3 stars!

Emily is down on her luck when she is offered a summer job as a housekeeper for CEO Scott Denny on his remote French estate. Emily thinks her luck has changed but soon realizes there secrets that could be deadly!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went back and forth on this one quite a bit. I liked the characters and were rooting for them, even when they were making the best choices. I wasn’t really feeling the little bit of a romance between Scott and Emily. A couple of times the story got a little confusing and I don’t know if I had just not remembered something from early or it wasn’t well explained.

I unfortunately didn't not finish the one. I couldn't get into the story or the characters in the book.

I wanted to love this one, but it left me wanting more. It was a great way to escape and feel like you're transported into a whacky, summer house, but I wasn't fully satisfied by the end of the book. Overall, it was a great debut but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to others.

A quick thriller that would be perfect for a lazy sunday or a day on the beach. Nothing more than that though.

Weird. Just weird. The read is great--fast, suspenseful, danger lurking--but the answer at the end is just too odd for words. Anna Downes is a great writer, but may need to add a tinge of realism back into the plot before her next novel. I'll still give it 4 stars, though, because it was a hell of a ride!

This book is wild and crazy and a little bit predictable. I was very intrigued from the beginning and my attention was held to the very end - even if certain aspects were not quite believable. An enjoyable read overall.
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Proudman doesn't have much going on in her life, and jumps at the chance to be a live-in nanny for her boss. She moves to their isolated home in France and settles into an easy existence with her boss's wife and child. But it doesn't take long for the setting to stop feeling so idyllic, as the child's strange behaviour and the isolation of their location lead Emily to wonder if the family is trying to keep a dark secret hidden from the outside world. Not only this, Emily begins to realize that she may not be free to leave the beautiful home she once couldn't believe her luck to be living at.

This thriller excelled in creating an unsettling atmosphere - I never knew what would happen on the next page, and as uneasy as the main character. The twist was one I have never come across in another thriller, which made this a pleasure to read as it wasn't predictable even for someone who has read dozens of thrillers.

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martins Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a gorgeous cover! I totally requested this book based on it ;)
It's a great beach read. Actually the perfect way to describe it.
Ticks off all the boxes of a suspenseful, twisty thriller.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Anna Downes and Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

I really really really loved this book. But let me tell you why...

I really love those books that kind of feel creepy without being obvious or transparent. You just start to feel "Off" while turning the pages. Its like deep down you know there is something really freaking wrong but you haven't a clue what it is.... thats how I felt when I started reading A safe place. I felt creeped the F out and anything but safe. But as I read all these odds and ends came together to form this insane picture that somehow the main character remains abysmally ignorant to. Realistic? No. Did it make for a good story? Yes, honestly if she didn't take the job there would have been no story to tell.

From the start the characters add to the unsettling feelings. Scott sent off major creep vibes from the moment we meet him. Emily ( ohhh girl...what were you thinking?!) is obviously naive and going to have a crude wake up call. Nina and Aurelia... hello creepy helicopter mom and strange child that live in BFE. But in all the setting, the characters, the descriptions, the "creepy" vibes meld together to create a fast paced thriller.

I liked this book. It wasn't exactly a favorite of mine, but it was a solid thriller. I really became invested in the story and I liked the characters.

The ending wasn't as good as I had hoped. I had the twists figured out fairly early in the book. I was hoping for a more empowering ending for Emily, but I wouldn't say the ending was bad. Just kind of lacked a great climax.

I was expecting a fast-paced, twisty thriller. Instead, I was turned off right away with the main character and just didn’t love the story after the rough beginning.

I was given a free copy of The Safe Place from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review of the novel. Emily is a hot mess express. She struggles to keep a job while trying to land and acting gig and make it big. Only, little does she know that her future's fate has practically been taken out of her hands and into the hands of her boss when he offers her the job of a lifetime.

In just a few short days, Emily moves to a remote estate in France with Scott's wife and ill daughter for a job that she doesn't quite know the details of. Quickly, Emily starts realizing that things ay not be exactly what they seem with the Dennys and it may land her in very dangerous waters.

While I enjoyed the book overall, I felt that it took WAY too long to get to the interesting parts and unraveling of the story. I personally wouldn't pick this book up again or recommend it to my fellow readers. 3/5 stars.

I really enjoyed this read! It takes place on a remote estate, so it really gives you the foreboding feels and the mystery is slowly unraveled. loved this book!

I kinda of liked it but it was a rad slow, a tad predictable but still, all in all, I would definitely recommend.

This was fast paced and thrilling! It was a bit predictable which I didn’t love but overall I enjoyed it.

What a great book. It started out a bit slow but I stuck with it and WOW, it became a very interesting fast paced page turner. Lots of secrets to be learned. I'm not going to give any away, you will have to read it for yourselves! Thanks for the great read Anna!

Emily has hit rock bottom. She has lost her job, apartment and acting future all in the same day. Scott Denny enters and changes everything. He is a CEO with a position he needs fillled by a special person, and Emily is the perfect fit.... so he thinks. Emily ends up acting as housekeeper on a beautiful and secluded French estate with Scott's wife and daughter. Everything seems idyllic (even if the lady of the house is a bit eccentric). Things change quickly. Emily soon realizes there are some dark and dangerous secrets here that could lead to the end of her. Paradise can turn into a nightmare....

I really enjoyed this one. The little twists and turns... the detours and little bits of truth that were revealed as the story went on. This was very well done. I definitely had an idea about some of the truths that would come out but didn't see the end coming. Without revealing spoilers, how else could it end. I loved Emily's character and strength. This one got a four out of five stars for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story is is one of your ominous, suspenseful "Is this going where I think it's going?" thrillers. The main character Emily, is a reliable narrator, but also one of those people that you throughout the plot think "What are you doing!?" Although, to be fair, her initial situation in the book is pretty dumpy in terms of her physical living situation and her mental state as well. It's fair to believe that it's easier to see the silver lining in such an oddly golden but vague opportunity to solve the immediate problems in her life. Her former boss, Scott, employs her to be a kind of nanny to his daughter/property caretaker/companion to his wife, Nina, in a picture perfect house in middle of nowhere France. Not many details, not much cell service, a lot of odd behavior by Nina and her daughter, Aurelia, that is just normal enough for Emily to brush off.

The plot slinks along at a good, steady pace with enough Easter eggs here and there to give the reader a solid guess at what's going on but still let you enjoy the suspense. The characters were at a nice in-between for a suspense where you don't love them, don't hate them, just understand the actions and consequences that got them to where they are in this merry-go-round that we call life. The actions were of their own making, but the author does a better job than other books I've read of giving the reader a backlight of understanding for some of the darker characters in this story. You don't like their actions or believe they were justified in them, but you can see why they ultimately did what they did. Solid enough ending. Suspenseful read for a good getaway from life. Three out of 5 stars. Not stellar, but as the title states, a good safe read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

THE SAFE PLACE, though filled with tension, didn't pull me in as much as I thought it would. Downes did weave together an intriguing thriller, but I wanted it to move a bit quicker. Again, this is a me thing and for others, the slow burn of the narrative will work.