She Treads Softly: Our Little Secret

Friday, April 17, 2026

Our Little Secret

Our Little Secret by Samantha Hayes
5/5/26; 322 pages
Bookouture

Our Little Secret by Samantha Hayes is a highly recommended psychological thriller that epitomizes everything a popcorn thriller should encompass.

Gemma and Doug have been happily married for twenty years and have two teenagers. She has a clothing store she loves and a new assistant who is wonderful help. Gemma also meets once a week with a support group for her previous drinking problem, a secret she keeps from her husband, claiming to go to the gym. This is the life she dreamed of after running away from a secret in her past and a man she knows was dead the last time she saw him. When Aiden Black, the man she once loved and left for dead, shows up at the support group one night, Gemma is shocked. Aiden is the one man who knows her deepest, darkest secret and now he begins to insert himself into her life again.

The action will grab your attention from the start, mostly because of the over abundance of lies, continuous bad choices, secrets, nonsensical actions, and highly unlikely coincidences, which all quickly multiply. Adding to the absurdity is how very annoying Gemma can be as a character. However, sit back, set a huge, gigantic dose of disbelief aside, tamp down any initial annoyance, keep reading, and let the ridiculousness play out. It will quickly reach popcorn thriller perfection, become wildly entertaining, and will hold your complete attention.

The narrative is through Gemma's voice and chapters alternate between present day action and events from over twenty years ago when Gemma and Aiden were dating. While we watch Gemma feel threatened in the present day, she is fawning over Aiden in the past. The pressing question is what did he do to change her mind about him? The next question is why is he back? The twists in the action from both timelines come quickly toward the end. Some you will have predicted, other's maybe not, but there is no question it ended up entertaining.

Our Little Secret is a great choice for those who love popcorn thrillers and can set any and all disbelief aside while reading. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.