When Marin's son Sebastian goes missing her life falls apart. Despite the FBI and police giving up on the case, Marin is convinced that Sebastian will still turn up alive. Her husband, on the other hand, seems to have already moved on.

I couldn't put this down. Hillier does an excellent job of leaving breadcrumbs for the reader and slowly connecting the dots. I had to know what happened. The characters were well-developed. You get alternating viewpoints of Marin and Kenzie, her husband's mistress. The two viewpoints paint a very clear picture of the other characters involved.

After reading Jar of Hearts, I was excited to dig into another Jennifer Hillier book. And this one did not disappoint. Marin struggles with guilt after losing her four-year-old son Bash in a public crowd shortly before Christmas. Over a year later, he's still missing and Marin still has questions. But more than questions about her son, she has questions about her husband. When she finds out her husband Derek is cheating, Marin will do anything to keep her life together.

The prose is simple yet powerful, and the characters' emotions craft them into people we can relate to, understand, empathize with. It's a fast-paced story with a lot of emotions going on, but it doesn't drag the plot. It draws us further into Marin's psyche as she makes a decision that could destroy her.

The ending was a little unexpected, but it was well explained and supported. Overall, an excellent psychological thriller.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier⁣
⁣
I had to take a couple of days to figure out how I felt about this one. ⁣
⁣
And to be honest I still don’t know haha⁣
⁣
I definitely enjoyed it as it was fast paced (my kind of book) and it only had two different perspectives in it. ⁣
⁣
To be honest, it picked up mainly in the end (maybe the last 100 pages or so). This was when we really start to find out all the juicy tidbits. The beginning chapters were basically the background story to get to the point in the end. ⁣
⁣
Because of this, I felt like the end of the book was a bit rushed and I felt like I wanted more out of it.⁣
⁣
But I still really enjoyed it! I’d probably read another book by this author. ⁣

So let me just by saying, the title of this novel, Little Secrets, is definitely an underestimate. It should be something like Epic Life Secrets. From the outside Marin and Derek have a perfect life. Independently wealthy, happily married for 20 years, they have everything. And their world’s revolve around Sebastian, a spunky 4 year old conceived through their last round of IVF. That changes in the blink of an eye when Marin loses track of her son in a busy marketplace. Surveillance footage shows her son leaving the grounds with an unknown person dressed as Santa Claus. Without any leads in the case, their son’s abduction goes cold, and 16 months later they are in a very different place. Marin and Derek have drifted apart. Marin remains focused on finding her son, while Derek appears to have different priorities. So, when Marin’s private Investigator informs her that her husband is having an affair with a 24 year old art student, Marin starts to lose the last of her sanity. She falls back on her old reliable friend Sal, a rough and tumble bar owner who has been there for Marin for as long as she can remember. Marin becomes sucked into a seedy underworld of “fixers” when she enlists the help of Sal’s friend Julian to make sure that her husband’s side piece is no longer a problem, but this journey ends up exposing all sorts of deception that Marin never was aware of, and it becomes clear no one in her orbit can be trusted. This is really exciting to read, and the little surprises keep on coming. It does have a reasonably satisfactory ending. Review posted to Litsy, LibraryThing, Goodreads, Facebook, and Amazon

I really enjoyed Little Secrets. It kept me guessing until about 75% where I kind of put two and two together. It was still a shock. Jennifer's ability to keep the reader guessing was truly so refreshing. I dont read this genre alot because I feel like most of the time it is easy to guess where the plot is going, but in Little Secrets, I had MANY predictions. It was a great read that kept me anxious and needy. Needing to finish the story before anything. If you are a fan of suspense and situations that are very real, this book is for you!

Awesome thriller! Even though this is every moms' worst nightmare. The story is told very well. The writing is good. The twist is rewarding. This was a very well written story.

Ok, wow! Where to begin with this review.?I had no clue what I was getting into when I started reading "Little Secrets". This was my first read by Jennifer Hillier. This book was a page turner to say the least. I devoured it and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The pacing was fast. There were so many twists and turns. Now, I did figure it out early on but I think that has more to do with my love of all things thriller than an easy to guess plot. I can't wait to read more of this author's work!

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book felt so personal. I couldn't even imagine how hard it must have been to be Marin, losing her child and watching her whole life fall apart after. I definitely didn't see the ending coming. This book was written so well. I blew through it-I just couldn't stop reading because I had to know what happened!

I will eventually feature this on my IG and blog. I've been on a break from posting because of the racial tension in the US. I feel at this point it's more important for POC and BIPOC authors to have the spotlight than it is for my own content.

This is one of my favorite reads so far this year. The writing is fabulous. Great story development, with a mix of good and bad characters which always makes it interesting.
The story is about a child abduction, and is heartbreaking. It’s a complex story with many twists being revealed throughout the story. Everything I love about a good book. Jennifer Hillier has become one of my favorite authors of mystery/thriller genre. Can’t wait to go back and read some of her earlier novels. I read the kindle version of this book, and purchased the audible version so when I couldn’t read I could listen. Great narration! I didn’t want this book to end. I don’t give out many five star reviews, but this one is well deserved. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery/suspense/thriller.
A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first novel by this author and I have already purchased another !
This is not your typical thriller - this is a thriller that is a parent’s worse nightmare !
It took second for Marin to let go of her little so so hand and just like that he is abducted in a crowd full of people !
What follows is how Marin tries to live each day without ever being able to fully breathe !
She hires a dectective and makes her vow to never give up on finding her son - to leave no stone unturned! What is discovered is that Marin’s husband is having an affair ! This changes Marin’s focus as she tries to find out all she can on the other woman .
We witness Marin confiding everything to her childhood friend!
As we continued to read and hope for the safe return of her son - the author takes us on an unimaginable ride where no one is who they say they are !
You won’t know who to trust !
The twist , the chase , the lies and secrets all come to a head !
You have to read this one - you will not believe the ending !
Jennifer Hillier is a master at her craft !

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
Pub Date 04/21/2020

Little secrets is a mother's worst nightmare. You're with your four-year-old son in a busy shopping market finishing the last of your Christmas shopping. You answer a text from your husband, maybe 1 minute tops you look up and you can't find your son. The story has so many twists and turns. It left me completely floored. Never in a million years would I have guessed the ending. The struggles these parents went through broke my heart. Do yourself a favor and read it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy for an honest review.

My first book by this author won’t be the last. Emotional and gripping. I couldn’t stop reading until I knew these characters were okay or figured out the end. Twisted and dark. Found a new go to thriller writer!

As a mother, I tend to avoid books with traumatic storylines related to children, especially with a child so close in age to my own. But, after multiple friend’s recommendations, I decided to read this one. And I’m so glad I did! Yes, there is a missing child and that first chapter in particular was gut-wrenching. This story put me through the ringer, and I felt all the feelings. The emotions were palpable from the page. I anguished with Marin over her missing child. But, surprisingly, most of the story was about the husband’s affair. It was told from both the wife, Marin, and the mistress, Kenzie’s POV. You cannot sympathize at all with Kenzie. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and she may have had something to do with the kidnapping. Marin is not coping well with her son’s disappearance. She blames herself, she’s self-destructive, and maybe a little crazy. But, as a mother, I can totally understand why she was the way she was. When she finds out about the affair, her sorrow turns into rage directed at Kenzie. There was a whole cast of characters to hate. The book was thrilling and once you finally put the puzzle pieces together, it was shocking. The end also gave the closure I personally needed from the story. This was my first book by the author, but absolutely will not be my last.

* ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This book caught me by surprise. I started and was like yes, this is awesome. Then I struggled in the middle but the ending was just as great as the beginning. Would thoroughly recommend this read!

Review 3.5 stars

Reading this sort felt like reading a r/AmITheAsshole thread on Reddit. ESH (everyone sucked here). Can’t really talk to much about the what going on the book without giving key elements away, but just know everyone sucks. No one really comes out of this a winner, and that can be a good or bad thing depending on where you lean. I don’t always like stories where there is a clear winner because that’s not life (really what’s the point of reading a thriller if it’s not going to mimic real life in some way), but the level of butthurt each character exhibited was mind boggling. To be honest, if this wasn’t for the fact that I got this book from NetGalley and it being one of my many book club reads (plus I semi-encouraged this month chooser to pick this one) I would have dnf’ed at the 72% mark.

But all that’s not to say it didn’t redeem itself in the end. Because It did. But good lord, you have to go through a lot to reach pay dirt. It slowly pulls you in at the beginning, but a good chunk of the middle just makes you want to bang your head against a wall, I understand you’re facing the unthinkable and trying to cope but even skill there are some lines you don’t cross and think your karma or conscience will ever be square. But hey who am I to judge.

Little Secrets is an interesting ride, not one you need to rush for but an interesting journey none the less.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Little Secrets - Jennifer Hillier

Thank you @netgalley & @minotaur for the ecopy in exchange of an honest review!

🤫🤫🤫

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Absolutely delightfully disturbing and made my thriller loving heart SO happy! Believe it or not this is my first ever Hillier book and I was definitely not disappointed! This book hooked me in right away and I did not want to put it down. I definitely understand why you all say Hillier is a thriller master because I was on my toes and desperate to find out what had happened throughout the entire book! I found Marin an extremely likeable character, despite her own perceived flaws of herself and her (really bad) decision making skills. I felt Marin’s grief in my own gut throughout the entire read and sensed her motherly desperation to find her son.

One of my favourite parts of this novel is the depth, and multiple storylines that were happening concurrently. Hillier weaved a brilliant, complex thriller, without it feel it ever feeling overwhelming or cheesy. Consider me hooked on Hillier friends! I don’t know what took me so long! Shoutout to my thriller loving bookstagrammers for guiding me to this new found love!

🤫🤫🤫

If you enjoy a dark & twisty thriller with lots of dark & twisty characters who could all probably use a new moral compass, make sure to add Little Secrets to your summer reading list!

🤫🤫🤫

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing a review copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love darker thrillers and Jennifer Hillier is one of the absolute best! If you haven’t read her work before, you are in for a treat! I was REALLY hoping her latest wouldn’t let me down and I’m thrilled to share that this one is just as solid as her previous novels.

Marin seems to be leading the perfect life- a fantastic husband, a beautiful son, and successful careers.

Her life comes to a crashing halt though when she is out holiday shopping and her son, Sebastian, is taken. In this one split second of her looking away, her son goes missing and her entire world is shattered.

One year later, Marin’s marriage is struggling, they still have been unable to find her son, and she is in a spiraling depression.

As a last ditch attempt to find Sebastian, she hires a private investigator to reexamine the case.

What she digs up though isn’t information about Sebastian, but surprising information about her husband that changes everything.

This is one of those addictive little thrillers that are sure to pull you out of your reading slump. I could not turn the pages fast enough and would recommend this for your summer stack!

I felt this was gripping and fast paced from the opening scene. It definitely took twists and turns I didn’t see coming but ultimately I had guessed the “villain” very early on and figured the ending would turn out similar to how it did. Now that is not to say I did not enjoy the book very much because I did but I just felt the guessing of the main plot twist correctly was alittle deflating and I just felt I wanted more. I knocked off a star because of guessing this and I would still highly recommend. I also can’t wait to read the authors prior title, Jar of Hearts. Little Secrets was released on April 21, 2020. So it is available for you to get your hands on a copy now!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, Minotaur Books, and author, Jennifer Hillier, for allowing me an e-arc copy to review in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.25 stars-
I wish there was more focus on the son and his kidnapping.

Marin, loses sight of her son in a crowded market for a few seconds and he's kidnapped. The police and FBI turn up nothing and the case fizzles. Through a PI hired by Marin to find her son, Marin learns that her husband is having an affair. This is where most of the story is focused-Marin wants revenge because how could her husband be cheating on her when they both have gone through something horrific and should be closer than ever.
The only one who seems to understand her and her grief is her best friend Sal.

I started to suspect certain things and people closer to the end and when I saw the truth is what was happening, my jaw dropped and I flew through the last bit.

I’m giving this book 3 stars because I went into this with high expectations. I read Jar of Hearts, which was superb! And I loved Creep and Freak. This book was lukewarm compared to them. If I’d not already read books by her, this would have been a great psychological thriller. But my previous reads were suspense, so I kept waiting for the action. I would still recommend it. It’s a good story, but it just wasn’t what I was looking forward to.