Book ~ "The Housekeeper" (2019) Natalie Barelli

From Goodreads ~ She's a liar. She's a stalker. She's in your house.

When Claire sees Hannah Wilson at an exclusive Manhattan hair salon, it's like a knife slicing through barely healed scars. It may have been ten years since Claire last saw Hannah but she has thought of her every day and not in a good way. So Claire does what anyone would do in her position - she stalks her.

Hannah is now Mrs. Carter, living the charmed life that should have been Claire's. It's the life Claire used to have, before Hannah came along and took it all away from her.

Back then, Claire was a happy teenager with porcelain skin and long, wavy blond hair. Now she's an overweight lazy drunk with hair the color of compost and skin to match. Which is why when Hannah advertises for a housekeeper, Claire is confident she can apply and not be recognized. And since she has time on her hands, revenge on her mind and a talent for acting.

Because what better way to seek retribution - and redress - than from within the beautiful Mrs. Hannah Carter's own home?

Except that it's not just Claire who has secrets. Everyone in that house seems to have something to hide.

And now, there's no way out.

Growing up, Claire had it all ... money, family and a future. But that all disappeared after a nanny named Hannah was hired by her family to take care of her younger brother and accused Claire’s dad of something terrible. It destroyed Claire’s family and according to Claire, wrecked her life. Now in her mid-20s, Claire is barely getting by ... she's working part-time in a doctor's office and giving him special "treatment" for extra pay. One day she sees Hannah in a fancy hair salon ... Hannah is now the rich and classy Mrs. Carter. Claire decides she's going to get revenge for all the wrongs Hannah had done to her family. She fakes her identity (hoping Hannah doesn't recognize her) and gets hired as Hannah’s housekeeper and nanny to her baby. Then she puts her plan into action.

This story is written in first person perspective in Claire's voice. When I started reading it, I didn't know what to make of it. It's not the usual kind of story I like. Right away, Claire is unlikable. She lies often and from her description of herself, she's not attractive but doesn't really care. If she was that gross, I found it unbelievable that she was able to successfully seduce her boss and thought she could seduce the rich and attractive Mr. Carter (who has a hot young wife). Instead of rising above what happened when she was younger, she didn't and blamed Hannah for her crappy life. Plus what kind of a person puts their life (such as it was) on hold to get revenge for something that happened 10 years ago? Claire wasn't seeking money ... all she wanted was Hannah to admit she made it all up. Huh??!! But I carried on and was curious to see how it was going to end. Then when the twist came, I wasn't buying it. The ending was ridiculous and unbelievable given Claire's actions and personality. As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity.

Book ~ "Missing Molly" (2018) Natalie Barelli

From Goodreads ~ Everyone has secrets and Rachel Holloway is no exception. She’s worked hard to keep the past where it belongs: dead and buried. And so far, she’s been very successful.

But now the small newspaper where she works wants to produce a podcast on a cold case: the disappearance twelve years ago of little Molly Forster.

Some secrets should never see the light of day, and as far as Rachel is concerned, whatever happened to little Molly is one of them. Rachel has a life now, a boyfriend she loves and a three-year-old daughter she adores, and she will do anything to protect them.

But to do that, no one can ever know that she is Molly Forster.

When Molly was 12, her parents and older sister were brutally murdered and Molly saw it all ... and then disappeared.  A mentally challenged man was found full of blood holding her dead sister and was arrested.  Before he could go to trial, he was found hanging in his cell of an apparent suicide and the case was closed.  Everyone has wondered, though, what happened to Molly.

Rachel works for a small newspaper which will soon be shutting down.  They come up with the idea of creating a series of podcasts to draw an audience with the first focus being on where Molly is.  Rachel doesn't want this to happen because she is Molly.  She had run away because she knew she was in danger since she had witnessed what had really happened that night.  She never returned after that night and has been living under a different name all these years, and even has a long-term boyfriend and a young daughter.  When she sees the podcast isn't going away, she manages to get herself involved in the podcast so she can try and control it so no one will find out the truth.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I liked it.  The story is told in first person perspective from Rachel's point of view.  Since she spent so many years living on the street, I found some of the decisions she made unbelievable.  I like the writing style and found it flowed well.  The editing could have been better as there were a couple typos.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "The Loyal Wife" (2018) Natalie Barelli

From Goodreads ~ She thought they had the perfect marriage ... 

Tamra never dreamed she would marry someone like Mike Mitchell: handsome, rich, a wonderful husband ... until she finds out that Mike is having an affair.

But Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Mike Mitchell should have remembered that before he made a fool of her. Because Tamra knows something about Mike. Something he did. Something evil. And she was prepared to carry the secret to her grave.

Not anymore.

To make matters worse, Mike’s daughter, Madison, has come to visit for a few days and Madison doesn’t like Tamra. Well, that's too bad, because Tamra doesn’t have time to argue. She’s too busy ruining Mike’s life while remaining, on the surface at least, the perfect, loyal wife.

But when Tamra's plan spirals out of control, she finds that things are not what they seem. And now, it's too late.

Tamra is in her early thirties and has been married to successful older businessman, Mike, for about six years.  Tamra thinks all is well in their marriage until she discovers he is having an affair.  He had cheated on her four years ago but they had moved on ... or so she'd thought.  Because he is secretively in the process of leaving her (and if he does, she will be left with nothing), she decides to strike first and get her revenge.  She knows something about Mike that is going to bring him down and she sets on a course of action to make that happen.  The author doesn't reveal all the details of this event right away and the reader keeps learning more and more as the book goes on.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it.  The story is told in first person perspective from Tamra's point of view so we are able to get inside her head.  I like the writing style ... I found it amusing and a bit quirky.  The editing could have been better as there were a couple typos.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Tamra had started out with nothing.  Her mother had left the family when she was twelve, her father drank himself to death and they lost their house, her brother left when he was 18 and she has no idea where he is, and she had lied to her husband when they met about her job and education.  So she is now always conscious about how she looks and acts (though she does still err sometimes on the trashy side) and is grateful and appreciative for what she has today ... hence her need for revenge since it's being taken away from her.