This was a miss for me which is disappointing because I usually love Heather’s books. I wasn’t invested in the plot and didn’t find any of the characters really likeable. The only storyline that held my interest was Juneau’s murder, and it wasn’t given the attention it deserved.

Thanks to @htp_hive and @netgalley for the gifted ARC!

This was somehow my first book from @heathergudenkauf and I cannot wait to read more from this Iowa author! I was hooked from the beginning.

The Drakes are a fabulously wealthy couple who live on a horse ranch in Wyoming near the Grand Tetons. As we meet our characters, Madeline Drake is pregnant and they are throwing the party of the year for the gender reveal! Pistols or pearls?! What is supposed to be an explosion of pink or blue, ends up going horribly wrong💥

This premise! Ah I don’t think I have ever read a book that starts with such a bang! As with most thrillers, I can’t give too much away but man did this one take some wild twists and turns. I loved the multiple POVs, the setting in isolated but beautiful Wyoming, and while the characters are mostly unlikable, it worked for this story. There are multiple mysteries all tied in together. I didn’t know who to trust and it kept me guessing until the very end! This one will stick with me and I can’t wait to read more of her work!

I’m a BIG HG fan. HUGE. I have loved every single one of her novels and LOVED her latest, Everyone is Watching.

This? This i didn’t love. The characters seemed a little flat, the twist wasn’t incredibly twisty and I had a terrible time investing in any of the characters. I was so hopeful for another breakout novel but this one didn’t do it for me.

Unfortunately, at least for me, this was not one of her best. Little suspense - I had it figured out early on. The premise was a good idea, but there was a lot going on and I feel like it would have been better if there was more focus on J.J. and Juneau's past. It felt glossed over and didn't really add anything to the story.

Average read.

Thank you #netgalley and #htp #parkrow for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Ripped straight from the headlines. A gender reveal gone wrong ends in injuries and death! The explosion wasn’t just a reveal gone wrong, but who caused it and why? This was a decent read but honestly kind of silly. I’m not sure why Gudenkauf made the decision to switch from writing family drama/suspense novels to writing such fast-paced thrown together whodunits but I wish she’d go back!

Another thanks to Netgally for the ARC copy. This novel had an interesting storyline but didn’t quite align as well as the authors other books. There should have been a heavier focus on the death of Juneau from years ago. I would have liked to have her perspective included in the story and remove Mellie (the caterer/waitress) from the book. The relationship between the sisters was odd until the end. I’m a huge Heather Gudenkauf fan, but this one missed the mark.

Madeline and Wes invite 200 of their closest friends to an over-the-top gender reveal party. What starts as a fun celebration turns deadly and there are numerous suspects.

I really enjoyed the multiple POV of this book and the characters felt well developed. I especially liked Agent Saldano and the element of a previous disappearance that got introduced complicating matters. The twist and turns were interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat, but the book didn't quite stick the ending. Still it was an entertaining read and I would recommend it.

Tropes:
* Twists and Turns
* Mysterious events
* Complicated pasts
* Multiple POVs

4 star

Loved this book! When Madeline and Wes have a gender reveal party, there is an explosion right as the tannerite goes off. Madeline’s bff ends up dead, her sister shows up for some reason, and the ATF agent was once left for dead in this very same town. Other guests include past business partners and a waitress who also happens to be pregnant. What do all of these people have in common? Some sort of involvement with Wes-not all good. Great suspense!

ARC review • pub date 11.04.25

I have lovedddd some of this author’s past thrillers, and while I didn’t love this one *quite* as much, it was still a decent read.

Madeline & Wes Drake have it all - a mansion on a beautiful ranch. They decide to go all out and have a massive gender reveal party - and the way the gender is announced is by blowing up an old truck to see if the powder is pink or blue. But when they pull the trigger, there is immediately a second explosion which causes pure chaos - and lots of injuries.

Told in multiple POV - we get Madeline as she navigates the first few days after the incident, her estranged sister, a woman weaseling her way into her life, and the ATV agent Jamie that used to live in that town.

I won’t discourage the read, but i never really connected with any of the characters. The story was well laid out and I will continue to read this author! It took me a week to get through the book but I will chalk that up to being in the process of buying a house during those days 😅

3.5⭐️

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing & NetGalley for my ARC

All families have secrets, but the Drakes, Colson and Archer/Saldana families have more than usual. Explosions, babies, murder, and missing siblings..what other secrets are there? Another great story by Heather Gudenkauf. 4 stars

Madeline Drake is living a seemingly charmed life with her husband Wes on their enormous horse ranch. They have invited many guests to an elaborate gender reveal party. Wes and his brother have rigged up an old truck with explosives, and they plan to shoot a gun into the truck and cause an explosion which will rain down colorful debris letting everyone know the gender of their baby. What could possibly go wrong? When Wes and Madeline shoot into the truck, both it and an old barn on the property explode, causing damage, injury and death. Madeline's best friend and midwife, Johanna, is killed. The investigation brings Agent Jamie Saldano back to the town where he lived briefly with his sister and mother during high school. He doesn't have fond memories of the town since his sister Juneau disappeared, and he was attacked there. His sister was never found, and Jamie is plagued by what happened to her. Maybe while he's investigating the explosion he can also do some digging into what happened to his sister. On the day of the gender reveal party, Madeline's estranged sister Lucy also shows up in town. She's bitter that her father left everything to Madeline on his death. She's come to town to demand what's hers and also get revenge. Then there's Mellie, the young waitress who's been having an affair with Wes. She's determined to break up his marriage at any cost, so when Madeline invites her to stay after she's injured at the party, Mellie can't believe her luck. When the authorities determine there was a bomb placed in the old barn, they have to figure out if Johanna was the intended target or if she just got in the bomber's way accidentally.

I really enjoyed reading about all the secrets and twisted motives all of the characters had. Everyone is hiding something, and most are not good people. There were a few strange things, such as how the brother-in-law (who prepared the colored explosion for the truck) knew the gender of the baby when the parents didn't that didn't add up. There are also several issues that weren't cleared up, so I'm not sure if this is meant to be the first book in a series featuring some or all of these characters. Overall, it was an engaging mystery that kept me guessing.

Just when you thought gender reveal parties couldn't get any more revolting, along comes a Pistols and Pearls party where the parents to be host a party for over 200 people and a prop fails and a guest is killed. The ostentatious wealth is a little nauseating, the saving grace is the disgraced detective assigned to the case