Thank you to Net Galley for giving me this opportunity to read this book.
Sarah Goldman is a wife and mother who is overwhelmed by her life. Holly Monroe is a young twenty-something who is trying to find her way in life. Sarah and her husband Daniel hire Holly to look after their young son. Sarah sees things that she didn't want to see. Sarah and her family decide to move across country. When they get to their new home things start to go awry.
,

Watch Out For Her by Samantha Bailey is a riveting psychological thriller. It explores the definitions of family, trust, appearances, and assumptions, as well as weaknesses in character. The story revolves around Sarah Goldman, her husband Daniel, as well as their six year old son Jacob and their interactions with their son’s babysitter Sarah. This is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat right until the end. I read this book in one day because I couldn’t wait to discover the resolution. I highly recommend this book for readers who love psychological thrillers!

I have to agree with a few other reviewers, I wanted to like this, I tried to like it, but the characters were just so unlikeable. Not just the main characters or some of the side characters. Literally, all of them.

Also, I did figure out about midway who was the bad guy. That's ok, but what wasn't ok was the constant back and forth between then and now. At first it worked, I was able to follow seamlessly between what is/was going on. It was also easy to keep track of who was who. But about two thirds in, the Then and Now chapters started to get confusing. Things that were talked about in one Then chapter, were then discussed again, in the next Then chapter as if it hadn't' already happened in a previous chapter. It was disorienting and confusing.

The plot was interesting albeit easy to figure out, but the main protagonist was whiny, neurotic, and overbearing to both her husband and her child. The husband was practically non-existent and when he was in the picture, he was inattentive, absent minded and very milquetoast. The babysitter was conniving, self-centered and manipulative. There just was not one person in the book that you could root for.

It was a quick read, but ultimately just an ok read.

Watch Out for Her is one of those “Whoaaa, didn’t see that coming! “ kind of books. Fast paced chapters that are timeline and character identified make this a quick, one sitting read. I had a hard time putting it down!
Being a Canadian reader, from the GTA, I was thrilled to read the references to the Toronto area. I do wish, however, that the Canadian spelling for ‘neighbour’ and ‘neighbourhood’ had been used..
Watch Out for Her should be on everyone’s summer reading list.
Thank You to Simon and Schuster Canada, NetGalley and Samantha Bailey for the opportunity to read and enjoy this ARC.

I had previously enjoyed Bailey’s debut novel, so was looking forward to reading this release! Watch Out for Her is a strong psychological suspense novel that was paced really well. I was able to devour it over the course of a day and was satisfied by the time the end came. Although this isn’t one of my absolute favourites so far this year, it was a solid read that I did enjoy!
A big thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this ARC!
3.5 rounded up

Watch Out for Her by Samantha M Bailey

If the words “I see you” coming from an unknown source creeps you out, then this book is for you. It all gets tied up in the end, but there’s plenty to keep you guessing.

Sarah and Daniel hire neighbor Holly to babysit their young son Jacob. This idyllic arrangement goes haywire around two thirds of the way through the story.

Sarah’s fear of everything doesn’t help the reader to know what’s legit, and Holly’s youthful naïveté rocks the boat as well. The story flows easily, the characters are well developed and it does get eerie along the way.
It’s a good read mystery lovers will enjoy.
Thanks to Simon & SchusterCanada and
NetGalley for this ARC

Such a good story and so many twists that kind of made me want to scream! You've got the mother who is overly anxious. Does she have a good reason or is she gaslighting herself? You've got the good for nothing father who seems to have gotten himself into a mess and dragged his family along. And you've got the babysitter who either is trying to protect your family or scam your family. Which is it? My feelings towards the characters changed constantly through the course of the story and some of the twists were a bit predictable. No way to avoid that in the story without becoming unbelievable. But the story was still solid. Two points of view, two timelines, and lots of questions about what may or may not be the case equal a good read.

Samantha M. Bailey has crafted a domestic thriller set in Canada. Sarah and Daniel Goldman hire a sitter, Holly, to take care of their 6-year-old son, Jacob. This will give Sarah more time to work on her photography. When Holly is forced from her home, Sarah and Daniel take her in to live with them. Some interesting things are caught on the nanny cam and Sarah starts watching Holly closely.

This book is about obsession, trust, and secrets. It kept my attention most of the way through and there was a good tension buildup. I didn't really like any of the characters though. I did like the way the author used the narrators to provide alternating points of view and timelines.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on April 26, 2022.

The story opens with the Goldmans arriving at the new home, far from the secrets they left behind in Vancouver. And more importantly far away from Holly Monroe.

So many secrets. The whole book is essentially -
How dare they have a secret! I must find out their secret ….. before they find out mine.
Everyone had something to hide it was almost dizzying. But in the end this made for a very exciting read that was never boring, or slow. There were a couple things that when all was said and done didn’t make sense, but it added to the story at the time.
I though this was an enjoyable read with some pretty good twists.

3.5 ⭐️. I liked the two POVs and and nonlinear timeline- it definitely made me intrigued. However, you have to wait until the true end for the “reveal” and don’t have a ton of time to process. Also, I found the ending to be a little underwhelming and out of left field. I don’t know… I am walking away from this one feeling a bit disappointed.

Watch Out for Her by Samantha M Bailey was a good psychological thriller. I was very engaged and wanted to keep reading. There were a few character relationships on which I didn't get enough information. An over-protective mother goes to great lengths to protect her child. Sometimes, hindsight is 20/20 and you realize that life was better than you thought. The little things I didn't like didn't keep me from enjoying the story. I wish things had turned out differently for our lead character but life isn't always blue skies and rainbows.

This was a great story with a fantastic unreliable narrator, which I really love! I had so many questions and I couldn't truly get answers until the end! This was fast-paced and really fun!

Big fan of the Police, so the whole "I'll be watching you" premise of this book had me playing this song on repeat in my head!

We meet Sarah & Daniel, and their son, Jacob. Daniel works long hours and Sarah struggles as a stay a home mom wanting to do something more with her photography. We then meet Holly, a 22 year old med student whose family are members as the same elite country club Daniel just joined. Sarah & Daniel hire Holly as a summer babysitter for Jacob. It seems like the perfect arrangement, but is it?

Definitely an unreliable narrator, which had me questioning everything in this book. Who was lying? Who was truthful? Could they trust each other? Could we trust any of them? Alternating timelines of past and present give us bits of the storyline a little at a time, and I found myself trying to figure out what was happening, and not always being correct!

This book was fast paced and suspenseful and kept me hooked! Will be looking for more from this author!

Many thanks to to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sarah moves her family from Vancouver to Toronto to escape Holly, the babysitter she hired to watch her son for the summer. When a series of weird events start occurring; Sarah realizes that she can run but she can’t hide. The ending to this one is totally bonkers but I was fine with suspending disbelief for the entertainment value. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and the author for sharing this with me for an honest review.

While I did enjoy Samantha Bailey’s first novel more this one still had me interested.

It’s a story about a babysitter who wants to be closer to the family than the family knows. When things go askew they family moves across the country. But it seems as though they are followed.

I would have give this book five stars but there were no characters that I really liked. The story is told in a before and after back and forth and that helped me keep the pages turning. It did give some of the storyline in the after section away but I was interested in how it turned out that way.

I would recommend.

I really liked this book. Could not put it down. It went back and forth from the past and present. Sometimes it got a little confusing. I also think there were too many characters, so I tended to reread back to sort them out. I like the twist at the ending; I was surprised at who was behind everything.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Samantha M. Bailey for an ARC of this book!**

“Families aren’t easy to join. They’re like an exclusive country club where membership makes impossible demands, and the dues for an outsider are exorbitant.” – Erma Bombeck

Holly is willing to 'pay her dues' as it were: she sees an opportunity to step outside of her own toxic family situation by babysitting Jacob for Sarah and Daniel, a wealthy couple who seem to have it all and then some. The group settles into a rhythm and Jacob just adores his babysitter...until one day, Sarah stumbles onto a deep and disturbing truth about Holly, and immediately uproots her family to remove them from the situation, leaving Holly alone and abandoned.

Once Sarah and her family settle into their new community in Toronto, they attempt to begin a new life and embrace a fresh start...until Sarah discovers the hidden cameras. The foreboding air of tension, following her everywhere. The neighbors, all too willing to make them feel welcome...right? As Sarah begins to unlock some of the mysteries right under her nose, she discovers a trail that leads right back to Holly...but what does it mean? And who is sending her the anonymous text messages with a simple yet chilling message: "I see you"?

New to Samantha M. Bailey, I had no idea what to expect from this read. What I was HOPING for was a quick, twisty psychological thriller that would keep me a' page-flippin' and second guessing....but what I got was more along the lines of Other Thrillers' Greatest Hits...but the knockoff, cover versions. None of these characters were particularly likable, which is always a bit of a red flag if they aren't all meant to be terrible humans, but I think what really threw a wrench in this one for me was how far-fetched the entire plot was, in almost every aspect. Common sense does not exist for the duration of the story, and characters also have evidence/blackmail material/etc. fall in their lap at the perfect moments over and over.

Nobody gets caught doing ANYTHING they shouldn't be doing (almost) for the entire length of the book: again, very unrealistic. This also was a missed opportunity for heightened tension, but at the end of the day, there wasn't too much tension throughout anyway, so I'm not sure it would have made a huge difference. I figured out the 'twist' fairly early on and to cap it off, this book has an epilogue where the author tries to tie up every loose end neatly and at length and had me all but eye-rolling my way through. I would have preferred no epilogue rather than a plethora of plot holes and logic leaps that just left me frustrated.

It's definitely a feat to write a thriller that feels fresh and original, but unlike a comfy, well-loved pair of shoes that feel JUST right after covering familiar ground, this book's treads were a bit worn out.

2.5 stars, rounded up

I’m in to thrillers and was glad to be approved through Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC.
Although, I found the plot to be unbelievable in places, as some things fell into place too easily, overall the book and ending did provide a sense of a suspenseful thriller.
Sarah and Daniel have found the perfect babysitter for their son Jacob in Holly. They are living in an upscale neighborhood, trying to fit in. Daniel is working long hours in his quest for success and Sarah is often lonely. She and Holly form an attachment. Sarah has someone to do things with and Holly has a ‘family’. Something Holly is missing with her real family. Things are fine until Sarah sees something disturbing involving Holly and convinces Daniel they have to move across the country. But, the move doesn’t help. Daniel is distracted and placating to Sarah and she finds hidden cameras in their new home. Has Holly followed them, or is something else happening? ‘Watch Out for Her’ has some unexpected twists and you need to be patient to discover the how, the why and the who. This review is my honest opinion. 4 stars

Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey is a recommended domestic psychological thriller.

Sarah and Daniel Goldman have just moved across the country from Vancouver to her husband Daniel’s hometown of Toronto. The move was made to get as far away from their nanny, Holly Monroe, as possible. Holly's stepmother and father set up the job as babysitter for Holly, a 22 year-old medical student. The family adored her as did 6-year-old Jacob, until Sarah saw something that made her change her mind, something bad enough to send her family moving across the country. When Sarah finds hidden cameras in their new rental house, she is sure Holly placed them there to spy on them. Sarah, who has a difficult time trusting people, had nanny cameras set up at their home in Vancouver and she actually took pictures of Holly while watching her at home through a window.

Tension does build incrementally as the details in the plot unfold, creating suspense. Chapters alternate between the point of view of present day Sarah and Holly in the past. Sarah's chapters cover what is happening to torment her and her family now while Holly's cover what happened that led then to move. Readers won't know exactly what Sarah saw that was so awful they had to move until later in the novel. The alternating chapters work in this novel to propel the narrative forward and I did keep reading to the major twist at the end.

Both women are keeping secrets from each other as well as others. Neither Sarah nor Holly are particularly likable appealing characters which does make it a challenge to keep reading at times. They are both suspicious and prone to doubts, fears, and obsessions. For me this is an enjoyable but average domestic thriller.

Several things didn't ring true at the start of this novel. The obvious question is what 22 year-old med student would agree to babysit a normal, healthy 6 year-old for the summer? Even if daddy wanted to encourage it because he liked Daniel, it seemed simply inane. And then saying it would be a good addition to a resume is even more absurd. Snap out of it, Holly. Just say no, tell your evil stepmom that she can babysit, and I'm sure you could get a real job. And if daddy Monroe really owned pharmaceutical firm, why would he want his daughter who is supposed to join the family business to be a nanny even if evil stepmom wanted it? This is a totally unbelievable plot point but it is essential for the premise of the novel. There are a couple other details in the plot that will have careful readers rolling their eyes.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

This is a chilling, thrilling masterpiece!!
Just WOW! For this author's 2nd book... she's blown it out of the park-again!!

Watch Out for Her is captivating and thrilling- leaving you glued to the pages until you get to the very end! Just when you think you've figured things out... you'll be shocked!!!

This book is one you won't forget!

If you're a lover of thrillers.... you must read this book!!!

5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for letting me get an early copy to read/review!!