“Vibes of The Housemaid by McFadden… but still worthy of reading. ` Sheila

Jane’s upbringing was not one of white picket fences and Sunday Brunch. Jane was more of the troubled light-fingered foster kid type, always seeming to struggle in areas that came so easily to others.

Newly arrived in the Thornfield Estates area of Alabama, an upper-class gated community of shiny new cars, enormous houses, and bored housewives who brunch and drink martinis before noon, Jane could not be more different. What starts out as dog walking for one of these families and soon escalates into many ( after all, if one family has someone to walk their dog – they all should!) Jane finds it easy pickings to swipe a piece of jewelry here or there, or a few bills from a stack they leave around….

Then Jane meets Eddie. Newly widowed when his wife Bea and her best friend drowned in a freak boating accident, Jane feels her luck begin to change. Not only is Eddie kind and easy on the eyes, but he’s also rich beyond her wildest dreams and seems to have taken a liking to her.

Before you know it – it’s Jane who is wearing the clothing she once only dreamed of, it’s Jane who is whipping out a no-limit credit card to purchase items for a local fundraiser, and it’s Jane who is meeting up with the local ladies for brunch, mimosas, and gossip…

But – the glass slipper is not a perfect fit. Jane finds herself consumed with thoughts of Bea, who was beyond beautiful, brilliant, smart and strong. Lost to the sea, until Bea’s body turns up – how can Jane ever feel that Eddie will be hers… after all, Jane has a past that seems to keep nipping at her high designer heels, and all can so easily be lost.

Ok. First, the obvi. When I started listening to this book, I internally groaned when I felt the strong likeness to Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid. Part of this could be because I saw The Housemaid movie a couple of weeks ago, so it is fresh in my head… and in all fairness, it’s not like there aren’t copycat or “feels like” books out there for all the big titles… I mean, why wouldnt you? Still, I am a fan of originality. Kicking off with a young down on her luck girl with a shady past (**Cough cough same as The Housemaid) who finds herself in a rich neighborhood and a hot guy who has taken a liking to her (**COUGH COUGH**) and next things she knows… she is in is life…. ( ok if I keep coughing Im going to need water….)

But here is the kicker…. The Wife Upstairs was released FIRST. By two years. Yup. This makes my above paragraph obsolete… or at least twisted – and the reverse of what I said.

As the book went on, I did appreciate the twist – and while yes, so many similarieties betwee the two books, I did get engaged. Kind of guessed the last few pages.

I want to mention – the title. NO. NO. NO. You sit with that throughout the whole book, kind of knowing because uhhh… yeah… the title.

Rated: 3 out of 5 (I know I complain about this one – but as mentioned – not this book’s fault – turns out it was the first of the two books)
Read Author Before: Yes
Read Author Again: Yes – I have enjoyed Hawkins before!
Hex Hall ( her YA read that I read in 2010) and The Heiress ( I read last year at this time)

Themes: deceit, murder, lies, hidden truth

Book Club Worthy – this could be a fun discussion – for those who have read both books, it would be interesting to hear if this bothers them when books are so alike or if they love the revisit to something so entangled and good ( maybe it’s just me, this bugs)… And of course the title. What would you call it?