First I want to thank netgalley and the author for allowing me to have an advanced copy for my kindle. I really enjoyed this book this was a serious who done it! Marissa is hosting her engagement party and she invited her friend she’s known since childhood Lauren . Lauren is married to jenson but during the whole party Lauren is flirting with marissas fiancée Nathan. The next morning Lauren is found dead at the bottom of the cliff and marissa wants to know who murdered her friend even though she’s considered a suspect herself especially since she’s the one who finds Lauren!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

As a superfan of psychological thrillers, he premise of this book appealed to me immediately. Marissa's old friend Lauren is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Was it an accident? A suicide? Or murder?

This book is very gripping and full of suspense. It kept me on the edge of my seat- I read it in just 2 days because I had trouble putting it down! I kept changing my mind about what happened and I was ultimately surprised by the ending. There were plenty clues, but also a few red herrings. Everyone is a suspect. This was a fun whodunit and a compelling thriller. The characters are strong and well-developed and the plot moves at a rapid pace. It is never slow or boring. The ending is satisfying.

I highly recommend After Nightfall to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers or who wants a quick, compelling read!

After Nightfall is a very quick and easy read!

A.J Banner does an excellent job with casting doubt on all of her characters. I was questioning everyone in this book! Surprisingly with my detective skills, I didn't guess the murderer until the end! Yay to that :).

How well do you know the people that are closest to you? How well do you really think you know your best friends? Would you be able to feel something if one of your closest friends was hiding something? Yikes... this is always the worst feeling... your gut going off!

This is a nice thriller that A.J has set up with having doubt on your best friends... I feel like we have all been there at some point in our lives.

After Nightfall is nothing that was extremely unique in my opinion but it kept me entertained over my Saturday night! :)

This is a suspenseful thriller that isn't over the top with twists and turns... but I would categorize more as a light thriller. This is a new author for me but I definitely will be checking out more from Banner!

3 nightfall stars for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Published to GR: 7/15/18
Publication date: 8/7/18

An excellent psychological thriller. it will keep you guessing until the end. This is a fast paced, great summer read. Another winner from A. J. Banner.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!
Marissa has just gotten engaged to Nathan, and to celebrate, she hosts a dinner party hoping that it would hold a dual purpose- she can reconcile her relationships with her oldest friend, Lauren. However, as the night wears on and tensions mount, the night goes from bad to worse when Lauren’s body is found on the beach, battered and broken after an apparent fall of a rocky cliff. As the police investigate Marissa, too, is left questioning everything and everyone. Did Lauren jump or was she pushed? Why were her brother-in-law and sister-in-law so secretive at the party? Why does her fiancé keep sneaking out in the middle of the night without telling her? What secrets are they keeping and are any of them murderous ones?
A.J Banner returns with her new novel, “After Nightfall”, a gripping suspense-fueled thriller with lots of twists and turns.
I have read nothing but “woman mysteriously ends up dead and everyone is suspected” books as of late, and I am wondering now if a new genre is forming. However, Banner’s novel stands up to the rest. Her characters are well-developed and her plot is strong and addictive. Fans of her previous novels will, indeed, not be disappointed.
“After Nightfall” had me engaged from the first page, and it is one of the novels that will legitimately have you saying aloud “just one more chapter”. Thoroughly riveting, Banner tells a daunting tale of lost friendships, relationships doubts, murder and suspicion. This novel has everything!
The ending was slightly predictable for me (probably because my brain has been over saturated with who-dunnit’s lately) but it was still satisfying. I liked some characters and disliked other ones (as is the way with novels like these), and I was left with feelings of justice and empathy at the novel’s end.
Highly recommended for fans of Banner’s, or for fans of the “who-dunnit” genre, “After Nightfall” will keep you entertained!

Thanks to Net Galley for an advanced copy. Although I like this author, and have read many of her books, I was not blown away by this one. The twists were predictable. There were parts that I felt were unnecessary, such as the suspected affair with her husband and his sister in law. That did not add to the story whatsoever. Additionally, there were too many red herrings. She literally suspected everyone.. I will say the short length of the book made it a quick, easy read, and I definitely did want to know how it would all end. Unfortunately, the ending was not great. I do like the author’s writing style, and for that I gave this book 3 stars.

Kept me guessing! I began developing theories about each and every character, only to change my mind so many times. The ending was very good. The last few sentences were brilliant! A.J. Banner is a talented author, one not to be missed!

I predict, After Nightfall will be in Goodreads best suspense list of the year. This book is crazy, amazing, twisty character driven ~ hands down in my Top Ten List.

The characters are well written. The plot ~ omg are u kidding me. The ending gets a double OMG for knocking me out of my chair and saying WTF.

I am begging you to p!ease read this book. It is extremely amazing and AJ banner deserves mad kudos for writing such an amazing book.

Thank you A.J. Banner, NetGalley, and the Publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Stop calling books "psychological suspense" when it's just a mystery book! If I picked up this book as a mystery, I might have enjoyed it better. It's not a bad book - that marketing scheme has taken off since Gone Girl and it's incorrectly thrown at all mystery book now.

This is a "decent" quick read book. I wasn't blown away; I was overly disappointed. It didn't have my on the edge of my seat but I did finish it in a day or two. It's just decent and I'm glad it was short. I would recommend this book to a young adult or person with a short attention span.

3 stars. I didn't love this book and I didn't hate it. It's a solid mystery for a young adult or a newbie to the genre. It just didn't have the SHOCK factor that I was looking for. And following around the main character, Marissa, got to be a little "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" at the end. Like the authors other book, The Neighbor, I just think this book isn't for me. However, it is a nice short read.

This is a thrilling read ! A real whodunit with a great mystery. I loved the well crafted plot, the characterization and how the suspense built throughout the story. This is a book to read when you are not going to be interrupted Trust me you will read this until the last page is turned. A excellent read!
I will not give away the plot or the story because this is a book that can be best appreciated when you don't know what is happening next ! Enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC which did not influence my personal review and opinion. I highly recommend this book for everyone that loves a good mystery with a edge of a outstanding thriller. Very well done to the author. Bravo!

I FLEW through this book and read it in ONE night! I don't do that with books very often but this is definitely a page turner that you will want to add to your summer reading list!

Marissa and her fiancé, Nathan are hosting a party with friends to celebrate their engagement. Marissa invited her childhood best friend Lauren, the one who betrayed her years ago, in hopes of mending their friendship. Even though Lauren is married and brings her husband, she openly flirts with Marissa's husband at the dinner party. If Lauren wanted to mend their friendship, why is she flirting with Nathan? The next morning, Marissa goes for a walk and finds Lauren's lifeless body at the bottom of the cliff.

One of the things in this book that I didn't really like is how suspicious Marissa was of her fiancé. It was to the point where I kept saying 'Why did you say yes to a guy you can't even trust?' Marissa wanted answers from everyone who was at the dinner party to see if they had seen or heard anything to find out what really happened to Lauren. Everyone had their share of secrets and some were kept from Marissa.


The ending was a little abrupt and it left me with even more questions! All in all, this was a terrific suspense novel and the writing flowed effortlessly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

A fast paced, well written whodunnit. The storyline was engaging from the start and the writing easy to get absorbed into.
I enjoyed this book and would read more from this author in future.

Truly nothing is as it seems in this thriller! I am a big fan of this book and I know you will be as well. Give it time though.. at first you might not want to keep on reading but then a few chapters in and you will be good to go! The characters are great, very well thought out because they are perfect for this story.

Banner has constructed a fast-paced whodunit that keeps you guessing until the final page. Great beach read!

So many twists & turns in this thriller by A.J. Banner. Marissa seemingly has the perfect life. She's just got engaged and is throwing an engagement party with her new fiancé Nathan. She's trying to mend fences with her ex bestie Lauren but instead she finds Lauren's body on the beach the morning after her engagement party and the story unfolds from there. Marissa is convinced her friend was murdered and she goes on her own hunt to find out the answers to what happened that night. The book leads you down one path and then twists to another. It was hard to put this one down. I wish the ending had more resolution but it does end with another gasp. I would have preferred just one more chapter to wrap things up just a little bit more but it was still a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley & Lake Union Publishing for giving me an advanced copy for my honest review.

I hate when I have to give a less than rating/review for an author I've liked but I couldn't round this one up. It started off fairly strong but then just got a little tedious for me. The repetitive foreshadowing with the college secret, the fact that she suspected every character, and the twists fell flat for my taste. I enjoyed Banner's previous books so I would definitely give her next book another chance.

This is my first read by A.J. Banner and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a very easy read which I got through in one day because I couldn’t put it down, the “whodunit” scenario was brilliant, I just had to know!

Marissa and Lauren were best friends in college but had a big falling out and lost touch. Lauren and her husband move in next door to Marissa’s boyfriend and Lauren reaches out to reconnect with Marissa. Can Marissa let go of the past and move on? What happened in college? In an effort to try, Marissa invites Lauren & her husband, Jenson to a celebratory engagement dinner together with Keith and Hedra (her soon to be in laws). The party does not go so smoothly with Lauren doing what she always did and is being overly flirtatious with Marissa’s new fiancé, Nathan. The morning after the dinner party, Marissa goes for an early morning walk along the cliff and down onto the beach when something catches her eye on the bottom of the cliff. What she sees knocks the wind of her, its Lauren!!! What happened to her, did she jump? Did she fall? Or was she pushed?

Marissa is convinced that it is no accident and sets off at investigating herself trying to get to the bottom of the how and why, with everyone a suspect, this book keeps you guessing with many twists and turns and surprises along the way. Each character had a secret to hide! Who can she believe/trust?

If you love a good psychological thriller, suspense whodunit book, then I highly recommend this.

Many thanks to Netgalley, A.J. Banner and Lake Union Publishing for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Marissa Parlette and her former best friend, Lauren, have recently reconciled after not speaking for years. Marissa had extended an olive branch and invited Lauren and her husband to her engagement party. Only things aren't going so well, Lauren is blatantly hitting on her fiancé and doing so in front of her own husband. After a tense and awful night, Marissa's body is found at the bottom of a cliff. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she willingly step off?

Desperate to make sense of the tragedy, Marissa digs in. The party seems to have brought out the worst in her guests, even her fiancé is suspect. The more Marissa questions, the more she is left confused. Marissa ends up questioning everything she knows about her friends, the man she loves, and even questions herself.

I had the pleasure of reviewing The Twilight Wife and was impressed with Banner but unfortunately, this story fell a little flat for me but redeemed itself at the end.

The plot is interesting with enough twists to keep the reader vested in the story. When looking at the synopsis, this appears to be a clever book with an interesting cast of characters that are connected enough to add another layer of mystery. However, the characters were not developed enough and neither was the backstory. For me this was the difference between 3 and 4 stars.

4.5 Stars

Marissa Parlette appears to have it all in the beginning of this book. She is happy, has a good job and is in love. She and her fiancé, Nathan are hosting a dinner party to celebrate their engagement. Among the guest are Marissa's childhood best friend, Lauren and her husband, Jensen. Lauren betrayed Marissa years ago in college and recently has been attempting to reconcile with Marissa and rekindle their friendship. But if she wants to rekindle their relationship, they why is she so openly flirting with Marissa's finance Nathan in front of Marissa and her own husband, Jensen? Plus, Nathan's brother, Keith and his wife, Helga are also in attendance as is Anna, Nathan's daughter from his first marriage.

The dinner should be a happy one but is uncomfortable due to Lauren's flirting, Anna's non-stop texting and the tension and tears from Helga. When Lauren must leave to pick up her teenage daughter. Marissa walks Lauren out and Lauren informs her she has something to tell her about Nathan but is very cryptic and leaves. Geezz thanks for that! The party comes to a halt and everyone calls it a night. Or do they? Marissa took a sleeping pill but woke to see Nathan leave in the middle of the night. Where did he go and who sent him a text message?

The next morning, Marissa decides to clear her head and goes down to the beach where she finds Lauren's body. Did she jump from the cliffs above? Was she pushed? Was she drunk and walked too closely to the edge? Devastated, she calls the police and thus begins the investigation. Tensions are high are the characters are all uneasy.

Marissa soon learns that several characters in this book have been keeping secrets and some have been lying to her. As the learns that truths about those in her life the reader also learns the truth about Lauren's heartbreaking betrayal and the reason for their friendship coming to a screeching halt.

I read this book in one day and gave it the star rating I did because I could not put this book down! I had to keep reading to find out the truth. I wanted to know which characters were telling the truth and the ones who were so obviously keeping secrets - I wanted to know why. I loved how most of the people in this book could be suspects- a lot of characters in this book had a reason to dislike Lauren. I found this book to be pure enjoyment and it was fun to try and figure out whodunit.

There is a twist at the end and some may find the twist to be shocking while others may not. I wasn't necessarily wowed by it but I wasn't let down by it either. It did not have the HOLY CRAP! I- didn't-see-that-coming factor that a lot of books have, but I found that it worked and brought things to a conclusion.

This book is perfect for summer reading! It doesn't require much thought and the pace is fast. I lost track of time while reading this as I was so absorbed in the story. This book was a nice blend of women's fiction and mystery.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange or an honest review.