Anna Downes

Thank you Minotaur Books and BookishFirst for the chance to read this ARC. Book publishes on July 14, 2020. #TheSafePlace

Emily is a hot mess. Her acting career is going nowhere fast and she just got fired from her latest temp job. She goes home to find out she and her roommate are being evicted because the rent check bounced. Then, Scott, her employer who ordered her to be fired, has a job offer for her. He wants to hire her to be a housekeeper at a French villa where his wife and daughter live. She agrees and adjusts quickly to living in "paradise" but also feels that something isn't quite right.

What is Scott and his wife hiding? Why can't Emily go into the "main house"? Is she in danger?… (més)

I was intrigued and anxious to read this one. I was hoping it would be a great supernatural-type story, but it wasn't. It was a good suspense story but not with supernatural aspects like I thought/hoped there might be.
This was about Alex, a single mother with two kids that moves to start over in a new place and get away from her abusive ex. In this new place, there are tales spread around the village about a witch that comes and takes your kids. Weird things happen and Alex finds out about Renee who used to live in an empty farmhouse where her son Gabe disappeared. In the end, the solution makes sense to what's going on in this new place as the timelines and stories converge and are pieced together so if you like real-life solutions that make sense, you'll enjoy that. There is a gruesome killing of a cat and some language but other than that it's a decent mystery read.… (més)

Intriguing introduction of this thriller. Spoken in the voices of two protagonists, Emily and Scott.

Emily is a character very relatable. She wants to act and is beautiful. She is a perfectionist, yet she doesn’t seem to do anything right. She is stuck in a shame cycle. She lost her temp job and has an over drafted account.

Scott is in investment banking. He is a bit mysterious and isn’t startled by the sight of blood. He has been keeping a close eye on Emily, making her do mundane jobs and seems she is perfect.

What could he want with Emily? It’s obvious it is something sinister. Whatever it may be Scott thinks Emily is the perfect candidate for his extracurricular job. I can’t wait for the ending to see what Scott is actually up to and how will the low self-confident Emily respond?

Updated 2/23/21

Emily became Scott’s wife and daughters companion/housekeeper/au pair due to an illness in his daughter. The mid section was a bunch of filler to me; however the twist at the end was not at all expected. What did Emily find out what is going on in this family? It kept me on my toes!… (més)