The Dilemma by B.A. Paris
The Dilemma
Author: B.A. Paris
Published: June 30, 2020
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: August 31- September 10, 2020
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
It’s Livia’s fortieth birthday and tonight she’s having a party, a party she’s been planning for a long time. The only person missing will be her daughter, Marnie.
But Livia has a secret, a secret she’s been keeping from Adam, her husband, until the party is over. Because how can she tell him that although she loves Marnie, she’s glad their daughter won’t be there to celebrate with her?
Adam is determined everything will be just right for Livia and the party is going to be perfect… until he learns something that will leave him facing an unbearable decision.
Jessica’s Review:
This one definitely receives 4 Frustrating Stars: But this is in a good way!
Oh my word, this one is a departure from Paris’ other novels, as this one is not a thriller/ mystery but more of a domestic drama. This novel deals with family dynamics/ history, consequences of past actions, communication (or I should say a lack of), love, grief, and good intentions that may not have the desired effect.
It is Livia’s big 40 and she is going to have the biggest party ever, especially since she never got the huge wedding she really wanted. She has planned this since her early 20s. But she is keeping a secret from her husband Adam, and likewise he is keeping a new secret from her. In the long run, yes, Livia’s secret has big consequences, but Adam wins this ‘competition of secrets’ hands down.
This novel is a longer one that takes place just over a 24 hour period and we have both Livia and Adam as the narrators in dueling perspectives. The novel does become a bit weary; it is very repetitive as both narrators are constantly focused on the secret they are keeping from each other. I was more involved with Adam’s secret than Livia’s. Adam’s secret is heart breaking on so many levels. He becomes very frustrating at times because to get a definitive answer to his dilemma, all he has to do is make one phone call. At times I wanted to slap him and yell “Just make that phone call!” But then Adam still has a dilemma as once he knows the answer then there is no turning back. Adam really is in a lose-lose situation with Livia’s party going on.
Like Livia, I also turned 40 this year, so I identified with her on having a big birthday year. This is a situation no couple would want to find themselves in. There are ultimately no winners or losers in their situation. The title of the novel is so apparent as you read through the novel. The only thing that did not seem realistic was a woman who focused on having a huge 40th birthday party for half of her life. I mean, what about your 30th? That one is just as important!
I really did enjoy this frustrating novel, despite the repetitiveness of it. It does make you think “what would you do?” in Livia and Adam’s situations. And all I can say is: I am not sure.
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
Author: B.A. Paris
To Be Published: June 19, 2018
304 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: May 20-30, 2018
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
A young British couple are driving through France on holiday when they stop for gas. He runs in to pay, she stays in the car. When he returns her car door has been left open, but she’s not inside. No one ever sees her again.
Ten years later he’s engaged to be married; he’s happy, and his past is only a tiny part his life now. Until he comes home from work and finds his new wife-to-be is sitting on their sofa. She’s turning something over in her fingers, holding it up to the light. Something that would have no worth to anyone else, something only he and she would know about because his wife is the sister of his missing first love.
As more and more questions are raised, their marriage becomes strained. Has his first love somehow come back to him after all this time? Or is the person who took her playing games with his mind?
Jessica’s Review:
Bring Me Back is B.A. Paris’ third novel and after reading all three I can say this: I am a fan of hers! I look forward to her fourth novel that is due to come out next year. In Bring Me Back the chapters are short, we have multiple narrators, and an intriguing storyline: It’s everything I want in a thriller!
Unlike her previous two novels, her main narrator Finn is a man. This was a surprise as Paris’ other two novel’s narrators are women. Despite all his secrets I liked Finn and wanted to know what was going to happen next. Bring Me Back is a novel you do not want to put down.
With the thrillers I read, I like to NOT figure out what the twist is going to be. I love the feeling when the twist occurs and your mind is blown with an OMG moment. I did figure out the twist in Bring Me Back very early on: It was very obvious to me. I could see the clues over the course of the entire novel. Despite figuring out this twist, I was eager to see how it would play out. I ‘sat back and enjoyed the ride’ as I went on while reading.
The epilogue truly had my attention. There is a true sadness with the ending. I really enjoyed Bring Me Back. If you enjoy a good thriller and have not read any by B.A. Paris, you need to go out and get her novels now!
Bring me Back is highly recommended!
Special thanks to St Martin’s Press for my arc copy. It was a pleasure to read and review! Please keep bringing us more of Paris’ novels!
Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK (available now!)
Release Day Review: The Breakdown
Author: B.A. Paris
328 pages in Paperback
Published: US: Today, July 18, 2017 UK: February 9, 2017
Reviewed by: Jessica
Dates Read: July 2, July 9-14, 2017
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Description from Amazon:
If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?
Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside—the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.
But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.
The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.
Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…
Jessica’s Review:
I first started reading this over the July 4th weekend along with Behind Closed Doors (BCD), which is also written by B.A. Paris. I very quickly read the first 100 pages of The Breakdown. I put it on hold to finish BCD first. Once finished with BCD I continued with The Breakdown.
The Breakdown has a strong opening: Cass is heading home alone in a bad storm. Instead of going home the way her husband wants, she cuts down a dark, wooded road which is a shortcut to home. While driving, she sees a car pulled over. She can tell it’s a woman and debates on stopping to see if she needs assistance. Cass does not and continues home. The next day she finds out that the woman was killed overnight. Cass is torn between feelings of guilt and self-preservation; if she had stayed to help would the woman still be alive, or would they both be dead?
Beyond her guilty conscience, Cass is also having memory problems and they are progressively getting worse. Her mother had dementia and Cass is beginning to wonder if she is facing early onset dementia. And then there are the silent phone calls that have started. Did the killer see Cass that night and he is taunting her, or is something else going on?
Once I saw that Cass was going to be dealing with memory issues throughout the novel, I did not know what to think. Sometimes these novels with the ‘unreliable narrator’ work for me (Jack Jordan’s My Girl and Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10) and sometimes they don’t (Paula Hawkin’s The Girl on the Train). Cass’ memory issues become the focus in the novel and I struggled with it. My thoughts were: “Yeah, yeah…things keep being delivered from the home shopping network that she doesn’t remember ordering; she keeps forgetting how to work things… I get it! Come one move on from this.” As I was reading I came to realize the double meaning of the title of the novel: The breakdown of the car and Cass’ mental breakdown. Even as I was struggling through The Breakdown I kept reading because I wanted to know what the final twist was going to be. When I finally got there I was glad I kept going. Everything that B.A. Paris wrote had a purpose and she knew what she was doing! I thought the twist was going to go in one direction, but I was wrong. I did not see the twist coming.
Despite struggling through part of the novel, The Breakdown is recommended.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for providing me an arc copy for review!
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