Blog Tour: The Secret Between us by Kate Hewitt @katehewitt1 @katehewitt.bsky.social @lisarostwelling @madelinepell @hachetteuk @hachetteuk.bsky.social @bookouture @bookouture.bsky.social #BlogTour #TheSecretBetweenUs

the setup…
Elise Dunnett is a married mother of 8-year old twins Lewis and Luke and husband Michael is a highly successful neurosurgeon practicing in Manhattan. She’s devoted to her family and is head of the PTA at The Garden School, the children’s private school. Elise has a carefully crafted image and resists participating in the standard Mom gossip. Enter Harriet Tierney, the single mother of daughter Kyra. She’s an artist who recently moved to New York from Austin and has more of a bohemian style. Harriet and Michael are pretty chummy at the school’s social the day before the start of the semester and it puts Elise on edge. Her hyper vigilance is noticed by Harriet who wasn’t flirting…initially…and stokes the fire. But she’s moved there to be with her child’s father Allan who has a serious health crisis.

the heart of the story…
What starts as something rather innocuous morphs into some really bad behavior. It’s clear early on that Elise is tightly wound, fitting beautifully into a Stepford wife stereotype. Where she departs from that is her unwillingness to engage in the catty behavior and gossip of many of the other mothers…until she feels threatened. Harriet isn’t part of that world and has Kyra in the school solely at Allan’s request. She takes some pleasure in rattling the perfect Elise. Under different circumstances, these women might have been friends. Making matters worse, their children become friends and get swept up into this nonsense.

the narration…
Lisa Rost-Welling and Madeline Pell captured the essences of their characters perfectly. I felt Elise’s neuroses and Harriet’s nonchalance throughout. It was a fine performance.

the bottom line…
To be clear, this is not a mystery or thriller as the synopsis insinuates. No matter, I was fascinated by the unnecessary trauma these women inflicted upon each other, fueled by the mean gossip by deeply insecure women who find it necessary to strike first before the spotlight comes their way. But it’s the tragedy of how it affected their family relationships and children because it got serious. I feel certain this sad state of affairs is not unique and is a cautionary tale.

Book Info

• Release Date: July 24, 2025
• Narrators: Lisa Rost-Welling & Madeline Pell
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 49 minutes
• Publisher: Hachette UK – Bookouture

About the Author

Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.

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(Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)