Annie Ward did a wonderful job creating these characters! I had a difficult time putting Beautiful Bad down. It was twisted and dark with great detail! I gave it 4 stars and will read again one day.

Dark gripping page turner with a twisty turning plot and excellent pacing. Strong prose--the novel builds tension and will keep you up at night!

What seems to start out as romance, quickly turns into a thrilling ride. Thrillers like this make use realize why a spouse or someone close to us is a prime suspect in a murder - love is emotionally deep, and love and hate are closer than we realize.

Crazy love. Obsessive love. Warped love. Angry love. Broken love. It’s the love story of Maddie and Ian. Both of them are damaged goods.

The story takes place mostly in Europe and the US, and the author does a great job of making all the places seem real with accurate descriptions. I did have a little trouble once in a while keeping up with the timeline as it jumped around, but, overall, it was very effective. The characters are flawed but believable.

There are abundant twists and turns, but, thankfully, no eye rolling from me. The opening captured me and the ending was great, but the middle got a little long. Just when I wondered how this story would/could end, the author answered my question and brought it together superbly.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The opening of this book drew me in right away so I was really excited to dive into this book. As the story started to unfold I ended up getting distracted by the different viewpoints and a lot of the flashbacks that filled up a significant portion of the story. I enjoyed reading Maddie's viewpoint though and the ending was fun to read because I had not put a lot of it together at that point so I was surprised by the way it ended. Overall this was a good read and I look forward to more from her. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this in exchange for a honest review!

There’s been a 911 call, screaming, and an officer arrives at a house to find blood everywhere. Welcome to Meadowlark, Kansas and “The Day of the Killing”.
Beautiful Bad is told from multiple POV’s and throughout different points in history. Maddie and Ian meet overseas and fall in love. They are married and have a son. After a camping accident that leaves Maddie with no memory of the events, she begins journaling as therapy.
So many things come to light as we jump between time periods and POVs: Maddie’s ambitions, Ian’s PTSD and drinking, and Maddie’s broken friendship with Jo. Twenty years is a lot of time for people to build up fears and resentments, it’s a lot of time for things to simmer, and when they boil over (and you find out the how and the who), you’re left with nothing to say but, “DAMN!”
Maddie’s writing was my favorite, her voice chilled me and made me sad and scared all at once. But, as I finished, I found myself appreciating every POV for what it contributed to the final outcome.
I’m really afraid to say more because I could go on-and-on, which will inevitably lead to spoilers (and I hate spoilers!). Annie Ward has crafted a magnificently plotted psychological thriller and Beautiful Bad is a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come.

*I received an ARC of Beautiful Bad from Harlequin and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can't believe I've had this book for over three months and just reading it now. I finished this in one day. If I had any idea how amazing it would be I would have read it sooner!

Beautifully written story that will keep you up at night. Annie Ward did an amazing job in drawing the reader in and her descriptions throughout the book. I did not find the story or alternating narrators/timelines confusing whatsoever. I liked how the narrator added in real life events into the book, so I felt as if I was reading a memoir. I also liked the big contrast in her relationship with Ian where at times I felt as if I were reading a love story and other times reading a thriller.

This was definitely one of the best books I've read this year, and I hope this gets made into a movie in the future. I predict this to be one of the most popular thrillers for 2019.

Annie Ward's Beautiful Bad, opens with a bang and the tension just keeps building, from the 911 call in the opening scene. Beautifully, and very creatively, written from several points of views, it continues to hold the reader's attention, trying to put the pieces together amidst flashbacks and a very twisted tale of suspense. Will post more, at a time closer to publication date - this one is sure to be a hit. Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Books, and of course, Annie Ward, for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely couldn't this book down. Flashbacks and forwards keep the tension tight. Characters well-drawn both in the plot and in psychological descriptions. Ranges from Bulgaria and Macedonis to Kansas. This book is really scary and engrossing at the same time. Highly recommend it if you like a combination of graphic thriller and psychological mystery.

The ending of this book was chilling and twisty and fabulous. This was an entertaining domestic thriller mystery that is told from multiple perspectives and points in time. The different international settings helped make this unique. This one had me turning pages because I was both dying to know and dreading what was going to happen. I may have actually gasped out loud towards the end. I think this is best read without knowing more than the book description reveals about the plot.

I was insanely excited about Beautiful Bad and couldn't wait to read it. When the novel opened with the 911 call, you can literally feel author Annie Ward building the tension in your body. I was expecting this to be an incredible suspense/thriller, but unfortunately, I can only rate this one "o.k." Why? Well, I had no issue with the author's writing and I loved the premise. I think the problem was I felt overloaded with flashbacks, and also, only found Maddie's POV interesting. Actually, Dianne's POV was extremely limited and then just sort of ended. But the worst part for me was that I was completely unable to find anything likable about Maddie, Ian, or Jo. Perhaps it was just me, but after a while, I just struggled to care.

Again, great premise, but something fell short in the execution for me personally. I loved the unique settings and that there were several topics at the forefront of the story, but it just became too much after a while and I was just ready for it to end. I will definitely read this author again, but this wasn't my favorite read lately.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Um...wow.

This book opens with a 911 call featuring a frantic woman begging for help and a terrified child shrieking in the background. Police are dispatched and there is blood, a lot of it, all over the kitchen. Who does all of that blood belong to and who is the killer?

This story takes place in three time periods, the present, 10 weeks ago and 20 years ago and is told from multiple points of view. We visit Kansas, the Balkans and Iraq and we learn that all of the characters, Maddie, Ian and Maddie's friend, Jo have seen some stuff. All are well-written, as is the detective, Diane.

The twisty psychological piece is not learning until the very end who's blood was spilled and why.

I enjoyed this book and I thank Annie Ward, Harlequin, and Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very twisted story. I was hooked from the beginning. The story keeps you engaged and turning the pages. The ending was very unsettling to me because I never saw the ending coming. I had it all wrong. It’s a very gripping story. I received an advance review copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting thriller that I had trouble following at times. It goes through different time periods and points of view, which had me paying more close attention to the characters and details. Maggie’s character was certainly intriguing and I wish I had more of her than the others. Overall it was a decent storyline with some good characters.

(4 Stars) Many books are described as being <i>Gone Girl</i> read-alikes, but this is one that truly fits the label.

Everything worked -- the alternating time periods, the character development, the slow unwrapping of the story -- but I could have done without the final over-the-top developments. It was overkill to an otherwise solid story.

In an unsuspected novel full of PTSD and very raw emotions. This story is wonderfully written. There were many twists and unexpected turns.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. What a great way to shed light on Anxiety and PTSD. This is a book you really have to stick with it you will be lost. It jumps from past to present quite frequently, but you get to Maddies's story unfold and truly explain her. It is raw and at times graphic, but a very good read.

4.25 stars!

This book sucks you in right away and is extremely hard to put down. Like most other reviews I would put it in a similar category as Gone Girl. The book starts with a 911 call and an office arriving at the scene of a murder. From there the story is well paced with chapters jumping from the past and present as well as the view from a few characters to help us figure out how we ended up with a murder. I thought the author did a nice job of setting the scenes throughout the US and Europe and developed the characters well. The only criticism I had of the book is that it could be ~25 pages shorter.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller and am excited to discuss this book with others when it releases in early 2019.

Very engaging psychological thriller. Good unexpected twists and turns. Complex characters that you will either hate or love. Overall a solid 3 star read!

Beautiful Bad is one of the best three books I’ve read this year (Woman in the Window and Bring Me Back being the other two favorites so far). This is a suspenseful psychological thriller that I could not put down.
The story starts with “The Day of the Murder” and the narration teases the reader, following three timelines until they all come together. Each timeline, the immediate aftermath, the distant past when all the characters first met and the recent past leading up to the murder, is riveting, there isn’t one that I would skim through to get back to the “good part.” They were all good parts, and at the end of each chapter, the frustration of the cliff-hanger was quickly replaced by the anticipation of picking up another timeline. And when everything comes together, and the reader thinks it’s all over, it’s not. Even when I was guessing a few things right along the way, I had no idea what was coming in the end, and it was wonderful, and, to steal from the title, beautifully bad.
Every character is flawed, and every character has a secret or two that lead to the unraveling. Maddie refuses to see the flaws in Ian, and even though she’s warned by her best friend Jo, she chalks it up to jealousy. The conflicts and the ties between all three create a tension which is far more intense than a basic love triangle. Then throw in a crazy ex-girlfriend, a little PTSD, and strained family dynamics and you end up with a psychological thriller like no other.
I hope that the author, Annie Ward, stays in this genre for a while, she’s got a real knack for it and I’ll be looking for her next book. Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.