This was a great book!! I was completely interested from start to finish. I'm a fan of B.A. Paris, I've read all of her books. This one was interesting, it seemed to have a bit of a different vibe than her other books that I've read. I loved the back and forth between Livia and Adam...and the true "Dilemma" of loving someone and how sometimes that involves keeping things from them. But also...sometimes it's kept from the one you love because of selfishness. Really good book!

Emotionally intense as two characters, Adam and Livia, keep secrets from each other that they both thought would tear apart their thoughts and feelings about their daughter. It is only when the true tragedy emerged that they realized what mattered the most as everything else can be worked through. I certainly shed tears over this book but appreciated the fortitude that the family had.

This was a great book! I couldn’t put it down, I had to find out what happened next! This was a definite veer off the typical BA Paris book but a domestic suspense which I really enjoyed. I couldn’t believe the premise of this book was basically set over a few days, I sort of wanted the climax to hurry up and then more of a “dilemma” I think I’m a bit disappointed by what it actually was but I liked the book overall.
Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy

If you had information that would devastate someone you deeply love, what would you do?

Would you share what you know or allow your loved one to enjoy life until they absolutely needed to know? This book explores this dilemma.

Livia has been planning her 40th birthday party for a long time. It is going to be a huge celebration. Their family and friends will be there. Adam, Livia's husband gets horrible news on the morning of the party. He needs to make a decision about whether to share what he knows or let Livia enjoy her long-awaited party. While Livia also has a secret she is wrestling with but has decided not to tell her husband.

The story is told from the alternating points of view of husband and wife Adam and Livia.

As the story unfolds, the past, present, and reasons for keeping secrets are revealed, keeping me wanting to know more about the characters and what happens when the secrets are ultimately shared.

A unique plot that had me on the edge of my seat. I could not put this book down. The characters could have been my family, friends, or neighbors. The book is family drama at its best.

When a book holds my interest, I generally read it within one to two days. Sometimes I stay up until the wee hours of the morning as I cannot put the book down. The Dilemma falls into this category. I could not put it down! It is the first novel I read by the author and it will not be my last.

The story happens over the course of a day and what an interested plot. This novel tells the story of a marriage couple, Livia and Adam, their daughter Marnie, son Josh, and a close-knit family and friends. The secret kept my Livia to protect Adam and her best friend. Adam keeping life changing information from Livia as he struggled through the day to ensure that she enjoy her 40th birthday party, a party she planned and looked forward to for a long time.

This is a gripping tale of secrets, disappointment and tragedy, but most important it shows the healing power of love and the importance of friend and faamily. Although I can understand Livia keeping the secret from Adam, I find it unrealistic that Adam would not disclose his fears to Olivia or try to confirm until the end of the party.

I strongly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me an advanced readers copy.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
This story, told chapter by chapter in alternating viewpoints, takes place over the course of one day. Livia has been planning her 40th birthday party for over 20 years and her husband Adam is determined to let her have her special night no matter what He's even flying their daughter in from Hong Kong as a special surprise.
Adam and Livia are both keeping secrets from each other. My issue with this book is that the secrets should never have been kept. Especially by a couple that have been married for decades!! So while the premise itself bothered me, I was still completely caught up in this story. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough wanting to see how everything was resolved. I read the whole book in less than a day, so I would have to say I enjoyed it There and a half stars, rounding up to four

Love the writing style of BA Paris. Just smooth as silk. This was a domestic drama that was carefully woven around one family and their very close knit circle of friends and in-laws. Mysterious all the way to the end. This hit on family trust issues. So many kept secrets but mainly out of love for others.

Wonderful book by B.A. Paris. This was definitely a page turner, told in alternate POV.
Livia has been waiting her whole life to celebrate her 40th, after she was disowned by her parents, ultimately not having a wedding. Livia also doesn’t want her daughter Marnie attending as well due to unsettling news that was discover.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I might be one of the few who did not enjoy Behind Closed Doors, but this book sounded good so I requested it. I'm so glad I did. As soon as I started it I was hooked! I don't want to give anything away so I'll just say there was underlying tension throughout the whole book so I couldn't stop reading.

This was a boring short story that was stretched out into a full-length snooze of a book. I basically had a hate-read it. Relationship. The entire read takes place over the course of just one evening.
Told from alternating Points of view between Adam and Livia. A misguided couple so desperate to please each other yet completely confused on how to accomplish it. Olivia didn’t have a fabulous wedding. She’s longed and planned for her 40th birthday. She’s saved and invested all her years focused on it.. The way she obsesses over the party is utterly ridiculous. I skimmed a lot of this book, and did not miss a thing. The dilemma? Each knows a secret that they are keeping from the other. Adam’s secret is serious and to think he could continue with the party despite his suspicions is ridiculous, so his wife can have her party. I did finish the book thinking there just might be a payoff at the end. This is a family drama, not a thriller, and a boring one at that.

Livia and Adam fell in love and were high school sweethearts. She got pregnant, and since her family was very religious, they wouldn’t have anything else to do with her. She lived her life completely without her parents in the picture. Livia and Adam went to City Hall to get married and were accompanied by Adam’s parents. Livia and Adam has shaky marriage in the beginning. He hardly had anything to do with his little son, Josh. Adam seemed to blame Josh for his not being able to go to engineering school. The feeling followed him all his life. Then along their daughter, Marnie. Adam was much closer to Marnie than Josh. As life went along, Livia had fantasized about having a 40th birthday party. She had been saving for it for many years. Marnie was in Asia with her class, and wanted to come back home her mother’s birthday party. She and Adam planned her surprise arrival. There was only one other person who knew about this and it was Marnie’s best friend. The party was a hit, and everything was perfect. Adam had just spoken to her the day before and Marnie was on target to arrive at her mother’s party. However, Marnie hadn’t arrived. Where is Marnie? Has Adam heard from their daughter? Will Livia and Marnie find their daughter? There are too many secrets going on in this family. What are the secrets? The hook caught me immediately, and it kept me reading. The plot was a good one. The character development was really well thought out. The reader could relate and feel all the emotions that the characters were experiencing. I did read the book, but this was definitely a different type of book from this author. I’m not so sure that I really did like it as well as the other books she has written before.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review. Expected pub date: June 2020
Livia has been planning her over-the-top 40th birthday party for 20 years. In part, to make up for the large wedding she dreamed of and never got to have, and in hopes that her long-estranged parents will show up and make amends. As the day of the party draws closer, Livia discovers her daughter, Marnie, is unable to come home from abroad and won’t be in attendance. Due to the secret Livia just found out about her daughter, she is partly relieved that she won’t have to face her daughter on her birthday. Adam, Livia’s husband, has secretly planned to have Marnie fly home for the party and, not knowing the secret Livia knows, thinks his wife will be ecstatic. However, on the day Marnie is expected home he finds out even more horrible news. News that he knows will completely destroy his wife forever. With both spouses keeping secrets from each other, will they be able to make it through the party, pretending everything is as it always was?
I was excited to find out that “The Dilemma”, the third novel by B.A Paris, was about to be released into the world. Having read her other novels, I was over the moon to be given an ARC of this novel.
This book belongs in the new genre I’ve created called “secret-keeping spouses”, as there seems to be piles of novels strictly dealing with the dangers of keeping secrets from your partner. Although this one fits that bill, it is true B.A Paris style, and breaks the mould when it comes to suspense, entertainment and intrigue.
The characters are relatively vapid initially, Livia focusing on her fortieth birthday party like a teenager planning her Sweet Sixteenth, but she is still likable, and creates empathy with the heartbreaking story of her parents’ estrangement and the life experiences she missed out on. Adam is charming, too, although I must say I yelled at him a few times throughout the novel (honestly, one phone call would have solved the problem for him. ONE. It’s 2020, not 1940. Technology is there for a reason). The surplus of the couples’ friends, neighbours and family was, at first, difficult to sort through, but as they each grew their own personalities and settled into the story, it became easier to differentiate between them. With the exception of the abhorrent character of Rob, there really is no unlikable character in the bunch.
Well-told and full of suspense, “The Dilemma” is narrated by both Livia and Adam, as we try to understand why they kept the secrets they did. When it all comes to a head, as these things inevitably do, the ending left me with a hopeful, bittersweet feeling (and also an intense fear to reveal each of my deep secrets to my closest friends and family…just in case).

Count me as a big fan of the author, this is her 4th novel, and just terrific. You have the multiple POVs of a family of mother, dad and son as they prepare for the mom's 40th birthday party. There is a fourth member, the daughter, who is about to return home after living abroad for several months. As the plot develops, the reader isn't sure whether or not she is on a flight that crashes with no survivors. The characters all hold secrets from each other that are gradually revealed as the plot thickens, and we see the anguish and torment as they wrestle with what they tell, when they tell it, and what their motivations are for holding the information back. This is a tremendous character study that is equal if not surpassing Paris' earlier works and a deeper analysis of a family caught in crisis. The book was all the more personal for me having once missed a flight that crashed with a similar fate many years ago. I highly recommend this book, along with the other novels that she has written -- you will become a fan too!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Livia has been waiting for this day for most of her life. As a young mother, she never got to have the wedding of her dreams. Now, she is 40 and ready to make up for it. All of her friends and family will be there to make her feel special except for Livia's daughter, Marnie. Secretly, Livia is happy about this. She just discovered a shocking secret about her daughter and didn't want the day to be ruined. Meanwhile, Livia's husband, Adam, has also learned something about Marnie. Both parents are faced with a dilemma... to tell the other their news and spoil the day or keep a secret until the evening is over. Neither know which is the right choice.

I have read all of B.A. Paris' books and was excited to start this one! Unlike her previous psychological thrillers, this was more a family drama that centered around keeping secrets from one another. While it was a page-turner, I found the characters to be very frustrating. Much of the book focused on their inner dilemmas over whether to share a secret about Marnie or to save the life-changing information until after this birthday party. While the book is literally titled, The Dilemma, I had hoped more would happen. Instead, I thought the ending was predictable and without any twists.

It did describe Livia's and Adam's inner turmoil as they struggled with making the right choices. I could sympathize with the characters at these moments and the overall storyline was intriguing. Overall, it was a solid book about family drama and a traumatic event, but it wasn't the typical B.A. Paris thriller I was ready to read. Had I gone in with different expectations, I think I would have enjoyed this book much more.

The Delimma is a perfect title for this book. So from the beginning I am thinking what is he going to do? Is it true or there is still some small chance that it's not? I also teetered between "TELL HER" and "NO YOU CAN'T TELL HER". It was hard for me to put this book down, I was on the edge of my seat with every new chapter so strong if I would go d out the truth or just keep anxiously awaiting it. Well written and pulls the reader right in on the edge of their seat!

Honestly this book was a bore. I expected so much more from BA Paris after reading her previous books not this one had none of the suspense and edge of my seat action I was waiting for. The entire plot revolved around people not communicating with one another and I was waiting for SOMETHING interesting to happen the entire book but that never happened.

The Dilemma by BA Paris was pretty good, but I have to admit it wasn’t what I was expecting. While it is my first book to read by Paris, I have heard a lot about her other books. It was listed in Netgalley as a Mystery/Thriller as one of the categories so I have to admit I thought that it would be more on the thriller side. I would instead call this instead a family suspenseful drama.

The entire book takes place through a day, with many flashbacks. It is the day of Lydia’s birthday and she has planned a 40th birthday party - somewhat to make up for the big wedding she never had when they married very young. One child, Josh, is at home and has just been offered an internship overseas. The other, Marnie, is studying in Hong Kong. Lydia and Adam are alternating narrators as we hear the pieces of the day. We learn that Adam is surprising Lydia with flying Marnie in for party. He has told no one and the majority of the book centers around that. Lydia has a secret too and the entire book is a communication breakdown.
I found the drama that ensued emotional, turbulent and messy but ultimately it just didn’t seem realistic to me. I couldn’t imagine a husband and wife keeping what they did from each other. I also got a little lost at times keeping track of the many characters.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 rounded up.

I do recommend it if a family suspenseful drama is your jam.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and St. Marten’s Press for an ARC copy of The Dilemma in exchange for an honest review.

I have read all of B.A. Paris’ books, and I was really excited to get an ARC of The Dilemma. I was captivated by the storyline that unfolded between the viewpoints of a husband and wife who are both protecting explosive secrets. I was expecting more of a suspense/thriller, but this was more of a family drama with suspenseful elements. I still really enjoyed it, and it kept my attention from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

The day of Livia’s 40th birthday party unravels hour by hour from alternating points of view in this fast-paced story of a family at a cross roads. Everyone has a secret, and nobody wants to ruin the birthday party that Livia has been planning ever since she was denied the wedding of her dreams over 20 years ago. But with her daughter studying abroad in Hong Kong and her husband keeping secrets from her, things do not seem to go as planned. Their relationships are tested and the question looms, are they going to survive the party without ruining each other’s lives, or will the secrets stay safe inside?

This did not seem like a B.A. Paris novel. Very disappointing. I wanted to know what was going on, but after a while the story just dragged and I was nowhere near as interested as I was at the beginning. There was no big twist, nothing to make it stand out and be a great read that'll stick in my mind long after. I liked the plot and I liked that it was told from the husband's point-of-view as well as the wife's. But unfortunately this is a forgettable book for me.