*Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur, and Anna Downes for an ARC of this book!*

The Safe Place is being released at the perfect time this year---when we all desperately need an escape! Aspiring actress Emily is given the chance of a lifetime when her boss at a prestigious company offers her a position as an 'au pair' of sorts at his idyllic estate hidden in France. Without the interruptions of technology and with a mysterious young girl Aurelia and Scott's lovely wife Nina to keep her company, Emily can finally relax and truly unwind at her new dream job...right?

The absolute best part of this novel for me was Anna Downes' attention to setting and enveloping the reader in the beautiful home and its surroundings. I could only dream about visiting such a gorgeous mansion with infinity pools and the requisite heavy wrought-iron gate, but Downes brought it to life. Her characters fit well in this world, but for me, I still feel like there's so much I don't know about them at the end of the novel. While this had all of the hallmarks of a classic mystery in most respects, my biggest frustration was the lack of full explicated backstories. The author did such a fantastic job setting them up and laying the framework, but most of them ended up only half explained by the conclusion of the book. I think due to the author's own background as an actress, she is probably used to creating backstory in her head rather than coming out with it outright, so perhaps that didn't translate fully in her writing. I also wasn't really a fan of the "love story' in the novel and didn't think it added much to the plot. So many interesting ideas were present in this novel, but I just wanted more!

Downes is definitely a writer with a great sense for creating atmosphere, and I think with some more fully realized backstory, this would have been a home run for me!. It is a good summer read and anyone else looking for a bit of escapism in their mysteries should pick it up!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for the ARC of The Safe Place. This book did not make the cut for me, and I give it a 3/5. It is an easy read with an excellent plot but there were too many loose ends at the end of the book for me to give it a higher rating. I was left wondering what happened to the characters as I became emotionally invested in them through Downes' writing.
In The Safe Place, we meet Emily who is down on her luck when she is offered a dream job in secluded France but the old adage "it is too good to be true" holds strong with this novel. Throughout the novel, Emily uncovers secrets lurking beneath the supposed truth. These screts are the catalyst for the novel. I would have given a strong 4/5 if it had not been for the ending. If you are looking for escapism, an easy read, and unrelenting suspense you will enjoy this novel.

Wow, I really enjoyed this novel. I read it in one sitting. While somewhat predictable, it was still an enjoyable read. Overall I would recommend this book!

2.5 stars, rounding up.

The Safe Place is an appropriate title as the author makes a lot of "safe" choices. The story unfolds through 3 alternating POVs: Emily and a married couple: Scott and Nina. Emily is a young, naïve intern who is about to hit rock bottom. Her acting career isn't taking off like she hoped, her bank account is in the negatives, rents due, she's cut off financially from her parents, she's about to be evicted, her agent dropped her, and she just got fired from her internship where Scott is the CEO. Emily is in the dumps. Like keep the whiskey flowing until I reach the bottom of the bottle kinda down in the dumps. But unbeknownst to Emily, most of her woes were orchestrated by Scott who became infatuated with a "plan." With all these events set in motion, Scott swoops in like a white knight and offers her a dream job that is too good to be true - travel to France and help his wife take care of their beautiful, secluded home that can only be compared to paradise. After a few weeks of living the dream, Emily starts to learn that this family has some deeply disturbing secrets.

The story centers around Emily and I found her to be endearing. She was naïve but in a good-hearted way. But I do wish we could've gotten more meat to her backstory.

This was an admirable debut from Anna Downes. The writing was sleek and had me engrossed in the story. The complex family element was well crafted and the overall idea is intriguing. But, for me, the execution was underwhelming. I finished the book quickly because I needed to know what happened, but the ending left me with more questions than answers. There were little seeds planted throughout the story that never grew to fruition, I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers. The flow of the story was "safe" which I feel is a missed opportunity. I would've loved to have seen another big twist or further elaboration on some of the seeds that were planted earlier or tying Emily's past as an adopted child more into the conclusion.

One of the highlights reading this book was the beautifully written acknowledgements section where Anna Downes illustrates what writing this story has meant to her. She details how the art of writing helped her overcome challenges in her life, including coping with anxiety. Although this story wasn't the best for me, I admire her courage to be vulnerable in sharing her experience. It is truly inspirational and I am confident this book will find success with the right audience. Cheers to achieving your dreams!

I rarely offer up 5-start reviews, but It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed The Safe Place by Anna Downes. I could not put it down! To sum it up in a few words, "If something looks too good to be true, it probably is." This is the story of Emily, an unemployed wannabe actress who was just fired from her temp. receptionist job and is being evicted from her apartment. She has an overdrawn bank account and no financial prospects on the horizon. Then, out of nowhere, her ex boss makes her an offer that (you guessed it)is too good to be true. Down on her luck, Emily accepts his offer to be a housekeeper/nanny/personal assistant to his wife and daughter, who live in France. The house in France is private, glamorous, and, of course, is full of secrets and lies. Every chapter reveals a little more of the mystery and I just HAD to find out what was really going on. Loved the story! Loved the ending! I will definitely bo looking for more from Anna Downes.
Thank you Affirm Press and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy of #TheSafePlace

A very fun and creepy read. In this stylish thriller, Emily is offered the job of a lifetime after she is fired, broke, homeless, and down on her luck. She will be staying in a gorgeous mansion in France with her boss’ reclusive wife and child. What could go wrong? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot. This is a story you may have read before in some other variation, but it has unique details and twists and is fun to read through and through. The suspense and adrenaline never lets up and it has a great ending. Solid 4* read perfect for your pretend beach in your house during quarantine.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer and Anna Downes for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Fun read.

This is the definition of a slow-burn. We meet Emily, a struggling London actress barely holding it together with a temp job. When, after a string of bad luck, she's offered the nannying job of a lifetime by her former boss she jumps at the chance to spend time with his wife and ill daughter at the family compound in France. What I loved about this book was that it took it's time. While the slow pace in the beginning was initially frustrating it all made sense in the end. If you think you know where this is going, your either mistaken or smarter than me. I was totally thrown for a loop in the best way and really really happy with the ending.

Meet Emily. Struggling actress, just got fired from her temp job, about to be homeless and parents who are sick of bailing her out of her messes.

Meet Scott. Handsome, rich beyond belief, owner of the company she was just fired from and offering Emily a job she can't pass up.

Struggling to survive Emily know this job offer is exactly what she needs. Who cares if it sounds too good to be true? Get paid to do housekeeping and help Scott's wife care for their young and ill child all while soaking up the beauty of France? Sign her up!

Emily will soon learn she maybe shouldn't have been so eager to accept this position. She should have asked more questions. Can a person really be too perfect? She arrives to the property and immediately is sucked into the beauty that surrounds her, accepted into the family she believes she's missing. But it's not too long before she realizes something isn't quite right.

Readers won't expect the twist that comes. The heart pounding anxiety inducing end will make it hard to stop reading until you make it to the very end.

When Emily has to face losing her job and being evicted from her flat in London, she then takes the only job offered by Scott, her ex-boss. She has to move to France though, being a live-in house assistant to help Scott's wife, Nina in Querencia, with a daughter who has a health problem. Although the estate where she works is something that anybody could dream on, the location makes her isolated from her previous and real life. Does she take the right decision about taking this job?
It's an enjoyable reading although I'm able t to predict where this is going. I'm pretty surprised with the ending, it's not a climax ending, but I can say it's a good one. What do you think?

I downloaded the kindle file and started reading last night (was really looking forward to it!) but the formatting is so bad that it is almost unreadable! I had to give up half way through chapter one, as there are line breaks everywhere, page numbers randomly appearing in paragraphs in the prologue, words beginning with 'f' having big gaps in them and no indentations (hence difficult to work out when a new paragraph is beginning). Right in chapter one, it was so hard to read the conversation between two people, as the poor formatting meant it was difficult to work out who was talking.

I'm naturally expecting typos and a few formatting problems since this is an uncorrected advance version, but this file is unreadable! Did nobody even glance at this on Kindle Previewer before authorising it for distribution??

I'd still love to read and review this, but Affirm Press really needs to do something about the file. This could just be a kindle/ mobi file problem, and hopefully they will fix this soon.

I had been seeing people get an ARC of this book and the cover really caught my attention. I was so exited to be able to get my hands on it.

The story of Emily being picked to help Nina and Aurelia in France definitely kept my interest. I wanted to know what the secret in the family was. I had a few theories none of which were correct. The author did a great job of keeping my attention through the entire book.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the advanced copy.

An impressive debut novel. At the beginning of this book I found the character Emily annoying. Self absorbed twenty something. However, her character matured and progressed and developed well throughout the book. I enjoyed this novel, and generally couldn’t put it down. I finished it in 2 sittings! Although entertaining, I found a few plot lines unresolved, which was frustrating but didn’t detract from the main plot. An enjoyable holiday read.

The Safe Place is a gripping entertaining read. Emily has hit rock bottom and accepts a job from her ex boss that is too good to be true. Told from the perspective of the 3 main characters it is interesting and fun. I didn't see the plot twist until right before it happened. The ending however left me wanting more, a number of loose threads that were not resolved.

An engaging debut! Emily is a struggling actress working temp jobs to pay the bills. After being fired, she unexpectedly lands a dream job assisting her former boss’ wife in renovating their homes and caring for their young daughter in an idyllic French countryside. After arriving, Emily notices small oddities that cause her to question whether things are really what they seem. Although aspects of the plot were somewhat predictable, the tension was strong enough that it kept me interested throughout the story. The author successfully built a mysterious and creepy atmosphere within a lovely setting. She also created flawed but likable characters, which allowed me to connect with each of them despite their choices. In the end, I found I was hoping for a little more because I never had that moment that completely shocked me. That being said, the ending was still satisfying and it was definitely worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job and her apartment in one miserable day.
Scott Denny a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.
Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.
The First thing that attracted me to this book was definitely that beautiful summer cover which simply draws you to take a peek into the story and check if that wonderful photo had anything to do with the plot of the novel. And that cover was definitly a big yes for me!

Since this is the first book of this author, I didn't know what to expect. But, what greeted me when I immersed in it's pages is a stunning debut novel written superbly, cleverly and very interestingly.

The characters were so compelling and well developed. Anna Downes is an exceptional narrator Her narration is increasingly intriguing as the novel nears its end.

The safe place is irresistible and completely gripping pageturner from the very start. Brilliantly claustrophobic and a perfect summer suspence.

5/5 stars.

**I received an ARC ebook from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

3.5 stars rounded down to 3

Emily has just been fired from her temp job for her unorganized and scatterbrained work ethic. This is not the first job she's lost due to her carelessness, and she feels like it won't be the last. Until she is offered the dream job of a personal assistant/housekeeper at a secluded estate in France. She arrives in France and meets Nina and her daughter Aurelia. Nina is sweet, generous, and extremely overwhelmed. The homes on the property are in need of repair and Nina can't take care of it on her own. Her husband rarely visits since he is so busy at work and it's obvious that Nina is in need of adult company. Emily starts to grow more and more comfortable with her role, despite a few odd instances here and there. The longer she stays in France the more she becomes disconnected from her old life. Once she starts to become uncomfortable with Nina and Aurelia's relationship she may be in too deep to be able to get out.

I rounded my rating down to 3 stars since I still had a lot of questions are reading the book. This could have easily been a 4 star read for me if certain things were more clear. I wanted more background into Emily's childhood. The flashbacks confused me, I wasn't sure if they were Nina's or Emily's. The car crash was never explained. I could have sworn there was a flashback of a pregnant woman who was at her other child's first birthday party. They were meant to add mystery, but instead left me confused.

Thank you for the ARC

"The Safe Place" was a domestic thriller that kept me guessing throughout. Each time I thought I had it figured out I was completely wrong! I will definitely be reading more from Anna Downes.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Affirm Press and Netgalley for this arc

I will give this book a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. A story about Emily who dreams of being an actress but failed, then she came across Scott, her old boss from where she’s working as a temp, offered her a job as a housekeeper and helper of his wife in their resort-like property. Everything was going well for Emily until things get somewhat eerie, and this family she have love began to show their true colors.

First off, I believe that there are things that are too good to be true, and desperate people tend to make decisions without thinking. But I really can’t blame Emily, and she is having a rough time. The offer is way too good. The story is well-written, a bit predictable, but kept me interested. I can empathize with the characters, and I think each is well developed. It captures genuine emotions and gives you chills. Overall, it is a captivating and fast-paced read. I enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Very well written and twisted thriller. Although, I found the plot to be quite predictable, I will continue to watch for more by this author.

Emily's life is a complete mess!
She can't get her acting career off the ground, she just lost her job, has an overdraft bank account, is being evicted from her apartment and has a frosty relationship with her family.
So when her former employer offers her a too good to be true opportunity to live on his private estate with his family, she takes him up on it. Even when things get stranger and red flags fly from every corner, Emily stays. I guess that's what desperation does to a person.

This book was okay, but suffered from having incredibly unlikable characters that I just didn't couldn't get invested in and having a predictable plot.

Thank you to NetGallery for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.