Little Charlotte should have been perfectly safe at the birthday party. Neither of her parents was there, but the yard and house were full of watchful adults. Her aunt and uncle had both promised to keep an eye on her...but no one has any idea when she disappeared or how it might have happened. Hours pass before she's even missed.

As the hunt for Charlie continues, the plot of this one twists and turns and gets less and less plausible. I might've been more accepting of some of it if the author hadn't waited so long to let the reader know things that everyone else in the book would have already known.

On a hot sunny day, Kathy Hamilton drops her daughter Charlotte known as "Charlie" at a birthday party hosted by her brother-in-law Scott and his wife Cindy. She leaves the party, not knowing that in a few hours, Charlie will disappear from the party without a trace. While many people are drunk and have no recollection of what really happened the hours before Charlie disappeared, the case was investigated by Kathy's childhood lover, Chase. And as the investigations are ongoing, many of the dark secrets that have been buried start emerging...

This is the first time I have read a stand alone novel from this author. Wendy Dranfield had impressed me with Detective Madison Harper series and so I was determined to read all the novels written by this author. I have to say, from start to finish, this book had me hooked. The past timeline actually gave a glimpse of Kathy's relationship with Chase which later on provided useful in the story, thus connecting the characters altogether. Along with the dark secret surfacing, there are so much unexpected twists and turns that you literally had no idea what is going to happen in the book! You think you got the suspect but towards the end, you realize that the author had fooled you and that the suspect is completely someone you didn't expect. Story itself talk about toxic relationships between Kathy and her mother. The ending left me so breathless that I felt like I am on a roller coaster ride with this book! I like how the author had us guessing until the end!

Guranteed you will stay up all night reading this book, wanting to know what is going to happen in the end!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Wow, what a fast paced page turner this is.
Kathy drops five year old Charlie at her in laws for a birthday party. That is the last time she sees her.
Why didn't Megan the babysitter pick her up as arranged?
As the hours pass with no news Detective Chase Cooper is on the case.
There were so many twists, some shockers, others I had already guessed.
The author certainly had me on the edge of my seat. So well written and believable.
The family dynamics were interesting especially between Mitch and Scott.
I hated Kathy's mother Connie with a passion, so controlling.
Loved the ending.
Highly recommend this nail biting read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Hooked!! Start-to-finish!

So many secrets, so many twists and turns, even if you can predict a secret that is going to come out, you will be kept riveted as you race to discover just how it will impact the plot. Wendy weaves the story in a way that will have you captive til the end to find out the truth about what happened.

This is the first book I have read by Wendy and love finding a new author who has a full library of books already out for me to devour! Great for fans of Lisa Regan and Rita Herron.

A little girl goes missing at a birthday party and there are no clues as to where or why.....she just vanished....

Oh boy, this book had a lot of potential but there were so many twists thrown in here that it took away from the actual plot. I found it hard to believe that less than 24 hrs of their daughter missing that they still went to work, church, grocery shopping, etc. At one point I read yet another twist and said out loud "for Pete's sake that is ridiculous!" I finished the book only to find out what happened to Charlie but honestly the book wasn't about her but more about the secrets of others and there were SO MANY SECRETS...it was just too much.

Book will be released in January

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of The Birthday Party.

Wow! This book left me on the edge of my seat! When 5 year old Charlie goes missing at a birthday party, there were so many possibilities of who the guilty person was. I was way off the mark! I had no idea until the very end! What a suspenseful page turner! I'm definitely going to be looking at more books by this author!
I was grateful to receive an advanced copy through Netgalley.

Another absolute gem of a book. I couldn’t put this one down. I have devoured page after page of this one. Completely unwilling to put this one down.
This has kept my interest and made me want to read more by this author. I love this series, the characters are superb and I 100% need more.
This is a spectacular read that kept me guessing throughout.

Kathy drops her little girl off at her brother-in-laws house for their sons birthday party not thinking that later on she would regret this. When Charlotte goes missing everyone is under suspicion.. Her babysitter should have been picking her up only she never turned up. Will they find her alive or is it already too late.
I really enjoyed this book and loved the twists and turns at the end.

Kathy drops off her daughter Charlie to her brother-in-laws for a birthday party and has no idea what will happen after she leaves. This books leaves one holding their breath wondering what has happened to Charlie. Fast paced with twists and turns around every corner, it is very hard to ascertain who is to blame and what the poor child may have been through. As a parent I cannot imagine that there could be anything worse than this situation. This is a debut novel and I found it very enjoyable, I will definitely look at other books by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this was a gripping thriller right from the beginning, I did not want to put the book down. If you love storylines based on kidnappings, you’ll love this! A little girl vanishes from a birthday party moments after her mother drops her off. No one claims to have seen anything, so what happened to this little girl? Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this advance copy.

A gripping story. After reading the blurb this book went to the top of my reading pile. The first half of this book was exciting and i just had to keep on reading. A very dysfunctional family and a little girl is missing. Then this author throws everything at this story including the kitchen sink. The twists and turns then start to come thick and fast. Confusing and unbelievable. Don't get me wrong it is still a good read. This book could have been so much more. Less is more and i still have so many unanswered questions. I gave this book three stars but it could have been so much more.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

It took me a while to get into this, as there seemed to be a fair few characters to get my head around at the start. However, it was an amazing read, and kept me guessing almost to the end. It was a distressing story, but it was written so well that I loved reading it.

Wow! There were so many things I didn’t see coming in this book! The characters were all interesting and full of their own secrets and surprises! I will definitely read more by this author!. Highly recommend.

Three stars for me.


Very interesting plot. The cover , blurb and scenario drew me in. The first half was really good. Unfortunately didn't like the last half and had a hard to believing it.


Thanks for the advance copy

This book was just an okay read for me. It lacked the real spark that would make it a great book, partly because I
I didn't really take to the main characters .It wasn't a bad book ,and I wouldn't put anyone off reading it and seeing what they think for themselves but I wouldn't rave about it either

The Birthday Party centers around the disappearance of a young girl from her cousins' birthday party. The story is told from a few POVs, which is common with thrillers. The POVs include the mother of the missing child, the babysitter, and the detective. There are quite a few characters who the reader is led to believe could have been responsible. For 3/4 of the book, I had no idea who the culprit was; the author did a great job of keeping me guessing.

For me, the biggest issue I had with this book was that it was super unbelievable. Yes, the setting is a small town where "everyone knows everyone," but even in small towns, everything that came together in this book is very unlikely. I apologize for the vagueness, but since these are some of the bigger reveals in the book, I don't want to give away any spoilers.

Overall, I give the book 3 stars, since it was pretty gripping.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of The Birthday Party. I had never heard of this author and reading about missing children who might be abused is not the type of book I read BUT the cover caught my attention. It was a really good book, LOVED IT!!!! Lots of twists, there was a very big far fetched part of the story but All in All it was gripping!!! Great writing by this author. Thank you again.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This is the first book I've read by Wendy Dranfield and let's just say it won't be my last! WOW! This book is a must read. The twists and turns never stop all the way to the very last page! Such a great read!

I thought this book started off well, but towards the end it became more unbelievable and I struggled to engage with it. Some of the themes seemed underexplored while others were provided with an excess of detail. Having said that, I really did enjoy the first half of the book and I thought some of the twists were clever and unusual.

Kathy Hamilton takes her youngest daughter Charlotte “Charlie” to a birthday party hosted by her brother and sister in law. After she drops her off, Kathy runs errands as the babysitter is supposed to pick up Charlie. When Kathy gets home she doesn’t see the babysitter or her daughter anywhere and the babysitter isn’t answering her phone. Kathy goes back to the party and she finds a bunch of adults laughing and drinking but cannot find her daughter. Where could her daughter have gone? Where is the babysitter? Are all her family secrets going to be spilled throughout this novel?
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This is my first book by Wendy Dranfield and I enjoyed it so much. The setting is in a small town and there are so many secrets all of the families are hiding. The story kept me on my toes throughout the entire time and I suspected all the characters at some point for Charlie going missing. The author did such a good job at connecting the different parts of the story, even when it went back in time. She did a good job at showing the reader how all of the information was relevant. This was such a gripping thriller and I cannot wait to read more of her books!