Synopsis:

Serena Green takes a job as a housekeeper at a mansion known as Ramsay Hall, for a wealthy widower named Hayden. She also has a 4 year old daughter who she brings with her. She quickly becomes an important part of the household, even becoming friends with one of Hayden’s sons. The other son, however is not very friendly towards her and her daughter, and she can’t figure out why.

She soon discovers that there’s a lot more to the house/family than she realized.

My Review:

This story is a great psychological thriller. It has a lot of layers and a lot of twists and turns. Despite it starting off a little slow while the characters are introduced, it quickly picks up. You’re then taken through the many twists, turns and secrets of Ramsay Hall has hidden in its walls. I would highly recommend this novel and will definitely watch out of further CE Rose novels.

Thank you to Net Galley, Hera Books, and CE Rose for the opportunity to review this ARC. This review and all opinions are my own.

Thank you to CE Rose, Hera Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Single mother Serena needs a job where she can look after her four-year-old daughter, Lana. The housekeeping position at Ramsay Hall seems almost heaven-sent. She gets along well with her employer, Hayden and his younger brother, Hugh, but older brother Hugh proves to be a thorn in Serena’s side. As Serena and Jack grow closer, she can’t help but be wary of his attitude around her daughter. It would seem that Ramsay Hall has dark secrets, almost those as dark as Serena herself

The House of Hidden Secrets is meant to be a quick, entertaining, and easy read. Each chapter is from the viewpoint of a different character. This allowed for the characters to become more complex and built the relationships in an intriguing way. The writing style also allows you to easily feel the emotions of the character

The House of Secrets is well written and vividly descriptive. The story has so many twists, albeit is a bit confusing at times. Family dramas are hit or miss for me-and unfortunately this book wasn’t my favourite.

I would recommend this book and will keep an eye out for further books by C E Rose in future.

The House of Hidden Secrets is the first book I've read by CE Rose. I found it on NetGalley and thought the cover and description were strong. It takes place in the UK, in a quiet country estate with a small cottage and a lot of property. Serena and her four-year-old daughter, Lana, arrive for a new job as a housekeeper and caretaker for an older man who's had a bad fall. Hayden's wife died years ago, and he has two middle-aged sons. One is a lawyer, the other seems disconnected and perhaps unstable.

As the title suggests, everyone in the house is keeping a secret. Little by little, readers learn some backstory. Serena is running from a bad marriage. Hugh, the younger of the sons, has a dangerous friendship with a schoolmate who's returned from Australia without his wife and kids. Jack, the older son, can be harsh and quite dark, but he's a well-connected attorney. Hayden seems nice on the exterior, but there's a subtlety in all he does that raises alarm bells. When we learn about an accident from years ago, readers must decide whether one or more of these characters are beyond troubled and potentially a murderer.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I can be fickle about UK authors or writing if it strays too far into a setting or a vocabulary that is off-putting and/or confusing. In some sections, too much British culture is included in the book which can make it feel unrelatable to others from different countries, even America. It's not a bad thing, but I had to slow down to ensure I translated words more often than I prefer... plus the style is different, which means I need to be very focused. The author often relies on generics such as 'he' or 'she' to allude to which character is speaking. Sometimes, it's intentionally vague so readers don't pick up on hidden messages. Others, I think the writer might've needed to be more clear. When two people speak in the same paragraph (a major pet peeve of mine) and pronouns are overly used, it's difficult, especially given the other items above.

All that said, those are the only negatives for me. The plot is well-constructed; it leaves holes but ones that aren't too important. Vague notions help with suspense. Characters are murky, which makes the read more of a thriller. I still think they all had shades of black and white, and that's an enticing read. I would read another book by the author, and I look forward to seeing what others have to say about this one. A nice surprising ending, but not major bombshells. Enough to make you shake your head and smile... not too much that it completely changes the whole story. Good read.

The House of Hidden Secrets is a dark, compelling read by C E Rose. It is a slow-burner, but I was really intrigued by the characters, and there are some shocking reveals as the plot unfolds. Part romance and part psychological thriller; this is an engrossing read that kept me captivated from start to finish.

We meet Serena and her daughter Lana; Serena has just applied for a position at a manor house in the country. She is offered the job by Hayden, the owner, on the spot. But as Serena and her daughter Lana settle into their new home, she discovers that things are not quite as they seem. The owner’s son is hostile towards her, and he can’t believe that his father employed her. But why is he so worried about her employment, and what secrets is he desperate to make sure Serena doesn’t uncover?

I thought C E Rose developed Serena’s character really well. There is an air of mystery about her as she arrives at the property. It is as if she has arrived like a bolt out of the blue. I wondered if there was more to her than what first meets the eye. The owner of the house, Hayden, intrigued me as well. From the beginning, he appeared to be very trustworthy of Serena, even though he has no evidence that she is. The only person in the household who is worried about her presence there is his son, Jack. He doesn’t exactly give her a warm welcome when he first meets her.

As I was reading, I wanted to find out what secrets the residents of the house were hiding. It was clear that something had happened in their past and that Jack doesn’t want Lana poking around. But Lana begins to grow close to Jack’s brother, Hayden, and as Hayden begins to gradually reveal more about the family’s secrets to Lana, she is shocked by what she learns.

What I really liked about this book was how C E Rose developed Serena and Hayden’s relationship. You can see there is a spark between them from the beginning, but C E Rose paints Hayden as a troubled and vulnerable character. I wanted their relationship to develop further, and I could see that Hayden wanted to be with Serena.

The writing is very engaging, and I did not want to put this book down as I was reading. There are some very intense scenes as C E Rose wraps her story up, and the ending was very chilling. The House of Hidden Secrets is a dark, utterly absorbing read. I really enjoyed it.

I was pretty excited to read The House of Hidden Secrets, and the story was fine. There were aspects I really enjoyed about it, and there were other parts I never got a good feel for.

This was a character driven novel. But with the characters there wasn’t much to latch onto for a long time. There were breadcrumbs to follow that alluded to some mysteries in their past, but I wasn’t too sure about some of the present relationships—due to how they developed while some of these characters were still virtual strangers.

I did like how the book was written, with the alternating POVs telling the different sides of the story. Plus the overall atmosphere the book had was great. At times, it could be very creepy, with the semi-isolated setting and the character’s jumpiness.

At its core, The House of Hidden was a story about people and their secrets, and how trauma lingers and the facades people have while trying to uphold appearances can eventually crumble.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher via netgalley for this review, thank you!

I had really mixed feelings about this book. The first half felt like it drug on. I was leaning towards a DNF. I just couldn’t get into it. The last half redeemed itself though, the ending was great. The twists made it worth the struggle to get into it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC on this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Serena, Jack, and Hugh grab your attention from their very first chapters! I was concerned with the changing point of view as they can be difficult to follow, however that was not an issue with this book. It is well written with smooth transitions from character to character and has beautiful plot development. I loved following each person’s point of view and eagerly devoured the next development. I found myself questioning everyone except sweet Lana in the story and wondering just what exactly had happened. Each new chapter brought just enough to light to keep me glued to the words. As I got to the last quarter of the book things were moving at a lovely clip and I couldn’t put the book down. As I finished the last page, I nearly dropped my kindle! WHAT?!?! It’s definitely a book you’ll want to pick up!

Every time I thought I learned something about a character in this book everything changed, it gives a new meaning to the description of a twisted plot. When Serena takes a job as a housekeeper for a man recovering from a broken hip, she and her 4 year old daughter move in to the estate. 2 adult sons live there as well, and the story is told from their points of view, as well as Serena’s. Each character slowly evolves as we learn bits and pieces about each of them, and they uncover new truths about themselves and family members.
I had a hard time putting this book down, it was so intense. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance copy, I’ll be looking for more by this author.

I just finished this book today. It took me a bit to get into it but once I was about halfway, things started happening and secrets came to light. Serena and her daughter are moving into a large estate to help the owner with housekeeping while he recovers from an injury. She meets both of his sons and begins to have feelings for one of them. This is a hard review to write because I don’t want to give away any of the twists and turns. If you love a good suspense novel, definitely pick this one up!

I would say that 3/4 of this book is basically just building up the characters and their relationship together. When reading, it makes it seem as if they're building up to a really big secret, which for me, never really came. Although I'm sure some readers will find the events shocking. The end 1/4 was the most intriguing for me.

"The imposing gates of Ramsay Hall yawned open. As Serena and 4-year-old Lana walked up the long driveway, little did they know the dark secrets that lay within.

When Serena Green accepted the role of housekeeper for wealthy widower Hayden Ramsay, she never imagined her new home would be Ramsay Hall, an ancient, sprawling mansion in Northern England.

Serena quickly becomes an integral part of the household, making friends with Hayden’s younger son Hugh, despite Jack, his older brother’s, coldness towards her and Lana.

But the hall’s beautiful exterior hides many ugly secrets. Though Serena and Jack begin to grow closer, she’s confused by his behaviour around Lana. What is he guilty of? And is there more to their mother’s death than the Ramsay men will admit, even to themselves?

As the harrowing past of Ramsay Hall unravels, Serena fresh start becomes a fresh horror. She fears for her and Lana’s safety, but what are the bleak secrets in Serena’s own past?

This house is built on a lifetime of lies...and the truth might just bring the walls crashing down.

A twisty, gripping and utterly unputdownable new thriller that fans of Lisa Jewell, C.L. Taylor and Mark Edwards will love."

What fresh horror is this?

3.5 stars. Hayden Ramsey hires housekeeper Serena Green to help take care of him and Ramsey Hall following an injury. Each character has an intricate past and the secrets continue to unfold through the perspectives of Serena and Hayden’s two sons - Hugh and Jack.

The House of Hidden Secrets is an exciting physiological thriller that is tough to put down! It starts a little slow as we are introduced to each of the characters, but quickly builds to many twists and secrets that will keep you guessing till the end! I would definitely read more by CE Rose in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hera Books, and CE Rose, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of the House of Hidden Secrets.

Serena takes a job working as a housekeeper for a reclusive man in a manor. The house is filled with secrets but are they as big as the ones that she’s brought with her.

I found this book really slow to start to the point that I very nearly gave up but the reviews kept me reading and it did get a lot more gripping a quarter of the way in. Some of the twists I saw coming but there was plenty I didn’t see either. I can’t say I was particularly invested in the characters except Hugh which I think is why it feels so slow to begin with. Maybe too much mystery and not enough character development but overall worth a read.

The House of Hidden Secrets, hides a multitude of sins.

The prologue really draws you in, but then it all gets very slow until the end. It's based around a family with a lot of hidden secrets and an agenda. I enjoyed that every chapter was a viewpoint from a different character and that the author does leave you wondering what happened, and questioning the motives of others. I hated one of the main characters children!

At times, very over descriptive, a decent mysterious plot, but I didn't love it. I kept reading only to find out what happened, hence the 3 stars.

The House of Hidden Secerts is meant to be a quick, entertaining, and easy read.

From the onset of the book there is an undercurrent of tension between all the characters that makes you want more. Even the relationship between mother and daughter has an air of unknown.

Each chapeter is from the viewpoint of a different character. This allowed for the characters to become more complex and built the relationships in an intriguing way. The writing style also allows you to easily feel the emotions of the character CE Rose is writing as at the time (I got frustrated a few times by what they were going through).

Just as the title foreshadows, the story line is one where the chapters keep bringing more layers. The plot is slightly predictable but it is well thought out and enjoyable.

When Serena Green and 4-year-old Lana accepted the role of housekeeper for wealthy widower Hayden Ramsay, she never imagined her new home would be Ramsay Hall, an ancient, sprawling mansion in Northern England. But the hall’s beautiful exterior hides many ugly secrets. Though Serena and Jack begin to grow closer, she’s confused by his behaviour around Lana. What is he guilty of? And is there more to their mother’s death than the Ramsay men will admit, even to themselves? This house is built on a lifetime of lies… and the truth might just bring the walls crashing down.

This thriller was a good ok read. For me it was a bit slow. I felt it dragged on. And I honestly couldn't wait for this to end. I don't know..... The story is there. The writing was good. Maybe I just wasn't into it.
Overall it's ok.

Serena Green answers an ad for a housekeeper at a Ramsey Hall. She arrives with her four year old daughter, Lana, to a grand estate on acres of land. Hayden Ramsey is a wealthy businessman who is recovering from a broken hip. Hayden has two sons, Jack & Hugh, who are surprised about the ad and are less than thrilled with the sight of Serena and Lana. But as days goes by, everyone gets along. Secrets begin to unravel! It is a slow build up with multiple POVs speaking in the past and present. Thank you to NetGalley, Hera, and the author for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

I very much enjoyed the author’s descriptive writing.- almost prose at times.
There are several characters to follow-each with their own multitude of secrets. At times I struggled to follow the timeframes (past to present). The story has so many twists and turns.. Just when I thought I’d figured out a connection, they was another “Whoa, I didn’t see that coming!” moment. The Ramsey house has a lot of secrets but they’re not the only ones.
Thank you to CE Rose, Hera Books and NetGalley for the opportunity read this ARC.

The House of Secrets is well written and vividly descriptive. The story has so many twists, albeit is a bit confusing at times. Family dramas are hit or miss for me-and unfortunately this book wasn’t my favourite. That being said, since this novel was so well written I will plan to check out some of this author’s author books and see if I can enjoy one of those storylines a bit more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for this ARC!

I enjoyed this book. Kept me entertained and intrigued throughout. I struggle a little with the different perspectives from the different characters but the author made a pretty smooth transition and made it better to follow the story. I felt myself feeling confident that I knew what was going on until the next chapter and then I was left to wonder. I think the author did a great job of weaving the story line and making you wonder what would happen next and what was really going on. This kept me busy as I didn’t want to quit in the middle before figuring out the ending. Thank you so much NetGalley and C.E. Rose, for allowing me the chance to read this book.