Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

"Sarah Pinborough is about to become your new obsession."—Harlan Coben Lisa is living a lie and everyone is about to find out. Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn. But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go. But when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see, Lisa's world explodes. As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it's up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear. But someone has been pulling all their strings. And that someone is determined that both Lisa and Ava must suffer. Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren't meant to be broken.

Wow! What a page-turner!

Loved the twists in this one, could hardly put it down.

A riveting story told from Lisa, Ava and Marilyn's POVs.
Lisa is a mother running from her awful past (snippets are revealed along the way and in the second half of the book, continue to built to reveal after reveal!)
Ava is her daughter hiding secrets of her own.
Marilyn is Lisa's BFF.

I've read a LOT of psychological thrillers and this is one of the best, absolutely riveting!

Everything was fine and cool before THIS FUCKING ENDING! SUPER UNREALISTIC!

Pretty standard Sarah Pinborough. She definitely has cornered the psych thriller market, but on some of her novels I just don't think the follow-through does the plot justice. A lot of this book was easy to guess, but it was better than Dead to Her (also by her). Not living up to ‘Behind Her Eyes', which was executed great. I listened to this and I am glad that I did. The narration was excellent and it made the novel easier to get through. I don't really have to much to say other than it was pretty solid. Wasnt the best thing i've ever read, wasnt the worst. Good start into the genre. 3.5 stars/5

Oh, this book. Where to start? I honestly did not expect to be so addicted Cross Her Heart. My original plan was to start this, and then read it in between other books that I'm working on at the same time. Since, normally, Thriller/Mystery books take a little time to really get going. Well, scratch that idea. Sarah Pinborough's book is a slow burn sure, but one that just keeps you on your toes as every single turn. She expertly pulls you one way, then the other, never really allowing you to settle in. In short, I flew through this book. I'm really pleased about that.

It's going to be rough to say a lot about this story, because I absolutely don't want to give anything away. The joy of discovery is half of the fun of reading this book. What I can say, is that Lisa's character is perfection. Both her and her daughter are fully fleshed out people who you'll slowly finding yourself falling in step with. Even Ava's teenage petulance made me smile. There's something wonderful about reading a story like this and feeling like the characters could be your next door neighbors. In the case of a story like this, there's always something vaguely ominous about it too.

When I say that twists abound, I'm really not kidding. Cross Her Heart has a steady pace that just grabs you by the hand and tugs you along, never letting go. Even when you stop in your tracks because of what's around the next corner, it just pulls you along. I so appreciated the fact that nothing in this story felt forced. Every action, every plot point, felt expertly laid out. I felt like I was being told a real story which, like I mentioned above, added to the unease I felt while reading this book. I thought I knew where Sarah Pinborough was taking me. I was so wrong.

If you're looking for a very well written, very quick moving Thriller this is your next read.