This was an interesting read.

This story is about a group of adult women who first met as girls in prep school. The story focuses on past “mean girl” events at the school, while the rest of the book focuses on one of the girls, good looking Darcy, who is now successful married to her boyfriend Kyle and pregnant with their first child.
One of the girls from her past who had disappeared in school has now come back and not just that is also her neighbour.

I was expecting it to be more thrilling than it ended up being.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are many novels out there with beautiful, couldn’t be better lives splashed over social media , with deep despair and dark secrets underneath, this is one of the better ones. Once you start you are gripped and hesitate to put the book down. Darcy is pregnant and suddenly the veneer is threatened by an incident in the past at her boarding school. Told from various narratives and timelines we root for Darcy while doubting her naïveté to realize the dangers to come. I found this to be an easy and enjoyable read.

Intriguing, suspenseful, and full of twists and turns. I did however find the storyline itself somewhat predictable, however this didn't really take much away from the story at all.
An enjoyable read.

This was a great read! It was predictive, but gripping, easy to read and kept me intrigued until the very end! Fantastic, would definitely recommend!

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
An interesting story but a tad cliche and far fetched at times. I felt it was relevant and modern to today's times. The writing is good and the characters enaggaing. It could have been a bit more complex and developed at times as it felt predictable and over simplified.
An okay read.

A story about Darcey, an apparent success story with a thriving business, however when she comes into contact with an old bitter school friend, drama follows. Far fetched and a little bit silly but a good read !

It's like The Gift, Carrie, The Roommate, and/or any other psychological thriller movies, all rolled into one. It's twisty, white hot revenge that often leads you to dead ends and leaves you confused and annoyed! Is this just a way to mask the obvious, by cultivating mystique? Or is this really just the inner workings of a totally deranged mind? This is the story that the popular ones are waiting to read, the one where the "losers" really are a threat to their existence.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC. This review is posted of my own accord, with no compensation from the owners of this advanced reader's copy.

This was a fast paced read that I couldn’t put down as I wanted to see what happened next. There were many twists that kept me captivated. The plot was good with the backstory of the girls in school and some mean things that happened.
Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

First half a bit slow,and took me a while to realize the twist.Don't want to give any spoilers,but other readers may get it quicker than I did☺
Second half was really exciting and overall enjoyed the book.3 1/2 stars for me.

Darcy and Luke seem to have it all - a successful business and a baby on the way. Darcy starts to become paranoid and afraid around the time a girl who disappeared from their school days moves close by and inserts herself into their lives. She is stuck in her house with a difficult pregnancy and then her husband is called out of the country for work. Then her life starts spiraling out of her control.

The big twist in this book was obvious very early on in the story, but it didn’t keep me from wanting to finish it. Not my favorite thriller but if you are a fan of the genre you may enjoy if you don’t mind a little predictability.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a ride! Psychological thriller in the best way. I loved the dimensions of Darcy and could not get enough of the twists and turns. Highly recommend!

An absolutley gripping psychological thriller - my favourite genre. The book begins with Darcy and her childhood sweetheart looking forward to the birth of their first child. Although everything on the surface is good, actually the business that they are so well known for, isn't as good as it should be and there is stress underlying the excitement.. In a desperate attempt to generate some publcity, Darcy appears on breakfast TV and becomes haunted by a troubled soul from her past.
Darcy needs to stay home. She needs to stay safe and look after her unborn child but who is it she should be afraid of? Who is the real threat.
I promise you, you will be guessing right up to the last page - I was. This book took me on a roller coast journey and introduced some really complex characters.
A great read.

This is a twisty, engaging story to get you thinking! It is the story of Daphne, her husband, and a long lost classmate who has some unfinished business. Chapters switch back & forth among characters & years, so gradually more details and character backgrounds and relationships are revealed.
I enjoyed trying to figure out the mysteries of the book and coming up with ideas about possible connections between characters. Turns out I figured a couple things out, but was also surprised by a few!

Anytime you start a new book with a protagonist that “has it all”…..the perfect job……the perfect husband……the perfect life… you just know that the author is drawing you in with FAKE NEWS. And so it is with pregnant Darcy Hogan, the chief protagonist in Janelle Harris’s KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE.

From high school through her marriage, her career and her current pregnancy, Darcy has been blessed by the fates. Now her fairytale life is slowly beginning to crumble as her difficult pregnancy makes her a virtual prisoner in her own home and she begins to receive harassing on-line messages. Added to this are severe financial problems of which she was unaware.

From a heroine who is two steps from full blown paranoia to a financially strapped, lying husband to a lonely, vengeful, bitter and manipulative villain this multi-viewpoint narrative covers all the bases.

Unfortunately, while there are plenty of secrets and betrayals as well as a touch of terror thrown in for good measure, the final reveal isn’t all that surprising or revealing as the author ultimately resorts to a “happily ever after” finale.

While not on my list of “10 best books of the year” Ms. Harris’s offering did manage to keep me reading right up to the final page…..and that is more than I can say for a few psychological thrillers I’ve read this year that had me giving up after the first five chapters. 3 ½ stars

Luke and Darcy had it all with successful business and family. Darcy was pregnant too. Things were moving smoothly until a caller, Tina, on Darcy's television appearance asked a few questions which led to her losing her chilled appearance. From then on, DArcy had to deal with the feeling that someone was out to get her.

Told in multiple POV and in dual timelines, the first half was fine, but the second half felt a bit disjointed to me. I liked the comfort of knowing where the story was going and at the same time, I wanted the twists to shock me.

Overall, a good mystery.

I found, Keep Your Friends Close a bit long winded. The middle and the past parts were really good. But, then there were parts that just didn’t make sense. A few tweaks here or there would maybe give this a higher star rating.

Darcy is pregnant, her husband Luke has taken the reigns of the business so that Darcy can concentrate on her pregnancy (Darcy is a tad bitter) the business is not doing as well as expected and a cash boost is needed, along comes help in the disguise of a friend. Who is she really? Why is she helping? Is there an ulterior motive? You will only find out by reading this brilliant book

Darcy Hogan appears to have the perfect life. She has a successful company, a handsome husband, and she is newly pregnant with her first child. However, things will spiral out of control. This story is told by multiple characters and the plot weaves back and forth from present times to the past when Darcy was in a private boarding school. The change in characters throughout the book keeps you interested and foreshadows that Darcy's past will come back to haunt her. The plot was excellent and it was certainly a page turner. This is a great psychological thriller that I couldn't put down. This book was an interesting read and I will certainly read more from this author. I highly enjoyed it.

Suspense. Mind games. Drama. Evil. Psycho. Trauma. One part Gone Girl. One part The Girl On The Train.

This recipe for a breathtaking thriller is churned out with layers of chills and questions that spiral into a plot that delivers the disturbing answers to what makes the human mind tick.

Jealousy. Perceived injustice. Entitlement. Revenge. Bullying. Obsession. Delusions.

These seven deadly sins of psychological thrillers are the ingredients that give novels like this one the addictive flavor that fuels consumption of page after page.

But ultimately the skillful storytelling of Janelle Harris is what links the elements together, pointing the readers to conclude that everything mentioned casually in passing will play a more significant role later when the suspense ramps up and leads to a dramatic ending.

This book is well written and has good character development I just couldn’t personally get into the story and found it a little bit of a struggle to keep reading. Either way it just left a little lacking for me personally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.