Robin M. (robinmy) - , reviewed on 4/22/2021 + 2104 more book reviews

Amy Whey is living a happy life with her new husband, fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, Maddie, and eight-month-old son, Oliver. She is devoted to her family and to her BFF Charlotte. Char runs the neighborhood book club and Amy helps her out. When a new neighbor, Angelica Roux, joins their book club for the evening, she ends up hijacking it. Roux talks the women into playing a game of "Never Have I Ever" and secrets start to spill. Amy tries to stay clear of the game, not wanting any of her secrets to come out. But Roux has targeted Amy. She already knows Amy's secrets and is holding them over her head to get what she wants.

This is the first book I've read by this author. I liked the premise of the story, but I thought the execution was a bit off target. I was totally bored with the first half of the story. We learn that Roux knows all about Amy's past and is willing to blackmail her over it. Then the story is told in a series of flashbacks where we learn what secrets Amy is covering up. Roux tells Amy she wants money or she will tell everyone what Amy did when she was a teen. Amy is alarmed but sees the whole thing as a game of cat and mouse, speculating how she can get out from under the blackmail without her secrets coming out. I really didn't feel bad for Amy. She seemed just as manipulative as Roux. At one point she was willing to use her stepdaughter to get the goods on Roux, even though it would have hurt Maddie.

The second half of the story is better. The pace of the story picked up and I wanted to see how Amy was going to get herself out of this situation. There was a huge twist at one point that I didn't see coming at all. It really took me by surprise. I listened to the audiobook version which was narrated by the author. Her narration was perfect, especially Roux's voice. My rating: 3.5 Stars.

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