Part time author Pippa is newly single and struggling at work, both with her writing and her day job. She is finding it difficult to think of a plot for a new book, and her agent is becoming more demanding. One evening she has a knock on the door. It is a salesman selling cleaning products. After talking to him on her doorstep, she finds him intriguing and invites him in. The salesman’s name is Ryan, and he is an ex-con trying to better his life after being released from prison. Pippa thinks that Ryan’s story might just be what she needs….

This was my second book by this author. The first book, Mother, took a few chapters for me to get into so, to be honest, I was expecting the same with this book. The Proposal, for me, does begin slowly. There’s a lot of swapping and changing throughout the chapters from Pippa’s personal journal to her online blog and then to transcripts of audio recordings and it does take a bit of getting used to! There was also a lot of slow build up, getting to know Pippa’s and Ryan’s characters. A few chapters in, and I wasn’t entirely sure where this book was going! Then….bam, about half way through the book the pace turns up a notch and the story begins to get a lot more sinister. It then became apparent where this story was going….and wow, what a journey to the end!

I won’t say any more about the plot as I wouldn’t want to spoil it. Needless to say, this is one seriously creepy and nerve-tingling book! Going from wondering what on earth was going on to reading the last 50% in one go just goes to show how much this book reels you in! By the end, my nerves were in tatters and my nails had all been bitten off – but make sure you read to the very last page as the last chapter bought everything together and nicely tied everything up!

Dark, disturbing and deliciously creepy! Would definitely recommend!

This was the first by this author for me, and I found it interesting, enjoyable, but a bit confusing. I'm not sure if this is the author's writing style or not. Reading this as a regular book may have been easier, as I wished to flip back to sections to re-read, but as an e-book, that was difficult. The idea of an author paying a stranger for their story was intriguing, and it seemed the stranger did have quite a story! But flipping between Pippa's official blog posts, her private diary posts and the stranger, Ryan's, thoughts was confusing to me. Although I must say, I am much more curious about my favorite author's now!
I'm grateful for the opportunity to read this book, and when it is officially released, I may look for a print copy & try again, maybe that will increase my overall enjoyment and rating. I did want to see what would happen next, but wished I'd kept notes while reading.

Starting the one soon! The Proposal by S.E. Lynes promises to be an unputdownable story! The best kind, right? Due out in September which is right around the corner. This one is being called BRILLIANT, UNIQUE, TWISTED. These are adjectives that I love to see when I am reading a review! I cannot wait to dive into this book.

Here’s the plot:

Pippa wants a second chance. Recently divorced and unhappy at work, she has uprooted her life to move to a beautiful cottage in the countryside in search of a fresh start. But her new life is not working out quite as she planned.

One night, when Pippa is at home alone, a man arrives at her front door. And Pippa invites him in, and makes him an offer she believes could change everything…

How much of a risk would you take for a stranger?

Does everyone deserve a second chance?

By the time Philippa finds out the answers to these questions, it may be too late to save herself.

From Amazon chart bestseller S.E. Lynes, The Proposal is a page-turning and utterly gripping thriller about the lengths we will go to for someone we love. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, The Woman at the Window and The Wife Between Us.

Since I loved Gone Girl, The Woman at The Window, The Wife Between Us and all of those other twisty thrilling novels, so I am certain I will read this one in record time!

Well, well, well. What a tangled web she weaves!
This author always writes very intelligently and with such depth.
It took me a good half of the book to fully settle in to the story but I do think this was necessary given the way the book was written , through a series of journal entries, blog posts and audio excerpts.
Lonely author Pippa foolishly let's ex con and salesman of cleaning products Ryan in to her home one evening and so starts a complex and intense relationship with disastrous consequences.
This author's writing is very impressively complex and intriguing. I just love her style of writing and always feel with her books that the ending satisfies me whilst there are always things to ponder over and make my own conclusions about. Thank you for yet another fantastic read. .

This is my second book but SE Lynes that I was lucky enough to get here through netgalley and like the first, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love a good slow burning British thriller. Like the first, I found it hard to put down and can't wait to see what she writes next

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book
I enjoyed this book and the characters.
It was written in a unique way that was. Refreshing .
This is a very good author and book

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 enjoyably different stars.

To be honest I struggled a little with this book as I felt it jumped around, with the personal blog chapters and then the public social media posts about Mrs Danvers.

Now maybe it’s me, but the reveal about what the Mrs Danvers chapters meant came too late in the book for me.

I enjoyed that this book was totally different than what I normally read but I’m sorry, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the author’s previous books.

Loved this book, I was completely glued to it. It is definitely the best thriller I’ve read in a while.

The Proposal was an addictive read, although I found it hard to like the characters it was an enjoyable read.

Before writing this review I read other reviews for inspiration as I am shocked, dumbstruck, gobsmacked, speechless and trying desperately to find the right words to give this book the justice it deserves.

Susie Lynes this is, well, just, wow! I loved it! It is unlike anything else I have read before. It is so well written, it gripped me from the very first word until the last.

If you only buy one psychological thriller this year then make sure this is the one, you won't be disappointed!

Brilliant!!!!!

Pippa Gates (author and middle school teacher) is dead. Her Journal was only to be opened upon her death. From the Journal.....


A knock at her front door. A man identifying himself as Ryan, an ex-con, is selling cleaning products. She kind of hesitates.
He goes further down the block to sell his wares. Pippa sits back down and has a great idea!
She finds Ryan and tells him that she has a proposal for him. 200 quid for his life story! She needs a bestseller -her last book sunk. Ryan agrees goes over to her house. He just knows that "she is the one" for him, immediately. He doesn't say that now, but feels it. He tells her about his childhood, teen years and his years in prison and after release, giving anecdotal referrals. She loves it. They do drink a bit too much wine. To Pippa, he is great with his story but dirty, oily, and poorly put-together. He just takes a shower, too! She is quite wary of this man, but has his information - for that she is glad!

Pippa is pounding out her book. She is in contact with her best friend, Marlena, about the book and Ryan. Marlena is not keen on Ryan.

Time goes on - Pippa writes when she is focused. When she is not focused, she is quite promiscuous haunting bars and going on lots of Tinder dates. She spends Christmas with Marlena and her family - leaving when Ryan had left a Christmas card for Pippa because her and Marlena argue over it. Ryan lets Pippa know that promises he will be a chef, has moved out of the hostel and living with a couple of "blokes".


By May, there is no further contact from Ryan or Marlena. Pippa's book goes global! (A best seller with movie rights, speaking engagements, etc.) During one of her magazine interviews, the interviewer throws Pippa for a spin - "I was wondering if you had taken your inspiration from a real criminal There was a Gary Hughes...".
OH NO ! Even though Ryan told Pippa to use this name for her novel - she never bothered to research the name! Yup! Ryan was Gary Hughes and he had been in prison for murder (not theft).


Pippa decides she best move to the country away from Ryan/Gary and her "former" friend, Marlena.


Gary has been keeping tabs on Pippa all along...

"She thinks she is going to steal MY story and leave me behind? He is still besotted with Pippa but now he feels cheated...


Pippa finds solace with Bobby in her country home - he is engaged but...


Then the plot REALLY comes to life...
Just wait! I read this SO fast!!! A great read. You will not want to put this one down. HIGHLY recommend!!!
Suspense, drama - this book has it all!

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for another superb read!

I first read Valentina what now seems like a billion years ago, when it was only two years ago, and I have since read every book by this author. Some were hits, some were misses. Then we get to this one and I am at loss with what to say. (Not really otherwise I would've just clicked rate and not wrote a review).

Bringing back what I loved about Valentina is that I didn't feel like I was reading a book, but more like listening to internal dialogue. I am by no means a writer, and my process is a little bit like the character in the movie Hush...I write what I am thinking and don't care about grammar, syntax, and all that other "I majored in English literature so adore me" jargon some authors chose to use.

This book. Seriously....I will be thinking about it for a long time. I laughed, I cried, and tensed up to a ball of "what the fuck is going on...I need to know NOW".

Unique. Chilling. Horrifying. Yet, also a love story for the ages.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture...you once again allowed me to read a winner.

Wow, I started reading this one night before bed, and as soon as I got up the next morning I had to finish it. So very suspenseful, with a lot of twists and psychological trauma. Pippa a young teacher and writer is suffering with writers block when she opens her door to a ex-con door to door salesman and in that instant her life changes. After "Ryan" tells her his life story her writer's block comes to an end and she is able to write a best seller, but at a cost to herself that is slowly revealed. The varying chapters are written as either Pippa's present life and other chapters are her social platform blog. The character of "Ryan" is slowly revealed and a lot of suspense along with it. Also a character named "Mrs. Danvers" is revealed through Pippa's blog. If you want to read non-stop suspense with good characterization read this book!

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I would highly recommend this book to my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!!!!

THE PROPASAL by S.E. Lynes is a psychological thriller that will have you thinking twice before opening your home to anyone at night. The main protagonist Pippa Gates, has had a rough life starting with the death of her mother and then her father abandoned her as well. She married but nothing he ever did was good enough. The story starts out with just enough force to keep you guessing and continue reading. Once you get halfway through, the bottom drops and you feel like you are on the ride of your life. I wanted to hide under the covers like I did when I was a child with a flashlight. I do not scare easily but this author does a great job of weaving the story and making it powerful and compelling.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

5+++ ⭐️ out of 5

Omg! When I read the blurb for this I did not imagine this book to be as gruesome. At around halfway through the book the story takes a dramatic turn and from there my heart was pounding. I was scared, but I couldn't stop reading. The ending is very intense I did not see it coming.

Who is Pippa Gates? She found her mother dead when she was 6. Her father abandoned her at age 18. She married a perfect man and made him feel exasperated because whatever he did was not good enough. A failed writer always looking for something new and not finding it. Her best friend Marlena was always there for her and Pippa took advantage of her. A door to door salesman shows up at her flat and she invites him in. He said his name is Ryan, an ex con trying to make himself a new life since being released from prison. Pippa is an author who needs a story for a new book and she thinks Ryan’s life might be the ticket! What comes next will keep you reading wondering what’s going to happen next.
A chilling psychological book that kept me saying “what”, “oh man, I didn’t see that coming.” I’ve read all S.E. Lynes and this is another exceptional one!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me the privilege of reading this ARC!

I have read other books by this Author. I will admit to being confused in the first one-third or so of this book. I'm glad I persevered because the last part is brilliant. I hope never to suffer like Pippa did in this story. Ryan Is one scary individual and I pray never to meet anyone like him. Another reviewer said this book is UNIQUE. I agree. Thanks to NetGalley, Bookoutre and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

Funny, clever, shocking, thought-provoking and downright chilling.

Pippa is funny, really funny. Independent and fearless, she’s the friend who always goes too far, but you want to hang out with them anyway. However badly they behave. It’s a testament to SE Lynes skill as a writer that whatever Pippa does, and she does some pretty questionable things, you still root for her and want her to be successful and happy.

Into Pippa’s life comes Ryan. More than a little repulsive, he has a strange charisma which speaks to the darker side of Pippa. From the moment she invites him into her home, life is never the same. The question is, does she want it to be?

As well as the gripping plot you may have come to expect from Lynes’ thrillers, there is much in this novel which makes you look inside yourself and that, perhaps, is what makes it different from many others in this genre. There is a Brechtian feel to the way Pippa asks questions directly, involving the reader in her innermost thoughts, in a way that is both compelling and uncomfortable.

Pippa is a teacher and a writer, so the literary allusions throughout the novel were as apt as they were clever. This novel is dark, certainly, and it made me turn the lights on and check behind the door on more than one occasion. But it is also witty and introspective and very well written.

I loved it.

After an acrimonious divorce, Pippa starts over in an old farmhouse in the country. Feeling lonely, she does something she never would have done in the past, she lets a stranger into her house after he knocks on her door late one night. Ryan seems like a nice guy, maybe the kind she needs in her life. But what does she really know about Ryan, and what does he want? Never open your door to strangers!