Having read True Places, I instantly became a fan of this author. The Stories We Never Told is a departure from her usual fare, and she moves genres seamlessly.
Have you ever been in a long-term relationship that ended without it going where you wanted? Ever wondered what went wrong? It makes the questions that plague us at the end of a relationship more prominent if you’re still attempting to maintain a friendship.
When her ex invites Dr Strelitz and her current husband to dinner with a surprise guest, she never imagines it's a date for her ex, Harlan, and her new post doc.
Age difference aside, Nasira, the postdoc, is lower on the academic totem pole, which could potentially cause drama.
Things only get stranger, and Dr S begins to think everyone is against her. Is she losing her mind in an obsession or are things really not what they seem?
This novel will keep you on your toes and have you wondering who to trust so the way to the end.

I became a fan of Sonia Yoerng while reading “House Broken,” and her follow up novels only increased by admiration to tell a very different type story with each new book. “Stories We Never Told” is an great example of what this author does best: bringing compelling and complex characters to life and then sticking them in thorny situations where it becomes difficult to know whom to root for.

Jackie and Harlan work as professors in the Psychology Department at the same university. They had been romantically involved for five years before the relationship ended, and then, Jackie met and married Miles. But Jackie wonders what could have been with Harlan, who moves on with Nasira, a member of Jackie’s research team. Jackie’s longing for Harlan turns into an obsession as it becomes clear to the reader that Harlan may be using Nasira almost as much as Nasira is using him.

“Stories We Never Told” is told from all four of those characters' point-of views, and the author succeeds in making sure each voice is distinct. What I like about Ms. Yoerng’s writing is that she does not sacrifice character growth for plot, though there are plenty of twists and turns with the latter. If you are looking for a psychological thriller that will keep you reading through the wee hours then you need to pick up this book.

Jackie has been over her ex-boyfriend Harlan and has even married. But when Harlan has a new girlfriend Jackie can't help but be curious and starts to be a stalker with everything to do with the couple. When Jackie starts having issues in her life, she has to figure out who she can trust. This was a great thriller that takes the reader on a wild ride. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

For the first half of the book, this is a slow-moving tale of obsession, love, secrets, and the lies we tell ourselves as the author sets up the characters. They are all keenly developed and slowly became more likable for me as the story progressed. I did find the friendship between Harlan, the ex, and Miles, the husband a bit odd, but later it became clear why that story element needed to be there.

The reader gets glimpses into the inner workings of academia, which is a culture unto itself, as well as the inner working of Jackie, who has a public persona contrasted with the one she’d like to keep hidden: That obsessive, jealous, insecure woman who dances between memories of the past with Harlan and the present she has with Miles. As the story progresses, she waltzes closer and closer to the edge of losing the funding for her research project and maybe losing her marriage.

The author’s use of language is beautiful and refreshing. In describing Jackie’s approach to dating and relationships, Sonja wrote “Love wasn’t on the table, it wasn’t even in the room.” What a lovely, succinct way of letting the reader know that without having paragraphs of explanation. One knows exactly what is contained in those few words.

When Jackie is thinking about how uncertain things are with her stepson, Antonio who battles drug addiction, she muses, “We are frail, propped up by hope, leaning against each other like reeds.”

Aren’t we all.

Grace, Jackie’s sister is a stabilizing force in her life. Grace is happily married with a “passle of kids” as my grandmother used to say. Jackie is happy when she spends time with her sister and the five young children, but she is also a bit envious of Grace’s family. Remembering the day Grace and Hector got married, Jackie thinks a lot about the depth relationship, comparing it to what she has with Harlan, who she is committed to at the time. What Grace and Hector have is nothing like what she has with Harlan. Could that change? Her thinking culminates with, “Their love was a faraway city and I lacked a map and the courage to wander. Did I want it, though?”

This book is certainly worth adding to your reading list. It releases in May and is well worth the wait. That pre-order link will take you to a page to find all the retail outlets for the ebook and the paperback.

STORIES WE NEVER TOLD by Sonja Yoerg is a riveting novel of domestic suspense that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It is a story of love, obsession and manipulation with lots of twists and turns that had me guessing who to believe. Jackie Strelitz is a sharp and successful Psychology professor with a promising future. She is certain she has put her five-year relationship with her colleague, Harlan Crispin behind her and is now married to Miles, a man who is loving even though he sometimes appears distant. All is well until Jackie finds out that Harlan is seeing the new post-doctoral fellow in her lab. Strange things begin to happen at home and at work and soon Jackie is questioning her own sanity and wondering if there is anyone she can truly trust. As the story unfolds, the reader learns that every character has their long-held secrets and things may not be what they seem. I truly enjoyed this expertly-plotted and fast-paced book and highly recommend it! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

This one was definitely unexpected For me. The writing is so well done, we are there really knows how to tell a story. It was intense and beautiful, chilling and suspenseful all at the same time. Looking forward to reading more of this authors work.

Sonja Yoerg's STORIES WE NEVER TOLD is a wonderfully written, page-turning, character-driven book that I had a hard time putting down. The author immerses us in the world of behavioral and psychological research, where it is obvious Ms. Yoerg has spent quite a bit of time researching psychology herself, to get her characters spot on. Superbly written with plenty of twists to keep you guessing as to what's going to happen, you are bound to love this one. Pick up your copy and then thank me later!

Jackie is a professor of psychology. Her husband of two years, Miles, is a high school sports recruiter who travels a lot. That is an issue because Jackie wants to start a family. Jackie works at the same college as her ex-boyfriend of five years, Harlan. Jackie starts to notice things that are odd. Harlan brings a young colleague to dinner who Jackie works with. Jackie’s research data is tampered with. Jackie needs to figure out what is going on.

This is a psychological thriller that is filled with twists and turns. I loved trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The story has a few flashbacks that add to the mystery. The flashbacks don’t come out in the main story right away but help explain things later in the story. I also loved the hint of science in the beginning of the book. Jackie is working on a study in the book and it is explained in the beginning, going into some detail about how the study was conducted. It was not important to the overall story but I was interested in it.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves twists and turns and trying to figure out the endgame. This book will be published 01May2020. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this great, suspense thriller!
Jackie is a smart, spunky, determined woman who can't help herself from semi-stalking her ex-long-term boyfriend and his new girlfriend.
Harlan, her educated, regimented, in-control ex becomes an obsession for Jackie - who is married to Miles, a man who puts far more time and effort into his work than he does his marriage.
What plays out is a layered story of secrets and what drives people to act the way they do. Jackie is lonely, Miles is loving but distant, and Harlan is controlled and conniving.
As each character's secrets unfold, Jackie (and the reader) are taken on a twisted thriller ride into who is messing with her life, pushing Jackie to wonder who she can trust.
It's great psych suspense, with a narcissist you'll love to hate, and more than one surprising story-twist toward the end!

A not so original story line about the appearance of an ex-lover's new love takes a twist into an absolutely original thriller. Sonja Yoerg has developed a community, public, professional and private and populated it with some very fascinating characters that refuse to act as you'd expect. The curiosity of one of the main characters is definitely setting her up for trouble. Now I need to find more books by this author to see if all of them are this good!

I am really torn about this review.

The story was beautifully told and the tension continued to build and build. It's about love, it's about obsession. BUT (and here it comes)

I can't put my finger on it, but I didn't love it. In fact, I didn't really even like it. I had a hard time getting involved in the story - I knew I was reading the whole time. I appreciated it as a great story, but I don't think I was the intended reader - I am probably too superficial. :)

I would like to thank the publisher and net galley for the advance copy. This did not impact my review.

Wow, this was a real page turner, an excellent domestic thriller in the vein of Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris. I completed it in one weekend! Professor Jackie Strelitz and her ex-boyfriend, Harlan Crispin both work at the same university in the same department. Jackie has moved on, so she thinks, and married a loving man and they are enjoying their new domestic life. Little by little Jackie finds things in her life off kilter. She starts to doubt herself and those around her. With each new chapter we find that things are not what they seem as Jackie's idyllic life unravels. Can she figure it out, before someone gets hurt?

Spoilers: Of the psychological manipulation tricks a person can play, one of the most frightening is probably gaslighting. The abuser does various things with the intent to drive the other person insane.

The term comes from the 1944 film Gaslight in which a wealthy man (Charles Boyer) manipulates his young wife (Ingrid Bergman) to the point of insanity.

The abuser will steal a small item and make the other person think they misplaced it or someone else stole it. They may deny a certain event, like a fight or a previous affair, happened and alter details so their victim questions their own memories. The abuser might also create clouds of paranoia and suspicion among the victim and friends and family so they feel isolated and can't trust anyone but the abuser.

What often results is a depressed anxious person who is so dependant on their abuser as their only link to sanity. They are right where the abuser wants them: a frightened paranoid mess that can't trust anyone.

Sonia Yeorg’s novel Stories We Never Told is about that. It is an intense psychological drama in which psychological mind games are used as revenge after a break up.

Dr. Jackie Sterlitz seemingly has a perfect life. She is a psychologist at a prestigious university and is involved in a plum research study to help autistic children. She is happily married to Miles, a sports talent scout, and while she doesn't have children, is making great strides in getting along with her stepson, Antonio, and earns the admiration of her graduate students and research assistants. Why she even has an ex-boyfriend, Harlan with whom even though they parted ways are amicable friends and colleagues in the same Department of Psychology.

Things are great until the night when Harlan invites Jackie and Miles on a double date at a swank upscale restaurant and bring his date: a younger woman and not just any younger woman but Jackie's graduate student, Nasira Amari.

This encounter puts Jackie in a whirl and she becomes jealous. How could Harlan choose a younger woman, practically a naive girl like Nasira over her? They now do things like vacation in places that Harlan and Jackie dreamt about but never had time to visit or go places that Harlan was never interested in visiting before.

Jackie becomes suspicious and asks impertinent questions to Nasira about her love life and whether she knew that she and Harlan were a couple before. She also spies on Harlan and Nasira following them at home and watch them enter and exit Harlan's house.

Yeorg is very subtle in pulling the Readers’ sympathies. First, they side with Harlan thinking Jackie is unbalanced and needs to let go of her relationship. We think that she's unstable and are prepared for the book to go into full Fatal Attraction territory. Until we get into Harlan's point of view.

Harlan's perspective shows him as the unstable one who has a hard time letting go. He brags that he seduced Nasira and brought her to the restaurant just to gauge Jackie's reaction. He reveals that he wants to get revenge on Jackie for breaking up with him.

Harlan uses various means at his disposal to manipulate Jackie. Jackie's following him and Nasira is called into question as he fills Nasira with suspicion that Jackie is unstable with the intent of creating a hostile workplace. Jackie also discovers that the data on her research has been compromised leading her to suspect Nasira.

Jackie also finds reasons to doubt her marriage to Miles. Harlan mentions games that he claims that Jackie was invited to but forgot about. He hints that Miles is up to something whenever he is gone leaving her to doubt his fidelity as he has suspicions about hers. Even Miles’ formerly addicted son plays into Harlan's hand when he is alone with the troubled boy causing him to doubt his father and stepmother.

Harlan is a master manipulator. He is similar to those characters in old Hollywood suspense films like Boyer in Gaslight, Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon, or Ray Milland in Dial M for Murder, a sophisticated sociopath who observes others’ behaviors while he takes part in host-like activities and engages in polite conversation.

It's no coincidence that his research study on how people behave when they are lying. He is able to use his research to find the tells that those around him are hiding.
Harlan observes so he can find and play onto their weaknesses like Miles’ confusion about former relationship or Antonio's addiction.

Jackie in particular is susceptible because he knows her so well. He uses her insecurities about their former relationship and her career as springboards for his gaslighting towards her.
Jackie unintentionally provides him with the opportunity because of her earlier suspicious behavior towards him and Nasira. Harlan is able to tell Nasira or Miles, “See how she followed me before? Isn't that suspicious? Clearly you can't trust her!” While Jackie's earlier behavior gives Harlan the key, it is based on an emotional knee jerk reaction and ends just as quickly as it began. Harlan is slower, more methodical, and based on a cold reasonable drive to control. Jackie may accidentally hurt someone and regret it later, but Harlan would give someone a slow moving poison just to test the results.

Harlan's strength is in manipulation so Jackie is only beholden to him until she breaks herself from his mind games. It becomes a victory when she begins to piece his lies together and find her way out of them.

While the story was interesting I felt like it was too long and filled with such minute details that it was a struggle to read. If you are in to small details. Learning about psychology and what a person would do .... Grab this book up. I give it three out five stars. While the plot was satisfying it just didn't check all the dots for me.

Sonja Yoerg has out done herself with this creepy twisty thriller! This story is well paced with a character who manipulates and tried to control all around him. I love the character development of each character and there is enough edginess to keep me on the edge of my seat not putting the book down until the last page! Absolutely a must read!

I think this is my favorite yet from the extremely talented Sonja Yoerg! She writes with precision and intelligence and her words build the drama beautifully. The pacing is steady and the story had me completely engrossed.

At first, it's a story of a woman who becomes obsessed with her ex and his new relationship with a much younger woman. She's happily married and why should she care who he dates? Without giving too much away, suffice to say this a slow burn suspense read.

Jackie, Harlan & Miles are the main characters that make up this triangle. I highly recommend adding this exciting story of love and obsession and long-held secrets.

This certainly ended up being a page turner! At first I thought it seemed a bit predictable and the characters a bit annoying. About half way through it shifted into high gear and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

The first novel I read by Sonja Yoerg was “True Places”; she is a master storyteller.

So when I had the opportunity to read her latest book due out in May 2020, I jumped at the chance. Sonja Yoerg did not disappoint.

Yoerg-Stories_We_Never_Told-28472-PB-FT-v4Jackie Strelitz is a happily married 38-year-old psychology professor married to Miles, who is a bit older. She loves her stable life, but the complications of raising her dysfunctional stepson have her feeling that she is missing her chance of becoming a mother in her own right. Currently, she is at the top of her career and totally focused on work. She adores her sister, brother-in-law and their five children. Playing auntie is a highlight of her life and it seems to ground her.

So when Harlan Crispin, ex-lover and colleague, introduces her to his latest flame, warning signals start going off in Jackie’s head. Could it be that his new love interest, Nasira Amari, one of Jackie’s postdoc students, and much, much younger than Harlan? Or maybe it is the fact that since he began dating Amari, Harlan’s behavior has been off lately? Things take a twist when Harlan makes a display of committing to Nasira, and more disturbing incidents and behavior begin to materialize.

Jackie starts to wonder if she is imagining things. Is this a case of stalking? If so, who is stalking who? Then when Miles can’t account for some missing days, Jackie begins to question his fidelity. Is Harlan trying to punish Jackie for leaving him? Could he commit murder?

Once again Yoerg studies a complex subject; psychopathy and weaves a narrative that whets the reader’s appetite for more. Enjoy!

<i>E-ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This is just one of those books that is either your cup of tea or it isn't.

I really liked the concept of the story - the prompt is what drew me to this book - but (in my humble opinion) it wasn't executed well enough.

At the very beginning, the writing style seemed very messy to me. But later I noticed that had to do with the <b>format</b> in which it was written. The writing style was pretty up my alley.

The story starts in third person. Then, a chapter or two later, we get the first of a couple of chapters that is written in first person. All of this is written in the present tense. But then, we get some flashbacks (and some chapters are entire flashbacks by themselves) and are all of a sudden written in past tense... I'm still not quite sure why this was necessary. Maybe the author wanted to create a clear distinction between the sections, but it was very jarring (to me) and took me out of the story.

I like my thrillers thrilling. I like myself a little bit of action in this type of book. That, however, is not quite what went down with this one. Yeah, some stuff happened, but it wasn't nerve-racking. (And now I'm not sure if I've just gotten immune to this kind of stuff because I've read a lot of unlikely and over-the-top plot twists in other thrillers...)

And yeah, this stuff would be quite scary if it happened to me, but for some reason it did little for me. And I think this is because of two things:

1. The characters: Especially, Jackie. I just didn't really connect with her. She was a lot more occupied with her history with her ex-boyfriend and her daily tasks, that I didn't really have the opportunity to really get to know her as a character. She had struggles, definitely, but for some reason I didn't really feel for her. I felt this sort of disconnect with the other characters as well.

2. The stakes weren't high enough: Yes, some stuff happened, but considering I, as a reader, was in the loop since chapter 3 (yes, chapter <b>3</b>!!), there was no mystery. Even Jackie, our main girl already started to figure things out about a little over the halfway-point of the book. I didn't know where the story was going to go. Well... I kind of knew, but that would be too simple, right? But then it actually was! And then the story was over. The story combined a lot of "realistic" and "normal people" issues: <spoiler>stepson, being "late" to having children, gay/cheating husband</spoiler>. It felt like things that would happen in a soap.

In short: I liked the writing style, but I wished the concept and characters were more fleshed out. It just kind of ended and <spoiler>everyone kind of lived a happily ever after</spoiler>.

The beginning hooked me right away. I just knew trouble was afoot for these characters. Sonja Yoerg's writing is engaging and descriptive. However, i found myself skimming the technical parts - about the medical studies and the data breech. It just didn't interest me as much as the personal relationships in the story. Overall, I enjoyed and will keep an eye out for more of Ms. Yoerg's books.