Blind Date is another romantic suspense from Bella Jewel. It is a standalone novel, but definitely seems to be a part of the series, with first 72 Hours and then The Watcher.

This one is a story of Hartley, who lost her husband a few years ago and now, encouraged by her best friend, decides to get back into dating world.
After her blind dates with 3 men her friend sets her up with, strange things begin to happen, that make Hartley question her sanity. At least at first. When she finally realizes someone is messing with her head, she turns for help to her broody neighbor Ace, who is a detective.

I am not going to go into details of the story here, but I will tell you that it was a very good read. The anticipation for the killer to reveal himself was killing me. Even though I suspected from the early stages of the book who might be after Hartley, I still enjoyed reading it. If it was a bit less predictable, I would give it 5 stars, cause I really like Bella's writing style. She never disappoints. I really hope she will come up with more romantic suspense books like this one, cause I enjoy them a lot.
If you like this genre and you're not familiar with this writer, give it a try. You won't regret it.

I absolutely love this book!! I love all the mystery, suspense, action, and the beginning of the love story. I loved that I wasn't able to guess what and who was behind all the things happening to Hartley until I got closer to the end of the book. This one will keep you on the edge of your seat just trying to figure everything out. Hartley suffered an awful loss a few years ago and was reluctantly getting back out into the dating world. She was stronger than she believed and was able to overcome a lot. Ace was just amazing, even with his broody demeanor. I loved this book and I hope Bella has more to come.

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What a good edge of your seat read. Excellent writing .Good solid plot.

WOW.. just WOW.. seriously I loooove Bella Jewel.... this book... omg I am speechless !!!! This book was EPIC!!!!!!!! Oh Ace.... I ❤️ you hard... and Jacob... I soooooo wanted to like you.. but I just knew deep down there was just something.. and then you just had to go and do what you do... gah.....
I absolutely loved loved loved Hartley and all her sassiness (and Taylor).
I just love this new feel from Bella jewel .... ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I just realized I've read like 24 or 25 of her books... that's gotta say something.. ❤️

A good solid read. Well written, paced right, good chemistry. I liked.

This was an enjoyable stand alone suspenseful romance read. I think Bella hit the suspense element on the head. I did guess who the killer was but I think it was purposely written that way and there is no denying that element was edgy and tense. Whilst this was my least favourite book of this series, I still enjoyed it.

I was provided with a copy of this book from the Publisher; there was no inducement or obligation.

Hartley Watson finds herself agreeing to go on three blind dates when her best friend, Taylor, pushes her into it. Hartley lost her husband 4 years ago and has just been drifting through life. Taylor thinks her dating will push her back out in the world. The first two dates do not go so well and she is skeptical of the third one. I did have an issue with her judging her dates and then getting mad at the one date for doing the same thing. I had a hard time warming up to her in the beginning. She whined, accused her neighbor, Ace, of being rude (when she acted like a complete lunatic to him at points and saw nothing wrong with it). Her supposed "sassiness" wore on my nerves a bit. When she strange things begin to happen to her she discounts what they could mean. When Ace points out that she could be the target of a serial killer, she misses some serious clues as to who is tormenting her. I did figure out who it was and was not at all shocked when it was revealed later. The story was interesting and flowed very well. I did find Ace to be a stand-up guy and understood of aloofness towards her in the beginning. Both of them were damaged by loss of loved ones and it was interesting to see how they each dealt with it. Overall a good, quick read that I was able to read in one afternoon. I am grateful to have received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

thoughts prior to reading :
I discovered this author twice by accident with her til death series in 2014. there was a free book sale and I picked it up and forgot about it the. when I was scrolling for my next read I stumbled upon it again and for fun I searched to see if it was available for audio and it was also for free so I snagged it. I can't wait to see how this author has improved in 3 years of writing. I'll be reading this one very soon!!

thoughts during and after read:
literally a few tiny story crumbs have been placed but at 50% nothing at all has happened
I accepted this book was going to have like a girl on the train vibe with everything coming together in the last bit of time.. so I then started to enjoy it.

I think the book is good as a suspense book...to me I didn't need to romantic sex element but it was okay. I enjoyed the sexual tension that vibrated through the book.

to me both main characters did not stay true to their backstory being strong/ being weak etc they kinda of both belly flopped to include their basic personality changes... that was so weird I had to reread to make sure it wasn't a different character.

I enjoyed the book. and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it

Blind Date by Bella Jewel
“Blind Date is a sexy, pulse-pounding romantic suspense from USA Today bestselling author Bella Jewel!

A KILLER IS ON THE LOOSE--AND HE'S DYING TO MEET YOU...”

Wow. Bookish Friends I’m slightly disturbed. This story is creepy, I liked it enough to finish it but I’m still slightly disappointed. The reason why, because the romance in this one was so lacking. Hartley went on a bunch of blind dates, after her late husband passed away. She wasn’t ready, but her best friend thinks she is and organizes all these BLINDS.DATES. She was forced to go ON! Who does that, what bff makes their closest friend go on some dates, from people they haven’t even meet? From the INTERNET! It seems creepy and nuts to me!
This story is a rollercoaster, I had massive expectations, because The Watcher is AMAZING!
Ace is the broody slightly broken cop/neighbour living next door, who Hartley finds trust and a safety net in. I really would have loved this more, if there were more romantic encounters with these two.
They both struggle with their past, and slowly heal together but still…
Ace is a good detective that helps her when a creepy stalking F*cks with her life, with pretending to be her late dead husband. She honestly thinks she is losing her mind and her the dude ends up dating doesn’t believe her and the same with her best friend. The only one who does believe her is …. ACE!
Bella can normally nail this genre, she has previous books. They were both legit fantastic! This one, it was more suspense then suspense romance, I wanted more romance between the two main couples. It’s very slow to burn, slow everything. When they did finally do the deed, it was nearly over and then Sh*t hits the fans and we are fighting for our lives to see what happens.
I must say though, I guessed the crazy killer from the moment we found out, it is a good written story I just wanted more. I did love trying to figure out who the killer was, it was fun. I love suspense, but I love romance more and this was lacking in that area. Yes, they have good chemistry.

Arc was given to me by the publisher for an honest review

This book is a perfect beach read! Keeps you intrigued while you sit by the beach! Although you can figure out from the start who is messing with Hartley and that it's the serial killer the news is talking about this author still kept the pages turning for me. Loved the budding romance between Ace and Hartley and really loved the suspense. Great book and was a really quick read! Definitely recommend to fans of romantic suspense.

This series is phenomenal. Once I start these books I can't stop reading them! I am dying to know the ending.

Hartley Watson hasn’t been on the dating scene for years and isn’t looking forward to getting back out there even though it’s been four years since her husband passed away. With a little push from her best friend though Hartley has agreed to going on a few blind dates but if they turn out terrible then she is going back to her single life.

While restarting her dating life Hartley keeps finding reminders of her husband around her apartment which she can’t explain. The first few times she chalks it up to her own sleepwalking thinking maybe the stress brought her to bring his things out but now she’s sure someone is messing with her. Hartley finds herself turning to her less than sociable neighbor who is a police detective for help finding out what is going on.

Blind Date is the third book I’ve read by Bella Jewel and I can honestly say with each of them the story is always so easy to get caught up in and completely engaged with what is happening. The book is a romantic suspense so you know that there is going to be some page turning thrill ride along with a budding relationship but the stories always seem to get me completely hooked even knowing the formula.

I will admit it took me a while to warm up to Hartley as she seemed to be a bit too particular with her judging her potential dates but on the other hand I sympathized a little too so once the thriller starts I really liked her. Another slight complaint with this one was that for me I quickly came to my own theory on the whodunnit side and ended up being right so I wasn’t quite as shocked as I could have been. Still a fun read though and would recommend Bella Jewel to any fan of romantic suspense.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Bella Jewel created another gem!

Hartley is a widow who reluctantly agrees to go on a few blind dates after her best friend badgers her into it. Meanwhile, she finally begins talking to her hot, grouchy neighbor Ace.

At that same time, Hart begins to find things in her home from her deceased husband. Is she sleepwalking and paranoid, as one of her dates suggests? Or is she being targeted for some reason, as the hot neighbor thinks?

The villain is pretty easily figured out. There are a few issues that an editor should pick up, such as being widowed for two years in one spot, instead of four.
But this is a story that is tense and well-written. Excellent work, Ms. Jewel!

Bella Jewel is the queen of romantic suspense!. 5 stars.

Holy lord this one is a rollercoaster. I didn't have any expectations when I dug into reading this book. Bella is one of my favourite authors, her signature broody alpha males and feisty fearless ladies are some of my favourite ever so I wasn't worried but I was for sure curious.

Hartley Watson is still trying to deal with the tragic death of her husband when her friend Taylor decides to intervene and help Hartley out with her non existent dating life. After an extremely rocking start.. a balding older man and a guy who's not over his ex she finally starts enjoying the dating life. Things seem to be sinking right into place when suddenly creepy things start popping up leading down a very unsure slippery slope.

I really enjoyed Hartley as a character. She's strong independent feisty and snippy in the most hilarious ways. Her little comments and eyes rolls at Ace had me chuckling to no end. I admire her strength. How she held herself strong even though she lost her husband and how she dealt with all the crazy shit happening. She was extremely likeable, relatable and sweet.

Ace was a whole lot of broodishly broken handsomeness. There is so much under the surface with him. I honestly didn't expect his story to be what it is. My heart broke for him and what he's been through. I understood him more when I realised what the cause of his moody standoffish behaviour was about. He isn't your whisper Sweet nothings gentle loving hero but I loved him for her.

I love the pace of the story.. nothing was rushed or forced. The relationship grew throughout the story at a believable steady pace. It was nice for a change for it to not be wham bam done within the first two chapters. They helped eachother heal slowly and in typical Bella fashion.. with a bang ;).
The story had a tonne of twists very smartly woven throughout the story making the suspense heavy and the surprises bigger.

I must confess though that the big reveal wasn't much of a surprise... I guessed who it was from the moment she met him and I knew gut deep I was right. However it didn't ruin anything if anything I was more excited that I was right feeling Sherlock like and all.

It's a great storyline with a rollercoaster of emotions to boot. Bella nailed this story and I love the different style of book. I enjoyed the characters and the chemistry was off the charts. I didn't dislike anything .

I kindly received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Oh my! Was thrilled to see this on my list! Bella Jewel is known for a bit of dark, a lot of angst and a hot Alpha and this book was right on target. Make sure you have time set aside to read this from cover to cover.....