Definitely a novel that had me hooked from the first page!
There are so many secrets! None that are "little"!
The Rossi family is crumbling and the "closet skeletons" are beginning to escape for all of this family!
One of my thoughts as I continued on with this story : "Hell hath no fury like a Mother protecting her Children". Emily will Not let her daughter ruin her life as she learn's of Zara's secrets. There is nothing that will stop her from keeping Zara safe!
Zara who has always been a "good" kid, has gone way off the beaten path and made friends with a girl named Bethany who is nothing but dangerous as we find out.
This is truly an intense, well written book with suspense, anger, crisis and family all rolled into it!
I truly will look for other of Carol Mason's books! Excellent!
.

OMG just WOW. As a book blogger I get to read some pretty amazing books but now and again I come across one that absolutely blows everything out of the water – and Little White Secrets is one of them!

Right from her first novel, Carol Mason has delivered an evocative and almost poetic style of prose, and over the years I have seen this grow into something that is quite remarkable. Her last book The Shadow Between Us saw a slight shift away from her usual genre of Women’s Contemporary Fiction, with the plot bordering Psychological Suspense. This was one of my favourite reads for 2019 and how the author has now managed to push the boundaries of her already exceptional voice yet again is quite beyond me. But she has, and Little White Secrets delivers a domestic noir style narrative at its absolute finest.

In true Carol Mason style, the protagonist, Emily, is a strong female character who is both easily identifiable and likeable. At the beginning of the novel it seems as though Emily has a pretty much perfect life: a happy marriage, nice home, two happy and successful children. However; as the story progresses small seeds of doubt are cast as to just how perfect this family is – first with Zara, her introverted daughter who lives in the shadows of her successful brother; and then Eric, Emily’s husband, who not only works away but sometimes chooses to stay away at weekends. The story begins with Emily and her family being interviewed for a newspaper, as her son, Daniel, is a teenage local tennis celebrity. This event leads to the story’s intriguing hook that had me whizzing through so fast, at one point it felt like I was watching the scene playout in front of me with the remote control stuck on fast forward! How was this person involved in Emily’s life – I just had to find out.

The novel is structured around both a dual perspective and timeline. The present day is from Emily’s perspective, and the past timeline is from Eric’s perspective. This complex structure not only draws the reader into the lives of both characters it also adds a layer of dramatic irony as we start to understand how what happened to Eric in the past is affecting the problems his family are facing in the present; and all the while Emily is left in the dark and you're just itching for her to find out. When reading Emily’s present-day perspective you start to think Eric is a bit of a dick, especially when the reader is privy to flashback scenes. But when drawn into Eric’s past timeline you really empathise with him – but just how much can you trust him?

But this twisted and heart-wrenching plot is only part of what makes this such a brilliant read, and as the sub-plots merge, Emily’s true strength of character is revealed, making for one extremely satisfying read. I really can’t recommend this fabulous novel enough, and I am absolutely certain that as brilliant as Carol Mason’s previous books are, this is the one that will bring her reputation as the outstanding and exceptional writer that she is, well and truly under the spotlight.

I would recommend this book for anybody who likes any of the iconic Queens of Domestic Noir such as Louise Jensen, Lisa Jewell, Jane Shemilt, Jane Corry …

Very well written and plotted story about secrets....all kinds of secrets.

The characters were all well rounded and while some I liked and some I didn't, they were the overriding thing that pulled me into the story. I felt sorry for Zara because all the focus was on her brother and sadly, I think that might have been why she went off the rails.

This is an engrossing story, filled with foreshadowing as to what the big secret was. It wasn't difficult to figure out, but it was a good read as the final secret unfolded slowly throughout the book.

I think this is the first book I've read by Carol Mason, but I will be reading more of her work in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for granting my request for an ARC. All thoughts in this review are my own and freely given.

What a page-turner-I was completely hooked by the premise of this book and then when I started reading it was hard to put down! Watching a seemingly perfect family crumbling so fast was disturbing yet made for a fascinating read as you watch the author Carol Mason put it all into motion.
There are so many internal and external struggles within each character- Emily trying to shield her teenager from a troublesome girl while she continues to clash with the girl's mother, trying to support her athletic son and struggling to understand why her husband spends so many weekends away. The author did a beautiful job of peering into the inside of each of the characters without giving away too many secrets upfront.
I had an inkling where the story was going but there were plenty of surprises to keep me interested and anxious to get to the end. It's a perfect read if you are looking for an intense, suspenseful family-centered book! This was the first Carol Mason book I have read but I will be on the lookout for more in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Carol Mason for an e-ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Who knew there could be so many little secrets in the Rossi family! The son Eric is a star tennis player and the daughter Zara is the introvert living in her brothers shadow. The protagonist Emily is a strong female who teaches a communications course at University. Eric is the father/husband who works in London and comes home on weekends. The story is told in the past and present from the prospective of Emily and Eric.

Zara starts staying out late, drinking and taking drugs when she starts hanging out with the new girl Bethany. Emily realizes that Bethany is no good for her daughter and tries everything to keep them apart. This is where the story starts to unfold along with all the little secrets. Eric's past is slowly revealed and you start to understand how it is affecting his present family problems. Emily is in the dark when it comes to Eric's past, but hell knows no fury like a woman scorned.

There are characters I felt sorry for and characters I hated. The book is a well written intense story that kept me turning the pages. I figured out one of the secrets but still enjoyed the book and the ending. If you like stories filled with suspense, anger, and family issues, I highly recommend this book. This is the first book I have read by Carol Mason and I will be looking up her other books. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book and this is my honest review.

It's hard to believe that I have not read any of Carol Mason's books. I was thrilled to have received an advance reader's copy of Little White Secrets and after reading it, I now want to read all of her books. This book had me captivated from the beginning. A story very well written with a good plot, believable characters, at times intense, and very realistic. I applauded Emily Rossi for doing the best she could to keep her family together even with a husband that wasn't always around to help as he worked away from home in London and had issues of his own, and a teen daughter who suddenly becomes friends with a girl who is not a great influence and causes many problems for the Rossi family. Many lies and many secrets. Did they cause this family to be torn apart? Well, you will have to get a copy of this book to find out. This is one I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. Make sure to put it on your TBR list.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

This is the first novel I have read by this author, and I enjoyed it. The writing had a good flow, and Ms. Mason created very realistic, human, flawed main characters that made you want to know the outcome of their story. I had predicted the ending early on, but I still found the revelations of the little white secrets compelling and well-written. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This is the story of a family that looked like the perfect suburban family from the outside... but had SO MANY secrets. It’s a quick, engaging read, I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen next. The story is told mainly from the mother of the family’s point of view, with some perspective from her husband. Though the story jumps around in time, the author did a great of job of not making that confusing. My only reservation with the book is that there almost seemed to be too much going on - husband/wife drama, husband work drama, wife work drama, mother/daughter drama, daughter/friend drama... but it all came together, and I definitely wanted to know the resolution of all of it. If you are feeling like your life is out of control, let me tell you, this book will make you feel way more normal! :) This is the first I’ve read by Carol Mason, but would definitely read more!

I knew from the very beginning that I was gong to love this book! Mason carefully wove together an interesting cast of complex, flawed characters, showing us that even the most perfect looking family can be hiding the most terrible secrets.

An intense and gripping story of family secrets that threaten to tear a seemingly perfect family apart. Fans of women's fiction and suspense will absolutely love this novel. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for granting my request for an ARC. All thoughts in this review are my own and freely given.

I have to admit, I did struggle a bit with this one, but plugged away and in the end was rewarded with a pretty decent family drama/mystery! At time of seemed to drag and covered the same issues over and over which made the characters seem "whishy-washy", but about halfway through the story and plot devolved more body and picked up. I had the ending sort of figured out but not all of it and it was great!
Ended up earning a 4 star rating.

This is my first book by this author and won’t be my last.
I enjoyed this book although I do admit I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected pub date: May 1, 2020
Little White Secrets by English author Carol Mason, is the ultimate “family skeletons” drama. Emily Rossi and her husband Eric have a seemingly perfect life; both have great careers, an ideal country house and two beautiful children, one of whom is on his way to becoming the next great tennis star. When her daughter, Zara, starts hanging out with the wrong crowd, Emily and Eric must band together to try and keep Zara away from the life of drugs, lying and partying that is following her. However, in doing so, Eric’s little secrets also pop up, revealing themselves in a vicious way. Between their daughter’s dangerous behaviours and Eric’s potentially life-changing secret, can the family survive?
This novel is the first one I’ve read by this author and I’m intrigued! A new novel in a done-to-death genre always has me a little skeptical going in, assuming a trite storyline, banal characters and predictable twists, but “Little While Secrets” surprised me!
Emily is a great character, full of spunk and intelligence, taking on anyone who interferes with her family and the life she has worked so hard to build. Right from the beginning, the reader knows that Eric has secrets he is keeping, but Mason does a decent job at keeping him relatively likable as we try and sort out his mystery.
This novel hooked me from the get-go and didn’t slow down. I found it very easy to read, and I was easily pulled into the plot. Dramatically told and well-developed, Mason has found her calling in writing. She knows what she’s doing and she does it well.
As an avid (ridiculously avid….almost dangerously so) reader, I was able to predict most of the ending before it got there. But it was still a heck of a ride getting to the end point, and I was satisfied with the way it played out all the same.
A delightful surprise of a novel, bound to draw in fans of women’s fiction and family dramas, with great characters and a satisfying ending!

I did some day-reading with this one. I wanted to finish it last night but my eyelids refused to cooperate!

Ok, this is a good book, loaded with suspense and wondering. When Emily and Eric's daughter starts hanging out with a new friend, life spirals out of control. In a span of not much time, all sorts of nasty things happen to this family of four. The characters are very vivid and their internal chitchat really sounds like a regular joe. You can feel what Em is thinking. You sort of have an idea of one of the mysteries early on but you don't/can't know the depth of it. The timing is kind of strange in this one. You have back and forth from past to present but the present seems like way too much happening in such a small amount of time. But the book works well.
The pages practically turned themselves. The other night, I started reading at chapter 12, hoping to get in a couple chapters before I fell asleep. I read to chapter 26. I would absolutely recommend this one to friends. I was invited to read an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

Carol Mason British author and this is her sixth novel. I'm not sure how I missed reading her books but after reading Little White Secrets I plan to read her earlier books. This was a well written book about a family in trouble and the lengths that a mother will go to make sure her family is safe.

Emily and Eric Rossi live in a small town in England. Eric works in London and only comes home on the weekends and Emily is a professor at the local university. They have two children: 18 year old Daniel who is a tennis superstar and Zara, 14 years old, who is quiet and sensitive and doesn't fit well into her school life or her family life. Life may not be perfect for the Rossi family but it's pretty close to perfect. As the reader gets to know the family, we see the cracks developing that may tear them apart. Emily resents Eric being gone all week and leaving the parenting to her. Eric is developing a drinking problem. Zara who hasn't had a friend since they moved finds a new friend and she and Bethany become inseparable . The problem is that this friendship is toxic - Bethany has no respect for authority, drinks and has a boyfriend 10 years older than her. Bethany's mom turns a blind eye to all the trouble that her daughter causes and doesn't get involved in her life. When Emily finds out that Zara has been skipping school and hanging out with Bethany's older friends, she forbids Zara to see her friend again. We all know how well that works out with a teenage daughter! We are aware that Zara has secrets but it's the secrets that Eric and Emily are keeping from each other that may implode this family. Even small secrets, over time can become major. Can Emily save her family as the secrets come to light or will the secrets keep her family from surviving.

This is the story of family and love and acceptance. It's full of suspense that keep the pages turning and make it into a very satisfying novel. It kept me up most of one night to see how it would end. If you enjoy family-centric novels, this is one to add to your to-read list.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

This has been a great and emotional read which I have not been able to put down. I have been kept gripped from the beginning to end of this book.
The characters in this one are likeable and the plot keeps you guessing from beginning to end.
This is my first read by this author but it definitely won't be the last. I have really enjoyed reading this one. I can't wait to add more to my TBR list.
This is without a doubt a five star read which has really lifted me out of a reading slump. I highly recommend this book.

This was a very enjoyable book. A well written tale of a middle class family, living in a small English suburb. Emily is a Professor of Communications at the local University, Eric is an engineer currently working in London and home on weekends. Their son Daniel is a talented and up and coming tennis star, while his younger sister Zara is a introverted teenager, struggling to make friends and get out of Daniel’s shadow. The marriage is rocky and damaged by
Eric’s drinking and the job away from home.
A work colleague Janet is fixated on Daniel, dangerously so, and her willful daughter Brittany is a bad influence on the impressionable Zara. Many secrets and lies have infiltrated this cast of characters and a blowup is bound to happen.
Carol Mason is a skillful storyteller and has brought strong characters into this book. The tale of lies and deceit festers to a breaking point and the result is a real page turner.
My thanks to #LakeUnionPublishing and #NetGalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own. A book worth the journey!

The reader is told that the husband in the story has a secret from the outset. From outlookers Eric has the perfect family but it's all a facade. There are a multitude of cracks tearing their family portrait and it's barely clinging together. There's not a lot of drama until you're well and truly towards the end of the story but it didn't seem to compensate for the long drawn out first half of the book.

This felt like a fairly predictable domestic read and a good 'holiday' read. I've read other reviews claiming they thought there was a huge twist in the story but it all felt too easy. It's a dark book with cracks forming in the various character's friendships, relationships, home and work lives respectively. It wasn't easy to keep picking the book up and I felt a bit disappointed that I'd instinctively figured out the ending of the book. Clearly I read too many mystery books.

Having said that, it's a well written book and one that has an accessible style to read easily. Mason has created realistic characters who are easy to sympathise with. She paints the picture of living with an alcoholic in brutal honesty. The denial, anger and chaos they inflict upon those they love is captured in painful clarity.

Not an easy read but on which shows the importance of telling the truth to our loved ones. Not all little white secrets are as little as they seem.

Secrets and deceit. Carol Mason has crafted a fast-paced addictive story filled with drama, lies, and misdirection. Emily seemingly had the perfect family a loving husband, a super athlete son, and a sweet daughter. That is until it all began to unravel one secret at a time. What I really liked most about this book is Emily was such a likable character. She seriously did not deserve the hot mess that her life turned into. Struggling to keep her family afloat while her husband grew more and more distant and her daughter found her way into a bad situation. And then to compound things the past starts to rear its ugly head. Tense, riveting, compulsive, entertaining, and dark. This is a book that will definitely appeal to anyone who is a fan of a dark domestic drama with some unforgettable twists.

*** Big thank you to Lake Union for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

Wow this book is completely different to what I’ve read before and I LOVED that about it!

This book follows a family who from the outside look like the perfect family in their big house, long marriage, nice things! However when a new girl comes to town their lives start falling apart!

There are so many secrets to uncover (some I found predictable and others were huge shocks) Eric (the dad) continues to succumb to alcohol! Daniel (the son) is the idle son however Zara (the daughter) goes extremely downhill when the new girl (Bethany) comes to town!

I don’t want to say too much about the story as I’m too worried about giving things away, but many secrets surface, many lies are told, many threats are made and life for Em (the mum) is extremely tough!

I really felt for Em throughout the whole book because she put everyone’s happiness before her own and tried to keep the family together and going! I can imagine there are many families like this where one person might be doing the same!

Everything falls apart for her, however she has done nothing wrong so I just find this heart breaking for her!

There is some sadness to the ending but also some peace and happiness!

I can imagine so many parents struggling with their teen who is going down the wrong path and feeling at a loss to what to do to get them back in the right path!

I found this book, intense and thrilling, dark and secretive and that just kept me invested the whole time!

Another 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ rating from me as I thoroughly enjoyed this and would love to read more of this authors writing!

Well-written, well-paced look at a family splintering under alcoholism, infidelity, and deception. Dark and plot-driven, with few sympathetic characters among the adults. Frequent readers of thrillers may find the twists predictable.

Overall a well written story with good characters although for me it was a bit of a slow burner but I think that is because my main reads are psychological thrillers.

Not sure I would read more from this author but this is purely my own opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy.

Little White Secrets is well written.
It’s captivating domestic drama, hooks you in from the beginning chapters, into a fictional but realistic world that you feel you’re there, living the characters lives.
There’s a bit of everything in this tale, deception, addiction, mental health issues, lies, teenage angst and relationship. It pulls at your heart strings
I really enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it and will definitely read more of this author's books in the future.

Overall I enjoyed this. I predicted most of the twists though but it still highlighted the drama around teenagers and family secrets. How little white 'secrets' are actually just lies.

I really enjoyed this book, it was easy to fall straight into, at first I felt it wasn’t giving me quite enough thrills and wasn’t moving as quick as I would have liked it to however the author was very clever at building the picture up and getting you really hooked to the characters and the twisted plot.
.
I found a few characters frustrating and felt quite cringy reading about the husband Eric! I just didn’t have a very good feel for him through the whole book and thought he came across as an absolute pig!
Overall a capturing read and an absolute page turner!

3-4 Stars rounded up

The Rossi family seem to have the perfect life. Father Eric has a good job in London, mother Emily has a part time lecturer job at Leeds University, son Daniel is a promising young tennis player and daughter Zara seems to be doing well. Within six months their lives start to implode revealing the cracks they are papered over in the last few years. It’s apparent Eric is hiding several things, Emily’s work life is about to undergo a worrying upheaval but most alarming of all is that Janet and daughter Bethany Brown Exeter their loves and Bethany’s malign influence over fellow teenager Zara is to become frightening in its power. The story is told by Emily and Eric.

The characters are well portrayed and some are likeable such as Emily and Daniel. Janet and Bethany are strange, both are quite rude and abrupt and very easy to picture. The teenagers are their behaviour is well depicted and shows very clearly how easy it is for lives to be utterly derailed extremely rapidly when one person exerts control over another. Eric is delusional about a lot of things and is only truthful when he has no choice but he is interesting. His behaviour in the past shows that one wrong decision can have a tsunami effect even years later. The plot is believable, the pace is good and it’s well written and their spiralling out of control lives make for entertaining reading! There is tension and suspense between characters which comes across clearly. The ending is surprising and unexpected and though not necessarily morally right it is believable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for a copy of the book.

Overall, an easy read which shines a light in how seemingly perfect lives can be uprooted by an unlucky chance with resulting destruction of a family.

FirstLine ~ PROLOUGE: 'Zara?' I shout, as I stare at my face in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs.



This book was a quite the read. It had a lot of twists and turns that I certainly did not see coming. It was an intense domestic thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat! I loved the characters and how dynamic all the relationships were. You definitely had some breadcrumbs laid out for you, but you never quite knew where the intense intersections of the plot/subplots were going to come to a head. Brilliant!

To me it remains a bit of a secret why other people find this a great book.
I mean the writing is great, but the story never really hooks me. From the first few chapters I already knew where the story was going and how it might end. For this type of book it’s not what you want.

Emily seems to have a perfect family, but in the first few chapters you already know this absolutely isn’t the case. The only character who seems to be ‘perfect’ is her son, but he only rarely makes an appearance. The story is about her daughter, Zara, and her husband Eric. Zara seems quiet and a thoughtful soul until she brings home a new friend who sets in motion a slew of life changing events for this family.

As I mentioned before I found this book unsurprising and highly predictable. You’d expect twists and turn and surprising secrets and reveals in this book, but it didn’t have it for me.

As Little White Secrets begins, the Rossi family is posing for pictures to accompany a feature article in a glossy magazine. Eric, the father who has a temporary job in London, is perhaps a bit too effusive. Mother Emily, a college professor, is proud of her family but worried about her appearance in her new green dress. Daniel, the son and superstar tennis player, is the subject of the article. His younger sister Zara, a bit overweight and uncomfortable with publicity, stands by awkwardly. In the magazine, six months later, they appear to be a perfect family. Things are not always what they seem.

The Rossis deal well with superficial problems, ignoring the serious fractures in their relationship that threaten to break it apart. While Emily deals with a career threatening situation and the handsome doctor next door, she ignores Eric’s manipulations and absences. When Janet and her daughter Bethany enter their lives, things begin to unravel. Zara falls under Bethany’s spell and her personality changes almost immediately. While Emily tries desperately to reconnect with Zara and distance her from Bethany’s friends, it becomes obvious that Eric has major hidden problems of his own. The explosive conclusion is both satisfying and sad.

Little White Secrets is a 5 star read. While I would have liked to see Daniel as a more developed character, the pressure his sports success puts on the family helps to explain why problems have developed. No one in the Rossi family is without fault. Their mistakes have been hidden too long and as Carol Mason slowly reveals them, you realize how much damage has been done. This is family drama at its best.

Thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing and Carol Mason for this ARC.

This book is really well written.

I read this as an ARC.

It didn't pull me in at first but I am the type of reader that can't stop reading a book and I'm very glad I am for this book because the secrets (from the title) that unfold throughout the book were really good. I wasn't expecting any of them.

There were times in the book where I found myself gasping and saying 'no don't do it'. I was invested in the characters. I felt sorry for Zara as she was teen going through teen stuff and then all the other stuff on top and getting into the wrong crowd of people because she seemingly just wanted to fit in.

Relationships, family and secrets a plenty in the book. I really liked it.

The writing of this book really captivated me. It’s a good mystery and has a twist that is always welcome. I guessed the secret Eric was keeping from his wife but felt that the characters, story and writing were good enough to keep me reading and enjoying the book. I highly recommend Little White Secrets to anyone looking for an engaging suspense book that is filled with strong, memorable characters. Ms. Mason's clever look at how people are not always who they seem creates a story that keeps you turning the pages. What secrets are they hiding and could those secrets hurt us? Who can we really trust and do we really know those people closest to us that we love? This is a psychological family drama about deep secrets, real fear, love, and losses. Right up to the last page, I was pulled in, engaged, and could not put this book down. If you enjoy suspenseful stories, this is a book you want to read. I look forward to reading each new book this author puts out!

This book wasn't what I expected.

Nope.

It was more. I'm not a fan of family suspense but I decided to give this a chance. A bingeable tale.

Little White Secrets is gripping, tense and full of drama! I was hooked from the beginning reading this story as it alternates with a dual plot line. Emily appears to have it all – solid marriage, nice house, good job and two children. But what happens when you are not sure you can trust your husband, you can no longer relate to your rebellious teenage daughter, a mysterious woman and her daughter suddenly appear and a newly widowed doctor moves in across the street. Who is holding secrets, how will they impact your perfect life and which are more than little while lies?

Carol Mason writes with the brilliant forensic complexity of Cath Staincliffe and the searing emotional veracity of Liane Moriarty in her latest addictive thriller, Little White Secrets.

Perfection is a word that could be used to describe Emily Rossi and her lifestyle. She seems to lead a life straight out of the glossy pages of an inspirational magazine with a great husband, a thriving career, a beautiful house in the country and two wonderful children. Emily seems to be living the dream until her daughter Zara brings a cuckoo in the nest that ends up up-ending all of their lives forever. Emily’s family starts spiralling out of control with Zara beginning to stay out late, take drugs and making unsuitable friendships. Emily is at her wit’s end and she needs her husband more than ever. But Eric seems to be too concerned with his job in London and keeping his drinking habit a secret to care…

Secrets seems to be desperate to tumble out of the Rossi’s closet. After years of perfection being the gold standard of their lives, when a dark and twisted secret is uncovered, Emily’s life is once again turned upside down. With her family’s life to protect, can Emily save her damaged family? Even if by doing so might mean keeping her own dark secret from them?

A chilling family drama about the lengths a mother goes to for the sake of her family, Little White Secrets is not your average thriller. Incredibly tense, brilliantly suspenseful and with twists and turns galore, Little White Secret is a white knuckle edge of your seat kind of book you will struggle to put down – just make sure you lock all your doors and windows first!

A brilliant thriller that is a cut above from the usual domestic noir fare, Little White Secrets is a nail-biting chiller from the talented Carol Mason.

5☆ An Enthralling Dark Domestic Drama, I Couldn't Put Down!

Emily and Eric have a lovely home and the perfect family but Eric spends alot of time away from home working and he is clearly hiding lots of things from Emily. His behaviour towards her starts to deteriorate especially when he turns to drink to get him through the week!

Zara (14yrs old) has always been quiet and sensitive. Unlike her older brother Daniel (16yrs old) who plays Championship Tennis and is the current Winter Cup Winner. Zara always seems to go under the radar, until she meets Bethany!

Zara meets ‘Bethany when she knocks on Emily's door with her mum asking for charitable donations for abused women.
But something about ‘Bethany & her mother feel off with Emily. She just can't put her finger on it.

So the last person she expects to see Zara hanging out at home with is ‘Bethany.

But the more Zara hangs around with Bethany the more Zara's behaviour rapidly changes. Sneaking around, drinking, being deceitful, being rude.....But just what is so appealing about Bethany.

Slowly Emily's perfect world is crumbling around her and she has no clue what to do.
Can Emily find a way to fix her family before it's too late?

One character I did adore was Otis the Lurcher, what a sweetheart.

Little White Secrets is such a thrilling, Pacy, domestic drama, I devoured it in two nights.
It's a lil suspenseful, dark, gripping, intriguing, enthralling and a Page Turner.
The story deals with mental health, grief, deceit, addiction, plenty of teen angst, family relationships and friendships.
The characters are brilliantly portrayed, complex, flawed not all are likeable but perfect for the plot.
I loved the cleverly plotted twists and turns as the story progresses, secrets are divulged.

So if you are looking for a gripping, tense, domestic drama, that will keep you hooked, has plenty of teen angst, secrets and deceit then I can't recommend reading Little White Secrets enough!


Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

How many secrets unroll out of the first secret? When Emily’s life starts to unravel, she has no idea what the root of the issue is. Her work, her husband and daughter seem to be spiraling out of control. Can she figure it out and pull it all back together?

While I figured out some, the rest kept me guessing. A solid read.

Emily’s family is picture-perfect. She has a star in the making son, Daniel, who excels in tennis and a daughter Zara, who is quiet and pliable when it comes to doing whatever her parents want. She has been married to Eric for twenty years and of course, they have had their issues, but who hasn’t? They are such a perfect family that a newspaper wants to do a special report on them because of their son, and they play their parts perfectly, because they are, after all, the perfect family.

But flawlessness has a way of unravelling in the most unexpected ways. Zara becomes friends with the new girl at school, Bethany, a girl who is a little rough around the edges. A lot rough. And she makes Emily feel uneasy because her pliable daughter starts to change, and not in the best of ways. And Eric is behaving oddly. Only Daniel seems to be acting as normal. And somehow, ever so slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, life starts to become unlivable. Zara is acting out, and the ringleader is always Bethany. Eric is drinking more than is good for him. Daniel is losing tennis matches.

And Emily finds herself torn in how to react. Eric is of no support when Zara goes off the deep end. Emily finds the support she desperately needs in the form of her neighbour Steve, a widower and quite possibly attracted to her, as she may be to him. And then life gets out of control and there is no telling how it's going to end for this once ideal of families.

Deceptions, deceit, cruelty and confusion are all interwoven in this novel that deals with addiction, infidelity and bad choices that watch as a family implodes in slow motion. Its as if the reader is watching a fatal car accident happen right before their eyes, each new revelation more painful than the last. Emily is forced to confront the lies that have held her family together and the lies that will now tear her family apart and there is an extraordinarily strong possibility that there will be no survivors.

Mason has written a novel that is powerful and painful and gripping all at the same time. There are times when the surprises are so gut-wrenching it's necessary to put the book down and remind yourself that it's only a novel. The characters are well-drawn and capable of making you invest in them emotionally. The only way to describe the way the family careens off the rails is stupefying. The sad part of this novel is that despite it being so brutal, it is totally believable, and all too often played out in one way or another every day. Perhaps that’s why the emotional intensity of the piece works so well.

Trigger warning, this novel deals with alcoholism.

You have to read this book.

What a wonderful surprise this book was! A page turner that keeps up the suspense throughout, with relatable characters and a story that will grip the heart of any wife and mother of teens.
I highly recommend it!

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

LITTLE WHITE SECRETS has been a roller coaster, not for a second allowing me to anticipate events. It is an enthralling family drama I could not put down.

Emily’s life is picture perfect with a wonderful husband, a striving career and two adorable children – a tennis champion, Daniel and a very quiet teenage girl, Zara. She couldn’t wish for more, some would say. But when her fourteen year old daughter starts hanging out with the wrong people, it all goes downhill.

All of a sudden, Zara is skipping school, taking drugs and hangs out with the exact people you wouldn’t wish your child to even meet. And, as Emily’s marriage seems solid, she needs her husband more than ever but he proves to be unreliable and hiding a very dark secret that turns her life upside down. Her marriage lasted all these years through lies that are now tearing her apart and I have to admit that I thought this will be a story with no survivors or one where the bad guy wins.

I can definitely say that this terrifying story will grip the hearts of every mother and wife out there. All throughout this novel deals with addiction, infidelity and bad choices, teen drama, mental health and loss getting you more and more involved. As the events unravel, the reader receives shock after shock with each new discovery more painful the previous. I have to say that Mason did such a good job portraying each character. They are all complex, far from perfect and not easy to like but most certainly suited for the plot.

This novel is full of twists and turns, of secrets divulged as you dive into the story and I have to admit that I had times when I had to stop and get a grip. As soon as I went over one shock I had to get back, desperate to know what happens next. So if you are looking for a five star domestic drama that will keep you hooked, grab LITTLE WHITE SECRETS by Carol Mason

I enjoyed this book and the many twists and turns. However I feel like the character of Eric wasn’t fully developed and was not completely believable.

One of the best books I’ve read in a while. Loved it.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Brilliant book. Not so little White secrets more like skeletons behind every closed door. Had me hooked from the beginning. Cant wait to read mor eb y theis author

Although I read this book as I wanted to know the Ending it wasn’t an easy read. The characters are all a little self obsessed, can’t see what’s in front of their eyes and not really very likeable. Which OK is kind of part of the plot but you still need to identify a little with the lead so you want her to persevere - to come out victorious but in this book I just think she wasn’t someone I would want to know.

This was a great book that I really enjoyed all the way through. My first read by Carol Mason but certainly not my last. I knew from very early pages I was going to like this one.

Carol depicts her characters very realistically, even her grasp on moody teenage girls is impressive! As the book and the story really revolves around a cast of mixed characters I really liked the way I could connect. The book seamlessly moves back and forth in part between two timeframes and not for one moment was that disconnecting me from the book. It added a layer of questions that were not answered until the end and then that reveal was worth waiting for.

Families. Marriage. Friends. Teenagers. Neighbours. Secrets and Lies. You will get a blend of all this in Little White Secrets. Carol manages to give you enough teasers to want to taste more without giving away too much. My feelings about each character changed TOTALLY from beginning to end. I love it when a book can do that, play with my emotions around characters. This would make a great TV mini-series.

Some of it was totally unexpected for me and other bits I did see coming from early on, however I think each reader will have a different perspective reading this, I highly recommend for book clubs as it would make for hot discussion. I am a sucker for a bunch of dysfunctional, imperfect people in a novel and Carol delivered this really well. I thoroughly enjoyed Little White Secrets and am eager to read more from Carol, born in the North East of England like myself she must be a fabulous person. Recommended reading for sure.

FABULOUS! I really enjoyed this book. Full of secrets, some guessable and some surprising. This held my interest to the end. Great thriller.
Thank you to publisher, author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not what I expected! At the start of this book I expected a plot centered around the son, and star tennis player. Not the case, although I was not disappointed. I finished this book in two days time, as there was something that drew me in. The author does a great job of going between decades to tell the story. Character development was key as there were times I sympathized with the character that ultimately is the antagonist of this story. The main characters feelings as a mother are spot on, although the twist at the end got me! No spoilers! I will be looking this author up online to read more! Thank you again for the advance copy!

This book started off like any other thriller, knowing something was going to happen but not sure.
However I thought there was going to be alot of twists and turns but everything that happened you could see coming chapters before.
There was no major twist to the story and no big storyline, kept reading in the hope some big story would happen but it got to the end and nothing had happened.
If you are after a fast paced read with lots of twists this isn't it. It's a pleasant read but not gripping unfortunately.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have liked everything this author has written and this was just as good, good storyline, liked the characters and kept me guessing until the end.

This book was not good (at least not for me). I'm not sure if it's because I read a lot of thrillers, or if it's because it just wasnt my type of book. All I can say was I had to struggle to finish it, and I didn't like it once I did. The "twists" at the end were twists I saw coming at the beginning of the book. All in all, not worth the time it took to finish it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are of course my own.

This was a great surprise! I had never read this author before but was under the impression that she wrote romances so I requested this on NetGalley because it was filed under mystery but was apprehensive nonetheless.

It's a well-written mystery that reminded me a lot of Liane Moriaty's and Lisa Jewell's style, and that's a huge compliment, since they're some of my all time favorite authors.

The way the narrative is presented the reader gets parts of the picture as the story goes on but never the complete frame, so I was taken aback at some points by some revelations that I did not see coming. I think that having Eric tell his version of events in separate chapters was clever and made the novel even better.

I am for sure going to read more from this author now.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with and ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.