Watch Out For Her
By Samantha Bailey
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 19.2022)

Quick synopsis: a married couple with a young son finds themselves living in Toronto after leaving Vancouver in a rush. You don’t know why but you suspect everyone. The babysitter who is kicked out of her home, the shady businessmen, the husband and then the possibility that the mother herself is imagining it all….

Loved it. Dare I say even more than her debut?! I found myself flipping each chapter wanting to know more of the backstory and trying to get ahead of myself in the details. How do I sum it up…. Hmmm… a psychological thriller that teeters on compassion and murder.

It comes out in April and I’m positive it’ll be all over. Wow, needed that thriller to get the heart pumping… esp one scene that I swear I’ve imagined many times when alone with the kids 😂

If you are a fan of The Girl on the Train, you will like Samantha M. Bailey’s Watch Out for Her. This is a dual perspective novel so you will get to see the perspectives of both Sarah, the mother, and Holly, the babysitter. Watch Out for Her has all kinds of twists and turns as the reader tries to unravel what is going on in Sarah’s life and what trouble her family is avoiding by moving across the country. I was on edge for most of the story and found a variety of reasons to be suspicious of all of the characters. I found myself playing armchair detective as I deciphered each of the character’s actions and tried to predict what would happen next. I was impressed that I was unable to predict the ending.

What I liked best: I liked how the author was able to cast doubt on all of the characters so that the reader was never quite sure what to expect next. I found that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next.

What could be better: I don’t think I fully connected to Holly’s character enough. I would have liked a bit more background information about her, particularly about her upbringing, to help me understand her perspective better.

Overall I enjoyed this read, it was a decent thriller. I also think I would like to go back and read Bailey’s previous novel to see how they compare. Watch Out for Her felt like the kind of book you would want to read on a dark and gloomy night, but with a light on beside the bed. I would give it 4 stars because it was an entertaining and engaging book.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five!

Overall, this was a enjoyable domestic thriller, but there were a couple of things that didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The pacing of the story was a little slow at times and some of the characters seemed a bit flat. In the end, however, I still enjoyed the story and the twist at the end. (and the cover of the book is great!). Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This was a mind twist if I've ever read one! Watch Out for Her is a psychological thriller that as a mother myself had me on edge the entire time. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and flew through it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

When I read a domestic thriller, I always think of a saying my mom used "Love's blind, but the neighbors ain't". Lol! 😲😉😎

"Watch Out for Her" by Samantha M. Bailey, is quite the intriguing roller coaster ride that had me stumped till the end. I was immediately invested in the characters and was rapidly flipping the pages to see what was going to happen next. I did not want to put the book down, but THAT is when you know it's a great read. Was it perfect? Sadly no, I felt let down by the ending, but overall I still enjoyed the book. I am giving it a 4-star rating.

Jacob Goldman is a 6-year-old, fun-loving little boy. His mom Sarah Goldman, hired a babysitter named Holly Monroe. Jacob loves Holly and Sarah now has time to focus on her photography business. Sarah is a bit of a helicopter mom and notices Holly engaged in some very upsetting activity on the nanny camera. Is Holly hiding secrets? Can she be trusted?

"Watch Out for Her" will be published April 19th.

Thank you NetGally and, Simon & Schuster Canada, for the honor of reviewing this very suspenseful e-book. It is a exciting adventure. Samantha M. Bailey you rock!

Excellent fast paced thriller with a heck of a twist. Sarah is an extremely busy mom, her husband works long hours and everything is on her. When her husband suggests a nanny to help her have some time to pursue her photography she agrees. That is when Holly enters their lives. Holly has had a miserable life so far with an extremely controlling father and step mother who push her into the family business at every turn. Things seem to be going great until Holly realizes Sarah’s husband is keeping some dark secrets and tries to help. This book is extremely suspenseful and addictive.

This book was addicting and impossible to put down from the very first chapter. I was able to connect with the characters in this book very easily. Sarah is married to Daniel, and they have a boy, named Jacob. They are seeking a babysitter to give Sarah a break, and Holly is just the right person for the job. Holly, in her early 20's, is the daughter of a pharmaceutical mogul. Holly was an easy character to judge, and we get to know her very well. Once you do, the reader realizes she is actually a very lonely person, seeking nothing but love from a family, as she has not found that with her money hungry father and stepmother. Holly has a stepsister, Alexis, who is kind of the "bad apple" of the family, but seems to love and is emotionally there to take care of Holly whenever need arises. Many twists happen in this story, and just when you are led to believe one person is the "bad guy", the final twists start happening, and you realize you have been wrong all along. I just loved the writing style, the flow of the chapters and alternating timeline, and enjoyed the nice sculpted ending. I highly recommend this to any reader that enjoys domestic thrillers. 4.5 stars.

📖: Watch Out For Her
✍🏼: Samantha M. Bailey
💁🏻‍♀️: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // 5
🗓: April 19, 2022

🤔💭: First off, thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me an eARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving my review! This is a new to me author and I really enjoyed this new psychological thriller set to release in April. Sarah Goldman, her husband Daniel, and their 6 year old Jacob move across country to escape their lives, in particular the young Holly Monroe whom they hired to babysit their child last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement where Holly was great with Jacob and he loved her, and Holly and Sarah really bonded with one another. Sarah’s had a hard time trusting people which is why she’s keeping a close eye on Holly, but maybe too close. One day Sarah saw something she couldn’t unsee causing her to really question who really this person is that she’s allowed into her home and family. Sarah thinks their starting over in this new city leaving the past behind, but when she finds hidden cameras in her home she wonders if the past is catching up to her and if someone is watching them. This story flips between the perspectives of Holly and Sarah and was very intriguing as it goes back and forth between past and present to really tie the story together.

Recommend: ✅ Definitely would recommend checking this one out!

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: April 19, 2022

SUMMARY:
This is the story of Sarah and Holly - two women drawn to each other for different reasons. Sarah is a new mother and is overwhelmed by the demands of her young son and her blossoming photography career. Holly, recently on the outs with her family, is on the hunt for security. When Sarah and Holly are introduced, it seems they are the answer to one another’s prayers. But is this the case? Why the sudden move to Toronto? And why is there so much fear and paranoia?

PROS and CONS:
Told through alternating perspectives in Sarah and Holly’s voices, we slowly get the information on why Sarah and her family are suddenly living in Toronto, having moved unexpectedly from Vancouver. And Holly is nowhere on the scene, in fact, Sarah now seems to be afraid of her (overall Sarah was a bit difficult to relate to with her questionable actions and tendency to overreact) - but I was intrigued to reach the ending that’s for sure.

READ IT?
It’s another solid effort from Bailey - maybe a borrow not buy situation, but still quite good!

4 Stars

In Watch Out for Her, author Samantha M. Bailey keeps the reader's interest by going back and forth between Holly Before and Sarah Now. Sarah and her family have moved to get away from Holly and whatever plans she had in mind for their family. But has she followed them? I want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an early copy to review.

Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Watch Out for Her started off strong for me, but then went downhill. Unfortunately, I wasn’t invested in the characters and the pacing was a little slow for my liking. I also guessed the twist about half way in.

I do think readers who enjoy a domestic suspense novel will find this to be an enjoyable quick and easy read. I tend to be very picky when it comes to thrillers so please take my review with a grain of salt.

A compulsive and riveting exploration of trust, obsession and voyeurism, Samantha Bailey knocks it out of the park with this intricately plotted domestic thriller. With dark secrets and surprising twists, this one’s sure to be a new favorite!

The story alternates between Sarah, mother to 6yo Jacob, and Holly, the 22yo babysitter she and her husband, Daniel hired. All Holly wants is a family who loves her. She thinks she’s found that in her summer working for Sarah and Daniel. But Sarah is neurotic, a classic helicopter mom who is slow to trust. When she witnesses something horrible, she kicks Holly out and moves her family across the country. But soon Sarah begins to feel like someone is watching her.

A creepy, up-all-night thriller you won’t soon forget!

One of my most anticipated reads of the year did not disappoint! After loving Samantha Bailey's first book, The Woman on the Edge, I was really excited to read this one and it was exactly what I wanted in a domestic thriller.

Secrets, lies, shady characters who all seem to have something to hide and it's told with dual perspectives! Check, check, check, check!

Each chapter alternates point of view between Sarah, a Mom to 6 year old Jacob and Holly, the babysitter that her and her husband hired. Sarah had never been the type to trust easily and so she kept a close eye on Holly and eventually, what she saw raised some serious questions.

This was a fast paced and tense psychological thriller and I loved everything about it! Highly recommend!

Do you really know your neighbours? WATCH OUT FOR HER is a slow burn mystery that keeps you guessing. I am not usually fan of slow reveals, but Bailey kept me engage throughout the novel.

WATCH OUT FOR HER bounces between the present day pov of Sarah who has just moved from BC to Toronto with her husband (Daniel) and young son (Jacob), but why did Sarah and her family move across the country so suddenly? What secret were they running from?

The answers are slowly revealed through the flashback pov of their summer babysitter, Holly.

Things I liked about the book: The Canadian setting has a special place in my heart, it makes such a difference to read a thriller with cultural bearings you can related to. I also found it difficult to put this book down, even when I felt impatient with the reveals I still kept turning the pages.

Things I struggled with: without revealing too much, I felt the conflicts lacked shock value. The reveals were great and there were some good twists, but the whole premise for the book is a little less sensational than I had expected. If it had been a wee bit more sinister or dramatic I would've given it 5 stars.

Overall, a great read by a Canadian author I will gladly read more of!

What a great book! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the wonderful characters along the way. Written really well and kept me up reading half the book! I highly recommend this book!! Thank you for letting me review

I want to start by thanking NetGalley as well as the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. An intense psychological thriller. You will be pulled from one conclusion to another as the novel unfolds, just knowing you never seem to know everything.

Watch Out For Her is a thriller that follows a mother named Sarah as her family moves across the country trying to escape the past. As Sarah and her family settle into their new home, Sarah is haunted by the past she is desperate to escape, a past where she had a hired a young woman to help her watch her son. A past where Sarah discovered things that she shouldn’t have by looking too close to things.

This book follows two timelines. The past in which babysitter Holly is a big part of Sarah’s life, and the present in which Sarah has fled for reasons we slowly unravel as the reader. The two timelines is a troupe that I really enjoy in thriller books because you want to read it faster to figure out when the timelines will connect. I found myself very engaged through the majority of this book, even though it did meander through the day to day life of the characters without advancing the plot very much for chunks of it. Sarah’s perspective in the present time was fascinating because she is very paranoid about everything around her and extremely suspicious but not in a way that makes her feel like she is losing her mind. Most of her suspicions are very grounded in what is going on around her.

My few complaints about this book are that it is just a little slow in some parts. I also found the ending to be pretty predictable.

Overall, it was an enjoyable thriller that I would recommend to anyone who like to try to figure out what is really going on versus what is just the character’s imagination.

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.
𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦, "𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶" 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥.
𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵.

𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧, "𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳" 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮.
𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧, "𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳" 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮.

As soon as I read her debut WOMAN ON THE EDGE, I knew that Samantha Bailey would be a writer to watch. I have been anticipating this title ever since I became aware she was writing it. I started reading it almost as soon as I was approved, and 24 hours later, I'm still stunned.

Told in dual timelines called 'then' and 'now', Sarah, her husband Daniel, and their young son Jacob have moved across the country to escape the oppressive presence of their live-in babysitter, 22-year-old Holly Monroe. Curiously, Sarah and Holly were drawn to each other for similar reasons: Sarah wistfully sees a youthful, carefree version of herself that never really existed in Holly, while Holly sees in Sarah the unconditional love of the mother she never had. Unfortunately, these two women have something else in common: an almost pathological need to intrude into the lives of others. After an explosive argument soon before the two part ways, Holly tells six-year-old Jacob, "Tell your mommy to watch out for herself."

When Sarah finds remnants of her old life showing up in her new one, her paranoia heightens. Is Holly going to make good on the threat she uttered to young Jacob? Everything you thought you knew about trust, family, friendship, and protecting the ones you love will be called into question. All at once a chilling, sobering read. Publishes April 19 from Simon and Schuster.

Loved it! I’m a fan and always looking for the next book by this author! Highly suggest this book to anyone who’s wanting good suspense!