A woman’s birthday party takes a dark turn in a poignant, heart-stopping new novel from the reigning queen of suspense, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, and Bring Me Back. “A heartbreaking page-turner that will have you up at night reading just one more chapter.” –Catherine Steadman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something in the … Steadman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water
“The phenomenal B.A. Paris has done it again! I devoured The Dilemma in one sitting–it grabbed me from the very first page and wouldn’t let go until I’d finished. Secrets, guilt, shame and heartbreak–this story has it all in spades.”–Sandie Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Woman
Knowing the truth will destroy her. Keeping it secret will destroy him.
It’s Livia’s 40th birthday, and her husband Adam is throwing her the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding they never had. Everyone she loves will be there, except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But Livia is secretly glad Marnie won’t be there.
Livia has recently uncovered a secret about their daughter which, if revealed, will shake the foundation of their family to its core. She needs to tell Adam, but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together.
Adam, meanwhile, has his own surprise for Livia: he’s arranged for Marnie to secretly fly back for the party. But before Marnie arrives, Adam hears some terrible news. Now he too is faced with a dilemma: Does he share what he’s learned with his wife? Is hiding the truth the same as telling a lie? And how far are Adam and Livia willing to go to protect the ones they love–and give each other a last few hours of happiness?
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I admit to reading long swaths of this book and wishing it were better. Neither Liv nor Adam is particularly likable, and while I typically enjoy books featuring characters I don’t like, I feel like you have to kind of sympathize with at least one of these two. And you probably won’t.
Liv and Adam got married as teenagers because they had to, and Liv has spent the ensuing 23 years wistfully longing for the big wedding she dreamed about as a child. The wedding is a stand-in for her parents, who disowned her and cut her off financially. Liv wants that dream wedding because if she’d had it, her parents would have been a part of her life.
Because she can’t see that, though–she can’t make the connection between the lost wedding and lost parents–she has narrowed her focus on her fortieth birthday, planning a huge bash. It feels silly, but I’m not sure it is. She misses her mother and father, and maybe they will come to this party and she can reunite with them. I get that part. She wears a white dress, has a cake, has pretty flowers. It’s all very obvious, except to Liv. The hitch in the plans is the secret she’s keeping from Adam. She’s known this bombshell for six weeks but has yet to divulge it because she worries it will diminish the importance of her party.
And that, friends, is where I am unable to justify Liv’s behavior. The party isn’t for Adam, it’s for HER. She doesn’t want him to know this thing because if he does, he will prioritize it over her hootenanny. Unfortunately for Liv, Adam has his own secret, something he learns on the day of her party. I guess you could excuse him keeping this from her because it truly will wreck her party, but the nature of Adam’s secret is so painful and life-changing that you can’t forgive him. Consequently, he spends the party being consumed with worry, fear, and heartbreak.
By the time you get to the epilogue, you feel like a balloon that has flown around the room as it deflates. You’re sad but hopeful, and you’re also relieved to be done with Liv and Adam.
I wanted to like this book far more than I did. I found Liv and Adam to be so unpleasant, though, and, as I said earlier, you need to be on their side for this story to work. I just wasn’t.
I’d love to know your thoughts. Please hit up the comments and let me know if you liked Liv, Adam, and their story.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have to say I was sadly disappointed in this book. There was a great deal of extraneous verbiage that the story definitely could have done without. The plot was original but the characters could have been expanded. Paris generally writes a better book than this. I limped through this book and it did get somewhat better toward the end. Others may enjoy it so don’t take just my word.
The Dilemma by B. A. Paris is Contemporary Suspense Thriller Fiction. B.A. Paris never fails to impress me because I never know what to expect. Her latest book is a thriller but as usual a unique story. I could not stop reading this on the edge, what is going to happen next book. At times you want to shout at the characters but at the same time you completely understand their heart wrenching dilemma. Another must read winner for Ms.Paris.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 5 Stars
This is not a thriller but more of a family drama. Livia is turning 40 and has saved for years for a birthday party because she never had a wedding. Her parents disowned her when she got pregnant and married Adam so they have never been involved in her life. Adam did not seem to be a very good husband or father for the early years of their marriages. Livia discovers a secret involving their daughter Marnie and she knows she should tell Adam but is holding off until after the party. Marnie is supposed to come home for the birthday party as a surprise to her mother but there is a plane crash and Adam does not know if Marnie was on it or not. Adam does not want to mention it to Livia because he does not want to spoil her party. I enjoyed the book until about the two-thirds mark and then reading it became tedious. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I must admit I am quite conflicted with this story. The Dilemma didn’t turn out to be anything like I expected. And while that’s not a bad thing since many books I read don’t turn out like I expect them to, this one just left me feeling unsettled. I don’t feel like I can completely comprehend what all I just read.
Perhaps it’s because I had previously read Bring Me Back by Ms. Paris and that one kept me glued to the pages, a true psychological thriller, in my opinion. The Dilemma is being marketed as all types of “thriller” but I didn’t find that to be the case at all, it’s more a women’s fiction story, I would say? With all that aside, I really struggled to stay invested in the story, mostly because so much of it felt repetitive and slogged down with filler. I just wanted to get to the meat and potatoes of the story and I had to force myself not to skip ahead to what felt like it was important information.
So both Livia and Adam are holding on to some pretty big secrets. Livia’s secret that she’s not telling Adam until after her 40th birthday party she’s been obsessed with having for years now, really didn’t seem like the earth shattering end of the world thing she was making it out to be. But every person feels differently about things they find out, so I didn’t begrudge her that too much. The secret Adam was keeping WAS monumental, and yes I understand your wife has been dreaming of this party for half her life, but his news was way more important than a party that could have been rescheduled to any other day.
The lack of communication between this husband and wife felt like such a huge part of this story, and I felt myself wanting to shake both of them on multiple occasions. I felt a lot of frustration throughout this book, which really detracted from my enjoyment of this story. I think I set my sights too high on this one after enjoying the previous book so much.
The ending just sort of left me sad, too. Life is going on for Livia and Adam, but is it going as well as it could be, had they just told each other those secrets early on? We’ll never know.
Overall, this book had a lot of promise, but I think personally for me, this one didn’t live up to my expectations. I am still a huge fan of Ms. Paris and I look forward to reading more of her stories in the future.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
This family drama had me reading late into the night and then picking the book up again early the next morning because I was so absorbed in the story. Livia is celebrating her fortieth birthday and her husband Adam wants it to be perfect for her. The book is told in the points of view of Livia and Adam and the divisions of the book are times, hours leading up to the party, during the party and after the party. Livia wants the party to be the dream of her lifetime; she thinks she deserves it because she never got a big wedding since her parents disowned her when she got pregnant as a teen. Adam wants to fulfill her dream because he thinks he has lived selfishly, pursuing his happiness on his motorcycle and with his friends rather than devoting time to Livia and their family. The two children, Josh and Marnie, are young adults who are leading their own lives and beginning to make independent choices. The dilemma is that both Adam and Livia have secrets and both of their secrets involve Marnie. Since the secrets will devastate their partner, both decide not to share until Livia has her big day. Therein lies all of the drama! Adam is dying to hide his secret, feigning a migraine when others notice that he is not joining in the festivities as he should. Livia is torn about sharing her secret since it will devastate Adam and destroy friendships that he has had for years. The themes of this book include communication in marriage, friendship, honesty vs. deceit, parenting and loss. I found that it was written brilliantly, capturing me from the beginning to the end! This novel was filled with drama and suspense. I do think that there were details added that weren’t necessary to the story, but I devoured every detail and really wanted to do nothing but read this book. The main characters, with all of their strengths and weaknesses, were well-developed so I felt like I got to know Adam and Livia well. There were many minor characters because it was a huge party and each guest played a part in their lives together. Josh was likable whereas Marnie, Adam’s favorite, came across as spoiled and entitled. I really enjoyed this book but I would not categorize it as a thriller like the author’s previous books. This was definitely a hard to put down family drama and one that is perfect for book clubs and a future movie!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
I enjoyed the book, although I kept waiting for something … not sure what. I imagine it is because the authors other books have been more of a thriller and this one was much different. Something to be learned from this one is that we all could probably be better communicators.
That’s to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins press and the Author B. A. Paris for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Having read two novels already by B.A. Paris, I am already a fan and love her works.
The Dilemma was no different I actually loved it and read it in one day. A real page turner and the book lived up yo the title for sure!
The beginning confused me and the ending broke my heart. I did not think I would cry as I read the story and it lead us to the hours of a heart wrenching conclusion, but oh my eyes were blurry on those last hours and chapters.
This story has depth to the characters and family dynamic. Some of the confusion was because the book starts right at the beginning of a major family moment and has POV from two characters who both are hiding a secret that will impact the family. Along with the secrets is the family dynamic due to how the marriage and family began many years ago. The story was fast moving, but horribly slow at the same time and you could sense that slowness in several characters reactions and emotions to then breaking news of the day. The emotions and reactions were raw and moving.
I thought the story was creative and well done. Once I got started and understood the pacing and premise of the story I could not put it down. Thank you for the chance to read this book and share my opinions!
WOW! WOW! WOW!
My heart is in pieces. This author is a new author for me and when an author has that kind of effect on your heart they are a winner. This book deserves five million stars and then some. This book is phenomenal.
Livia is nearly 40 and for over 20 years she’s wanted to have the party of all parties and she’s saved up for along time for it.
Adam is her husband and is a really genuine, sweet caring guy who only wants to do the best and be fair with all his family. His wife Liv, his son Josh and their daughter Marnie. They both married very young and have loved each other so hard for so long. The day of the party they can both feel that something isn’t right but no one is speaking, this is definitely a case of no communication. They are both making huge, mega decisions alone and is a total dilemma.
( NO SPOILERS ).
This book grabs you and doesn’t let you go and even now I’ve finished it, it will stay with me for a long time coming. It will have you at the edge of your seat turning pages because you are desperate to find out if it’s true.
This book is told from different points of view which I always like and it goes through the 24 hours and shows you how everything plays out. This book has secrets, lies, deception and total heart break.
This book took all of my emotions screwed them up and then spat me out. It’s very very raw and totally heart wrenching what they go through, especially Adam at first then the family. Make sure that you have the tissues to hand because you will need them.
I can’t recommend this book enough it was a absolutely fantastic read.
This book is out now.
Another friend and I read this at the same time, and it was fun bouncing theories back and forth as the story progressed. Some of the plot twists were really heart-wrenching and a couple of the scenes had me crying too hard to read the words on the page. I was glued to the book, all the way to the end, and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish the last few chapters. Love this author!
I saw B.A. Paris had a new book, and that was that. I wanted it. She is a master of psychological suspense, her writing detailed right down to the color of the carpet fibers.
Rapt with suspense at 2:30 in the morning, the book had me on the edge of my seat as I read the last chapters, but the storyline behind the book didn’t seem to support the usual astonishment after the final page has been devoured.
Misinformation between husband and wife Adam and Livvy causes “the dilemma” on the day of the 40th birthday party Livvy has been dreaming of for 20 years. The result is an agonizing, frustrating, chillingly written horror—until the information is revealed to the reader. The story had an abundant amount of potential but fell flat, with an elaborately drawn out event that seemed to leave the reader more depressed than anything.
Her method of suspense did not waver, as the investment I had in the book kept until the very last chapter. It’s a quick read, but doesn’t have the robust storyline to accompany a pristinely written, skin-crawling B.A. Paris novel.
This really was an emotional ride that by the finish had the tears pouring down my face.
This really needs to just be picked up and read with no prior expectations.
Its essentially at heart a family drama that focuses heavily on the family dynamic and what makes people tick.
A dilemma of ultimate truth told from both Husband and wife Livia and Adam who are both holding their cards close to there chest, temporally withholding certain facts they believe will protect and shield there loved ones.
The events unfolding here play out over a very brief window of time which expertly manages to increase the intensity and increasing sense of horror, disbelief, betrayal and despair all depending on whose head we are in at that moment in time.
But I also equally felt such a sense of connection to this family and I could definitely feel there love and commitment for each other despite and also because of the obstacles they have managed to overcome.
So despite my Sadness here I was also left with an emerging sense of hope and also growth.
That this family have managed to pull together in such a make or break scenario and even eventually emerge intact as a unit.
This was such a heartening thing, so yes I did enjoy this it’s excellently written and managed to get me feeling all sorts of mixed-up emotions.
My rating reflects also on the toll this took on me personally, my enjoyment of this was also mixed with a profound sense of loss and I was left feeling wrung out and put through an emotional wringer.
Also, this was quite slow in regards to plot direction as I said it focuses more on feelings so at times I did find myself skimming slightly, In conclusion, this was a solid emotional read that I would recommend just keep the tissues handy.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Dilemma.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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