Tropical Girl Reads

The Secret Mistress – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Secret Mistress

Author:- Ellie Monago

Date published:- will be published on 10th June 2025

No. of pages:- 347 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5 Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3.5/5

Our first mistake was trusting him. Our second was underestimating how far we would both go to hide our own dark secrets…

THE Before my husband died, we were the perfect couple. Or so I thought. When a woman claiming to have been his mistress shows up on my doorstep with a child she says is his, I know she must be lying. Who is she and what does she want?

THE I don’t want to tell his widow the truth about the man she married. But if I don’t get what I need, everything will have to come out. And what I know has the power to destroy her life.

We have both done things we wouldn’t want anyone to ever know about. If anyone found out, it would be the end of us. But if she tells, I tell…

And someone will have to die before this is over…

An utterly addictive thriller that will have you gasping out loud! Perfect for fans of The Perfect Marriage, The Wife Between Us and The Wives .

When the book says A Heart Stopping Psychological Thriller with a Jaw Dropping Twist, you would expect a high standard in the book. But unfortunately, I didn’t really think that this was a heart stopping thriller.

Before her husband’s death, Maren and her husband Corey seemed to be a picture perfect couple. But after Corey’s death, Maren’s life suddenly turned upside down when a woman named Jade comes to Maren with her son Tai who she claims as Corey’s son. Jade wants money while Maren, who has been struggling with motherhood is desperately looking to have a child. This is a story of two women, both affected by Corey and how they fight for what they actually want.

The story started out strong. I did really have high expectation for this book as the story started out interesting, intriguing and strong. A woman is widowed and another woman claiming to be her husband’s mistress comes to the doorstep with her husband’s son. Both Maren and Jade have their own agenda–Jade wanted Maren to give her and her son a part of Corey’s estate and wealth. Maren meanwhile believes Jade is not fit to be a mother and is determined to get Tai as her own child. However, by the middle of the book, the story started out getting repetitive and boring. There wasn’t OMG moment in the book, which I really did expect from the book. As a reader you might feel sympathetic towards both the main characters but then couldn’t help that these mentioned incidents in the book might not really happen in real life. Overall, the ending seemed rushed and confusing in my opinion.

Overall, this book is only worth 3.5 stars. Although this book wasn’t as great as I thought, I am looking forward to read more from this author.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Ellie Monago is the pen name of a novelist and practicing therapist. She’s also a wife and mother, and when you add it all up, she doesn’t wind up with much time for hobbies. But she’s an avid tennis fan, a passionate reader of both fiction and nonfiction—especially memoir (nothing’s as juicy as the truth!)—and she relishes a good craft cocktail. She spent most of her life living in the U.S. and now resides in Western Canada with her family.

We Are All Guilty Here – ARC Book Review

Tite:- We Are All Guilty Here

Author:- Karin Slaughter

Date published:- will be published on 19th 2025

No. of pages:- 446 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5 Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

The gripping and exciting first book in a brand new crime thriller series from the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author.

Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.

Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

Karin Slaughter is my auto buy thriller author. Her books are interesting, intriguing and…disturbing all mingled together. We Are All Guilty Here is the first book of the North Fall series and yes, this is a book that you actually wouldn’t want to put down.

North Falls is a small town where everyone knows everyone and everything that is happening in the town. On the night of Fourth of July, two teenage girls, Madison and Cheyenne disappears. Emmy Clifton is the last one apparently to see Madison. Madison wanted to talk to Emmy but Emmy who was having some personal issues brushed her off. And with Madison disappearing, Emmy was guilty about it. The case was personal to Emmy as Madison is the stepdaughter of her best friend Hannah. The rush to find the teenage girls was there and they eventually find the teenagers bodies floating in a pond at the back of the house. They arrest a man but then Emmy couldn’t help but feel that the two teenage girls have been hiding secrets. Twelve years later, the man is released from prison and then another girl disappears. Emmy and with the reluctant help of her FBI sister must find the girl before it’s too late, before the cycle will repeat.

I really like the way Slaughter writes–how she tactfully describes Emmy’s flows and at her determination to solve the case. The pacing was all right but tolerable in the story. Most of the characters seem to have flaws in their personal life, including Emmy. I like the way Slaughter describes the community in the small town and how nearly every single men in the town were suspects. The whole story was intriguing and page turner. Normally, Slaughter’s thriller book has some disturbing elements and this book is no surprise–the death of the teenagers particularly the detailed torture of Madison was slightly disturbing to read. Nonetheless, I like the pacing, the twists and turns and of course the ending. Slaughter knows how to pull the reder into the story.

Overall, this book is worth five stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Karin Slaughter is the author of twenty-five instant NEW YORK TIMES bestselling novels, including the Edgar–nominated COP TOWN and standalone novels THE GOOD DAUGHTER, PRETTY GIRLS, and GIRL, FORGOTTEN. She is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. PIECES OF HER is a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette. The Will Trent Series is on ABC (and streaming on Hulu in the U.S and Disney+ internationally). THE GOOD DAUGHTER and FALSE WITNESS are in development for film/tv. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.

Facebook: Facebook.com/AuthorKarinSlaughter

Website: http://www.karinslaughter.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinslaugh…
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The Singer Behind the Wire – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Singer Behind the Wire

Author:- Shari J Ryan

Date published:- will be published on 5th June 2025

No. of pages:- 410 pages

Genre:- Historical Fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5 Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

Auschwitz, 1943. Ella tries to ignore the coughs and crying, the whispered prayers. Her eyelids grow heavier, but then a melody floats though the block as if on a breeze. Her lips open on a gasp, joy making her heart sing even as it shatters. She would know that voice anywhere…

Sitting bolt upright, Ella rubs at her eyes and concentrates on the music. Is she dreaming? She’d fallen for Luka’s voice the first time she heard him singing on the street corner near her house, with his kind smile and joyous laugh. He was her first love, and the pain of being torn apart still slices at her.

He’s alive. But even as hope swells in Ella’s heart, terror threatens to swallow it. Luka is Jewish. If he’s here, he’s in grave danger—even more than Ella faces for sneaking into the ghetto to see him back in Warsaw… But she will never regret it. They had fought every day for their love, even knowing where it might lead…

Despair tears at Ella as she battles to find the strength to keep going, to search for Luka even on the days when the bitter cold whips through the camp—the days when her body feels weaker than ever and her friends are lost to the cruel regime. At night, she listens desperately for the sound of Luka’s voice as he’s forced to perform. Knowing he’s still alive even if she can’t see him is the one thing that brings her peace.

Until one night when, as his first haunting notes reach her bunk, an angry shout splits the night sky, the music stops, and there is only resounding, terrifying silence…

A beautiful, heartbreaking yet hopeful story that will restore your faith in humanity and in the power of love to triumph over evil. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and The Choice will be blown away by this gripping page-turner.

This is an emotional and heartbreaking historical novel, set during Holocaust and WWII.

Luka is Jewish but has a beautiful voice and is a singer. He sings by voicing out his feelings and emotions. Ella hears the voice–initially she was reluctant to find the source of voice but she finds Luka. She falls in love with him and it follows a forbidden love story. But then soon, both of them are transported to Auschwitz and they need to learn to survive so they can be together again.

This was beautifully written and is quiet emotional to read as well. The story is told in the POVs of both Ella and Luka, each detailing their horrific experiences in Auschwitz during their imprisonment. Ella was determined to meet Luka and Luka was determined to survive in the Holocaust. Of course, by reading through the harsh and bitter conditions that the prisoners suffered made the story a whole point realistic. The ending was great .

Overall this book is worth five stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Shari J. Ryan is a USA Today and International Bestselling Author of over 40 novels, with more than 700,000 copies sold and translations in 13 languages. She writes emotionally evocative WWII fiction inspired by true stories that have resonated with readers around the globe. Her work has earned Top 100, Top 10, and #1 chart rankings, as well as two Rone Awards.

As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Shari brings a deeply personal connection to her work. Her stories are rooted in truth and remembrance, written to ensure history is never forgotten.

For Shari, writing is more than a passion; it is her way of expressing herself and connecting with others. She strives to share every emotion she experiences with each reader who picks up one of her books.

Shari holds a bachelor’s degree from Johnson & Wales University and began her career as a graphic artist and freelance writer until 2012, when she discovered her true calling in novels.

Some of Shari’s bestselling books include The Nurse Behind the Gates, The Stolen Twins, The Bookseller of Dachau, The Doctor’s Daughter, and The Last Words Series—gripping stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats.

A lifelong Boston girl, Shari now lives in a small town in the suburbs with her adored husband and two incredible sons, who make her feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

Butter – Book Review

Title:- Butter

Author:- Asako Yuzuki

Translated by Polly Barton

Date published:- First published 2017, Translated 2024

No. of pages:- 464 pages

Genre:- Japanese Fiction/Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5 Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer”, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

I got this book because I thought the plot was really interesting. Kajii is a convicted serial killer and gourmet chef who is locked up in Tokyo Detention Centre. Rika is a journalist, excited to do an article about Kajii. Kajii has a disdain towards feminism in general and Rika seemed to be admired for her character. Rika while talking to Kajii begin exploring about food that are made with butter when there is a shortage of butter in Japan as well as getting to know the character.

The plot seemed like a thriller. But in reality, it talks about misogyny, the fact that being fat is not normal, the fact that the women had to behave or be in the societal way. I did enjoy the book, although it was more than 400 pages long and I like the fact that there were so many vivid descriptions of the food that will make you mouth water and you might feel hungry while reading the book! Kajii seemed to be a very interesting and unique character who doesn’t believe in Japanese societal way. We also see Rika’s own personal drama, including how she is dealing with her father’s suicide and her friendship with Reiko. It was a very interesting and a unique story with a very interesting plot. Also the fact that the story is based on the true story is also an interesting thing.

The only problem I had with the book was it was way too long and this book should not be labeled as a thriller.

Overall this a four star read.

Asako Yuzuki (柚木麻子, Yuzuki Asako) is a Japanese writer. She won the All Yomimono Prize for New Writers and the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize. Asako has been nominated multiple times for the Naoki Prize, and her novels have been adapted for television, radio, and film.

The Tenant – Book Review

Title:- The Tenant

Autor:- Freida McFadden

Date published:- May 6th 2025

No. of pages:- 368 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5 Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

There’s no place like home…

Blake Porter is riding high, until he’s not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone that he shares with his fiancee, he’s desperate to make ends meet.

Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She’s exactly what Blake’s looking for. Or is she?

Because something isn’t quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets…

Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it’ll be far too late. The trap is already set.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden knocks at your door with a gripping story of revenge, privilege, and secrets turned sour…

This is Freida McFadden’s latest book–The Tenant follows the story of Blake Porter, who had it all at first–a VP of a company and having all the money. But then Blake was fired after an incident causing him to look for a job that pays lower. Blake and his fiancee, Krista decided to rent a part of their house to someone. And in comes Whitney Cross and Krista and Blake decided to take Whitney in as their tenant. But as soon as Whitney moves in, things started going bad for Blake–from eating all his cereal to using all his shampoo and soap, Blake decides that Whitney is not who seemed to be…

One thing about Freida McFadden books is, the pacing–the pacing in all her books, including this one is fast paced. It’s like you don’t really want to put the book down and you really want to know what is going to happen in the end. And one of the rare things I have noticed in this book is, the main protagonist in this story is a male protagonists when normally, all Freida’s protagonists are females, which was rare. Of course, initially, it looked as if Blake’s life is going from bad to worse, him not getting along with every one, including his old neighbor. The story actually started in the middle with the murder of the neighbor.

I also liked the twists and turns in the book and the complete unexpected ending and twist. It was like a WTH moment when reading the book. However, I think this wasn’t really great but it wasn’t really bad either. It was a good thriller. Overall I rate this book as four stars.

One Big Happy Family – Book Review Blog Tour

Title:- One Big Happy Family

Author:- Sam Vickery

Date published:- 28th May 2025

No.of pages:- 317 pages

Genre:- Literary Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5 Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

Watching my beautiful rosy-cheeked baby Ava play in the sand, I can’t believe how much joy she’s brought me. I look at the gentle waves of the ocean sparkling in the sun. But when I turn back, Ava is gone…

Everyone rushes to the beach to help search for Ava, but there’s no trace of her anywhere nearby. My ex-husband Jimmy is just as terrified as I am. But I get an odd feeling from his new girlfriend, Leah. As she cradles my other two children, she doesn’t seem as panicked as Jimmy and me. How can she be so calm?

Then they show me footage of Ava on a bus, held tightly by an elderly woman who looks just like Leah’s mother. Leah couldn’t have anything to do with Ava’s disappearance, could she?

I’ve seen the way Leah clings tightly to Jimmy, how she has moulded herself into the perfect housewife, never letting him lift a finger and cooking my children’s favourite meals every day.

Then the police officer in charge fixes me with a cold stare as he asks me why I wasn’t paying attention to my daughter. Suggesting it’s my fault she’s gone… That my older two would be safer in Leah’s care.

Should I share my suspicions? What if the police are looking in the wrong place? Time is running out to find Ava, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back, but are my accusations about to tear my whole family apart?

Fans of Liane Moriarty, Jodi Picoult and Linda Green will be completely gripped by this jaw-dropping page-turner filled with heart-stopping, emotional twists.

If you are fan of Jodi Piccoult or Kate Hewitt, then you need to check this book out.

Carrie Gold takes her three children to the beach before sending the children off to live with their father. While at the beach, Carrie’s youngest Ava mysteriously disappears. Panicking, Carrie looks around and her middle daughter Maisie is traumatized by the whole situation that she remains silent. The next part goes on talking about how Carrie’s ex-husband Jimmy and his new girlfriend Leah believes that Carrie has something to do with Ava’s disappearance while Carrie believes that Leah maybe be responsible for Ava’s disappearance.

You have POVs of two women Carrie and Leah who each tell their own version of the story. Carrie is a doctor but her divorce to Jimmy is traumatizing to her causing her to be almost unstable. Leah on the other hand believes that she would make a better mother than Carrie to the children. It’s interesting how everyone pinpoints the blame particularly towards Carrie on Ava’s disappearance. The writing was really great and I love how the author made the reader feel like they are a part of the story. I also like how people seem to be embroiled in the drama between Carrie and Jimmy. Carrie is trying to be a good mother to her children, even though her own children including her son Tommy believes she is not while Leah is determined to be a better mother than Carrie by making homemade muffins and dinner. The whole story seemed to be so realistic as if these things do happen in real lives. However, I actually liked the ending and the twist at th end was completely unexpected. And the ending went really well.

Overall I give this book a five star rating.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Sam Vickery is an English author who loves gritty, emotional stories that can make you sob. As a child, she was forever getting in trouble for being caught with her nose in a book, and these days are no different. She lives on the south coast of England with her husband, two children and a cat that thinks it’s a dog.

https://www.facebook.com/SamVickeryWrites/

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0F1RF39L4social

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo

The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen- ARC Book Review

Title:- The Calico Catat the Chibineko Kitchen

Author:- Yuta Takahashi

Translated by Cat Anderson

Date published:- will be published on 5th June 2025

No. of pages:- 155 pages

Genre:- Japanese Fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5 Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they’ll be expecting you.

Nagi Hayakawa is facing an impossible choice. Should she agree to marry her boyfriend, despite being ill and not knowing how many years she has left to live, or should she protect him from future heartbreak by refusing? Desperate for advice from the one person no longer there to give it – her mother who died years before – she reserves a table at the Chibineko Kitchen.

When she takes her first bite of the miso-marinated tofu and rice, prepared for her by the restaurant’s young chef, Kai, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy.

Deliciously heart-warming, The Chibineko Kitchen is about savouring every moment.

This is a unique story about the characters meeting their loved ones who had died by eating remembrance meals prepared by the Chibineko Kitchen. We have Nagi, who only has a few more years to live because of her cancer and she had broken off with her boyfriend, meets her mother through eating remembrance meal. We have other characters who are also facing similar situations like Nagi, who are missing their loved ones and remember and meet them by having meals at the Chibineko kitchen.

This is the part 2 of the Chibineko Kitchen series. I enjoyed reading about the characters who faced many issues and problems after their loved ones die and through eating remembrance meals, they get encouragement and courage to live their life to the fullest. I also liked how there were recipes of those remembrance meals at the end of each chapter–so that we could try out those meals at home! Overall, I feel this is an emotional, heartbreaking and tear-jerking novel and I do like that there are cats mentioned in the story as I am a cat lover 🙂

Overall I give this book as 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and JMP for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

The Countdown Killer – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Countdown Killer

Author:- Sam Holland

Date published:- will be published on June 5th 2025

No. of pages:- 435 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5 Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

A MAN MURDERED, LIVE ON CAMERA

When a DVD is delivered in the dead of night, DCI Cara Elliott hits play on a horrifying showreel of violence… This is death, on demand.

A KILLER COUNTING DOWN

Avid viewers are paying for the killings, with twisted specifications. A request, an abduction, a murder. And always in a forty-eight-hour pattern.

A MISSING DETECTIVE

But when the killer finds out they’re being investigated, they reveal their next target. In forty-eight hours, a police officer will be the one in front of the camera. The hunters have become the hunted, and the clock is ticking…

This is the fourth book of the Major Crimes series. You do need to read the first book The Echo Man to keep up with some of the incidents that are mentioned in the book.

Cara gets a DVD in the middle of the night at the precinct. While watching the DVD, she finds that she is watching an actual live murder happening in the footage. They realize that they are handling one of the most dangerous murder crime cases that they had ever solved in the lives. These murder victims were once involved in incidents where the law has let them go scot-free. And as such, a group of murderers kidnap them and let them taste their own medicine by filming out the murder.

This was a fast paced thriller and is unputdownable. The main characters Cara and Griffin were likable. I really like the author’s style of writing as the author manage to keep the reader at the edge of the story. There were some gory details in the book and of course as expected in the most thrillers, there were twists and turns. The ending was unexpected and shocking. Sam Holland is one of my favorite psychological thriller authors and ever since I read the Echo Man, which was fast paced and intriguing and horrifying, this one was also intriguing and unputdownable thriller. Not too sure if there will be a fifth book of the series but none the same, I cannot wait to read more books from this author–worth 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Beautiful Ugly – Book Review

Title:- Beautiful Ugly

Author:- Alice Feeney

Date published:- January 14th 2025

No. of pages:- 306 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5 Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 3.5/5

A gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible — a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.‘

Author Grady Green’s best day turns into a nightmare. When Grady received the call that he is now officially a New York Times bestseller, he was on call with his wife Abby. Abby is an investigative reporter and her work sometimes could make her life dangerous. While on call, Abby slams down her brakes and gets down from the car while Grady asks her not to. And then seemingly, Abby disappeared.

Now a year later Grady is struggling with his wife’s disappearance and he hadn’t written a single word since his wife’s disappearance. His agent, Kitty offers him a getaway–a famous author named Charlie used to own a cabin on a Scottish island called Isle of Waverly. Grady is supposed to overcome the writer’s block as soon as he arrives the cabin. But while on the island, he sees a woman who looks just like his wife Abby. And the people living in the island seemed to be giving Grady some creepy vibes. The fact that the whole island is occupied by only women and no men irked Grady out and Grady wanted to leave the island but not before finding out who this woman is…

The story started out great. I enjoyed the first part of the book. While Grady believed that his marriage to Abby was a happy one, Abby’s POV suggest otherwise. The story also has a horror element in it, thus giving a creepy vibe sensation in the book. The mysterious person who leaves newspaper articles written by Grady’s wife also further makes the story interesting to read. The concept and the realization that only women live on the island made the story far more interesting. I mean whatever happened to the men living on the island? I just like the subtle touch on feminism in this book. I did have high hopes for this book. But the ending, kind of ruined every thing. I didn’t very much enjoy the reading. Although there were twists at the end, I thought that twist kind of brought the whole story down. Thus it lowered my rating from a 4 star read to a 3.5 star read.

If you haven’t read Alice Feeney’s books, I suggest read His and Hers and Rock, Paper and Scissors which are my personal favorite. This latest novel, Beautiful Ugly is OK in my opinion.

Please Don’t Find Me – ARC Book Review

Title:- Please Don’t Find Me

Author:- Wendy Dranfield

Date published:- will be published on May 22nd 2025

No. of pages:- 352 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5 Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

My heart is hammering furiously as the bedroom door creaks open. The second I see my husband’s lifeless body, I know I have to run. And no-one can ever find us.

There are three things I know to be true.

ONE. My husband knew my secret.

TWO. Now he’s dead, my daughter and I are in danger.

THREE. I will do anything to protect my child, whatever the cost.

We need to vanish. But first, it has to look like we were taken.

I move through our house, pushing over chairs and rummaging violently through drawers. I pull out items Robert and I bought together and throw them across the room. As a final touch, I leave Avery’s sneaker abandoned on the ground outside.

It’s important there’s no trace. But if I could leave a message behind, it would be this:

If you look for me, you won’t like what you find.

Content warning: This book includes the discovery of a suicide and the discussion and portrayal of suicidal ideation.

Wendy Dranfield writes amazing psychological thrillers that will make you read in one go. Please Don’t Find Me is another one of her latest works that will keep you up all night.

Julia Bowers returns home after a long spa and was horrified to discover her husband has committed suicide. She discovers a picture that he was holding and when she saw what he was holding, Julia immediately takes her daughter Avery and leaves the house. Meanwhile, Scott is a police officer and when he hears the news about Julia’s sudden disappearance, he knows that something is up as he has dated Julia and knows what Julia is capable of.

This was an unputdownable and fast paced thriller. We get to know that Julia is in fact a psychopath with an addiction of killing people that she kidnaps her own therapist to help her to overcome the urge. There are so many twist and turns along the way and it really makes you feel like you are at the edge of the seat while reading this. The ending was quiet unexpected. Overall, I actually enjoyed reading this and looking forward to read more standalone psychological thrillers from Wendy Dranfield. Overall worth 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.