Flora Collins

Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins is a highly recommended novel of domestic suspense.

Sue Keller's father has recently died and her mother died years ago when she was just three-years-old. This has left her struggling with depression and nightmares. When Anneliese (Annie) Whittaker meets her on the street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Sue doesn't recognize Annie at first, but later does. Annie was Sue's beloved nanny when she was a young child and they lived in upstate NY. Sue cared for her show more before her mother died and for awhile afterward. When Annie wants to reconnect with Sue, Sue is eager to have Annie back in her life. At first it is wonderful. Sue's depression has lifted and she is able to sleep, but she is also cutting off old friends and exclusively just seeing Annie. And then a few cracks begin to appear concerning Annie and her life.

After a slow start, Nanny Dearest is going to hold your attention throughout the rest of the novel as the tension increases. The narrative switches between the point of view of Sue in the present and Annie back in 1996, so the reader actually knows more about Annie than Sue does. This narrative choice also helps increase the tension in the plot because you will recognize early on that something is wrong with Annie long before certain facts and history are presented. To some extent, Sue is also not exhibiting completely sound behavior. Although you know she is grieving the loss of her father, there is still some irrational behavior.

Both Sue and Annie are fully realized characters. It is clear early on that Annie has some problems and had a dysfunctional family, but Sue, as a young child, would never have recognized this. It is Sue's own present day issues that allow Annie to insert herself into Sue's life while encouraging the exclusion of others. You will definitely have to set aside some disbelief while reading, but the suspense and tension does propel the plot forward to a stunning conclusion.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.
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As Flora Collins' suspense novel A Small Affair opens, Vera has decided to get back on dating apps now that her work life has calmed down a little. She was in on the ground floor of a successful fashion designer, helping to build it from a small one person operation into a huge success in the New York fashion industry.

Vera's roommate Quinn chooses a great match for her- Tom is ten years older than Vera (37), handsome, a great job in tech, and a father of one child. They meet and hit it off show more right away, and Vera ends up spending the night.

One year later finds Vera living in her mother's guest bedroom in her hometown in Westchester, with no job after a tragedy that Vera was a part of, but not responsible for. But the tabloids did not see it that way, and Vera has been hounded out of the life she loved and into hiding. And two other people are dead- Tom and his wife.

Vera decides that she wants to learn more about Tom and his wife Odilie, and when Odilie's sister Page contacts Vera, she sees this as her opportunity.

The novel also shifts in time as we meet Odilie ten years ago and see how she and Tom met, through a young woman named Peri. Peri was everything that Odilie wasn't but wanted to be- she was beautiful, bold, unafraid, and she had gumption. Peri brought Odilie into her and Tom's world, a world filled with rich and powerful men. (Rich people- they're not like us.)

Vera and Quinn, along with Quinn's on-again, off-again life partner Sam, decide that if they discover what truly happened to Tom and Odilie, Vera can get her life back, and maybe Vera can get a book out of her story.

A Small Affair lures you into the story, much as Peri lures Odilie into a new life. The characters aren't necessarily likeable- Vera's lack of outward emotion causes people to call her cruel and cold. She is impatient and ambitious, a trait that in women is not considered attractive. Peri is manipulative and rude, and we don't know quite why she has attached herself to Odilie. Many people try to warn Odilie to stay away from Peri.

Social media plays a big part in the story- Vera's job requires her to shares her life on Instagram, she meets Tom on a dating app, and she is hounded on Twitter by people who don't know her. Vera stalks Odilie's Instagram account to get more information on who Odilie was. Being an influencer is a life goal for these people.

The final twist doesn't come until the very end and it's one I didn't see coming. I liked how the author just dropped it there. If you are a fan of Law & Order:SVU and White Lotus, you'll want to put A Small Affair on your reading list.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2022 Mystery & Thriller Blog Tour. show less

Vera is rocking the fashion world. She is working for an up and coming fashion designer when she meets this wonderful man…well sort of. He has a few warning signs but Vera ignores them. Then the murders happen and the world finds out about his other woman, VERA! She is drug through the internet mud and loses everything. She hides out at her mom’s for over a year. And when she decides to come back, life has left her behind. Then she is invited to a memorial service and suddenly the lies show more start to unravel.

This is not my usual style of writing. I am not a fan of a slow burn. And this book is definitely a slow burn. But, for some reason, I kept reading. Something about the characters pulled me in. Take for instance, Vera. I really did not like her. She is conniving and a bit ruthless. There was just something about her situation which had me intrigued.

And then there is the reason the slow burn works…the ending! Oh boy, this ending! The more Vera digs, the more lies and manipulation she finds and then the truth comes out and it is not at all what is expected!

Need a story which will keep you slowly building up to a knock out finish…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. show less

I really liked this story although I did not really like any of the main characters. I did like Quinn. I liked that Quinn was a decent person. I did not like how Vera was treated after the bad thing happened in the story. I liked that it took till the end of the story for me to figure out all the things that happened in the story. I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.