me. As a lover of all things 90's Seattle grunge I really liked the added touch of the song lyrics from various bands that introduced each of the three parts to the book.

When I was finished I decided to read the authors note (which I don't tend to do). In it Jennifer mentions that she didn't form out the plot ahead of time and instead let the characters decide where the story would go. This approach made the book so much better for me. To know that she essentially wrote this on the fly is incredibly impressive. I can't imagine trying to write a book with a full plot in my head never mind just winging it. This is just one of the many reasons why I am a consumer of and not a producer of books. I have another one of this authors books waiting to be read and I will most certainly be getting to it sooner than originally anticipated.

Marin’s son Sebastian, is kidnapped while shopping with Marin right before Christmas. Marin will never forgive herself nor will she ever stop looking for her son.

Marin's marriage to Derek hanging on by a thread. They barely speak to each other and are letting their guilt tear them apart.

It is best to read this book without knowing much about it and savor each new clue. I stayed up reading much later than I should have, one of the best reads of the year for me.

I will be on the lookout for any book by Jennifer Hillier; I enjoyed her writing, her characters and the slow burn of the story. A resounding YES, read this book!

I love a book that involves kidnapping! This was definitely one of the fastest and most gripping psychological thrillers I’ve ever read. It definitely hooked me from the beginning and at all times I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The writing style was easy and easily submerged me into the book making me forget about my daily life activities.

Marian's son is kidnapped and she later finds out her husband Derek is having an affair with a 24 year old art student named McKenzie. Marian and Derek haven’t really had the best relationship since their son was kidnapped. This whole book is a roller coaster from page one.

I did not find it predictable. This book deals with grief, liars, friendships and relationships. It shows people’s true colors and how determined people are to get what they want. I liked every character, I enjoyed finding out their backstory. This book did switch POV’s but I was never confused.

When this all came together I was like wow, I should have known, but I was too invested with the story to even figure it out.

You definitely should go into this one knowing it is about a kidnapping and the things people will do to get what they want.

I will definitely be purchasing a copy! Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Jennifer Hillier has crafted a masterpiece of a suspenseful thriller. It was a week before Christmas at a busy market place and Marin was getting the last of her shopping done with her 4 year old son, Sebastion. She lets go of his hand for only brief seconds to answer a text and then he is gone! The video footage shows him being lead out by a man in a Santa Suit! His abduction is any parent's worse nightmare and she blames herself, later trying to commit suicide with her husband Derek saving her just in time.

After the case grows cold, Marin hires a private investigator to continue working on the case. Then read on, because things get really interesting from there! There are lots of twists and turns and you won't want to put it down until the exciting end. I highly recommend this book, it won't let you down!

I would like to thank #Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and the author Jennifer Hillier for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Publish Date April 21, 2020.

This is a story about Marin, a mother who is living the worst fear of any parent, losing a child. Her child was kidnapped practically right from under her nose. More than a year later, the boy is still missing and to add insult to injury, Marin learns her husband as been having an affair.

This book pulled me in immediately. I could feel the heartache and despair Marin felt in the moments following the abduction. I felt her heart breaking as a result of her husband's betrayal. The book was so well written that you could feel all of Marin's emotions as if they were your own, and that's just the first quarter of the book before it becomes a thriller.

Once it moves into being a thriller, the story still focuses on Marin's emotions and her ability or inability to deal with both the loss of her boy and her cheating husband. Jennifer Hillier does a great job of fleshing out Marin's character along with the rest of the characters in the novel.

Although I did suspect where the story was going around the 2/3 mark, it was a gripping story to the very end, and one of my favorite books of the year. These characters will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Marin and Derek’s four year old son, Sebastian, is kidnapped right before Christmas and there are no leads, Marin goes into a downward spiral. Sixteen months later she finds out that Derek is having an affair. Marin has lost enough she won’t lose Derek too, no matter what ends she has to go to. This book was a very compelling read. All is not what it seems and this book has plenty of twists that come together perfectly in the end. Highly addictive, this is one you need to leave time for because once started it’s impossible to put down.