This is such an interesting take on the domestic thriller concept - we typically see the same skeleton outline of a story and nothing more, but this is nuanced with so many layers. We meet Maddie, and become quickly intimate with her PTSD and anxieties - why is she so terrified of her husband hurting her or their son? Why is she petrified of her son crying or upsetting her husband? This journey moves forward and backwards in time, and we're rewarded with an interesting, if not wholly satisfying, ending.

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward was one of the best books I have read in months. I loved the three main characters and how they had their own reasons For all the little lies. But I felt for Maddie in the beginning, I related with her on the whole anxiety issue, the fear of not being able to protect your kids and the crazy world we live in. Learning about her life and what she went through I connected with her. Jo, the carefree best friend was to me snotty and self absorbed. She was not happy unless it was all about her. But in the end I felt bad for her. She truly was a good friend. Ian, man, so many ups and downs with him. I felt bad for him he was broken and just trying to do what he thought was right. He needed help PTSD is a thing and he needed to talk with someone. The huge twist at the end of the book still has me floored!! Jaw dropping..... floored!! I did not see that coming. The book was easy to navigate even with the year changes and people changes. Wonderfully written. 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley & Park Row for this AMAZING ARC! I am floored!! So floored I am using more than one exclamation mark!!! At first I thought this would be another self discovery read for me. I found that the main narrator, Maddie's, anxiety was extremely relatable, especially her lists of things that keep her awake at night. It was almost spooky how close her thoughts mirrored my own. Reading is my form of escape from this awful and heartless world we are currently living in, and I don't take well to books that remind me constantly of the state of the world - but this! It was teeming with current affairs and the anxiety associated with recent events was vividly real, that almost PTSD feeling after the 2016 election that people were experiencing...the fear of living in this world after experiencing 9/11, it was so heavy, so obvious that the writer took her own anxieties and placed them in these pages. So while I started out empathizing, sympathizing and wanting to weep with Maddie, in the end...I LOATHED her. I wanted to strangle her myself. I don't want to give anything away (that would be cruel), but oh my god, how EVIL humans can be! Overall, this was fantastic. I rarely look at reviews before I read, but I took a look at the other ARC reviews and everyone said the same: this was un-putdown-able. From beginning to end, you have to find out what happens next, chores and daily life be damned. I HIGHLY recommend this one.

First, I'd like to thank Netgalley, Harlequin and Annie Ward for this ARC of Beautiful Bad.

When I first started reading Beautiful Bad, I was sucked in. This devious and twisted thriller was quite suspenseful. A few times I caught myself holding my breath and had to stop reading to allow myself to breathe. The atmosphere where I live has been the perfect backdrop to my reading; dark and stormy! If you are a fan of Gone Girl, then this thriller will definitely be one for you to read!

The book goes back and forth between Maddie (weeks to days before the murder), the day of the murder and Maddie and Ian in the earlier 2000's. I felt bad for both Maddie and Ian at first. Maddie with her naive attitude and Ian with his terrible PTSD. Ian and Maddie almost seemed destined for each other at first...until the little pieces start to crumble. Much like the storm brewing outside, this book started out with small little trickles and, as it got gloomier, a torrential downpour of darkness. The raw and terrifying emotions of both Ian and Maddie made my heart skip a beat. Chapter after chapter, I was left reeling and trying to figure out who to feel more empathy towards, or if I should even feel empathy at all!

Maddie's character had a lot going for her and I almost felt envious of her traveling and worldliness. She seems like a worried mom and I felt that worry in my gut too. Being a mom, I think we all have crazy worries sometimes. I really felt Maddie's character was relatable, but then I felt this distance in her character as well. My feeling for her character was strong at first, until those little lingering bits and pieces of uneasiness started to form. I started to wonder what her story really was, as I read page after page. Then there's Joann, Maddie's best friend. Their falling out is epic and I was left wondering what was behind the harshness of it all. Was it really Jo looking out for Maddie, or something more sinister? Ian seems to have his own agenda, but never ceases to stop loving Maddie, but there is a darkness to Ian as well...something that seems to lurk beneath the surface, but just barely. Ian also has quite a temper on him. The characters all have a darkness to them, but it all comes to a head in one cataclysmic event...the murder.

This is a psychological thriller like no other! The Author tells a story of friends going to countries that are unsafe, full of terrorists, and mercenaries. Two people meet a girl from Kansas who lived an idyllic life until becoming a writer and traveling in dangerous places. He is a security guard for high attache individuals. He and his group of men make sure that they offer the best protection. Years later they find each other again and marry. Then the honeymoon phase is over and terror reigns. Who is running scared?
Great read. Fantastic storyline. Great character development. Strongly recommend.

Unfortunately, I just could not finish this book - it did not draw me in to the story. It was just not something I enjoyed or could connect with in terms of the materials. It is something others may enjoy, especially if they loved reading Gone Girl and other books in that genre and style of writing.

This one was interesting. I did not really see the ending coming, but it seemed very far fetched! As long as you’re okay with that then you will love it! 4.5 Stars!

I'm not sure how I felt about this book. The love story between Ian and Maddie didn't really make sense. Like you're not really sure why she fell in love with him. It was just, he was there all the time and that was that. There is no indication that these two should've fallen in love.
However there were a few surprises in this novel that I did enjoy. A twist which I kind of saw coming but not to the level it did. There were a few inconsistencies in the book that didn't flow, but that might be caught with editing. I have to say I didn't love the story but I didn't hate it. I'm really stuck in the middle on how I feel about this book.
The writing was good for the most part, I'm not one to read books about war and the things these men and women go thru. So I liked that aspect, but I'm unsure how stable Ian actually was based on Maddies point of view vs Ian's point of view. I think there would be a lot of readers that will enjoy this book. I think it's a book you need to read and see where you stand!

Review:BEAUTIFUL BAD by Annie Ward. Excellent book! Many twists and turns with a very unexpected ending. Will be interested to see what this author does next .⭐⭐⭐⭐Four stars

This was a fast paced book that I enjoyed and could see being made into a lifetime movie . A quick beach read.
Thanks to Net galley and the publisher for review copy

Very gripping and fun. The characters and backstory were much more interesting than in most suspense books. Eastern Europe is described with lush detail and affection. The characters were very real and complex, with palpable chemistry and tension, and the author gives them a natural wry humor. Unlike some other reviewers, I found them more relatable than the typical characters in a domestic thriller who just want to marry someone good looking and live in a big house. The twist towards the end was great.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity of an advance read.

I could not finish this one. I found Ian very unlikeable - and it annoyed me that he was *such* an obvious jerk and yet that somehow made Maddie want him more. Like, openly want him for being a jerk. I get the desire for the bad boys, the dangerous men, and this was not it. It was just...distasteful. Maddie and Joanna were jerks to each other, as well. I hit the 25% mark, and as much as I hate to not finish a Netgalley Arc, I just...couldn't do it.

DNF (Did NOT finish) @40%

I really wanted to like this book. It seemed like a book I would enjoy. Along the lines of "Gone girl", "woman in the window", etc. I just couldn't finish it. I wound up skipping pages at a time to get to the parts i wanted to read. I did NOT like the flash backs...i felt they weren't too relevant to the story. Maybe i missed something by skipping bits but i unfortunately just didnt like what i was reading.

*I recieved a free e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own."

Finally a good book that I actually wanted to read and finish!! Beautiful Bad is a little long but it keeps flowing and I read it in one sitting.. It has has psychological drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. Well written book!!

I absolutely loved this story. It thrilled me even though I can’t comprehend every action by the main character. I read this book in a day and a half. I couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #Harlequin for the ARC

I anticipate highly mixed reviews on this book and recommend it for book clubs everywhere. The subtleties that Ward has left behind for the readers is genius. It will have you contemplating facets of the story days after you’ve put the book down. I still don’t know if I love or hate the characters and who, if any of them, I should feel bad for. It has taken me days after finishing the book to realize that the irony of the story is that Ward has not really given us the whole story. She has left so much open for interpretation and it is spectacular. I love books that challenge an explanation and force us to think beyond what is simply laid out in the words before us.

Ian and Maddie meet overseas in war-torn Eastern Europe just as it is on the brink of civil war and just prior to the fall-out of 9/11. The setting is enigmatic and their meeting is simply by chance. Ian, who grew up with little schooling and proceeded to the English military, now works as a bodyguard to high profile officials. Maddie, a well-studied, multilingual American, works as a travel journalist. The time they spend together in the Balkans is brief. But the feelings they developed while they are there are genuine and hard to ignore. The book takes us through the story of their lives and also that of Maddie’s best friend, Jo. We are led through the journey of Maddie and Ian finding their way back to one another after spending years apart. But as the story toggles from present day to past, we get glimpses of the dark and somewhat crazy side of all of these characters and when the day of the murder happens, it will have you questioning absolutely everything.

Any author can lay out a plot with your typical protagonist/antagonist scenario but it takes someone truly gifted to keep the reader from identifying either of them. Ward keeps us guessing who’s who and gives us a thought-provoking story about love, lies, and betrayal…with a little side of crazy thrown in....5 stars!

An unsettling and thought provoking read, I can see many people flipping the pages of this one quickly.

** Full review to come in March **

I really enjoyed this read! I thought it had great character development and kept me interested the whole time! Will be recommending to customers!

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book.
I was intrigued when I read the description.....I was hooked right away! I had no idea where this story was leading, and I absolutely did not see the ending coming to a head the way it did.
I was not familiar with Annie Ward before but I can’t wait to get my hands on her next book.

I started out loving this book. I found the Eastern European setting fascinating and the war zones brutal but interesting. The chapters moved back and forth flawlessly between the past and present, between various locations overseas and New York and Kansas. There were twists I hadn't expected. My problem was that I found all the main characters (Maddie, Ian and Jo) unpleasant, and as more was revealed I came to dislike them more and more. I believe I must need one character with whom I can empathize or sympathize. Domestic psychological thrillers are popular today and their plots run together in my mind. This was a different and original story and memorable. The ending lacked closure with the case unresolved.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.