Oh my god this book! I was absolutely gripped from start to finish and I couldn't wait to see what happened. My mind kept swinging from one decision to the next all the way through and it was written so well that I had no clue. I loved all of the characters, all of the tangled plot lines and thought it so realistic - who knows what any of us would do in that situation - that I felt for them all too. A brilliant story of family and choices but full of suspense and emotion too. BA Paris has done it again....amazing.

This is a difficult one to review, as the plot is so intricately woven and reliant on the gradual unravelling of multiple secrets that I can't say much for fear of spoiling a reveal or a plot point for another reader. What I will say is that this is a beautifully plotted, brilliantly written, and emotionally complex novel that I absolutely loved.

It's very different from B A Paris's other novels (which I also read and loved); this is a family drama played out over the course of a birthday party, with several secrets woven through the plot and complicating matters for our two main characters, Livia and Adam. It's a novel exploring family and friendship and grief, but it's also so much more than that, with themes of love, loss, sacrifice, and ultimately, redemption.

The tension is almost unbearable in places, and having to wait so long to find out the outcome/implications of one of the biggest secrets in the plot had me biting my nails to the quick. I'm not ashamed to say that I bawled my eyes out (I won't say when or why because again, spoilers), and believe me when I say this is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley, who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the loan of this book.
I love B.A Paris and have read all her books. I love the way the book flows and is easy to speed through, especially if you cant wait to get to the end, which I found I couldnt. The story starts with a family of 4 and the husband is hosting a big party for wife who's turning 40. Daughter is away at uni and son is due to go too. They have friends in abundance and initially life appears perfect, but they're all hiding a secret, one of which will ensure that life is never the same again.
I was holding my breath the last few chapters wanting it not to be so. This is not just a suspense story, it is the story of love and loss and the heartbreak that ensues when fate changes your life forever. I finished this book with a heavy heart as it was sadly too close to home for me but a good read nonetheless


HQ@harpercollins.co.uk

A dilemma no one would want, Livia has a huge secret that she has kept for a few weeks. She feels guilty but she knows that once it's out in the open nothing will be the same again. She tells herself that once her big birthday bash is out of the way she will tell her husband Adam and she hopes for the best that he won't do anything too drastic. On the day of the birthday party, Adam is faced with his own dilemma which is of a much greater magnitude, it is something he doesn't want to acknowledge and he just can't bring himself to find out the truth because he also knows that once he learns the truth nothing will be the same again. Apart from toilet breaks and food and drink I read this book in one sitting, I thought it was an amazing read.

I have a read a few books by this author, but The Dilemma was completely unexpected.

Livia has been planning her 40th birthday party for years as a way to make up for the lavish wedding she wished to have. All her friends and loved ones will be there to celebrate with her except for her daughter Marnie who has been studying abroad. Livia pretends she is sad that Marnie won’t be there but in reality, she is relieved because she knows a secret about Marnie that will devastate her husband Adam. Livia has known for weeks but she wants them to have this one last happy time before she drops her bombshell.

Adam has secretly planned for Marnie to travel home for the party. Before it begins though he hears some terrible news and has to decide whether to tell Livia or let her enjoy one last moment of happiness.

The Dilemma is written in split person narrative from the perspective of both Adam and Livia and suits this novel well as the reader can get to grips with the character’s motivations.

The book begins on Saturday 9th June at 3.30am with Livia waking to hear her husband leaving on his motorbike.

“The guilty beating of my heart slows when I see, behind the marquee…He’s there, he hasn’t gone to settle scores.”

Adam’s first chapter is full of anguish, you can tell he is really battling some strong emotions.

“The drag of the wind on my face is intoxicating and I have to fight an overwhelming urge to let go of the handlebars and freefall to my death. Is it terrible – that Livia and Josh aren’t enough to make me want to live?”

He is pulled over by the police and tells them it is about his daughter Marnie.

The next chapter begins the day before on the morning of the party.

We learn that Adam and Livia had their son Josh at a young age and for a long time afterwards Adam struggled to adjust to life as a parent whilst his friends were at university and out every weekend. He was a poor and absent father to Josh but then Marnie came along and Adam realised what being a father should be like.

“I’m reminded that Marnie is on her way home.

Smiling at the thought of seeing her again because nine months is a long time.”

Adam is paying for Marnie to come back for the party via Cairo and then Amsterdam as he knows if he gets her a direct flight Livia will not be impressed because he wouldn’t pay for Josh to have a direct flight to New York a few weeks later.

He swears Marnie to secrecy because he doesn’t want Livia to find out before the party.

“There are quite a few surprises lined up for Livia today, but Marnie turning up at the party is going to be the best surprise of all.”

Livia hasn’t spoken to her parents for many years, but she is thinking of them on the morning of her party because it Is partly because of them that she is having the party.

“When I became pregnant, not long after my seventeenth birthday, they refused to have anything more to do with me. And the lavish wedding became a hurried fifteen minute ceremony in the local registry office, with only Adam’s family and our best friend’s Jess and Nelson as guests.”

Right from the beginning Livia’s secret intrigued me. She clearly is close to her daughter and loves her very much so why doesn’t she want her home?

“Although I miss Marnie, I’m glad she won’t be here tonight. I feel terrible because I should be sorry that she’s missing the party, and I was at first. Now, I don’t even want her home at the end of the month.”

The reader is left wondering what could have possibly caused this change.

I don’t wish to give any spoilers so I will just say that I had very different reactions to Livia and Adam withholding information from each other. I think Livia did the right thing in her decision although her motives were questionable and more likely selfish.

Adam, on the other hand, did not do the right thing but his motives were likely more to do with shock and I need to not know what he knew.

There were times when I wanted it to speed up, but I am not sure if it was because I found it so gripping or because it felt a bit stalled.

Having said that I would definitely recommend this book.

Really good family mystery that I couldn’t put down. Lots of intertwining events to keep you hooked until the end.
Livia has been planning her 40th birthday party to make up for the big wedding she never had. Everything is planned down to the last minute detail the only fly in the ointment is that, Marnie, her daughter cant make it. She is in Hong Kong studying and can’t afford the flight.
Unbeknownst to Livia, Adam, her husband has arranged for Marnie to come home but something dreadful happens. Should Adam tell Livia before the party or let her enjoy herself and tell her after.
I really enjoyed this but do question Adam’s course of action - not what I would have done!

I've loved two of B.A Paris's other books, so I really wanted to love this one but it kind of let me down.

It's a well written solid domestic thriller about quite a rich family, and I think that was my first problem. I don't like reading about rich people. I felt like I couldn't connect with the characters and they just felt quite flat to me.

The plot was good but there were little to basically no plot twists throughout the book or at the end. I was waiting for a big shocking twist but that just didn't happen.

Like her other books, this was very well written but I needed more.

I felt like the book really dragged in the middle and could have been shorter.

It was just an okay average domestic thriller. Nothing too terrible but nothing brilliant which is a shame because I wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

TW: miscarriage

It’s the morning of Livia’s long awaited 40th birthday party. On the surface, this perhaps doesn’t sound like too monumental an occasion, except perhaps for the ‘Oh no, I’m FORTY’ wobbles, but this is different. Over 20 years ago, when Livia met her now-husband, Adam and fell pregnant, her parents did not approve and refused to have any part in their relationship, meaning Livia never got the big, white wedding she’d longed for since she was a little girl. So, ever since, she’s planned this party. And it has to be perfect. Everyone she loves is going to be there, except her daughter Marnie, who is studying in Hong Kong. Livia is sad that Marnie won’t be there as they have a very strong bond, but she’s also relieved because she recently found something out about her daughter that threatens to blow their relationship, and potentially their family, apart.

Adam, on the other hand, is busily arranging for Marnie to arrive in secret and appear as a ‘SURPRISE’ for Livia. When he’s out and about getting the last bits ready for Livia’s big day, he learns something that could potentially devastate all of their lives forever. Sick with the knowledge, he has to tell Livia what he knows because it affects her directly too – but he doesn’t know for certain if it’s true. Should he tell her now or wait until the party is over? He knows how long she’s been waiting for this day, and if the worst does happen, her life will never been the same again. Does he let her have this one night of happiness before tragedy strikes her?

This book seriously got inside my head. I know you often hear ‘I couldn’t put it down’, and every now and again I say it, but honestly – I couldn’t put it down. I had to go and do some errands one day while reading it and I genuinely could not stop thinking about it while I was out and about. It’s beautifully drawn out, the characters are likeable and you understand why they do the things they do, even when they know it’s not the right thing to do. You get it. The threads that run through the story intertwine beautifully and lead to a moment of utterly tragic confusion as they finally come together, leaving our protagonists utterly devastated and bewildered.

I can’t say any more without giving away at least one of the major plot points, so I won’t. Suffice to say that I enjoyed this book immensely – it’s breathtaking, it’s heartbreaking, it’s exquisitely clever and it’s gone straight into my upcoming ‘favourite reads of 2019’ blog post.

So no surprises, I’m giving it a big fat FIVE STAR review.

Psychological thrillers are my normal genre and it’s not often I sway from them but reading this fantastic domestic thriller I most definitely will.

It didn’t have the suspicion and twists which you’d get from a psychological thriller but it did still hold the tense and gripping feel of one.

This storyline was apparent as you read through the book through the story of Livia’s and Adams eyes. The suspense comes through by not knowing what’s happened to Marnie. This creates a heavy feeling in your chest, the feelings you’d feel if it were your own child.

Overall a gripping novel full of suspense with a little twist thrown in too!

If you only read one book this year - please make it this one!! What a broken, sobbing mess I am after finishing this! It was so intricately woven that at times I was so anxious about Marnie and whether she was on the plane that my heart was pounding! Heartbreaking and uncomfortable at times, I was left an emotional wreck! Puffy eyes, runny nose, and half a box of tissues later it was totally worth it! Outstanding!

Wow what an amazing book this was.gripped me so much I couldn’t put it down.brilliant storyline that many people i am sure will relate to.made me smile and made me sad at the same time.don’t start this book before bed as you won’t be able to sleep.kept me up half the night as just wanted to find out what happened next.well done to B A Paris.a truly amazing book.would highly recommend you to read this.

I’ve loved this authors previous books so I was very excited to hear about their newest release. A bit different to their previous because I found this rather sad :(

It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. ‘Why does the mother not want her daughter to come home????’ ‘Was their daughter on the flight that crashed??’ I didn’t want to put it down until I found out what was going to happen.

This book was a SENSATION. I don’t know what to say! It was a tour de force! Powerful, engaging, and brilliantly-crafted. I found myself connecting with the Adam and Livia so profoundly that I cried when they did, the intensity of their emotions floored me. I absolutely adored this novel; I had to put my life on ‘hold’ until I finished it! I will recommend it to everyone I know. Thank you to Netgalley and HQ for sharing this with me. If I could give it more than five stars, I would!

I’m a fan of B A Paris so was pleased to be given the opportunity to read this book! It was fast paced with an interesting story line and the chapters were either Adam or Livia’s stories. I really wanted to find out what happened to Marnie ( their daughter) so read in big chunks until I got to that part. Another good book by an accomplished author.

This is a book about relationships, and what we do to preserve them, how we damage them, and how our decisions can echo down the years with damaging effect. Livia and Adam are a couple who married young, and their loving relationship of twenty plus years is hard-earned. They have a charmed circle of long-term friends, two much-loved children just starting to make their own way in life, and - on the surface - have everything to celebrate.

But all is not what it seems, and the past has set small disappointments, jealousies, resentments, and self-indulgences which now crystallise into a life-changing 24 hours of happiness and pain.

Both Livia and Adam know something the other doesn't, and both pieces of knowledge and explosive. The angst accompanying the decision making was palpable, and I was swept up in the quandry of whether to tell or not, or when to tell, and thinking through the potential fallout of either action. Both Livia and Adam felt like real people with flaws and insecurities, but both likeable enough to care what happened to each of them, and for their relationship to survive. None of the characters were cartoonish, and the wider impact of the decisions on Livia and Adam's relationships with their circle of friends felt important as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in a day! Livia has been planning and saving for her big 40th birthday party for years. It's to make up for the traditional white wedding she never had, as she married Adam when she fell pregnant at 17. Adam is planning a surprise - their daughter Marnie is flying home from Hong Kong. However, on the day Adam discovers that Marnie may well have been on a plane which crashed, killing all on board. He's not sure if she made the connection, as her first flight was delayed. So does he allow the longed for party to go ahead? In the meantime, Livia has her own reasons for not wanting her daughter at the party, and she plans to tell Adam her secret afterwards. This is a good story about family and friendships. Thanks to NetGalley ew copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

The Dilemma- BA Paris

Livia and Adam both hold a secret that they must share but when is the best time to tell each other? Is there ever a good time to tell each other? Should we just “pull the plaster off” and tell those we love straight away or try to protect them? But who are we protecting ourselves or others?
I found this a highly addictive read and I was just desperate to find out when they were going to disclose their secrets! It was a thoroughly thought provoking book that made me step back and think what would I do in a similar situation?
A very emotive book that is a must read you will go on an emotional journey with the characters and not be disappointed.
Many thanks to the author and net galley for the opportunity to read this book.

Livia has been planning an extravagant 40th birthday party for twenty years to make up for the wedding reception she never had.
Today is the day of her party and she is sure that everything is going to be perfect. She has a secret to tell her husband Adam but she will tell him tomorrow once the party is over.
Adam has a secret of his own and its trying not to say anything about it as he wants Livia to have her big day.
The tension in this book builds from chapter to chapter, it's a roller coaster story that had me on the edge of my seat.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a powerful, compelling, EMOTIVE read from B A Paris! This has been an auto buy author ever since 'Behind closed doors' so being approved for this Netgalley ARC was like christmas.

Whilst it definitely wasn't your usual thriller - it definitely had a thrill factor! I loved it.

It had my second guessing everything, and I'm not ashamed to say it even brought out a tear or two too!

Another book i'll absolutely be recommending!

A real 'what would you do?' dilemma (is there a book more aptly named?) Read in a day as couldn't put it down until I found out exactly what happened and how each character would react - not only to the events but to the decisions made about what to say and when.