When she learns a dirty little secret about Nina's past and gets warned by the hot, candy-like landscaper Enzo, who unfortunately speaks only Italian, she realizes that by accepting this job, she may be putting her life in danger. Especially when it's so tempting to get seduced by Mr. Winchester, while his wife watches them like a jealous hawk, ready to tear her limbs apart. Oh, Millie, you've found yourself in another prison you can't escape, haven't you?

All but TWO of my friends loved it, so I had to squeeze it in!! Unfortunately, I am in the same camp as the two who were NOT thrilled with it! 🤣 I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. The characters are not what they seem. Millie has been living in her car. Recently out of prison and fired from her job at a fast-food place. She is overjoyed to be hired as a live-in housekeeper at the lavish home of the wealthy Winchesters. Nina Winchester becomes increasingly volatile, fluctuating from sweetness to anger, blaming the innocent Millie for things, that were not her fault. Her gorgeous husband Andrew tries to diffuse Nina's hostile behaviour, causing Millie to wish she were in Nina's place with her upscale home and her pleasant, agreeable, wealthy, and handsome husband. Millie is concerned as she has learned that Nina had been confined to a mental hospital in the past. Could she be in danger from Nina? First of all, the tagline "From behind closed doors, she sees everything" must have been chosen by someone who never read the book, because it couldn't be farther from the truth: Millie goes through the novel blissfully unaware of everything that happens around her, be it behind closed doors or not. Even the most telegraphed plot twists somehow catch her by surprise, despite all the warning signs and the not-so-cryptic warnings she receives from other characters. The only ones who see everything from behind closed doors are Andrew and Enzo, and how sad it is that a novel written by a woman, with a woman as a protagonist, should depict both its female main characters as such hapless damsels in distress?All in all, this was my first book by this author but I don’t think it will be my last. Despite the minor shortcomings, this book kept me largely satisfied. Since I am not an avid contemporary thriller reader, I cannot tell you if the plot is similar to any of the other recent domestic thrillers in the market. But I know that I was quite happy with it. Definitely recommended if you are looking for an entertaining commercial thriller. I gave the ending 5/5 because it's women's history month and that's all I can say without spoiling it

I was all about the five star on this one, but I moved it down to 4.5 and rounded down because of three things. Millie has recently gotten out of prison and is on the hunt for a job. She lives in her car, tired of the bar, and can’t even get a job in fast food. She's in her 20s and is gorgeous, but wears glasses and clothes to lessen her appeal, so others don't think she’s too pretty to work there. She interviews with Nina Winchester for a job as their housemaid and live-in nanny. Nina is a stay at home wife/mom, seems to only dress in white, slightly overweight, and appears to be very sophisticated. Then we have Andrew Winchester. He makes a lot of money, is so very handsome, and seems to be a wonderful father and husband. Millie can’t stop herself from fantasizing about him. He seems perfect in every way to her and cannot understand why Nina isn’t over the moon about him. I can’t give this book enough praise! I read this book in one day. The suspense had me up all night, trying to put the pieces together. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And…I look forward to reading the other Housemaid books. I love trying to figure out what is going to happen, where the plot is going, who is telling the truth, who is reliable, etc. This one kept me on my toes. I found it to be fun, dramatic, surprising, and hard to put down!

Christmas Gifts

There is a dark humour underlying Millie’s narration, I liked those random funny moments even when the proceedings were not hilarious at all. In Part One, Nina Winchester is looking for a maid to clean, help out with her daughter Cecilia, and perhaps prepare a meal on occasion. The person she hires will need to be desperate for a job, and have CERTAIN personality traits. There was no alcoholic in this domestic thriller. Thank you for not using that trope, dear author. I am so fed up of reading thrillers with unreliable narrators who can’t control their addition to booze.

As always, not much to say about a thriller without spoiling anything (that would just be bad), but let's sum up the thoughts. If you know your domestic thrillers, you'll know that the above character analysis will change over the course of the novel. The characters were unbelievable at times. In spite of this, I enjoyed their idiosyncrasies. A thriller can’t be twisty without characters who generate mixed feelings in you. It’s boring to have thrillers with clearly delineated good or bad characters. The characters in this book will test your loyalties towards them. The first person works well in this story. While there is a little rambling (one can't escape that entirely in first person povs, unfortunately), it reveals the thoughts and intentions of the characters well and also creates a nice mystery about the speaker of the prologue.

Books Multibuys

AND IF YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOK, PUT DOWN WHATEVER YOU’RE READING AND GRAB ANOTHER FREIDA MCFADDEN BOOK!! The ending was beyond satisfying and just something I didn’t expect at all! LoL saying it was a drop-the-mic moment is an understatement. This was a wild, insane, fun, adrenaline-filled