Title: Little Secrets
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Published: April 2020, Minotaur Books
Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
From the author of Jar of Hearts, a mother driven to the edge by the disappearance of her son learns her husband is having an affair with the woman who might have kidnapped him.
Four hundred and eighty seconds. That’s how long it took for someone to steal Marin Machado's four-year-old son.
Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They're admired in their community and are a loving family. Up until the day Sebastian is taken.
A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. The only thing keeping her going is the unlikely chance that one day Sebastian reappears. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding him, she discovers that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman.
Kenzie Li is an artist and grad student—Instagram famous—and up to her eyeballs in debt. She knows Derek is married. She also knows he's rich, and dating him comes with perks: help with bills, trips away, expensive gifts. He isn't her first rich boyfriend, but she finds herself hoping he'll be the last. She's falling for him—and that was never part of the plan.
Discovery of the affair sparks Marin back to life. She's lost her son; she's not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix. But as she sets a plan in motion, another revelation surfaces. Derek's lover might know what happened to their son. And so might Derek.
My thoughts: Ever since reading Jar of Hearts two years ago, I knew Jennifer Hillier was going to be an author I would keep reading. I was ecstatic to actually meet her last fall at Bouchercon! She is the sweetest person and how she writes such thrilling, devious books is beyond me, but I love it just the same.
I could not wait to read her latest book and devoured it! There are so many layers to this story that it keeps you completely engaged and captivated the entire time. This is not your typical missing child story - oh no! Jennifer Hillier takes that story line and turns it on its head. It's twisty and dark and goes where you least expect it, but isn't that what a good thriller should do?
While not all the characters are completely likeable, I still found myself totally immersed in the book and invested with the characters. And having the book alternate between Marin and McKenzie's point of view guarantees that you will keep reading...it gives you that need to see how things play out. I also loved that there weren't a ton of characters so that you didn't need to keep too many players straight. But every single character we do meet has secrets...every single one!
This book will keep you guessing and some of the twists completely shocked me. But I also did have some suspicions about certain things that ultimately proved to be correct, though I wasn't sure how they fit in, or how they would play out. It is one of those books that keeps you on the edge of your seat as you keep waiting for something else to happen, wondering if there is another secret that will be revealed that will lead to devastating results.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It is addicting and binge-worthy for sure. It completely exceeded all my expectations and then some. I will absolutely be pushing this book on all my thriller-loving friends.