Review: A Noise Downstairs

**4 Goodreads Stars**

“Monsters can be very good at disguising themselves.”

“There are some things even tenure can’t protect you from.”

Paul Davis is a professor in a sleepy university town who finds his life turned upside down while driving home one night from work. He spots a car in front of him driving erratically. As he gets closer to the car, he sees that the driver is an aloof but well-known professor and colleague. He backs away from the car and keeps his distance from it out of sheer curiosity. The old saying “curiosity killed the cat” applies here. Paul’s curiosity gets the best of him when he sees his colleague pull over and start digging a hole in the pitch black night.

For most rational people, this would be a huge red flag to back away and call the police. But no, Paul is headstrong and confronts his colleague, only to discover that his colleague is responsible for the deaths of two women with whom he was having an affair. Paul’s colleague knocks Paul unconscious, leaving Paul emotionally and physically scarred from the encounter. Paul’s colleague gets life in prison, but that doesn’t mean that Paul has moved on from that fateful night.

Paul takes a leave of absence from his university to recover. He spends his days at home with his second wife, Charlotte, and visiting his psychologist for assistance with PTSD. Paul believes he is becoming increasingly forgetful and confused due to a head injury he incurred when he confronted by his murderous colleague.

Charlotte gifts Paul an antique typewriter in the hope that Paul’s writing will distract him from his anxiety and PTSD. But suddenly the typewriter comes to life. Paul hears a tapping in the middle of the night like someone is typing on the typewriter. He discovers that the typewriter may have been used as part of his colleague’s killing spree, making Paul question his sanity and mental health.

Is Paul truly losing his mind or is something else more sinister taking place?

I really loved this book’s pacing; each chapter took you in a different though totally plausible direction. This book is definitely going to be a favorite with people who love Agatha Christie whodunits. There is a wide cast of characters who could be responsible for taunting Paul, including his ex-wife, who wants full custody of their son; Paul’s psychologist’s father, who has a history of dementia and doing odd things; Paul’s psychologist’s demented client, who has been stalking some of his psychologist’s clients; and Paul’s colleague’s (the killer) wife and son, both of whom blame Paul for turning their husband/father in for the murders. I would love to see this book turned into a film!

Thank you to the author, Linwood Barclay, publisher, William Morrow (Harper Collins), and Edelweiss+ for an advanced reader copy of the thrilling A Noise Downstairs.

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Review: Three Secrets

 

**4 Goodreads Stars**

Clare Boyd’s Three Secrets started off slowly for me, but it picked up by the 30% mark. I struggled to figure out who was who at the beginning because there are a number of characters, though there are only two people telling the story (John and Francesca). I admit I wasn’t quite sure what the “three secrets” were because there are SO many secrets in this book.

What made me enjoy it, however, was the lead character of Francesca, who makes a life-altering decision to marry Robert, a movie executive from a wealthy family. Francesca makes this decision after being rejected by Robert’s handsome brother, John. John marries Dilys, a piercingly beautiful real estate mogul who is sharp, callous, and shrewd. Robert is an equally difficult partner to love, though Francesca accepts him for who he is in the face of John’s rejection.

What propels the story forward is Robert’s death, which was ruled a suicide. His death is shrouded in suspicion. Why would he kill himself? What would propel him to do such a thing when he has a loving wife and a beautiful young daughter?

The book seeks to understand Robert’s reasons for killing himself, and through this process, we discover he had demons and secrets of his own. The characters will keep you turning the pages wanting to know what happened to Robert the nights leading up to his death.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Clare Boyd for the advanced reader copy of Three Secrets.

UNIVERSAL Buy  Link: myBook.to/TSCBSocial

Description

A terrible secret killed your husband… but which one?

Robert kisses his wife on the head before heading out to the shop for more wine; he walks up the hill, takes a left across the footbridge and jumps to his death on the busy motorway below.

Two years later, Francesca and her young daughter are leaving London for a fresh start, money is tight and Robert’s mother has found them a little cottage in her village. Francesca is grateful for the help, but why does Robert’s mother want to keep them so close? Does she know about what Francesca did in the hour before Robert’s death?

Soon Francesca begins to suspect there was more to her husband’s death than she realised, that there might be even darker secrets hiding in his past than her own…

The closer gets to uncovering the truth, the more she asks: is her own life in danger now too?

If you couldn’t put down The Girl on the Train or The Couple Next Door, then you will absolutely love this gripping and twisty new psychological thriller. 

Author Bio

Clare lives with her husband and their two daughters in Surrey, where her little green shed at the bottom of the garden provides a haven for her writing life. Before becoming a writer, she enjoyed a career in television, as a researcher in documentaries and then as a script editor in drama at the BBC and Channel Four, where her love of storytelling took hold.

Clare’s debut novel, Little Liar , is published by Bookouture and is available to buy now.

Author Social Media Links:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/clareboydclark

Review: The Good Twin

**4.5 Goodreads Stars**

What if you had spent your entire young life in abject poverty only to find out that you had a twin who was living in luxury? Would you feel a tinge of jealousy? Or would you want something more: would you want revenge?

Marti Green’s The Good Twin follows the character of Mallory, who grew up in poverty after her 17-year-old mother was booted out of her parents’ house while pregnant with twins. Her mother keeps Mallory and puts the other twin up for adoption. Sadly, Mallory’s father dies in the Gulf War, leaving Mallory and her mother alone and financially destitute. Mallory’s mother never tells Mallory about her twin. Mallory experiences yet another tragedy when her mother passes away at a young age, taking the secret of Mallory’s twin to the grave.

Mallory moves to New York to pursue a degree in art. She squeaks by working as a waitress and lives in a communal house that barely qualifies as habitable. Despite all of this, Mallory is living her dream of being an artist in New York. But everything changes when Mallory meets an attractive young man, Ben, while waitressing. Ben tells her she looks exactly like his wife, Charly, who runs an upscale art gallery. Mallory finds the art gallery and discovers that she indeed looks like an exact replica of Charly. She soon discovers that Charly is her biological twin that her mother abandoned.

Ben convinces Mallory that Charly is a “bad twin” of sorts. He claims Charly grew up as a wealthy only child and, as a result, is stuck up and cruel. Ben, who is leading a double life of his own, proposes that he and Mallory take over Charly’s fortunes by having Mallory pose as Charly. Mallory, feeling resentful of Charly’s posh upbringing, hesitantly agrees to Ben’s plot. Little do they know that Charly, too, has a playbook of her own.

If you are a fan of books like Catherine McKenzie’s The Good Liar or Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s The Wife Between Us, you’ll enjoy this book. There are several unreliable narrators in this book and determining who is telling the truth and who is lying is half the fun of this book. This is one of those books that you will easily devour late at night because it’s so easy to get invested in the characters from the very first page of the book. The book builds tension and suspense slowly and artfully; you find yourself turning the pages because you want to know how the story ends.

Thank you to the author, Marti Green, the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Marti Green’s The Good Twin. I will definitely be reading more of Marti Green’s books in the future!

Review: The No Asshole Rule

**5 Goodreads Stars**

Have you ever worked at a place where a person or group of people sucked the life out of you, bullied you, or tormented you? Have you ever had a colleague corner you, explode at a meeting, or yell at other employees? If so, Dr. Robert Sutton’s The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t provides some solid advice on how to manage workplace bullies, or, in his own words, “assholes.”

This book is bursting with data on how assholes affect a workplace’s climate and employees’ productivity. As Dr. Sutton puts it, “when people act like assholes, the whole group suffers.” For anyone who has been in a workplace where there are bullies, we already know this. I presume those of us who are reading this book are reading it for solutions, though. The solutions are not straightforward, which is why this book is predominantly directed at people who manage employees.

One of the discussions I found particularly useful is how to facilitate a workplace and team where constructive criticism is welcomed. Based upon other workplace models, Sutton recommends that managers teach their employees how to handle critique without feeling personally insulted. In other words, “model and teach constructive confrontation.” Towards this end, one tip he offers (from another leader in his field of organizational science/psychology) is “fight as though you are right, listen as if you are wrong.” In this model, conflict isn’t seen as assholish behavior. Productive conflict is taught, which can weed out assholes who are simply in it to bully others into their way of doing things. Conflict, rather, is done to make a product or publication better and stronger. As Sutton writes about his own experiences collaborating with a colleague on publications, “the more we fight, the better we write.”

The problem with assholes is that many companies will tolerate them unless they discriminate against someone (such as racial or gender discrimination). Some people stay quiet out of fear of the person. Sometimes the person blackmails colleagues into believing the will lose their job if they say something. Sometimes a colleague whispers into the ears of weaker colleagues about the colleagues he is bullying, attempting to control and manipulate the narrative about good, non-assholish people.

Many people are tempted to remain quiet because assholes are such dangerous people in the workplace. However, staying quiet and not disciplining an asshole can contaminate a workplace, which is why their behavior should not be tolerated or ignored in the workplace. Employees can contract “assholish” behavior, what Sutton calls “asshole poisoning,” simply by witnessing managers and other employees tolerate the asshole’s behavior. As Sutton explains, “a swarm of assholes is like a civility vacuum.” Unless a business just has one “token asshole” who stands an example of bad employee behavior, assholes are dangerous for corporations, for higher education, and for any workplace. Thus, it is absolutely imperative that workplaces “treat acting like an asshole as though it was a communicable disease.”

How can those of us who have to work with assholes (and who aren’t in the position to fire or discipline them) deal with them? One tip Sutton provides is to “manage moments.” This means you confront the behavior, call the person on it, and absolutely positively refuse to tolerate it. That obviously can be difficult if the asshole is in a position above you or superior to you. Sutton also suggests working on controlling your own behavior around the asshole and not giving in to the temptation to act as they act. Many assholes thrive on conflict and arousing the emotions of others; they see it as a way of controlling others, as a way of “winning.”

My takeaway: don’t tolerate assholes if you are a manager, no matter what the cost to you. It isn’t worth allowing assholes to make your employees miserable and make your workplace climate absolutely intolerable. And for people stuck underneath assholes: leave or speak out. Don’t put up with the behavior, and don’t become the asshole.

 

 

Review: The Replacement Wife

**5 Goodreads Stars**

“The real horrors of this world are other people.”

“It’s not rocket science. To believe that just because they’re good, everyone else is. But that’s not the way the world works. There’s too much history to prove otherwise.”

Britney King’s The Replacement Wife is the follow-up to The Social Affair, which I purchased and absolutely devoured earlier this year. Click here to read my review of The Social Affair. If you like heady psychological thrillers that explore the intricacies of human nature – especially the darkest aspects of human behavior – this series is for you.

The two books explore the inner workings of a cult that attracts people who desire wealth and power. The cult requires men and women to go to the extreme to prove their loyalty. These extremes involve altering one’s appearance, dieting to stay thin, and posting on social media to draw in followers desiring the same lavish lifestyle of the cult’s followers. If cult members deviate from the rules, they are physically and emotionally punished at a “reprogramming center.”

Crazy, you say? Just look at the recent news headlines this past two weeks, which involved famous actresses in a sex cult. These actresses posted attractive pictures of their lifestyles on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook in order to lure people, mostly young women, into their cult. The women in the cult were branded with the name of their male guru and forced to perform sexual acts with him. Yes, it can happen, and King provides a compelling narrative that explains the psychology of how it can happen.

 Why would anyone let themselves be subjected to such abject horror and torture just to belong?

The Replacement Wife is told from the perspectives of Melanie and Tom, both of whom seek money, power, and, above all else, control over others. Melanie has a chance encounter with Tom when they bump into each other on the street. Melanie has just been booted out of her wealthy family’s mansion and told to figure out life on her own. Thrust into the world with few skills other than the ability to manipulate others, Melanie immediately sees Tom – an older but attractive businessman – as a target. But there’s one big problem: he’s married. For Melanie, that’s just a minor detail.

She pursues him at a bar and finds that he is game. An affair comes easy to them, and soon Melanie has weaseled her way into Tom’s life. Tom’s wife, June, fades out of the picture after she passes away due to a botched plastic surgery, paving the way for Melanie to take over Tom’s life (and, more importantly to Melanie, finances).

Little does Melanie know that Tom is also manipulating her. Soon she realizes that she has been played for a fool. She is enmeshed in Tom’s cult, which has sought to reprogram her and force her to comply or else.

This a dark twisty thriller that reveals the lengths at which people will go to belong to a community and to wield power over others. King has crafted some deeply disturbing characters who clearly have counterparts in real life as we have seen in the news headlines. Yet these characters still have likable and relatable traits…or perhaps her characters are just masterful manipulators, drawing the reader into their lair of lies and deceit. King’s prose is masterful; there are so many fantastic quotable parts of the book that truly capture the depths of human nature.

I highly recommend King’s books if you are a fan of thrillers, mysteries, suspense, or psychological thrillers. I really could not put either of her books in this series down – so you are warned that you may spend all night reading them! I really hope there is another book in this series, because you can bet I’m reading it! Thank you to Britney King for a copy of The Replacement Wife!

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Social Affair comes a new riveting, powerful psychological thriller which offers a savage look into a utopian cultish society where beauty and perfection are valued at all costs.

For readers of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, The Replacement Wife offers a peek into the lives of a married couple up against impossible odds and the notion that history has a way of repeating itself.

Statistically speaking, fifty percent of marriages end up in divorce. What are the odds for murder?

Widower Tom Anderson is a savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Problem is, one is a lonely number. Thankfully, he solved for X by finding the perfect woman. It wasn’t easy. Tom is very specific. He has to be.

Having checked ‘find trophy wife’ off his list, life was moving along swimmingly. Until that perfect woman let it slip–she has a past. One she kept hidden, almost perfectly.

Sure, she lied–she fudged the numbers. Most women do.

Now, Tom has buyers’ remorse and according to cult rules only two options: get rid of her–or single-handedly erase her past.

She’s a liar. But she does keep house well. And she makes a mean lasagna.

Decisions, decisions.

Razor-sharp and utterly gripping, this electrifying story explores the lengths one will go in the pursuit of perfection, little white lies that can turn lethal, and the danger lurking behind the smiles of those we trust most.

Buy Now:

✭ Amazon: http://myBook.to/thereplacementwife

✭ All Stores Universal: http://books2read.com/thereplacementwife

✭ B&N: http://bit.ly/thereplacementwifebn

✭ iBooks: http://bit.ly/thereplacementwifeib

✭ Kobo: http://bit.ly/trwkobo

Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.

When she’s not wrangling the things mentioned above, she writes psychological, domestic and romantic thrillers set in suburbia.

Currently, she’s writing three series and several standalone novels.

The Bedrock Series features an unlikely heroine who should have known better. Turns out, she didn’t. Thus she finds herself tangled in a messy, dangerous, forbidden love story and face-to-face with a madman hell-bent on revenge. The series has been compared to Fatal Attraction, Single White Female, and Basic Instinct.

The Water Series follows the shady love story of an unconventional married couple—he’s an assassin—she kills for fun. It has been compared to a crazier book version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Also, Dexter.

Around The Bend is a heart-pounding standalone, which traces the journey of a well-to-do suburban housewife, and her life as it unravels, thanks to the secrets she keeps. If she were the only one with things she wanted to keep hidden, then maybe it wouldn’t have turned out so bad. But she wasn’t.

The With You Series at its core is a deep love story about unlikely friends who travel the world; trying to find themselves, together and apart. Packed with drama and adventure along with a heavy dose of suspense, it has been compared to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Love, Rosie.

The Social Affair is an intense standalone about a timeless couple who find themselves with a secret admirer they hadn’t bargained for. For fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, the novel explores what can happen when privacy is traded for convenience. It is reminiscent of films such as One Hour Photo and Play Misty For Me.

Without a doubt, connecting with readers is the best part of this gig. You can find Britney online here:

Web• http://BritneyKing.com

Instagram • https://instagram.com/britneyking_

Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/BritneyKingAuthor

Twitter• http://twitter.com/BritneyKing_

Goodreads • http://bit.ly/BritneyKingGoodreads

Review: Nyxia Unleashed

**5++ Goodreads Stars**

“The routine goes like this: Arrive. Unpack. Flirt a little. Feel guilty I’m flirting with the fate of multiple worlds on the line. Flirt some more. Drill down into darkness. Gut the planet. Get that money. Pack it in neat boxes. Sleep with one eye open. Rinse and repeat.”

Are you looking for a heart-pounding science fiction adventure that features characters you truly care about? If so, Scott Reintgen’s Nyxia series are for you. Nyxia Unleashed is the second book in the Nyxia series and it was just as action-packed as the first book, Nyxia. You can read my 5++ star review of Nyxia here.

Nyxia ended with a cliffhanger – the teenagers who were recruited and trained to mine a magical but deadly substance called Nyxia were put to the ultimate test: to fight for their lives against their crewmembers. Those who won get to go to Eden to mine Nyxia for the profit-hungry company Babel. This battle was not in their contract, but most of what the teenagers – who were plucked from a poverty-stricken Earth – had been contractually promised were lies. Who would make it to Eden to mine Nyxia and who would be killed?

The second book picks up right where Nyxia left off. I won’t spoil the plot, but as readers of the first book can probably guess, Emmett survives. Emmett, a rough and tumble but morally sound kid from Detroit, is faced with new challenges now that he and the remaining crew are on Eden, home to the alien race Imago. The Imago have been painted as dangerous and conniving by Babel. The Imago are facing imminent disaster; their people are no longer able to conceive children and their moon is dying. Babel believes it has cut a deal with a desperate culture that will soon fade away. Babel, however, is in for a surprise.

Reintgen is a master of words and detail; he has created a world and people who are so vastly different from our own universe. He has a knack for description and for making you feel as though you, too, are on Eden experiencing new landscapes, creatures, and people for the very first time just like Emmett. I cannot wait for the third installment in this series! It was billed as a young adult series, but it is definitely for adults who enjoy science fiction, adventure, and richly drawn characters. I cannot recommend this series enough!

Thank you to Scott Reintgen, Random House Children’s, Crown Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Nyxia Unleashed! Looking forward to the third book in this series – and I LOVE the covers of these books!

Review: The Family at No. 13

Just when you think you’ve read about every possible messed up family, along comes S.D. Monaghan’s The Family at No. 13 that features one of the most dysfunctional families you’ve ever met in fiction.

At first, I really enjoyed the premise. The book starts with Connor, a psychologist who is in dire need of a new office and place to live because of the constant noise and disruption from a rotating stream of Airbnbers. Connor is presented with an opportunity to move into a fancy cottage in a posh neighborhood, but the opportunity comes at a cost: his former patient and client, Zachary, has made the offer. Normally Connor wouldn’t cross that kind of line, but he’s desperate. So desperate that Connor moves into the cottage despite having a falling out with Zachary.

From the minute Connor signs the contract, he knows he made a poor decision. There are bizarre noises erupting from his neighbor’s house that disrupt the peace of his counseling sessions. A neighbor storms over and threatens Connor for no reason. Zachary shows up and tells Connor he’s going to make his life a living hell. What the heck has Connor gotten himself into?!

I kept turning the pages of this book because I wanted to know what the heck was going on in this neighborhood. I admit I struggled with the dialogue in this book; sometimes it was hard for me to figure out who was talking because the dialogue was strained. I would also categorize this as more of a soap opera than psychological thriller.

Thanks to Bookouture, NetGalley, and SD Monaghan for an advanced reader copy of The Family at Number 13.

Amazon Universal Link:     myBook.to/TFaN13Social

Description:

The most perfect lives can hide the darkest secrets…

Mary has everything. Beautiful and rich, she lives on an exclusive street in the heart of the city, in a house with gorgeous views and an immaculately maintained garden. Her life looks perfect.

But behind closed doors the truth is very different. Her husband Andrew barely speaks to her, spending his days down in the basement alone. Her teenage nephew is full of rage, lashing out with no warning. Her carefully constructed life is beginning to fall apart.

And then someone starts sending Mary anonymous notes, threatening her and her family…

Everyone has secrets. But is someone at number 13 hiding something that could put the whole family in danger?

A twist-filled thriller with an ending that will shock you to the core. Perfect for fans of The Couple Next Door, Lies and Behind Closed Doors.

  

Author Bio:

S. D. Monaghan grew up in Dublin before travelling extensively in Asia, Europe and America. After teaching English in Thailand for two years, he moved back to Ireland and gained an honours degree in psychology. While living in Canada for four years, he studied screenwriting in Toronto. S. D. Monaghan completed the Masters in Creative Writing at Trinity College, Dublin with the editorial guidance of the Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford and Orange Prize nominee, Deirdre Madden. On the strength of his work there, he was chosen to represent both the university and the Oscar Wilde Writers’Centre to read excerpts at the Dublin Publishers Festival and on Dublin Culture Night.He lives in Dublin with his wife, where he is currently working on his new novel. He is represented by Zoe Ross at United Agents.

Review: Something In The Water

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**3 Goodreads Stars**

Have you ever read a book where you feel like yelling at the main character “what are you doing?!,” “you are sooo going to get caught!!,” or “noooo, don’t do that!!!”? Catherine Steadman’s Something In The Water felt a bit like watching a disaster unfold before my eyes.

The lead character, Erin, is a newlywed who trusts her husband Mark more than she should. There are seriously SO many red flags about him from day one, yet Erin disregards them. This is because she, too, hides many secrets – big and small – from Mark. Their relationship is certainly not built on trust, but rather built on a growing mountain of lies.

Erin is an aspiring filmmaker who is drawn into the world of crime when she begins a documentary on three people getting out of prison after long sentences. First, the project starts out innocently, but then it takes a darker turn when Erin and Mark find a mysterious bag full of riches while honeymooning in Bora Bora. They also discover something grisly near the bag, but I won’t spoil that surprise. What do they do with the bag? Let’s just say they make really poor decisions that lead to a terrifying climax and an epic ending.

So why 3 stars? My frustration with the book certainly wasn’t the writing. What irked me was the unbelievable series of events that unraveled in the book. Erin, for instance, is already under police and homeland security surveillance due to her association with one of the prisoners who has been involved in terrorism. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to knock on her door and arrest her, but it didn’t happen. There were SO many things she and Mark were able to get away with. It just didn’t seem realistic given the intensity of modern surveillance in the digital age. The narrator also grated on me at times, but I think that’s more of a personality issue on my part. I had a hard time putting this book down, however, due to the growing unease and tension present in the plot, hence the 3 stars.

Thank you to the author, Catherine Steadman, the publisher, Random House – Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Something In The Water.

Review: White Lies

**5 Goodreads Stars**

For a mother of two young children, the opportunity to take a short vacation and let loose for a bit in Ibiza sounds tantalizing, right? In Lucy Dawson’s White Lies what initially seemed like a fabulous trip to get a break from working motherhood turns into a living nightmare for Dr. Alexandra (“Alex”) Inglis.

The book starts with Alex waking up with a severe hangover after a wild night in Ibiza. She startles when she discovers she’s not alone in her hotel room and that a handsome young man in naked in her bed. She has little recollection of what happened the night before other than she knows she drank way too much alcohol. The young man stumbles out of the hotel room after she nearly kicks him out. Embarrassed and ashamed that she had a one night stand, Alex goes home and admits her misdeeds to her husband, Rob, hoping they can reconcile.

We soon learn that Alex’s husband, Rob, isn’t a saint, either. He recently had a one night stand with a mutual friend, which absolutely devastated Alex. Alex and Rob agree that they are even given their one and only affairs and commit to working harder on their marriage. Things seem to be looking up for Alex until she discovers the young man she slept with in Ibiza was not only her patient but also only 17 years of age.

The young man, Jonathon, threatens to reveal the affair to the world if she doesn’t sleep with him again, but Alex refuses. Shocked, she immediately reports this to her supervisor, David, who starts to write a formal report on the situation. His work is interrupted by Jonathon’s parents, who storm into Alex’s practice and demand that she be held accountable for having a sexual relationship with their son.

Soon, word gets out to the public and media about Alex and Jonathon’s affair. Jonathon claims that it wasn’t merely a one night stand but a three-month affair where Alex pursued him incessantly. He claims he was victimized and plans to write a book about his experiences. Alex is persecuted and burned at the stake in social media. She loses weight, loses friends, and nearly loses her practice.

Who is telling the truth? Why would Jonathon lie about the affair? What’s in it for him? Is Alex delusional?

This story dives headfirst into the terrifying consequences of an affair in a social media-saturated world. What once may have been dealt with behind closed doors or between a few families is now a social media event. This has serious consequences for all the parties involved in this rollercoaster ride of a book.

What I especially enjoyed about this book is that it told the story from multiple perspectives. Alex and Rob’s affairs had a ripple effect on the people around them. Would Alex, for instance, engaged in an affair if Rob hadn’t admitted to having one before she left for Ibiza? How does the affair affect the parents, friends, and partners of those involved? I also felt like I really understood every person affected by the affairs – the characters were fleshed out and had very sound reasons for feeling the way they did.

Thank you to the author, Lucy Dawson, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of White Lies, and for the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour! Here is more information on the book and the author.

Alexandra Inglis is a respected family doctor, trusted by her patients to keep their most intimate secrets. And if sometimes the boundaries between duty and desire blur… well, she’s only human.

But when Alex oversteps a line with Jonathan, one of her patients, she knows she’s gone too far. Jonathan is obsessive, and to get what he wants he will tear Alex’s world apart – threatening not only her career but her marriage and family too.

Soon Alex finds she’s capable of doing almost anything to keep hold of her perfect life, as it begins to spin dangerously out of her control…

A darkly gripping domestic drama of secrets and lies, from the bestselling author of The Daughter. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies, Louise Jensen and The Couple Next Door.

White Lies by Lucy Dawson

myBook.to/WLSocial

 

About me by Lucy Dawson: 

 

I’ve been writing psychological suspense novels since 2008, when my first bestseller – His Other Lover – was published. I write full time (mostly on the playroom sofa) from my home in Devon, where I live with my husband and children. Before that, I used to interview the likes of Steps and SClub7 for a living, making absolutely no use whatsoever of my psychology degree from Warwick University, but it was a lot of fun.

I’m addicted to writing about the extraordinary things that can happen to ordinary people – I like stories that jump in at the deep end, with a gasp. When readers take the time out to let me know they’ve stayed up all night because they couldn’t put the book down, it makes my day.

I really enjoy catching up with readers and always reply to emails. You can reach me at lucy@lucydawsonbooks.com. I’m also on Twitter @lucydawsonbooks and have a Facebook page at lucydawsonbooks. Alternatively you can download a free short story of mine atwww.lucydawsonbooks.com or if you want to look at a lot of pictures of the beach and books that I’m reading, find me on Instagram at lucydawsonbooks.