A Perfect Stranger - Shalini Boland

 Two marriages. Three little lies. Someone’s going to die…

I hold my breath as my handsome husband walks through the door. I’ve planned the perfect surprise birthday party for him. Our friends are gathered and the champagne is flowing. But when I catch the look in his deep brown eyes, I realise I’ve got this horribly wrong.

All evening my stomach is churning. And I can’t help but notice Danielle Baines speaking with Aiden. With her salon-styled hair, diamonds glittering on her ring finger and married to a rich businessman she has the kind of lifestyle I can only dream of. I’ve never liked her. And I know the feeling is mutual.

So why is she here and what is she saying to my husband?

Now it’s the end of the party and the man I love is confessing a secret that shocks me to the core. But it’s not what I was afraid of. It’s much worse.

He says we have to take our son and leave the place we call home because our lives are in danger.

I thought I knew everything about my husband. But suddenly he feels like a stranger. Should I trust him with my life?

From the million-copy bestselling author, this totally gripping psychological thriller will have you guessing until the last jaw-dropping twist. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife Between Us.

Author Bio:

Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two children and Jess their cheeky terrier cross. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers (in between school runs and hanging out endless baskets of laundry).

https://www.facebook.com/shaliniboland

https://www.instagram.com/shaboland/

https://twitter.com/ShaliniBoland

My Review

A perfect stranger tells the story of two women who discover that their marriages might not be all that they first thought. Their husbands are both keeping secrets from them, and are far from being the men that they first thought them to be.
This is a gripping thriller with lots of twists and turns. At one point I thought that I'd got it figured all out. I was wrong. There was one little bit that I had got right, but I'd forgotten all about it by the end of the book and when it turned out that I was along the right track, it completely took me by surprise. I enjoyed the way that the story was told from the two women's points of view. It wasn't clear whether they were just superficially connected due to their husbands place of work or if their stories were somehow more intertwined than that, until much later in the book and then it was in ways that I really was not expecting.
This was a fairly quick read, but only because I really wanted to know how it was going to play out once I'd started and it certainly kept me guessing until the end.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

The Killer's Family - Miranda Smith

 We should never have kept our father’s secret.

Before, my sisters and I were close. Now, a year after our father’s funeral, we barely speak to each other. Molly won’t accept the truth. Rachel can’t forgive him. And I spend all my time digging through his life, trying to understand.

Then we hear the news. A woman has been found by the docks, her wedding ring stolen. The reporter says it appears the local serial killer has returned…

But I know that can’t be right, because I know who the killer was.

Henry Martin. Our father.

Someone is sending us a message. Someone knows we lied.

Now my sisters and I must work together to find out who is targeting us. How do they know what we’ve hidden? What do they want? And what other secrets lie buried in the past, putting us all in danger?

A brilliantly twisty suspense thriller that will have you flying through the pages and gasping at the twist. Fans of Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Ruth Ware will love The Killer’s Family.

Author Bio:

Miranda Smith writes psychological and domestic suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Before completing her first novel, she worked as a newspaper staff writer and a secondary English teacher. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three young children.

https://mirandasmithwriter.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MirandaSmithAuthor/

https://www.instagram.com/mirandasmithwriter/

https://twitter.com/msmithbooks

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09PNCZLXWsocial

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/qPEadvnqDRpW
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Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-killers-family-by-miranda-smith-narrated-by-lauryn-allmannick

My Review

I loved the idea of this book. So many stories are told either from the point of view of the victim or whoever it is trying to get to the bottom of things, sometimes from the murderer themselves. This time though, we have the family of the murderer. A family who never knew what was going on.
I really enjoyed seeing the story unfold through their eyes. Both as they tried to come to terms with what their family member has done, but also because the same story seems to be playing out again now.
There are a lot of twists and turns in this book. I honestly thought I'd got it all figured out and that I wasn't going to be fooled. I was wrong. I didn't see it coming at all, which I actually really enjoyed. (Especially as I'd been feeling so smug about it all.)
This was a gripping read and one that I got through really quickly, mostly because I really didn't want to put it down.
If you're looking for a read that will keep you on the edge of your seat with something a little different then you won't go far wrong here.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

The Invite - Sheryl Browne

Kaitlin has been looking forward to her engagement party for weeks. She’s finally introducing her fiancé Greg to her best friend Zoe, but as the champagne corks pop, her dream party soon becomes her worst nightmare…

Staring at the stunning diamond solitaire on her finger, Kaitlin knows her relationship has been a whirlwind… but Greg looks after her, and he loves playing dad to her young daughter. How could she refuse when he’s already planned their romantic elopement?

As the guests arrive, Kaitlin wonders why Greg is suddenly acting so shifty. Is that a flicker of recognition on Zoe’s face? And why does she look terrified every time her phone rings?

Kaitlin watches as Zoe knocks back her white wine and makes a beeline for Greg. Then, after a heated conversation, her best friend stumbles outside without looking back.

Days later, the police knock at Kaitlin’s door – Zoe is missing.

When the police question Greg about the night of the party, Kaitlin knows he’s telling lies. But why would he? Can she really trust the man she’s marrying? And could her precious daughter’s life now be in danger too?

The Invite is an absolutely unmissable psychological thriller, perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife. You’ll be hooked from the first page!

Author Bio:

Bestselling Author, Sheryl Browne, writes taut, twisty psychological thriller. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. Sheryl has also obtained a Certificate of Achievement in Forensic Science and – according to readers – she makes an excellent psychopath. Sheryl’s latest psychological thriller THE INVITE comes to you from BOOKOUTURE. Her previous works include the DI Matthew Adams Crime Thriller series, along with contemporary fiction novels, The Rest of My Life and Learning to Love.

 

To find out more about Sheryl. go to www.sherylbrowne.com

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09NNJQSWWsocial

Apple: http://ow.ly/qYPx50HVB4x Kobo: http://ow.ly/Y1V550HVB4v Google: http://ow.ly/xSPv50HVB4w

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/4JRwCMdLNFwv

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Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-invite-by-sheryl-browne-narrated-by-tamsin-kennard

My Review

The Invite is a gripping thriller that weaves together a number of different stories and threads. Zoe has returned home from Portugal after being betrayed by the man she thought loved her. Then she goes missing. Her friend Kaitlin is worried about what has happened, but as things unfold, it's clear that it's not only the people in Zoe's life who have been lying and perhaps Kaitlin is in as much danger as her friend.

I enjoyed this read and although I guessed a few things that happened, I wasn't really sure where it was all going to go. Both Zoe and Kaitlin seem to have had terrible luck with the men that they have been involved with and their life in general. I did feel that at points the plot does seem to jump a little and it took me a second to catch up, but that didn't really detract and the pace of this book worked really well. Overall it was a great read and one that I would recommend.

The Silent Mother - Liz Lawler

 The phone rings. It’s the call every parent dreads. My beautiful son is dead.

He’d been the centre of my world from the moment he was born. Now my perfect life is shattered. In the midst of my grief, I receive an anonymous letter telling me that Tom’s death was not an accident.

So I’ve come to the apartment where my only child lived to find out what really happened. Tom was newly qualified as a doctor, he had a bright future ahead of him. Nothing about the day he died makes sense.

As I get to know the medical staff Tom worked with and his friends living nearby, I’m drawn into a tangled web of lies. Whispers and rumours circulate along the hospital corridors and I start to question how well I really knew my precious boy.

But a mother knows when things don’t add up.

His girlfriend has been keeping her pregnancy secret.
His best friend betrayed him in the weeks before Tom’s death.
His neighbours all have something to hide.

Which one of them would kill? As I get closer to the truth, the stakes become more dangerous. And I realise I could be next on their list…

Author Bio:

Liz Lawler grew up sharing pants, socks, occasionally a toothbrush, sleeping four to a bed. Born in Chatham and partly raised in Dublin, she is one of fourteen children. She spent over twenty years as a nurse and has since fitted in working as a flight attendant, a general manager of a five star hotel, and is now working with trains. She became an author in 2017 when her debut novel Don’t Wake Up was published by Twenty7.

https://www.facebook.com/liz.lawler.90

https://twitter.com/authorlizlawler?lang=en

Buy Links:

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Google: https://bit.ly/3yCHxi7

The Silent Mother by Liz Lawler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know that you've got a good thriller on your hands when you just can't put it down. The silent mother sucked me in from the moment that I started it and I couldn't resist the urge to keep reading until I had discovered everything that happened.
The Silent Mother tells the story of Ruth who sets out to find out the truth about her son. He was due to appear in court to face charges of stealing drugs from the hospital that he worked as a doctor, but he was found dead, apparently from suicide, the morning he was due to appear. Ruth is sure that he must be innocent and is determined to get to the bottom of what happened.
There are many twists and turns in this story and I'll admit that I suspected almost every character of being involved one way or another at some point. I did manage to work everything out long before Ruth though, who seemed to be spectacularly slow as we neared the end.
This was a gripping read and one that I didn't want to put down. The only reason that it's not a five star read for me, is that there were one or two little things that just didn't seem to make sense. Too much interest in something the police find that just didn't ring true for me and I wasn't convinced by some of Tom, the son's, actions. These were only minor niggles though and overall this was a great read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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His Loving Wife - Miranda Smith

 I would do anything to protect my family. It’s my fault they’re in danger…

Our vacation house is beautiful. With its pastel-blue walls, the swimming pool outside, the boardwalk stretching down to the shore. My children play in the waves and my husband grills burgers on the deck. It is so peaceful.

But I can’t relax. When I drive to the store, or stroll down the beach, I am always looking over my shoulder, my heart racing. I am looking for him.

The man who nearly destroyed everything, a year ago, because of the secrets I kept.

I swear I didn’t do anything wrong. But no matter how hard my husband tries to pretend, we both know it’s not over.

This vacation was meant to be a chance to heal. Instead, I think it might break us. Because my husband still doesn’t trust me… and I’m not sure I can trust myself.

An absolutely compelling psychological thriller that will make you question how well you know those around you—and how safe you ever are. Fans of The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors and Gillian Flynn will be completely hooked by His Loving Wife.

Author Bio:

Miranda Smith writes psychological and domestic suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Before completing her first novel, she worked as a newspaper staff writer and a secondary English teacher. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three young children.

https://mirandasmithwriter.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MirandaSmithAuthor/

https://www.instagram.com/mirandasmithwriter/

https://twitter.com/msmithbooks

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ESWBvv

Apple: https://apple.co/3qMTOxd

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Google: https://bit.ly/3wiCv8H

My Review

His Loving Wife by Miranda Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

His Loving Wife was a gripping read. From the first page, we're thrown into the drama of Kate's family facing an intruder in her house. The book takes part both in the past as they deal with the aftermath of this attack and while on holiday a year later, trying to rebuild the family.
As the story unfolds we learn what happened and why it took place, along with how this has impacted all members of the family. It also becomes clear that although the initial attack is over, there is still much that the family has to deal with.
I enjoyed this book immensely. I did struggle slightly with a couple of Kate's decisions or the way that she reacted to things. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but there is an incident that takes place that particularly impacts their son Noah and Kate herself. Personally, after something like that there's no chance that I would be repeating the activity or allowing any family members to do so. At least not in the near future. Kate does seem to be a little slow in picking up some of the signs as to what is going on. That might be understandable when you are so close to it all, but it left me wanting to reach into the book and give her a shake, surely she could see all wasn't well!
This was a great read and one that I would highly recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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