Title: LITTLE SECRETS
Expected publication: 21 April 2020
My Rating: 🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
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.
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.
What attracted me to this book:
A missing child. Family secrets. A mother who will do
anything to save her family. Concepts that sounded like the perfect recipe for
a mystery!
My musings:
LITTLE SECRETS may start with a child abduction, but it soon
became obvious that the story was not going to dwell there. Because 18 months
later, when Marin and Derek have regained some semblance of a life after their
son was taken, a new problem raises its ugly head – Derek is having an affair
with a pretty 20-something barista. Still crazed with grief, Marin is
determined that she will not lose her husband as well as her son, and sets a
plan into motion that will ensure that her spouse remains firmly hers.
I think that I am destined to be the outlier this year when
it comes to popular books, because despite Hillier’s evocative writing, a story
that has plenty of twists and turns and surprises in store, and all the
elements that sounded so good in the premise, I was not completely smitten by this
story. Was it entertaining? Yes. Was it original? Yes! Did I want to know what
happens? Definitely! But did I love it? Sadly, no. I am the kind of reader who
needs to emotionally connect with at least one character to love a book, and I
found this bunch of people to be an unlikable lot. They had so little in common
with my own life or peer group that it may have just been the generational and
cultural gap which made it difficult to understand their motivations. Whilst I
applaud the author for steering away from the much used missing child theme to
offer a more original storyline, I was much more invested in the mystery
involving Sebastian’s disappearance than the affairs and sexual games of the
adult cast.
Overall, the plot was complex enough to keep me reading, but
one major thread that tied it all together at the end seemed flawed to me and
raised more questions than answers. My rating always reflects my own reading
experience and enjoyment, and in the end it was just ok for me. Considering the
high praises the book has received from other reviewers, this may just be a
reflection of my own preferences at this time, so if the premise appeals to you
I definitely encourage you to read it and make up your own mind.
Love the cover image, is that you hiding behind there?
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