I really enjoy Cathryn Grant's books and The Secret She Kept was no exception. It is full of twists, turns and huge amounts of drama and it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for my ARC.

There definitely were some great elements of suspense and some interesting stalking techniques in this book. I felt that the writing was good, however the story just had too many holes and it made the overall book suffer. It is one thing to find out that your spouse gave up a child for adoption at a young age, however really different if your father was involved in a rape scenario that her own mother covered up. The spouse's mother was having an illicit affair with the same person that raped your spouse, but is also your father at the same time. Oh, and your spouse, your father, or your mother in law never told you what happened. This really read like a soap opera and I kind of pictured it in this way as I read it. The product of the rape shows up and shakes things up. This book ended up being ok in the end, however I was thrilled. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book flowed like a soap opera! So much drama! I loved it. Family secrets can't be hidden forever. Full of blackmail, lies, and revenge!
Ruth lives a great life with her husband until there is a surprise guest in town.
I loved how aggressive Nadia's character was, she really felt like an impulsive 22 year old thru her actions and dialog. Everytime she spoke, I wanted to yell "You're a crazy b****!" And somehow you still feel for her at the end!
This was a fast paced highly enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more from Cathryn Grant.
Thank you Netgalley, publisher, and author for the RAC.

Ruth has lead a perfect life married to her childhood sweetheart, a stunning house and creating a state of the art wellness centre alongside her husband Cameron. Ruth's mother Cheryl lives in a beautiful cottage at the back of their house, giving both space whilst always being near.

And then Nadia Fairchild walks into the centre and into Ruth's life. Injecting herself into every aspect of Ruth's life - friends, family, business and home - and then threatens everything she has ever held dear.

For Ruth has a secret. A big one. And Nadia knows that Ruth will do anything to keep that secret from getting out. And so she demands $50,000. And until she figures out how to raise that sort of cash without drawing Cameron's attention, Nadia decides to move into their illustrious home and enjoy the benefits of their lifestyle. How is she to tell Cameron that a client, a complete stranger is going to be taking up residence in their guest room? Not my problem, Nadia says.

Cameron is less than pleased with their guest's arrival and finds Ruth's reasons for taking her in both out of character and a conflict of interest. But how can she make him accept her reasons, lame as they are? But one thing is for sure, she must convince him to allow her to stay or she risks Nadia revealing her darkest secret. And she cannot risk that. Nor can she confide in him. Her secret surely would destroy them.

And what of Nadia's plans? What is her end game? And if Ruth pays her the blackmail money, will she then leave? And if she doesn't, what does she have in store for Ruth?

THE SECRET SHE KEPT is a cat and mouse thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat wondering who is going to come out on top and who is going to lose. The gaslighting, the manipulation and the mind games will have you despising Nadia from the first page. But then most of the characters were far from likable. In addition to the manipulative Nadia, there is the entitled and selfish Micah (Cameron's dad) and his appalling trophy wife who did nothing but complain about everything for the short time she was featured. Ruth's mum Cheryl was in some kind of denial about the past and still refused to acknowledge it but I actually kind of liked her. Justine was confrontational and although I understood why, it didn't endear her to me. And then there was Ruth. I didn't even much like her. I really couldn't understand why she couldn't tell Cameron in the first place...until the secret truly unravelled and I guessed the even bigger secret behind it. But even then, I still thought she could have confided in him.

The story had a lot of drama surrounding Justine and her daughter Kellyn which I felt didn't really go anywhere. And even in the end there was no real closure about it. Just some humming and hahhing. Even more puzzling were some of the aspects of the story that were left unexplained. Why didn't Cameron not want children? It was clearly emphasised but never explained. And why in God's name did Nadia cut her arm and smear her blood all over the window and door of Micah and Deanne's motel room? I was puzzled as to why when she was doing it...and then it was never explained why she actually did. That entire scene was ludicrous and served no purpose.

And then there was the ending. That was the worst. After taking days to find a few spare minutes to read this book, it ends like that? What the hell was that? Totally unsatisfactory and senseless to me. I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't that.

But on the whole, I enjoyed THE SECRET SHE KEPT and look forward to reading more by this author. It is my second read by her with "The Favorite Child" being my first which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I would like to thank #CathrynGrant, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheSecretSheKept in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

I love this intense, climactic thriller. I was incredibly invested in the characters and plot. Readers are going to love this incredible novel.

I always enjoy Cathryn a grant novels and jumped at the chance of reading her newest domestic thriller. I was not disappointed! This book was everything I look for in a book. It was so exciting. The plot was fantastic. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and my heart racing. It was very well written and flowed well.

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 🎭: domestic suspense
𝙋𝙖𝙘𝙚 🏃🏼‍♀️: fast
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚: 🚫
𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 🖤: psychological slow burn
𝙏𝙒 ⚠️: extortion, murder, SA of a minor, abandonment trauma

🤐dual POV
🤐insane gaslighting
🤐blackmail

Phew. I even feel manipulated after reading this book. The dual POV was fantastic. I felt so many emotions reading this book.

Nadia is an incredibly immature and vindictive 22 year old woman determined to ruin Ruth’s life. She blackmails her, sabotages all of her professional and personal relationships, and clearly holds onto a lot of trauma. She resents Ruth - for reasons I will not spoil- and will stop at nothing to get her revenge.

Nadia’s gaslighting was so disgusting and juvenile it was hard to read- but I think that was the point. I did feel Ruth was a little too weak, which at points made me roll my eyes. Nadia made me feel so uncomfortable - you could just feel her desperation and complete lack of social awareness. Again, the point of the story was her trying to find ways to ruin Ruth’s life and make her miserable - so I have to assume the cringiness was intentional.

The ending had a massive crescendo of dramatic events that felt somewhat abrupt/rushed. I wish that was drawn out a little bit longer.

Overall an enjoyable domestic suspense. Stylistically this was very well written - I just couldn’t really get past how whiny Nadia was and how gross it made me feel. I definitely think it was well done and would work well for a lot of readers.

I loved this book. It was a fantastic psychological thriller. It kept my heart racing throughout. It was fast paced and very well written. Great drama to get your teeth into

Excellent. Kept me engaged throughout the story. Only reason it has 4 stars is because it was Slightly predictable but good! I really hope to see more from the author in the future!

Thanks to Inkubator Books and NetGally for this ARC!

This was quite an intense book about an adopted girl who discovers who her biological mother is after the passing of her adopted mother and begins to torture and blackmail her. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the things she would do to manipulate the people who came into contact with her and couldn’t find myself wanting to cheer her on. Everything worked out in the end but I didn’t feel like she deserved her happy ending.

The book was well written in that it stirred up all sorts of emotions while I was reading it and made me want to keep turning the pages to find out what would happen next.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Another amazing book by this author.

Ruth has kept a huge secret from her husband, Cameron, since they were dating. When Nadia shows up at her company asking too many personal questions, things get heated. This book really makes you think that it might take years, but eventually secrets come to the surface.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Such a great book. The action started right from the beginning. No build up lol.

I really enjoyed this book and the author's writing I felt was brilliant. I could not stand Nadia, and not every author gets me to feel for the characters but I really felt for Ruth and what she went through during this whole story. The suspense of what was going to happen kept me on the edge of my seat.

I definitely recommend this book and hope you grab a copy.

Ruth feels like she's living the dream. She's happily married to the love of her life. Cameron, and she is deeply fulfilled in her work - running the wellness centre that grew out of their shared vision. But something feels off to Ruth about a new client, Nadia. She asks so many probing and personal questions about Ruth's life. It feels intrusive to the point where Ruth asks the young woman to leave. Nut Nadia isn't going anywhere. Because she knows more about Ruth than she lets on. In fact, she knows more about Ruth's past, including the dark secret ruth thought was locked forever inside her own heart.

This fast-paced read had me hooked from the beginning. We learn what the secret is quite early on in the story. ruth had kept the secret for twenty years. The characters were well developed, realistic, but they could be frustrating. The tension builds throughout. There's lots going on but it's not confusing. The story is told from Ruth and Nadia's perspectives. This is a well written and twisted read.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #InkubatorBooks and the author #CathrynGrant for my ARC of #TheSecretSheKept in exchange for an honest review.

**TW: rape
This was a captivating story of a woman’s past coming back to haunt her and trying to destroy the life she created for herself. Anytime I started to feel bored with the story, BAM, there was a twist!Characters were easy to feel connected to, and definitely played the part they were supposed to. It was very easy to see Nadia as the villain throughout the story but by the end you have a soft spot for her and your feelings change. It encompassed deception and suspense along with family drama and friendship struggles. If you enjoy a fast paced read with suspenseful twists and scenes then The Secret She Kept is a book for you! I took off one star for the times I did start to feel bored and for the character names, I just did not feel like the names flowed well together and were all a modge podge of eccentric names.

Whilst I love thrillers, I have struggled to enjoy this type with the plot line revolving around secrets from the past coming back to haunt someone so I went into this book fully expecting it to be a minor variation of a dozen books I'd read before. I could not have been more wrong! This book had me hooked and didn't let up until I'd finished. The characters are just so well written and realistic, the tension is built so effectively and you really do have no idea where the storyline is going or what the outcome is going to be! It has the twist, turns and surprises that you'd expect and the plot is constantly moving forward which I loved! I enjoyed every second of this one!!! It takes some real talent to take a basic premise that has been done multiple times and then somehow still make it unique and make it stand out head an shoulders above the rest! I'll definitely be looking out for the authors backcatalouge and future releases!!

This story was wild, unhinged. I loved it!

Nadia kills a woman who failed to find and treat her now deceased mother's cancer. With that justice accomplished, she seeks out her next victim for revenge. Nadia has no empathy, no ethics, no morals. She is ruthless. And definitely unstable.

Ruth runs a very successful wellness center and has grown exponentially wealthy because of it. Her partner is her husband and they seem happy, content. However, it's clear that Ruth isn't as perfect as she appear ANF has some skeletons in her closet that even her husband doesn't know about.

When these two women collide all hell breaks loose.

This is one of Grant's best yet. I couldn't put it down. It was fast paced and filled with suspense. I never saw the shocking twists coming nor the unveiled secrets.

The Secret She Kept
by Cathryn Grant
Extremely good book! I was hooked on page 1. I had to read this one in a day. I loved how the pacing of the story was full of tension. I felt like Nadia should have just told Cameron, but then what's the fun of that? Wow, I will now check out more of Catheryn's books.

"Dark secrets, blackmail, obsession, and revenge. Spine-tingling—an addictive tale of domestic suspense."

Cathryn Grant's latest twisty psychological thriller, THE SECRET SHE KEPT, features a woman with a massive secret (yes, it is a big one) from when she was fifteen years old. Now her worst nightmare has come true.

How far will Ruth go to protect the secret she kept?

Set in California, we meet Ruth, married to Cameron (for twelve years), and the Second Chance Wellness Center owners. They have a beautiful home, and life is grand. Ruth's mother lives in the idyllic cottage behind their house and grounds.

Until the day Nadia Fairchild walks into the center. She is not as she appears. From this day one, she has interjected herself in every facet of Ruth's life. Her friends, family, business, and her home.

She will not leave. She knows what happened when Ruth was 15 years old. (22 years ago). Ruth cannot confide in Cameron. It would destroy them. Nadia has demanded $50K in blackmail. However, if she gets the money, will she leave?

What comes next is a multi-layered dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. Is Nadia a murderer? Has she killed before for revenge?

We hear from POVs Ruth and Nadia, past and present.

Readers will despise Nadia and her manipulation and childish behavior. Also, Micah (Cameron's Dad) and his wife, Deanne, were selfish, privileged, and disgusting. Even Ruth's mom was in denial. You feel for Nadia, her past, and her lack of support from her mom. (even though she makes poor choices, but finally gets a backbone by the end).

The author pulls out one shocking twist after another in this multi-layered labyrinth of dark secrets and lies.

Grant weaves a gripping, tautly suspenseful tale of deception and betrayal dark enough to destroy a marriage…or a life.

My first book by this author, and even though I was glued to the pages, a few things bothered me, which kept me from giving this one a higher rating.

~Too much drama and emphasis with Justine/Kellyn. This made the book drag. I would have preferred to leave this part out of the story. It did not add to the story. I skipped over these parts.
~Not a lot of likable characters, except for Ruth. Cameron was rather spineless, as well.
~The word "motel" was used throughout the book when it should have been "hotel" instead. Motels are more a mom-and-pop low-end affordable accommodation, not 5-star luxury accommodation.
~Too much emphasis on Cameron not wanting children but never addressed why
~Nadia's stalking was over the top beyond believability.
~Also, why would Nadia cut her arm and put blood on the door knob of Micah and Deanne's hotel? This served no purpose
~The worst was the ending. After reading a book for eight hours and up until 3 am and this unsatisfactory conclusion fell flat for me. I had something else totally in mind.

Even with the cons, this was still 3.5 Stars. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to #InkubatorBooks and #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Website Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (rounded to 4 Stars)
Pub Date: Dec 13, 2022
Dec 2022 Must-Read Books

Nadia is on a mission to punish those that she blames for her Mother's death.
She targets Ruth, who owns a Wellness Centre with her husband, Cameron, and inveigles her way into their home and into their lives, causing havoc at every turn.
She knows more about them than they could imagine.
Blackmail, murder and secrets kept for many years.

I enjoyed this book, but did not like the main character, Nadia. She is selfish and childish, and it is beyond my understanding why she took revenge on Ruth.
A little unbelievable, in my mind, but the story was entertaining and kept me engaged throughout, and there was a happy ending.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Could not put this book down! The secret is given early on in the book, but there are still quite a few twists that kept my interest. Ruth has a secret and Nadia is determined to cause havoc in Ruth's life because of this secret I have to say that Nadia is a very unlikable person and it was difficult for me to feel any empathy for her. Ruth just got on my nerves because she allowed Nadia to walk all over her. I would have given this book 5 stars, but the ending wasn't what I expected. It was definitely not a satisfying ending for me.