Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the arc copy of this book!

Slow burn for sure! Not in the way that makes you not want to read it, but in the buidling of the story, you need all of the information given. The end really picked up and I could not stop reading because I had to find out what happened.

Very good book! I would definetly recommend this read!!

Thank you again for allowing me to read an advanced copy! I am glad I got to experience this book!

3.5⭐️

This was another enjoyable thriller by Jamie Day! I really liked Izzy’s character and the lakeside Vermont setting. A couple of twists that I didn’t see coming and a couple predictable plot points.

ARC/ ALC REVIEW:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

For as long as they can remember, David, Julia, and Erika have spent their summers vacationing at their family lake houses. While their memories contain fond times, the lake itself has a dark past. Over the course of a few decades, several women have mysteriously gone missing. With the investigations stalling out, the cases go cold. That is until recent home renovations unearth human remains. Will the trio be able to enjoy their summer lake escape, or will they unwillingly be brought into the investigation?

Jamie Day is my go to author if I am looking to read a mystery/suspense/thriller. Despite enjoying the genre, I tend to read very little of it. The reason being, most books in this category are too disturbing. Thankfully, this is not the case for Day’s work.

I had the pleasure of both physically reading and listening to the audiobook of The Lake Escape. While I found both formats be enjoyable, the voice acting elevated the story to a whole new level.

Day’s decision to tell the story through Julia and Izzy made it ideal for dual narration. Not only were they the two most reliable narrators, but getting to hear their POVs brought the story to life. Props to the producers and voice actors!

Without giving away the plot, this book also contains:
-deep seeded secrets
-hidden identities
-daring investigations

I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Lake Escape. It is the perfect summer read that will keep you guessing without compromising your desire to vacation.

Special thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and Jamie Day for allowing me to read/ listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

A good read to kick off the summer. Lake Escape brings together an idyllic lakeside setting, three longtime friends and their families, a couple of newcomers, and—of course—a boatload of secrets. From the start, you can feel the tension simmering beneath the surface, and there are a lot of secrets to unpack.

Some characters are easy to like for, while others you develop a strong dislike for. The plot weaves in past tragedies from 30 and 60 years ago, adding a layer of intrigue and atmosphere. I found myself especially curious about the older mystery, which I thought was brushed over at the end.

The book is a quick, engaging read with a steady pace. That said, the ending felt a little chaotic and didn’t quite tie everything together as strongly as I’d hoped. I also would have liked to see Grace play a larger role—her character had a lot of potential.

Overall, a solid, suspenseful read that keeps you guessing, even if the final stretch falls a bit short. Great for fans of twisty lake-side dramas with secrets to uncover.

Thank you St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lake Escape is a domestic thriller surrounding three families with long histories, vacationing at their lake houses. The story follows one of the family’s nanny as a main character who only took the job to uncover a secret from the past. Each family has a storyline, told throughout in both past and present-tense. When David’s new, younger girlfriend disappears, the friends are left wondering what they really know about each other.

The secrets, lies, and twists keep coming once you get past the first half of the book- a little heavy with filling in the blanks. No one is as they seem and discovering the secrets kept me glued to the pages. I enjoyed the history that was uncovered and the way it was presented. I loved the multiple twists and the ease of reading the book. Overall, 4 solid stars for this one! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this arc!

This will be a great beach read for this summer! What an amazingly twisted, tangled story (easy to follow, though). I had my suspect pegged, but I did not get it quite right. This has just enough edge to keep you up at night reading!
Thank you #Netgalley and #StMartinsPress for allowing me an ARC of this book. It is great!

This book took me longer than it should have to read but because of the time it took me I realized a few things. This story sticks with you. Even though life didn’t give me a lot of time to dive into this book the way I’d like to it was not hard to remember the characters and the feelings and the situations of this story. I also realized that this author was able to give each character their own voice through the writing. The story itself was captivating. The twists and turns confirmed suspicions in some aspects but then totally blew my mind in other aspects. It’s definitely a must read.

Jamie Day proves once again, why she is the queen of the unexpected. Not your typical beach read- this novel is entertaining and thought provoking.

THE LAKE ESCAPE • pub day 07.15.25

ALC review
Natrators: Lisa Larsen & Phoebe Strole
Length: 12h 41 min
ARC pages: 384

David, Julia, and Erika have been friends since childhood - and now as adults they return to the Lake they spent time together when they were kids. Told in the POV of Julia, and David’s new nanny Izzy - secrets start to come out one morning when David’s new girlfriend vanishes. The lake has a history of missing girls in the past and everyone is haunted by the fact that it could have happened again.

I didn’t really connect to any characters in this story but I liked the setting of summertime at the lake with the eery feeling of suspense near the lake. I did the audio and the ebook for this one and think either way is a good option. I liked Izzy’s POV as it was told in first person and you could get more of a feel of her personality and intentions. If the book focused more on the mystery of the people that went missing I think I would have liked it a bit better but it was mostly focused on the family drama and suspense of the ones at the lake house. The narrators for the audiobook were great.

3.5 ⭐️

Thanks to MacMillan Audio for my ALC + NetGalley & St Martin’s Press for my ARC

I was expecting the typical vacation thriller, but this was not it! This was a well-plotted mystery with many layers and characters that was, honestly, difficult to navigate at times. The murder mysteries made sense and went well with the eerie setting. However, the domestic drama going on within and between the couples was a bit much and hard to keep up with. The domestic elements kept this from being a more serious type of literary fiction, which would have been an improvement. Too much was just…too much. I have read all of Day’s thrillers and she showed her literary chops here! It’s time she heads away from the more cushy desperate housewives vibe and into serious fiction since she is clearly able. Great job on this book. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest and humble review: here it is!

The Lake Escape sounds idyllic for a summer retreat but it turns out to be anything but.

I was quickly drawn into the story of Julia, David and Erika long time friends who traditionally spent their summers together on the beautiful serene lake.

When David's younger girlfriend disappears everyone suspects everyone else and piece by piece secrets and lies are revealed.

The story is told from mulitple POV's and this works very well as you get to know each one's story.

Twists and turns add to the suspense and I just had to know what happened.

The Lake Escape is well worth picking up and clearing your schedule and will make the perfect summer read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review and The Lake Escape.

While I’ve enjoyed other books by Jamie Day, this book wasn’t for me. It took me forever to read and I stopped reading and came back to it multiple times.

3.5 stars
This was an enjoyable read, and I was entertained. I did feel that the first half was a bit meandering at times with all of the action packed into the last part of the book. I would have liked to have seen more mystery and suspense throughout the story instead of only at the end. Some of the final scenes strained credibility. Still, this was a fun read – and I think it would be a nice read for summer vacation.

I paired the print and audio versions for an immersive read, and this was a fun way to absorb the book.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Julia, David, and Erika have been coming to Lake Timmeny, Vermont since childhood, their families owning adjacent houses. Their friendship has been long and enduring. This year may be different. David has built a huge glass house obscuring the view of the two others and has brought his young, sexy girlfriend along with his twin children. He has hired Izzy as a nanny, but she seems to be there under the shadow of a secret. The three friends have secrets of their own. The lake is notorious because two girls disappeared whereabouts unknown thirty years apart, leading to the legend “the lake takes them”. It is now thirty years since the last disappearance and another person goes missing.

Told from two points of view with a bit of a convoluted plot this is a twisty, sinister trip through toxic relationships. There are twists galore, some unexpected, others easy to guess. With a plot that begs the question how well do we know our friends, it is a fast, engrossing read. As a comic break from the suspense, I enjoyed Julia’s musings of how she would post current situations to Instagram. Her comments are quite entertaining.

I really struggled to get into this story. I didn’t really feel pulled in and it seemed really slow to start. Not much happening. I think there was just too many characters and storylines and unnecessary things that kept me from enjoying it. I previously loved the authors first two books but this was sadly a miss.

Julia, David, and Erika grew up spending summers as neighbors at Lake Timinee in Vermont. As adults, they've raised their children there, too. But things are off this summer. David has built a massive house of glass blocking the others' views of the lake; his new nanny, Izzy, and his girlfriend, Fiona, seem to be at odds; and Julia and Erika have secrets of their own. Then Fiona goes missing...just like a woman has every thirty years.

I love books with lots of juicy secrets, and Jamie Day has created a fun one with a perfect summer setting in this story.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for a reader's advanced copy of this book, and also thank you NetGalley. It is greatly appreciated.

Julia, David and Erika, they all grew up together spending their summers at thee Vermont Lake Houses for as long as they can remember. Now they are all adults with their own sullen teens, endless mortgages. These old friends have there own secrets over the years. This summer David is eager to show off his new vacation house, but now it blocks his friends cherished lake views, he also happens to bring along his much younger girlfriend. He also brings a nanny with a hidden agenda.

However when David's girlfriend vanishes after an intense shouting match. Julia and Erika wonder just how well they know their lifelong friend. This lake harbours a harrowing two young women, with no known connection, they vanished without a trace thirty years ago. Did the Lake take another women? or will they find out something darker?

Rounding this book up to a 2.5. Why is it always a guy named David ugh *eye roll*

Anyways this book was just okay it my opinion. I wouldn't say this book was DNF worthy I still wanted to read it and figure out what happened to his girlfriend. I felt like there were a lot of things going on in the book, like their was so much bring thrown in. It felt like it was all over the place. Everything did get tied up at the end of the book, but thee amount of things in it, is what really threw me. Out of this entire book I do think Izzy was my favourite character, the choice she had to make at the end of the book was hard but I think she made the right choice sending that person to jail. The cover of this book is what really drew me in, and made me want to read it. I will say she describes everything so well which makes the book worth reading. Plus I love how cozy it felt when I was reading about the lake houses.

This was a book that needed almost no brain power to read and I honestly love those kinds of books they are my favourite to read. During this read I was more invested in Izzy's story and Julia's and what was happening to them. Anybody else I could have cared less about. I would read another by this author, just because one book was a little floppy doesn't mean the others will be.

This book comes out July 15th, 2025, if this book sounds interesting to you pick it up, my opinions are my own and you don't have to listen to me.

Happy Reading!!!!

Another fantastic Jamie Day novel! This one had all the feels. I was captivated from start to finish with no idea who to trust. So many secrets and lies. Great cast of characters that kept me burning the midnight oil. Don’t let this gem pass you by.
Thank you NetGalley, Jamie Day and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

With an atmospheric setting in Vermont, this missing persons drama has a hint of local folklore (which, honestly, I would’ve loved reading more about), and started out so strong.

When a group a friends comes together just like they have every summer before, it already starts on a bummer note because one of them has renovated his home to block the lake views.

Conjecture about this goes on for a few chapters, but you know, eventually, hopefully, there’s going to be more to the story than just a petty argument.

Turns out the lake itself holds a mysterious past. Two women vanished thirty years ago, never to be found. So when the renovated home guy’s girlfriend goes missing, everyone is suspicious and a suspect.

The story is told from different perspectives, and unfortunately, Izzy’s chapters were juvenile and distracting. Yes, she’s only 19, but her observations made me start to lose interest, with less feelings of suspense and more like inflated teenage drama.

It took me a little bit to get into this. I really liked the first book. I read by her block party, but this one felt a little bit slow. But I liked the premise and felt like it was a good summer read