Samantha M. Bailey's latest is a tense, acerbic psychological thriller.

Set in Toronto and Vancouver, Watch Our for Her is smart, suspenseful, and full of shocking twists. It is intricately plotted—Bailey reveals just enough to create frenzy and momentum. Her characters are well-developed and propel the expertly paced plot. She deftly employs a dual timeline and alternating perspectives, writing from both Sarah's and Holly's viewpoints. Her leading ladies are compelling and complex.

Bailey is a master at manipulating her reader. With short and punchy chapters, she cleverly delivers on so many levels.

Watch Out for Her is a deep dive into trust, voyeurism, and obsession. A must read!

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

I’m clearly in the minority, but I didn’t love this book, mostly because I just didn’t like the main character, Sarah. The story revolves around Sarah and her husband Daniel, who move from Vancouver to Toronto with their young son Jacob, after a falling out with their babysitter turned family friend, Holly. The chapters alternate between Sarah’s POV after the move and Holly’s POV before the move.

The book was somewhat suspenseful though I did figure out the twist pretty early. The author did a good job at creating suspicion so the reader wasn’t sure who to trust. Nothing really scary happens in my opinion but there is an overtone of creepiness after the move occurs.

My issue with the book was in my lack of connection with Sarah, who is supposed to be the protagonist. She grossly overreacts to some of the things that happen in the book while grossly under-reacting to others, causing me to just be frustrated with her throughout the entire story. I empathized with Holly and everything related to her storyline just made me feel sad.

Overall, the book held my interest but I just didn’t love it. I didn’t root for Sarah and felt let down by how it all worked out. I’d give it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has you guessing right until the very end! Sarah thinks she’s in the kiddie of an affair between her husband and babysitter, things aren’t always as they seem!

Watch out for this addictive domestic thriller!

I became a fan of Sam Bailey after reading her debut novel Women On The Edge back in 2019. Now she is back with her second novel Watch Out For Her and I'm thrilled that this new domestic suspense read exceeded my expectations. It is compelling from start to finish and left me reading well past my bedtime as I repeatedly lied to myself that I'd just read 'just one more chapter'.

This fast-paced thriller is relentless in its tension, smartly written and simply unputdownable. The story is set in Toronto and Vancouver in two timelines and is told from two perspectives - Sarah, a married, middle-aged woman and Holly, a 22-year-old woman from a privileged family that Sarah hires to babysit her son, Jacob. The two women quickly become close, sharing their personal fears, insecurities, and sense of inadequacy. But the friendship becomes threatened with secrets, omissions and lies leaving readers unsure of who is telling the truth.

The switches between POV and timelines and the enticing micro twists at the end of several chapters keep the tension and the urge to keep reading very high. The reader witnesses hidden motives and manipulation by various characters and Bailey is great at throwing curveballs so just when I thought I had it figured out, I'd find myself suspecting another person.

With great flow, many possible culprits and a pervading and delicious creepiness, this domestic thriller is a pure page-turner that will keep readers on their toes and guessing until the final pages. Be prepared to devour this book in a sitting or two.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with a digital advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The story was fine, if with a notably obvious "twist," but the main character was nearly unreadable. Or, I should say, she made sense if this were a movie and not a book? Does that make sense?

Wow! This was a sit down, shut up and read kind of book. The pace picks up in chapter 1 and it rockets you through the story at breakneck speed. Secrets, lies and betrayal pave the path to the final jaw dropping twist at the end. The characters were amazing and the story line was awesome. I love how the author weaves this together from two view points as well as past to present. Amazingly done!

Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey is a fast-paced, twisty thriller that races through past and present timelines. Both Sarah and Holly were compelling characters—deeply developed and thoroughly fascinating. Highly recommend!

This book was absolutely addictive! Sarah hires a babysitter for the summer, 22 year old Holly to help with her 6 year old son. It started off the perfect arrangements and then things didn’t quiet work out as Sarah moves across the country to escape Holly and so much more she wasn’t aware of.

I was unable to put this book down right from the start. The use of a broken timeline really drove the story forward as I was eager to find out what had really caused the conflict between Holly and Sarah.

Overall the pace of this was great esp for a thriller it was a quick read (but mostly quick because I absolutely couldn’t put it down!) I did find Hollys character to be a little more developed as I felt for her through out the whole journey while sometimes finding myself frustrated with Sarah and how one tracked her mindset came off.

I will admit I found myself a victim to the misdirect and totally missed the whodunnit until very close to the actual reveal!

5🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Wow Chilling & Sad Stars!

Name of Book: Watch Out for her
Author: Samantha M. Bailey
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub Date: April 19, 2022
My Rating: 5


Yikes this creepy cover is enough to give anyone nightmares!!!

This is my second Bailey novel. The first was " Woman on the Edge" which was GREAT!

Wherever you go she’ll be watching . . .
Story starts with Sarah Goldman, a forty-one year old, wife, mother and photographer. She and her husband Daniel, a COO with a consulting firm along with six years old Jacob suddenly uproot and move across country from Vancouver to Toronto; with the intend of escaping from their twenty-two year old nanny Holly Monroe, a British Columbia Medical student.

This uprooting seems quite sudden but the story alternates between then and now so it takes us a while to find out the real reason for the move!

The Goldman’s have moved to Lilac Lane on Blossom Count in Toronto, it is a friendly suburb where they are renting a furnished home. The home was an incentive for Daniel to take the new position.
All is well until Sarah is checked the smoke detector and notices the little light isn’t on so figures it needs batteries. When she checks she finds a hidden camera. Sarah wonders why she is being watched…then she then gets a message ~ ‘I see you’ ~; which is something Holly said often.
Story is told from the POV of both Sarah and Holly ~ Then and Now.

As in a typical psychological thriller, I expect twists, turns, secrets, surprises and I suspected everyone ~ Holly, Daniel, as well as the neighbors. Sill I am on the edge of my seat holding my breath!

Note since I suspected everyone, I did get this right but sure didn’t have details!

I am sure this is going to be one of the MOST talked about thriller in 2022!
Certainly is one of my favorites!
Certainly am looking forward to the next [author: Samantha Bailey] read.

As always I enjoyed the Author’s Acknowledgements at the end of the book!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 19, 2022

2.5 stars rounded to 3. I’m so disappointed that I didn’t love this book. I loved Woman on The Edge and was so excited to read Watch out for Her.

In all honesty, not much happens in this book. There was no excitement or crazy twists and turns. It was basically a story about Sarah who hires Holly to babysit her son. Both have secrets, including Sarah’s husbands but they aren’t even that juicy. I did enjoy all of the Canadian references, particularly Canada’s Wonderland

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the digital ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own

Watch Out for Her follows Sarah and Daniel, as well as their son Jacob, as they navigate their relationship with their new nanny Holly.
Holly starts staying with the family after her wealthy family disowns her, leaving her with nothing. Though Holly enjoys a relationship with her stepsister- the black sheep of the family- she chooses to seek a new family with her employers. I enjoyed exploring the relationship between Holly and Jacob as a nanny myself. Taking place in the summer, Samantha Bailey balanced suspense with a carefree feel of the “before” sections.

Bailey switches between “before” and “after”, building up the tension between Holly and the family of three. In the “after” chapters, Sarah and Daniel have moved across the country to start a new life with their son away from Holly. I thought neighbor Tara had some flaws- her quirkiness that caused Sarah to be suspicious was never fully addressed. As the family attempts to build a new life, paranoia prevents them from reaching open communication and coming clean about each parent’s disturbed pasts.

The ending of this book caught me off guard. I thought it was a clever plot twist and I definitely did not see it coming, but I do wish Bailey had built up a bit more context and clues towards the revelation of characters in the end. Rather than “clicking”, the ending left me wanting more reasoning behind the main act of deceit.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would give it 3.5/5 stars. I love plots that involve nannies, and Watch Out for Her kept taking me on rides I didn’t see coming. Samantha Bailey successfully presented characters that were both likable and made me cringe, all while interweaving their stories into a web of deceit and desire.

This book is the perfect domestic/psychological thriller! I had never read any of this author's books previous this one, so I'm definitely going to see if she has any other books. This book is told from dual POVs and it really made this book all the more. Interesting! Everytime I thought I knew what was going on something happened and made me question everything I thought I knew. There were twists and turns I saw coming but more that I didn't see coming. This is definitely a 5 star book! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is my first book from this author and I was definitely not disappointed! The writing style is amazing and the story keeps you interested the entire way through. I was so enthralled with this story and needing to know what would happen next I could not put this book down! Just when you think you’ve figured out what’s going on you get pulled in another direction and have to continue to know what will happen. Excellent book and I will definitely read more from this author!

Sarah Goldman is a helicopter mom- overbearing, overprotective, and way too paranoid. To allow herself time to focus on her photography, she hires Holly, who lives down the street to watch her six year old son, Jacob. Holly is a twenty - two year old medical student whose life isn't as perfect as it seems. Holly is desperate for motherly love - and she thinks Sarah is just the one to provide her with the affection she's been missing her entire life. Until one late summer day, Sarah witnessed the unthinkable - and wants Holly out of her home. and life forever.

The one was quite the page turner! I really enjoyed how each chapter ended in a cliffhanger - I was so curious to see how all the secrets unraveled. I will say, the ending caught me by surprise - making this read so much better! I loved how it was written in alternating POV's. Sarah annoyed me at times throughout this book - but still a solid thriller.

4.75 – 5 STARS

A crazy and twisted ride, “Watch Out for Her” turned into an instant obsession for me right from the very start. Secrets abound in this well-crafted thriller, making it difficult to discern those who can be trusted from those who cannot.

Boasting an intriguing premise, a captivating storyline and well developed (albeit, very flawed) characters, “Watch Out for Her” shines a spotlight on the dysfunctional dynamics of two separate households while exploring the very concept of “family.” At the same time, character insecurities are prominently showcased through acts of jealousy and various displays of inadequacy, which go a long way in heightening the story’s suspense.

While some character attributes were a bit over-the-top for my personal liking, all in all, “Watch Out for Her” is a highly engrossing thriller that I found difficult to put down!

Highly recommend!! This book is a definite page-turner! You'll be left thinking about the story long after you put the book down. First book to read by this author but definitely not my last!

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<p>Sarah, her 6 year old son Jacob, and her husband have moved across country. She is relieved. They had some success with a babysitter (Holly), but things took a bad turn. She's grateful to leave Holly behind. However, she finds hidden cameras in her new home, and a neighbor isn't who she seems. Has Holly followed them? </p>
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<p>This was a good novel. Sometimes when authors write that a character is seeing or suspecting things, others immediately write them off as "crazy". I didn't get that impression with people's reaction to Sarah, so that was refreshing. I do feel like a lot of books like this follow a similar pattern - who did it? The person one person suspects? A relative? Someone closer to the protagonist? The protagonist? The author definitely hinted at several of these scenarios in an attempt to keep the reader guessing. I had a suspicion of who it was, and I was right. I felt like she wanted you to think of two other scenarios and heavily wrote some weird things in to make you think that, but that made it kind of obvious. She does write everything extremely well, so it's harder to crack. </p>
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<p>Definitely a good, solid thriller.Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada.</p>
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22 year old Holly is hired as a baby sitter for Sarah and Daniel’s young son, Jacob. It seems like the perfect arrangement, as Jacob really adored Holly and Holly found a perfect mother figure in Sarah. The only problem is that Sarah has a hard time to put her full trust in people. So she keeps a close eye on Holly. She sees a few things that raise more questions, until finally she sees something she can never forget!

WATCH OUT FOR HER will have you questioning everyone you know!! Told in alternating timelines of past and present. I really enjoyed this page turner. Filled with secrets and tension, it kept me hooked in right from the start. This was my first book by Samantha Bailey and I look forward to her future works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

I was hooked by the end of the first chapter! I really loved Sarah's character and found her well-developed...Holly as a character had to grow on me. I found her to be super annoying.. but I guess that's the point? This book was unpredictable....whenever I thought I could guess what would happen next, I was so wrong. The end was the only thing that left me wanting more for Holly and Sarah..