This book started out strong but it then turned into a slow burn with totally implausible plot lines. The "twist" was also known to me from the get go. I won't go into detail regarding what was so inplausable so as not to spoil anything for those who do read the book, but man, it was just things I could not ever ever see happening in the real world with anyone owned a business like Luke and Darcy.

Took a while for me to get into this one but I’m so glad I kept going, it builds really nicely into the perfect psychological thriller! If you’re a fan of this genre this one is for you!

THIS BOOK, GUYS. I know a bunch of you are thriller aficionados, and this one hit the mark. You’ve heard me talk about this perfect addition to the “Perfect Couple” Trope before, and I will, again and again, ad nauseam, until you buy this one.

Darcy Hogan lives what seems like a perfect life. She and her husband run a thriving healthy food business, she’s beautiful, and she’s pregnant. But when mysterious things start happening, her feelings of isolation and cabin fever ramp up. Is she alone in the house? Or is someone she thought she trusted really an enemy?

This one kept me guessing until 75% through the book - the multiple narrators confused me (in a good way) and as Darcy’s story unspools, and she’s put on bed rest, you’re never quite sure what’s going on. That sense of unease and terror persists to the very end, with its terrifying climax that will take you by surprise.

It’s got a ripped from the headlines kind of feel that I absolutely loved. I’ll definitely be following Janelle Harris’s books from now on.

Genre: Domestic Fiction 
Rating: 4/5
Plot: 
Darcy Hogan’s perfect life is all over social media. She’s beautiful, she’s successful, and she and her childhood sweetheart are about to become parents for the first time. But behind all the followers and the superficial likes lurks a darker truth…
In reality, Darcy feels isolated and afraid. Her difficult pregnancy has her confined to the house, she’s being harassed online, and out-of-control debt threatens to ruin everything she’s worked so hard for.
When her husband is summoned away on business, Darcy’s cabin fever soon spirals into fear. Who is making mysterious phone calls and knocking on her door? Is it an old friend trying to reach out—or a stranger determined to push in?
As her due date creeps closer, Darcy feels ever more certain that someone is out to get her. She’s desperate to get away—but is she running from the right person?
My verdict: A fantastic Domestic thriller from Janelle! First, let me thank Netgalley for letting me read this fantastic debut, I can tell you know that Harris’s short, sharp and eerie writing style reminded me of Shalini Boland. This book has everything, the glitz and glamour that comes with being a local celebrity, murders and disappearances and old school revenge. It's perfect for fans of Lianne Moriarty and Lisa Jewel an£ whilst the book has the hallmarks of a great thriller it touches on serious issues like bullying, blackmail, debilitating morning sickness (like the Duchess of Cambridge who has said herself that there is little understanding of the condition and is almost an unspoken topic for fear of being labelled a drama queen) and a serious psychosis and split personality disorder. Already Janelle has a nack for cliffhangers and foreshadowing which can be hard in a debut thriller but I love that she is able make us experience Darcey’# paranoia and Tina’s bitterness and loneliness. I also love how she was able to portray Gillian as a third primary narrator when in fact it is a representation of the true culprits state of mind. However it may just be me but I thought I was able to figure out the major plot twists early on and would have loved some more red herrings to add to the element of suspense and mystery. I did however love the use of flash backs and newspaper clippings as well as the first person point of view to truly show us the culprit’s obsession, vindictiveness and manipulation. Overall, a nice debut with lot of different mediums incorporated but the ending was a bit obvious for me. However, this is a skill Janelle will improve over time. I would love go have seen more subplots incorporated.

I found this a bit difficult to get into but stuck with it and so glad that I did. It was genuinely terrifying towards the end, well written with a well thought out plot

A brilliant suburban drama story. I do love one of those and this is as a good as the rest. Highly recommended for a bit of drama xx

In this book we meet married couple Darcy and Luke Hogan p, who have been sweethearts since their school days. Darcy is heavily pregnant, struggling with hyperemesis gravidarum and running a business. Invited on to Ireland’s Good Morning program brings her to the attention of some old school friends Tina and Gillian
Told from Darcy, Tina and Gillian’s perspectives we read as Darcy's life begins to unravel. Flowing between characters and flashbacks to their school days we get to know more about each character and why the things that happen are happening.
There were times where I struggled with which character I was reading and had to flick back to remind myself but all does become clear.
Once again a well written book by Janelle Harris. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Holy Moly, this was a doozy! Keep Your Friends Close by Janelle Harris is a twisty suspense novel told from alternating points of view (Darcy, Tina and Gillian) in 1998 and 2019. It’s the story of Darcy Hogan and her vegan food business, Darcy’s Dishes. Though her life looks impeccable on social media, at home she is struggling. Her business is failing, her pregnancy is draining and her husband is kinda shady. Then comes an old friend who disappeared 20 years ago, and things just get crazier from there.

Overall, I found this book to be well written, enjoyable and had me turning pages through the night. I definitely saw the plot twist coming, but it was still fun to ride along on the crazy train to get there. I’m excited to check out more books by the author!

Thanks to NetGalley, Janelle Harris and Amazon Publishing UK for an advanced reader copy.

This book was okay. I found myself getting distracted while reading it and it had trouble holding my interest.

The multiple points of view were a little tough to follow which took me out of the story.

The story was okay but predictable.

I probably wouldn't recommend it unfortunately.

So...not my favorite.

While this is a relatively quick read, I didn't find myself particularly entertained. Everything was too obvious...from very early on in the story. Darcy seemed to choose to willful ignorance, which is never a great character trait, and the ending was over-the-top.

Probably wouldn't recommend this one.

Available now.

**Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my review copy.

Darcy is newly pregnant and has been having a tough time with morning sickness. Alongside her husband Luke she is trying to make sure her business keeps going, she goes on a talk show to help promote it and a new cook book.
Old friends pop up but are they really friends or foes?

This story has multiple points of view from three women and goes between timelines. Sometimes in books this can be confusing and complicated but this was easy to follow for me.

I could actually feel myself getting a bit jumpy and anxious when reading this so I say bravo to the author it's hard to get those kind of emotions from a thriller.
4.5 stars

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher/author for a copy to review.

This book was absolutely a wild ride from start to finish.
We follow Darcy and her husband Luke as they venture to build their business but when a big time investor becomes involved things take a bit of a turn.
This story follows multiple POVs, timelines and plot lines but it's all so clearly laid out.
I really enjoyed the small business aspect of the story line and how Darcy really fought for it.
But the best thing honestly was that twist! I was guessing until the very last minute and I couldn't stop reading as I watched things unfold!
Mostly everything was wrapped up so well at the end, I felt some of the plot could have been fleshed out a tiny bit more, but honestly this didn't take from my enjoyment and I gave this 4 stars!

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Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for this ebook for an honest review!

Keep Your Friends Close is Janelle Harris’ latest twisty thriller. It’s the story of Darcy Hogan. She is picture perfect on social media with her business Darcy’s Dishes, healthy vegan meals. But her pregnancy is draining her, her business is suffering, her husband Luke is being shady, and now an old friend has popped out of the past.

Told in alternating views of Darcy, Tina and Gillian in 1998 and 2019. Tina and Gillian are friends from school, which Darcy hasn’t seen in 20 years.

I really enjoyed the book and while I figured out the twist long before I should have, it was still enjoyable watching the story unfold.

This is a gripping psychological thriller that well and truly had me hooked.
Darcy and Luke seem to have a great life together - a successful business, a lovely home and a baby on the way. However, behind the scenes they are struggling financially and Darcy is becoming more and more worried.
She’s also having a difficult pregnancy and having to spend a lot of the time at home and starts to become paranoid.
Luke tries to look after her but with the worry of the business he begins to hide things from Darcy, which makes her worry more.
There’s someone from their past that makes an entrance into their lives, but is she there to help or hinder them?
I did guess what was happening, but the final few chapters took me by surprise and I loved the ending.
Thus is a great read.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I will leave a review on Amazon or B&N on Oct. 6, 2020

Janelle Harris is a new author for me, suspense/thrillers are one of my favorite genres. I will say this book had lots of twists and turns to keep in interesting. Overall I found this book to be very well written, and kept me turning the pages. I would recommend it to others that enjoy this genre.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, all opinions expressed here are my own.

Wow! This book is a roller coaster of a read! First the climb where the reader learns about the past and present from 3 characters. Then we begin the decent and oh my goodness hold on because what a wild ride! I highly recommend this to all mystery-thriller lovers. I'm not going to give anything away just read it! Thanks so much to the publisher Amazon Uk and to NetGalley for this ARC. I'm going to read more from this author for sure!

Darcy Hogan has everything: she is a rising star on the Internet, good looking, married and about to have a baby with her childhood sweetheart. But due to her high-risk pregnancy, Darcy is stuck inside her house on bed rest. With cabin fever and strange things happening in the house, she is convinced someone is watching her. She’s desperate to get away, fearing her and her baby are in danger. But is she running from the right person?

“Someone is on the stairs; I can hear the old oak groan under a person's weight.
Step. Creak. Step. They're coming.”

This suspenseful story is told from three perspectives (Darcy, Tina and Gillian) and spread across two timelines (the past and the present). This gets a little confusing sometimes and I did find myself turning back to see who's chapter and which timeline it was few times (but that may have just been me getting distracted). Despite that, however I did genuinely enjoy this book. It had suspense and intrigue and I absolutely flew through it. Every chapter had me wanting to know more and how it would all end.

Character wise, I thought Darcy was quite gullible and naive. And honestly she sometimes had me wanna scream "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE" at my e-reader, but that's probably what the author wanted to accomplish. Darcy's unease is conveyed very well throughout the story and I definitely felt for her. The villain has a very strong personality and gave me the heebie jeebies, which is exactly what should happen in a psychologcial thriller.

I defnitely saw the plot twist coming from a mile away, but it was still an enjoyable ride getting there. And being right about the outcome always feels great when everything is finally revealed, doesn't it? So even though it took a little bit of the suspense away for me, it was still an entertaining read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“No doubt the creepy noise is coming from her. It's only here when she's here.
What the hell is she doing in my house?”

Overall rating: ★★★½

Darcy and Luke were childhood sweethearts, twenty years later they are now married, run a successful vegan food business called Darcy's Dishes and are soon to become parents to their first child. But things aren't as perfect as they seem to the outside world, her pregnancy isn't going well, debts are mounting up which are threatening all the hard work she's put into building up the business and when an old classmate makes a reappearance in their lives, things spiral out of control...

The story begins back in 2000 with a report of a missing schoolgirl, we then fast forward 19 years to the present day and meet Darcy and Luke, who are appearing on a breakfast show to promote their business, whilst on the show a random caller rings in claiming to be an old friend of theirs, Darcy brushes it off but is there more to this person than she's willing to talk about?

The book is told from three perspectives; Darcy, Tina and Gillian and switches back and forth between their school days and the present day. This is a fast paced psychological thriller which is tense, full of suspense and kept me second guessing throughout. The plot, characters and twists are well written, which makes it an easy read and very hard to put down. It's a tale of obsession, jealousy and revenge and shrouded in mystery. This is the second book I've read by this author and have two others on my kindle waiting to be read. If you like a book that grips you from beginning to end and keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next, then this is one for you.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing and Netgalley for the auto approval. I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

An interesting read that is somewhat hard to rate. Like several other books I’ve read lately (including the very fun “Girl Gone Mad” which may have set a high bar for this one), this book is about a group of adult women who first met as girls in prep school. Some of the narration focuses on past “mean girl” events at the school, while the rest of the book focuses on one of the girls, Darcy, now a successful adult married to Kyle. One of the girls from her school, Gillian, disappeared in school, but has now reappeared as her neighbor.

This was an interesting premise but tended a little more in the beginning to lean towards the soapy domestic drama story more so than the crime thriller I prefer. Also I found the multiple narrators in different time periods a bit hard to tell apart, and many of their stories repeated eachother. But by the second half to the last third of the book, things picked up considerably and became much more ominous and scary until ultimately the book finished strong.

Overall I would give this book a pretty solid 3.5. If you like books that are more domestic in tone you’ll probably like this one. I decided to round up the rating because I thought the ending was quite strong. I will check out other more traditional thriller type books from this author because I really like how she writes.3.5 stars and available October 6!

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley, and the author for the advance copy!

Apologies but this book wasn’t really for me, a DNF at 25%,I did like the writing style but found the characters and storyline hard to follow