4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Secrets Between Us is a powerful, slow-burning novel about grief, guilt, and the fragile threads that hold families together. Kate Hewitt has a real gift for exploring the inner lives of her characters, and here she weaves a story that’s both heart-wrenching and full of quiet hope.

The dual perspectives worked really well clearly showing how two women, brought together by tragedy, can be so different and yet mirror each other’s pain. The emotional weight is heavy at times, but never overdone. You really feel the impact of every choice and secret that unfolds.

Some parts dragged a little in the middle, which is why it’s not a full 5 stars for me, but overall, I was deeply moved. If you enjoy stories about motherhood, loss, and redemption, this one will stay with you long after you turn the last page.


❤️shaye.readss

The Secrets Between Us is a character lead domestic drama packed with emotion and some twists. When Harriet’s daughter Kyra joins the same school as Elise‘s twin boys, the two women take an instant dislike to each other. Both women were quite unlikable and their feud was almost completely avoidable had they had a very simple conversation. Elise, the wife of a surgeon, loves to "rule the school", and the cast of characters mostly encompassing bitchy, gossip-loving women, were a huge contrast to misfit Harriet, who just wanted the best for her little girl but was inadvertently dragged into Elise's drama. I really didn't like Elise, can you tell? Haha! But as the layers of the story peeled away and her truth was revealed, I felt sympathy for her and far more understanding.

I love Kate Hewitt’s writing; it flows seamlessly and is always oozing emotion, leaving me wrung out at the end, in the very best way!

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Kate Hewitt and Bookouture, for an ARC of this book.

Two different women are forced to work together but secrets and gossip makes it even more complicated. This story is told from both points of view and kept interesting and entertaining.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

If you are looking for a quick engaging read that is not total fluff, this is for you. This is a novel about two women who become enemies. They both have children at a local private school in New York. One protagonist believes that the other is having an affair with her husband and develops a growing hatred largely based on that. There are other things in the mix, like the woman accused of the affair lives with the father of her child and the father has ALS. I think the ALS is handled realistically and with empathy.
I think if I have any issues with the novel, it is that one protagonist (the one accusing the other of the affair) is just so unlikeable. I wish that she had been a bit more subtly drawn. Also, I think that the ending was a bit unrealistic, as if the author wanted to make sure there was a happy ending. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing with this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Secret Between Us’ written by Kate Hewitt in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Harriet and eight-year-old Kyra move to New York at the request of Kyra’s dad Allan who’s been missing from their lives since his daughter’s birth. Kyra is enrolled in The Garden School where the mums gathering at the school gate look down on Harriet for being different to them so when she meets Michael, the dad of Luke and Lewis, she feels an affection for him as he’s the only parent to welcome her. But Elise, Michael’s wife and organiser of the school’s fund-raising Gala, has over the years put up with Michael’s flirting and is not going to let it happen with Harriet.

‘The Secret Between Us’ is an unforgettable page-turner that once started is impossible to stop reading until the end is reached. Kate Hewitt is a prolific writer whose books I’ve been reading for quite a few years and I can honestly say there’s not been one yet that I haven’t enjoyed. The story of this latest novel is told by the two main characters Elise and Harriet who I’ve immediately felt an affection for. They have totally different characters and the manner in which they first met didn’t give them any reason to form a friendship, but I couldn’t help but sympathise with them both and the situations they’ve found themselves in. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written novel that I’m sorry to have finished as I wanted to know more about the characters and how their lives have progressed.

Elise and Harriet tell their sides of a story that might seem a bit familiar because it's so much like real life can be. Harriet is new to town and the two of them meet at school pickup. Elise has a secret. Harriet is flirting with Elise's husband Michael. This weaves mental health, chronic illness, infidelity, paranoia, and mean girl vibes into a well done domestic drama. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. The short chapters make it easy to keep reading so you'll like this one for travel or vacation.

This was a great emotional read.. I highly recommend this book. I liked all the characters….I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC for an honest review…..

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. Unfortunately I just could not get on with this book, and gave up about a third of the way through. The characters were unlikeable, and the story was not engaging enough for me to persevere. Hewitt used a dual narrative effectively, and I liked the New York setting, but this book wasn't for me.

Harriet has arrived from Texas and is now living in New York close to her daughter Kyra’s father, Allan, who is terminally ill. Allan has paid for Kyra to be enrolled in a local private school, but it’s clear from day one that Harriet’s not considered ‘one of the moms’ and is often the subject of ridicule and derision. One of the mothers, Elise, has an added concern, as it appears, during a school picnic, Harriet has struck up a friendship with her husband Michael. Having had suspicions over the years about her husband’s infidelity, this behaviour is concerning. Becoming friends with Lewis, one of Elise’s twins, brings Harriet into closer contact with Michael, and gives Elise even more cause for concern.
Written from Harriet and Elise’s viewpoints, it shows how suspicions without any substance of truth and fuelled by a gossiping and sometimes quite malicious group of mothers, can influence and be responsible for so much damage. Both Harriet and Elise have their flaws, Elise, who has worked hard to achieve her perfect life being easy prey to the opinions and whispered words of some of the more mischief making mothers. Although I had an instant dislike for Elise, finding her at times intolerant and self-absorbed, deeper into the book I discovered the reasons for this. It didn’t however, stop the lives of two families slowly unravelling, and causing so much harm.
It's a great emotional read; one of those books that makes you want to lock yourself away until you have finished it. Recommended.
I would like to thank Bookouture, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of The Secret Between Us in exchange for an honest review.

The Secrets Between Us by Kate Hewitt ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not a thriller but a very emotional, heartbreaking rollercoaster that keeps you reading well into the night. With each page you come more attached to the characters and your heart hurts for them.

Definitely a must read by a talented author. One I follow and read everything by her now that I discovered her not long ago.

Hope you decide to read it too. I recommend to you and others.

Thank you NetGalley, Kate Hewitt and publishers for the advanced copy for my honest review.
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3.5 ⭐️

There’s no question this was a fast paced, emotionally dramatic play on school yard politics and secrets. “The Secret Between Us” was a gripping story about two moms who clash over a hidden secret. This one had me guessing until the very end.

This story followed Elise and her neurosurgeon husband Michael. They appeared to have a perfect life. But they were bound by a deep, dark secret that Elise had kept buried for years. The book built tension as Elise weighed how far she’d go—and what she’d sacrifice—to protect her family from exposure. She was relentless and determined. It was fun to watch her story play out.

Aside from being entertained by Elise and her flawed persona, I favored the alternating perspectives between Elise’s tense, emotionally controlled personality and Harriet’s initially charming and approachable personality. The multiple point of views offered glimpses into their motivations and inner turmoil, which in turn, added to the intrigue of the collective narrative. I also greatly favored the fast paced, dramatic storyline. The themes were also quite engaging. Themes such as marital trust, parental rivalry and the consequences of buried truths were addressed. All of these themes were common to the psychological mystery thriller genre. That said, I regret to say that there wasn’t any particular element that made this story stand out. “The Secret Between Us” blended in with other psychological mystery thriller. Moreover, there was a vast amount of superficial dialogue and cattiness. Most I could have done without. But fortunately, the fast pacing combined with the flawed characters and school politics, I was mostly entertained. Overall, I’d recommend “The Secret Between Us “ for fans of women’s fiction, domestic drama, and psychological mystery thriller books.

Thank you to Net Galley and Bookouture for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of The Secret Between us. With a Kate Hewitt book, you know it will evoke many emotions and this one did NOT disappoint. I felt bad for Elise and the way she lived, it must have been tiring. I really liked all the characters and each story, a beautifully written book. The schoolyard moms are always a mess in novels, lol. So many different feelings throughout the book, just Loved it All. Of course all works out the way it should. Thank you again.

I was a little bit confused as I though this was going to be a psychological thriller and was not ready for the emotional rollercoaster that this book was. I cried at times and felt for all the characters. Sometimes school drama doesn't end when you leave school, it just takes on another form. I was glad that mental health was touched on as well as I suffer from one of the mental health conditions in this book and I was glad for the good representation of it and how it can affect you and your family.

A good read from a very talented author who always writes great books.

I was involved in the storyline from the very beginning and involved with the characters who all had their own story to tell

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC which I can thoroughly recommend.

I could not put this one down! It had me all in my feels. You’ll need a box of tissues and a couple days to get over the book hangover that this one causes.

This was great! I loved that it was a PTO mom thriller lol. That was a really fun plot. I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I’m not sure why I went into this one expecting a thriller, maybe it was the title or the cover, but it definitely wasn’t that. In fact, it wasn’t even my usual type of read. But despite that, I actually ended up really enjoying it.
The story follows two women; Elis, who is married to Michael but struggling with insecurity and the cracks in their relationship, and Harriet, who moves to town with her daughter to live near the child’s father. Their lives start to intertwine through a series of events, and from there, the emotional layers of the story start to build.
It was an easy, engaging read with real emotional depth. I liked how the book explored the complexities of marriage, motherhood, and the quiet struggles people carry beneath the surface.
Told in dual POV, 1st person, it can be read as a standalone novel. This was my first book by Kate Hewitt, and I’m glad I gave it a chance. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and hope you enjoy it as well!
Thanks to Kate Hewitt, Netgalley, and Bookouture for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. (Expected publication: July 24, 2025)

Secrets can bring so many challenges, but this book surprised me! I couldn’t grasp the secrets filled in this. It was fantastic! Wow!

Good story!
When I read the description for this book, I was expecting a much more intense psychological relationship between the wife and Harriet. The story explores paranoia and emotions through the perspectives of both female protagonists. I couldn't stop reading - I wanted to hurry to the end to find out if these two women could put their petty differences aside for their children's sakes; however, the children's school is central to the story and fuels the fire for these self-centered women, as well as the problems that ensue. Recommended!

Another brilliant book from this author. It centre mainly around two families. Michael is a successful neurosurgeon and his wife Elise is someone everyone wants to be. When Harriet and her young daughter move into her ex partners home to help him she didn't think that there would be any problems. It wasn't long before she wished she had never taken her daughter to the same school as Elise went to.
Great book, highly recommend.