What She Doesn't Know

Baxley Bakery #1

by Cat Leigh

Alternative cover edition of Kindle ASIN B0CTTTPX4C

Becca thought running her family bakery would be ideal—until a dark obsession turns her quiet life into a deadly nightmare.

All is not as it seems at Baxley Bakery…

Fresh out of college, Becca Baxley has her future mapped out: run the family bakery, win over her longtime crush Jeff, and enjoy life in charming Wixby, Georgia. But someone else has plans for Becca—and they're far from sweet.

A shadowy figure watches her every move, his twisted obsession growing stronger each day. When unsettling events begin to shatter Becca's peaceful world, she realizes her biggest threat isn't a failed recipe—it's the predator who's been waiting in the darkness.

As danger closes in, Becca must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that threatens everyone she loves. With her trust shattered and her courage tested, she faces a chilling question: How do you fight an enemy you can't see?

In this heart-pounding romantic thriller, Cat Leigh delivers Southern charm with a sinister twist that will keep you guessing until the final page.

Author's Note: This book ends in a cliffhanger. The duet concludes with Dance With Two Hands.
Content Warning: Contains mature themes, language, steamy scenes, violence, stalking, and kidnapping.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance

337 pages, ebook

First published February 4, 2024

About the author

Cat Leigh loves to write books full of sweet and steamy romance, often with humor, mystery, and suspense thrown in. She fills her novels with fun, complicated characters and relationships and sets them in the world she knows best: the Southern U.S. It’s always been her hope to help people escape into her stories and lose themselves for a while in the worlds she creates.

She lives in Metro Atlanta with her husband, her two amazing boys, and her dog. When she’s not writing or reading, she can be found watching sports with her family, hanging out with her children, baking, or trying to make arts and crafts while listening to true crime podcasts.

She loves to connect with her readers, so message her at her website: www.catleighbooks.com, or sign up for her newsletter to get free stories, find out more about her, or get recipes mentioned in her Baxley Bakery series. You can also follow her on social media, such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, and her Amazon author page.

Reviews

[Kristin H-Feeney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is my first DNF. Yes it's a love triangle and yes one is a stalker, but both men in my opinion are toxic in a "YIKES EW NOOOOOO" kind of way. The main character makes so many stupid mistakes in her teens so yeah makes sense but when she doesn't learn from those mistakes 8 years later, that's concerning. If a man tells you "you're mine" has written you notes before and you know who it is and then the same notes stop and start again a year later your first suspect should be that person! Also I would be rich if I had a penny for how often the description of (how hot/beautiful) the main character is and how often through her ages of 14-22 men between 17-30 are trying to get with her. Like girl, your neighborhood is messed up and perverted. Get outta there! 🤦🏽‍♀️

ALSO: shame on her parent for catching Rand not ONCE but TWICE watching her sleep at 10 or 12 years old in her bedroom and not saying ANYTHING but "we don't like him." Actually, in many ways her parents supported his obsession. They continued to let her brother hang with him, they took pictures of the two of them at formal/prom (they were not dates), and when she dates him when she's older the mom just says "your father won't be happy." NO! Just, no. Not cute, not appropriate, unsafe and NOT GOOD. GTFO NOW vibes are strong with this one

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Come on guys she was FOURTEEN! I just had so much trouble getting over this and the fact that everyone was sexualizing this CHILD. Even though she 'developed early' that was f*ing sick and reading the sexual parts when she was IN 8TH GRADE made me cringe. Honestly I almost DNF'd this book several times through the story. Raising the age of the MC would not have taken anything away in this story and I'm peiv'd this author didn't.

I finished it bc it is a compelling story and the side characters and their potential spin off stories were intriguing as well.

I am going to finish the series since it's on KU but yeah the age thing is just gross and was unnecessary.

[Keri M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely phenomenal! Becca has always been beautiful and loved by everyone. Over time Becca realizes that someone is paying attention… too much attention. She receives weird notes, weird gifts and just gets an odd feeling of being followed. Rand McGinnis is obsessed and he will have Becca no matter what, no one, not even Jeff from Barry will stop him.

A twisty tale of a crazy stalker, that finally ends when the stalker dies……….. Right?

This book kept me up late trying to finish it. I literally fell asleep with it in my hands. Stop what you’re doing and read it, NOW. Book 2 is out now, book 3 releasing soon!

[Ginger]

Just no….DNF

[Ly · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

I cant get past the fact that everyone is a pedophile.

[Marylynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It ends on a cliffhanger😞

[Brandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

!!Spoilers!! Should have been a “DNF” but I kept going to see if ANYONE in this book would have any common sense. Becca was failed by literally everyone in her life. Every. Single. Person. Her parents didn’t protect her, her friends didn’t give her important information.. plus, she had zero self-preservation by not telling her family and/or friends that she was getting creepy notes and flowers for SIX YEARS!! And they all let it slide so she could finish college?? Come on.. Complete idiocy. Plus, why in all hell is the whole town full of pedophiles? When Mr. “Old man friend of her dad’s” came by the bakery to ask to date her, and the dad just let Jeff save the day with the fake relationship…. Come on!! Every man in this book is a wuss and totally failed this CHILD! It’s not that they didn’t know.. they KNEW .. and turned blind eyes when she said it was fine.

The writing was good. The way the story flowed was good. But the story itself? The plot? I’m so pissed that I finished it. Also, Jeff might have been a decent guy for waiting for her to grow up, but let’s be honest. He was completely into the 14 year old girl when he was in college. The whole damn town is effed. Through the whole thing, my brain was screaming “WTF?!”

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF The best way to describe how this book made me feel was icky! I gave up.

[Sherry Voyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story and I’m excited to dive into book 2 after the cliffhanger it ended on. This was a suspenseful ride and I honestly couldn’t put it down.

The reason it didn’t get 5 stars though is because I had some issues with the plot. First of all, almost all, if not all, of the dialog between the characters was.. idk.. awkward? Weird? It didn’t flow naturally and a lot of it made me cringe. The only dialog I did like was between Olivia and Sam via the podcast.

I also feel like Becca never grew up mentally and was still just as naive and clueless as an adult as she was as a 14 year old. I yelled at her so many times, like, GIRL. Be for real right now.

Then when the 30 year old customer at the bakery suddenly starts hitting on Becca and Jeff basically makes out with her to the point he picks her up and she wraps her legs around him… and her dad is RIGHT THERE watching, yet and is all cool as a cucumber about it… but apparently refuses to “give permission” to Jeff to date her even as a 22 year old? That didn’t make sense to me. I agree with another review when they said literally everyone failed Becca by turning a blind eye and keeping things from her.

Hopefully the second book will show more character depth and development and answer some questions. But despite the above mentioned criticism, I seriously ate this book up and could not stop thinking about it when I couldn’t read it.

[Reading With April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a little slow for me, which is expected since the whole book explains what happened from the past to a little bit in the present and also what is leading up to book #2 since this ended in a cliffhanger. I have a feeling I'll enjoy the 2nd book more.

[Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randomly picked this up on Prime Reading, and was suprised how much I enjoyed it.

[Brandy A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written story but the plot. My goodness. I wanted to know what happened but debated to dnf every few minutes. Becca is stalked. Everyone fails her at some point. The guys “love her” but only talk about her body and she’s 14 for crying out loud. So many things should have been done to keep her safe. It’s just crazy that no one ever thought to do more than they did.

[Andrea Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Interesting story telling, but a little too creepy and groom-y for me.

[Elizabeth Walls]

Zero stars. This book is abhorrent. Did Not Finish

This book is so disturbing on so many levels. Let’s start with the fact that no one in this book seems to have a moral compass. Or they’re collectively the dumbest group of people I have ever read about, including Becca’s friends and the podcasters.

1. Becca’s parents failed her at every turn. You catch a guy (Rand) in your daughter’s room TWICE and do nothing? You allow that guy and your son (her brother) to continue to be friends?

2. A college student is bribed by her eighth grade cousin to allow her and a group of friends to attend a party? Any good person would say…no, not happening. Also who plays seven minutes in heaven at a college party? And these group of girls are in eighth grade..their behaviors, if not their looks, would be evidence of that.

3. 20 year old boy (Jeff) meets Becca—14— at said college party. Can’t find her after a highly sexual encounter. He asks the party host about the girl and host tells him where she works, without telling him she’s 14? Again…moral compass. Also, host was aware of 7 minutes in heaven being played and allows the eighth graders to participate. And drink. Host was aware of all of this, including the sexual encounter at the party and she did nothing. Where is women having women’s backs????? For that matter, none of Becca’s friends thought this was anything but cool? That actually might be the only plausible thing in the book.

4. Jeff *gets a job* at Becca’s parent’s bakery, where she also works, because he wants to see her. First, can we say stalker? Also when he found out she was 14 (immediately upon being hired) he doesn’t quit. And why can’t this girl’s parents tell when she is lying?????

5. High School Senior boy (Rand) coaching a middle school girl/boy soccer team?????? It’s a co-ed team (which generally doesn’t happen). An adult would be present at every game/practice. No school district in their right mind would let student athletes coach a team—male, female or mixed—without supervision.

6. Becca is forgotten so often at soccer practice by her parents and brother, you would almost think this story took place in 1978. And since it wasn’t 1978, how does she not have a phone to call her parents or brother and tell them they forgot her???? Oh, wait, she does have a phone but never seems to remember that when she is forgotten.

7. Rand is the head coach of this soccer team and the parents continue to let her play on the team. Even after another parent telling them something weird is going on.

8. Becca has a highly sexual encounter with Rand and is caught by Jeff and he agrees to say nothing. Yet, his behavior is praised by Becca and the podcasters!

9. What mother does her daughter’s makeup to make her look older??? Most mothers I know 1. Can’t do make up as well as their daughters anyway. And 2. All of them are telling the girls to look their age, not like they are 21 and make them wash half of it off.

10. We’re living in the age of technology where every parent tracks their child with Life360. I know *adult* children who are grown and living on their own who are still tracked by their parents. And Becca, living in today’s day and age, isn’t tracked? Her parents have absolutely no idea where she is at any given moment. Oh, right, because her phone apparently only works for Rand.

I could go on, but I hit the pertinent facts. I read about half of it, because I was hoping someone in this book developed some level of intelligence, but they didn’t.

[Sarah Banfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the set up with the podcast and the present past. But this was a hard one to get through. I’ll give her pass when she was a kid, but I don’t understand how Becca as a young adult can be so dumb?? And everyone in her life is equally as dumb.

Not sure how you let your friend start hooking up with or dating a guy where you’ve heard rumors that he abused his ex wife in general, let alone heard that they broke up because he was obsessed with Becca and forced his ex to get surgery to look like her?? That wasn’t worth a mention sooner? Also Becca still proceeded to sleep with Rand again after seeing pictures and magazines of her all over his house.

Anyway, unfortunately because of who I am as a person I will have to read the next one to see how it ends 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Brandi Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read and definitely intriguing. Kind of a slow start but once it started flowing I was sucked into Becca's life and wanted to know more. Although I really do wonder how Becca missed some of the things she so easily waived off, she's a little gullible. Definitely looking forward to Dance With Two Hands to find out what happens next with Becca, Jeff and Rand.
*Side note, I started What She Doesn't Know because I saw an ad saying it was similar to Lucy Score. I disagree, nothing about the storyline or writing style remind me of LS. That being said I am glad I decided to check this new author out.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well this book freaked me the heck out.
I am NOT ok with all the underage references and blatant sexual harassments/grooming/etc. which were not only present but GRAPHIC. Since I have a 14yo, this was even a little traumatic even considering an older man pursuing her, saying the 'right' stuff.
I also feel like the biggest plot hole is that no one really communicates with her. They don't like Rand, but they don't ever explain what they know or what the rumors are or anything. Not her friends, not her family, NO ONE. Absurd!
Unbelievable from start to finish. (Seriously, I don't care if you're 'maturing faster' than other girls, it's unbelievable that you'd be at a college party dude.)

[Ash Night · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book four stars but...

Rand was super creepy and well written. I just couldn't get over the fact that the parents never talked to Becca about WHY she shouldn't be dating Rand when she was 14. It was clear the dad didn't like him, but he just left it at "He's too old for you." It just seemed too convenient for the plot that they never sat her down and actually talked to her, especially the mom

[Kerrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t wait for the next one

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

I loved this book and was instantly sucked in. The characters are amazing and the chemistry between Becca and Jeff from Barry is intense. There was much more suspense than I expected since you know what happens from the beginning. I didn’t want this book to end because the next one isn’t out yet.

[Abby Westling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man, this one made me a little sick to my stomach. It very much encapsulated the anxiety and tension that comes along with being stalked. I was a little uncomfortable with some of the early on sexual moments but I think that is kind of the point. It definitely drove home the uneasiness. That cliffhanger was absolutely something else and I cannot wait to see how this ends.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Romantic Suspense by Cat Leigh is a gripping mix of love, danger, and second chances that will have your heart racing in more ways than one. With sharp twists and a heroine you can’t help but root for, this story delivers a thrilling ride from crush to chaos—and back again.

[Rebecca Pickett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been very selective in giving books I read 5⭐️’s this year. But this book, this book deserves it. I honestly couldn’t download the 2nd book fast enough. I don’t usually read suspense novels but this one has a chokehold on me. I cannot wait to see what happens with Becca and Jeff from Barry and Rand……I’m afraid this next book is going to have me losing sleep over it and I’m ok with that.

[Jim Alred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Hard to put down once you start.

The book hooks you from the first chapter and never lets go. Great characters, good plot and some fun twists. Can’t wait to read the next one.

[Annalyssa Beamesderfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING

I love this book, the podcast, flash backs and present events is absolutely amazing. It’s refreshing to see a unique formate to the writing and I can’t wait for the next book!!

[Cady Zimmermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best debuts I have ever read. The main characters went through so much together you just keep rooting for them. They go through a lot together and a lot when they are apart. This is a page turner from start to finish.

[Jamie Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can it just end like that????

[Kimball Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mix of mystery, suspense, love, and friendships. Can wait for book 2!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this 6 stars. So well written! I loved the variation of the present day and telling the story!

[Amy Ogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good

I read this in 24 hours! Can't wait to start book 2! I see me downloading all her books as soon as they come out!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept me on edge and had me burning through the pages! On to book 2!!