This book was excellent.

Lisa is a single Mum who just wants to keep Ava, her 16 year old daughter safe. Lisa’s best friend is Marilyn. All three have secrets that they want to keep hidden.

Then something happens that blows their worlds apart.

The story is told from the different perspectives of each character and contains flashback chapters too.

The chapters are short which made the book quick paced.

I would recommend this for fans of psychological thrillers.

This novel is a dark and compulsive read. It is cleverly written, insightful, genuinely human, compassionate and understanding. The writer explores how modern lives work, and how they don’t. My thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book as I just could not submerge myself within the plot and characters. This is sad as I throughly enjoyed behind her eyes.

A gripping story full of twists! I loved the triple narration between Lisa, Marilyn and Ava. The pacing of this book was perfect the way it started slower and then picked up as it went on revealing more puzzle pieces as it goes along with flashback scenes that show more information.

I am a terrible thriller guesser and was working on a couple of different theories whilst reading but I was so wrong it was ridiculous! I especially loved how the characters developed over the course of the story, Lisa and Ava's relationship in particular. I do wish the ending could have been a little more filled out though in regards to repurcussions etc.

Full of easily identifiable believable characters, Cross Her Heart is a great pyschological thriller. The plot is delivered at an enjoyable pace, and as everything is revealed you can't help but be glued until the end. This is an easy book to lose a day with, as once started and gotten into, it's very hard to put down.

This was my first read of Sarah Pinborough and it will definitely not be my last. Hugely enjoyable and immersive read!

Another twisty offering from Sarah Pinborough the author of ‘Behind her Eyes’. This slowly drew me in then kept me there until the end. Much like BHE (and Marmite) you’ll either love this or hate it. I really enjoyed it though I do understand some of the criticisms. I’m not too hung up on ‘realism’, if a book keeps me hooked and guessing it’ll do for me. This did both, I preferred BHE as it was totally different to what I was expecting but this still holds its own. Some parts shocked me, others made me sad. I found it highly original and entertaining.

Wow. I can see why this book is a bestseller. Told from many viewpoints with many narrators, not all reliable, we are constantly given new views and information, changing what we thought before. Throughout this is the thread of the everyday secret, the skeletons in the closet so to speak, and the effects these have on those around us. Some moments in this book were truly horrific but need to be discussed, as the scary thing is they no doubt happen a lot.

I really loved this book. Lisa lives with her teenaged daughter, Ava. It's clear from the start that she has reinvented herself after a difficult past. We are led to believe that she may have escaped an abusive relationship. However, the truth is much worse. When her past catches up with her, Lisa risks losing everything - her daughter, her job and her dear friend. I won't say any more as I don't want to spoil the story, but this is a cracking read, which I thoroughly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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Sarah constantly blows me away with her writing and this is no different. Her writing is beyond anything I have read before and I am still not okay after reading this beauty. Wow.

Wow what a brilliant story. I was completely hooked from the beginning. This is second book I have read by this author and I wasn't disappointed. A easy five stars from me. Thank you Netgalley and Harperfiction for giving me the chance to read this book

Cross Her Heart is a psychological thriller from the author of Behind Your Eyes, a stand out novel from last year. I was slightly disappointed in this novel, told from different viewpoints it meant the pace was slow and may be confusing to readers but otherwise a satisfactory read.

The start of the book seemed very similar to other books I’ve recently enjoyed reading. This book is written from multiple perspectives , mainly Lisa, Ava (Lisa's daughter) and Marilyn (Lisa's friend). All three have 'secrets'. The first part of the book tells how they are living now. Gradually as the book progresses these 'secrets' are revealed and the story switches to the 'before too'. Although there was a lot of jumping around in the time line the story was not difficult to follow. I did find the final twist at the end of the book difficult to believe.

I was completely hooked and had to read it in two long sittings ( I had to eat). Once Charlotte is outed and the full horror of the twisted, agonising and macabre situation unfolds the more gripping it gets. Old enough to remember Mary Bell and the Bulger cases and the ongoing grooming cases in the press now I can tell that the author had researched her subject well. Highly recommended but not for the squeamish.

I thought I had this one figured out, and then very quickly came to realise that I was wrong.
Grabbed me early on, and kept my attention. Brilliantly chilling and twisty.
Would definitely recommend this book!

A clever concept well presented.

Hidden lives: people have all sorts of reasons for hiding, for staying out of sight and for building walls around themselves, in this novel we meet someone who lives a life filled with fear that she may be found out at any time...but we don't know why.

A beautifully constructed story using flashbacks and present moments, we're taken on a journey of discovery, where we learn that judgments and assumptions can be horribly flawed and that what we see on the outside can disguise a past and a present that is quite, quite different.

As thrillers go, this keeps the tension levels ramped right up, right until the closing pages in fact. Those who love a mystery will make many, many guesses and assumptions as you progress through this story, but you should be prepared for something really very unexpected.

https://lynns-books.com/2018/06/27/behind-her-eyes-and-cross-her-heart-by-sarah-pinborough/
Cross Her Heart is a completely different kettle of fish to Behind Her Eyes but again a novel with a delicious build up, tension that you can cut a slice out of and another great ending.

The story revolves around a single mom and her daughter. They have a good relationship and their lives seem happy enough in terms of friends, work and school. And, yet, scratch the surface and it feels like everyone is keeping secrets. The fear of revealed pasts, mysterious friendships and things that happen behind closed doors is palpable.

The real focus of the story is Lisa. She has a dark past which is slowly revealed through the use of intriguing flashbacks. The overriding feeling revolving around Lisa is the underlying fear that her secrets will eventually spill out. She loves her daughter Ava and in fact the majority of her actions are taken with Ava’s well being in mind. Unfortunately, as we all know, secrets are like little seeds. They grow in the dark before bursting forth and revealing their true colours.

What I really enjoyed about Cross Her Heart was the characters. It feels like Ms Pinborough has the knack of writing characters who you feel like you shouldn’t like because of their actions and yet you find yourself really warming to. Lisa is one such character. She has a terrible past. Raised on neglect she became a ‘wrong un’. Hardened to protect herself from the continual hurts her backstory is a painful and difficult one to read. Her world was dark and brutal and her own actions eventually led to devastation. She’s managed to escape her past but it feels like she’s skating on very thin ice.

Lisa, Ava’s teenage daughter, is a lovely young girl – she’s growing up though and straining against the restraints of Lisa’s parenting and over bearing protectiveness. She has secrets – the sort of secrets you dread your children keeping.

Then there’s Lisa’s friend Marilyn. The two have worked together for a few years now and Marilyn does her best to encourage Lisa to take more risks, become involved with others and seek promotion. Marilyn has her own skeletons in closets and her life isn’t quite as rosy as first appears.

On the face of it I’ve probably made this sound pedestrian but what begins to seep out is a much darker story and a past that refuses to remain buried all blended in with a sense of impending doom. And, more than that there’s the red herrings. Again, similar to Behind Her Eyes I thought I’d put my finger on what was going on, and in one respect I had guessed something about one of the characters – but I was again completely caught out in terms of the overall plot.

This book is fraught with tension and unexpected twists. It has a dark backstory and it takes a path that I really didn’t expect. As I’ve come to expect from this author the writing is really good, persuasive, easy to read and flows almost effortlessly. I read this in two quick sittings and thought it was very good.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I know a number of people are comparing this book to Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes and being disappointed, but I think it’s important to review each book as a standalone, and this book is just as enticing.

Cross Your Heart follows Lisa, an over-protective, worried, single mother and her teenage daughter, Ava. Lisa has dark secrets in her past that she’s hiding from, but secrets never stay hidden forever. This is a twisty, well-executed psychological thriller with an intricate plot line and unreliable, flawed characters that will mess with your head. The structure flows between multiple POVs and flips between past and present.

Enjoyable, compelling, and intriguing, if you want a fast-paced thriller, this is the book for you. It’s highly entertaining, an easy, quick read, and I enjoyed it immensely.

This novel has an informal, spontaneous style. It's about love, betrayal and revenge. It is told in three parts in the first person by Lisa, her daughter Ava and Lisa's work colleague and friend Marilyn. In the first part of the book, you are served the impression that Lisa is a nervy, over-protective mother. It baffled me in Part one why Lisa had such low self-esteem and perpetually consumed with anxiety. Ava is her awkward, rebellious teenage daughter. She seems to be at that inexplicable withdrawal stage from mother-love and hacking away at the umbilical cord to find her individuality. Part one is slow for the groundwork for the characters and how they all tick. Part two is explosive with its shock revelation as Lisa's past rears its ugly head, and it immediately makes you reassess her. She's not the person you thought she was when the layers of her life peel back; she's been living a lie. It affects everyone in her orbit and a case of mud sticks. The arrows of betrayal are shot from so many directions. It's an impressive plot which was full of suspense and surprises. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK.

I have been anticipating this since last year’s novel. From the first page, I was drawn into the urgency of the situation Liz was in. Nothing is what it first seems however. At the start, I believed Liz to be someone escaping an abusive relationship but there is much, much more to this tale. Fast forward in time and Liz is hiding secrets from her daughter Ava. Who is taunting her with memories of her past? Is there a much darker side to Liz? I can’t write too much without giving away too much of the plot but this is one of Pinborough’s best. The tales twists and turns you will have to read it all to find out if the revelations at the end release and redeem Liz.

If you have read Behind Her Eyes you are sure to know what kind of book to expect here. A dark psychological thriller that will most likely have you up all night. This book tells the story of three women. Lisa, her best friend/coworker Marilyn, and Lisa's daughter Ava.
As with a lot of books of this kind most of the suspense here is build from giving us breadcrumbs of information from the past to help us understand what is happening in the present. As more and more secrets from our main characters are revealed, the more enthralling the story becomes.
I'm keeping this quick, because I think you either like this kind of story, or you don't. I am currently on a bit of a psychological thriller kick so this story was right up my street. I thought it was an absolute stomper and would 100% recommend for fans of the genre. 5 Stars!
Go on! Off to the shops with you!