amazing as usual ! such an excellent book ! could not put it down. ! I have read every book by this author and she never disappoints !

🏝 B O O K R E V I E W 🏝⁣
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TITLE: A Stranger On The Beach | #astrangeronthebeach⁣
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PUB DATE: 7/23/2019⁣
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AUTHOR : Michele Campbell @michelecampbell⁣
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SYNOPSIS: The story begins with a stranger outside Caroline's dream house in the Hamptons. Who do you believe? Was it a passion filled one night stand or the development of true love; a victimized woman or the victimization of a naive young man; a criminal mastermind or a passion filled murder. ⁣
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THOUGHTS: I loved every moment of this book. The alternating POV keeps you on the edge and guessing from start to end. The chapters are short and moves the story into a fast paced roller coaster ride. The book left me feeling satisfied, and I got what I needed from this thriller/mystery. Campbell’s writing is witty, skilled and unpredictable. I LOVED THIS! ⁣
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RATING: 5/5

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

Michele Campbell truly is a talented author. This book reiiterated that for me. I could NOT put this book down, nor did I want to. It truly defined "thriller." You won't regret reading this!

Caroline Stark is in the midst of planning an extravagant housewarming party for her new multi-million dollar beach house when she notices a stranger on the beach staring at her house. That same stranger shows up at the housewarming party working as a bartender. Also showing up at the party is her husband and his apparent mistress - a leggy Russian in a leather skirt.

On the brink of divorce and with feelings of hurt and spite, Caroline heads to the local bar in town where, lo and behold, her stranger is the one serving her drinks. After quite a few too many, she invites him back to her beach house for a one night stand. The problem is that she's the only one who seems to understand it's just one night. He's obsessed and not ready to give her up - regardless of who, or who, stands in his way.

This book is divided into two parts, before the storm and after the storm, and alternates between Caroline's point of view and that of her stalker. While it is interesting to read the same scene from both points of view (and see how crazy the stranger is), I have to admit that I almost did not finish this book. Caroline's actions were so, so dumb. Every time it seemed like she was going to make a smart decision - like go to the police - she decided not to because she didn't want to make a scene or didn't want her friends to find out. I'm glad I pushed through; the twists and turns after the storm were definitely worth it.

This is the second book I've read by Michele Campbell and she's definitely an author I plan to keep on my TBR list. She's a master of unexpected twists and unreliable narrators.

I really enjoyed Stranger on the Beach. It pulled you into the story from the very first chapter and kept you wondering throughout the book. It wasn’t a book that was predictable which can happen a lot in this genre. Michele Campbell does a great job of building suspense in all of her books.

Caroline Stark's dreams appear to be falling apart-her opulent beach house has been the scene of a very public fight between her and her husband, in front of all their friends and future clients. Despondent, Caroline sleeps with the local bartender, Aidan, a stranger she saw staring at her home from the sand. But the one night stand means so much more to Aidan, and his feelings quickly grow into obsession.

There is definitely a lot of suspense to this book. Events keep building and building to create a real sense of terror. The story kept me feeling off-kilter in a positive way, where I never was entirely sure what was truly going on, especially with the dueling narrations of Caroline and Aidan. The twist at the end really surprised me as well.

While the twist at the end was surprising, once it was revealed much of what had already happened in the book didn't make much sense. The characterization felt a little heavy as well-there was a lot of repetition as opposed to development.

While I enjoyed this book, I didn't feel it lived up to the hype surrounding it. This was a good thriller, with a surprising twist and some real suspense, but I've read better in this genre.

I am a sucker for beach reads, and good psychological thriller too. So combine them together and I am in. This was also my first book from Campbell, and boy it didn’t disappoint either. It was great!

Caroline has moved into her beautiful new home on the beach. She has everything she wants and needs, a loving family and a husband who loves her. But he is always away for business, so she is all alone in this big house. During her big house warming party, she learns of her husbands infidelity which sends her into the arms of a mysterious man she keeps seeing out on the beach and the local pub. What should have been a night of passion/revenge turns into something more than she bargained for. Not long after that night, her husband goes missing under questionable circumstances.

I have to say, I really enjoyed these two characters, one minute I was feeling sorry for Caroline and the next I was questioning her way of thinking. Same thing with Aiden. He had a past, one that followed him everywhere. But after the night that Caroline and Aiden shared, he had an instant infatuation with Caroline which made me worry a little. Now Caroline on the other hand was more worried about keeping up her uppity appearance when it came to her social status that she kept trying to keep him at arms length.

Written in dual points of views from both Caroline and Aiden, it gave us the same story but from very different eyes. Making us question who is side of events is the truth? What was really happening? And just happened to Jason, Caroline’s husband? I just had to sit back and let the pieces fall into place. The pace was strong and steady with the suspense building as the story went along and little hints to the truth int there too, but it wasn’t until very end that it all came together and it was pretty damn good too.

A Stranger on the Beach is wild ride of deception and betrayals that keeps you guessing, making for one great summer read.

Holy Shooty Balls!!! Gripping, highly compulsive, & spine-tingling suspense!

A STRANGER ON THE BEACH by MICHELE CAMPBELL is an engrossing, chilling, suspenseful, fun, easy, brisk, and mind-bending psychological thriller that was absolutely unputdownable. I was immediately sucked into the narrative and devoured every single page of this highly entertaining and deceptive book. Once I started reading it I was hooked and so absorbed in the storyline that I lost all sense of time.

My nose was definitely lost in this book and nothing was going to distract me until I finished reading it.

MICHELE CAMPBELL delivers quite the impressive, clever, complex, tension-filled and well-written read here that was extremely well-plotted, well-layered and well-played. The story was deliciously told from the perspectives of both Caroline and Aidan. And let me tell you I absolutely loved the manipulative and obsessive nature of both of their perspectives. It was extremely fun trying to figure out who the unreliable character was here. Both perspectives fed right into each other perfectly.

Publication Date: July 23, 2019

* Traveling Sisters Read *

Norma’s Stats:
Cover: Love the boldness, dark, and ominous beach setting.
Title: Appealing, suspenseful, intriguing and such a notable and worthy representation to storyline.
Writing/Prose: Well-written, engrossing, smart, compelling, and compulsively readable.
Plot: Clever, intriguing, manipulative, puzzling, twisty, intense, suspenseful, riveting, fast-paced, absorbing, enjoyable and entertaining. An absolutely fabulous and juicy storyline!!!!
Ending: Intense, flabbergasting, exciting, & wholly satisfying!
Armchair Detective Skills: Okay, I had my suspicions early on with the who but never would have guessed the why, what or reasoning behind the motivations that was driving these characters.
Overall: It was such an irresistibly fun and entertaining book and another winner added to my favourite reads shelf. I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience!!! Would definitely recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Michele Campbell for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. It was an absolute pleasure reading this fun novel!!

It’s fun to read the same events from different points of view but this book threw me at first with just how different the retellings were. Who is lying and what is the truth? The puzzle did make for a fun rereading though. I enjoyed this books and would read more from the same author.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author Michele Campbell for an advanced digital review copy. This book will be published July 23, 2019.

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Holy moly Michele Campbell hit it out of the park again. This was an amazing suspense, thrills, leave you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen next book.

Caroline and her husband Jason have just finished building their huge house overlooking the ocean, sent their daughter off to college, and are planning a huge housewarming party. Then Jason shows up with a woman that Caroline suspects is his mistress as he hasn’t been where he’s been telling her he is. When he refuses to talk and leaves for another “work trip” Caroline decides to go out to the bars where she meets Aiden. She has no idea that a one night stand with a stranger can change her whole life and Aiden has no idea what plans she has in store for him.

I honestly don’t feel I can put into words how much I enjoyed this book. It had the perfect amount of suspense and mystery to it and I felt like I had it figured out pretty early on. I was way wrong. The twist at the end completely threw me for a loop that I wasn’t ready for.

I loved all of the characters in this book and I especially loved how the author went back and forth between Caroline and Aiden. You’re assuming one thing the whole time and then you actually find out the truth in the end. I loved the storyline and plot leading up to the crazy ending and as true Michele Campbell style, you also got to hear the story from the local detectives and police department working on the cases. It really adds more depth to the story and a whole new perspective.

There has been a lot already said about this book, so honestly don't want to repeat the same info that all the reviews have given. But I agree with all of them...
Whoa
One of the best thrillers I have read in a long time!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I love reading a good book while relaxing on the beach and this one did not disappoint! This psychological thriller was the perfect choice and I couldn’t put it down.

Caroline seems to have it all…happy marriage, college daughter who behaves well, lavish lifestyle, and finally owning a beach house. But things take a terrible turn when she hosts a house warming party and her husband shows up with another woman.

As rumors of his infidelity swirl, Caroline finds comfort in Aiden, a bartender at the local bar who also happened to bartend her housewarming party. But soon after she meets Aiden, his behavior gets out of control and his stalking tendencies begin to frighten Caroline.

Told from Caroline and Aiden’s alternating point of views, I got swept away reading this one. So many twists and turns you won’t see coming! This was an excellent book with great storytelling and writing style.

Expected publication is July 23 so put this one on your list! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Stranger on the beach was an unexpected favorite. This chilling, heart pounding family drama- meets psychological thriller will leave you breathless and wanting more. The characters were both intriguing and hateable all at once. The twist and turns are unexpected and the very end will leave you questioning what you read. 4 stars.

A Stranger on the Beach is the latest thriller from Michele Campbell, and this novel has all of the components to make it a great read - unreliable characters, shifting POVs, the Russian mob, and a storm. However, it fell short for me - I found it quite predictable and a bit flat. I was not shocked by anything the characters were doing, and while the author was successful in creating empathy in me for the most unlikable of characters, I found that the novel dragged a bit. While I was hoping this was going to be my summer beach read, I'd leave this one behind.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this latest book by Michele Campbell. An excellent summer read that should have you wondering who is telling the truth and who is fabricating their account of the events that transpired since the two main characters give alternate versions of what has happened in each chapter.

The reason for the four star review is (1) the characters were less than sympathetic. One character was overtly manipulative while the other character was very naive and (2) I was able to guess the outcome about three quarters through the book.

However, if you are looking for an entertaining vacation read, you need look no further than "A Stranger on the Beach".

I was really excited to read this Michele Campbell book, A Stranger on the Beach, purely based on the description.

The story is told from two points of view, and alternates between our two main characters; Caroline tells her story in first person, and Aiden's story is shared in third person. The story starts with a bang, and I was immediately sucked in, and dying to hear more details and to see what would happen next. However, I quickly realized that Caroline's version of events was quite different from Aiden's version of the same events. Who is telling the truth? Can either narrator be trusted?

This book takes the unreliable narrator to the extreme. The astute reader might figure out fairly close to the beginning of the book what the long game is, but this does not at all diminish the fun of this story. Hold on for a wild ride, and be ready to want to stay up all night to finish this book!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book and exchange for my honest review.

A Stranger On The Beach, by Michele Campbell

Short Take: When your mama says “don’t talk to strangers”, FREAKIN LISTEN.

Good morning, duckies, from the land of the massively sleep-deprived! I took a much-needed road trip to attend a book launch for one of my favorite authors about four hours away yesterday. I was going to drive, but while I was all about “not wasting time” the Spousal Unit kept going on about “speeding” (to-may-to/to-mah-to, right?), so we switched spots and I was able to finish reading Stranger from the comfort of the passenger seat which may or may not have been my intention all along.

But I digress.

Caroline Stark Has It All. She’s got a gorgeous face and body, mega-rich also-gorgeous husband, multi-million dollar beach house, and of course, the envy of everyone around her. So when her husband Jason brings another woman to Caroline’s extravagant housewarming party, then takes off with said woman, Caroline is devastated.

Distraught, she spends a night drowning her feelings in vodka and Aidan Callahan - bartender, Brad-Pitt-lookalike, and Man With A Dark Past who’s a little too fixated on Caroline and her house for someone she’s just met.

But after that steamy night, things get… complicated. Caroline wants to reconcile with Jason, but Aidan believes that he and Caroline are meant to be together. What follows, for the next two-thirds of the book is a strange, hallucinatory narrative, in which Caroline and Aidan give contradicting accounts of every interaction, until it’s impossible to tell what’s real, a lie, or a delusion..

Of course, in the end, All Secrets Are Revealed, and there’s a big twist followed by a happy ending for the person who deserves it.

A Stranger On The Beach is a serviceable thriller. The pacing is decent, the characters are fairly developed, but it just doesn’t work. I’ll admit, it could be my own form of cynicism, or that I’ve read too many of these types of books, When it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s often a safe assumption that it’s a chicken.

Ms. Campbell has a great feel for an interesting story, but lacks subtlety. There are several points when a revelation should have been shocking, but the author tries too hard with the red herrings. It’s like a stage magician shouting “Look over there!”. Sure, it’s a type of misdirection, but not a particularly effective one, and most audiences will figure out pretty quickly what the actual trick is.

And when it’s a trick you’ve seen many times before, it’s that much harder to be excited by it.


The Nerd’s Rating: THREE HAPPY NEURONS (and a nice long nap!)

This book is a page turner. I read it in 24 hours. I never do that. It will leave you guessing until the end. The only thing I didn’t like was at times it was difficult to tell if the characters were thinking something or it was really happening.
#netgalley. #michellecampbell #stmartinspress

Caroline Stark first notices the stranger on the beach while taking a walk one evening. She talks to him for a few minutes and heads back into her beach house she’s been renovating. The next day Caroline’s perfect world is turned upside down. She catches her husband in a lie you see she can see where he’s at by his phone tracker and it shows he’s at a hotel. He lies and says he’s working and he can’t attend the house warming party. Caroline has an image to attain and all her wealthy friends show up to her party, then her husband shows up with another woman his Russian Mistress! He informs her he wants a divorce and he closes all the bank accounts and credit cards! The next night in a depression she ends up at the local bar and guess who the bartender is.. the stranger on the beach and this handsome mans name is Aiden. Caroline has a few drinks and Aiden goes home with her and maybe for revenge or comfort she ends up having a one night stand. The twist here is Aiden doesn’t just want a one night stand, he’s certain he’s in love with Caroline and feels like Caroline just doesn’t know she loves him yet. Caroline has everything Aiden ever wanted you see Caroline’s house is now where his grandfathers house use to be He begins to call and show up where she’s at and now she’s scared. This book is told in first POV Caroline’s side of the story and the other is Aiden. I loved this because it made me question myself which version of the story is the truth! I was so lost in what crazy thing was going to happen that I didn’t see the ending coming! This book was definitely a mind game that will take you on so many twists and turns! I give this book four stars!

I really enjoyed this one! As soon as I started reading, I knew it was going to be at least a 4 star read because I was hooked immediately. This book is extremely thrilling and I never wanted to stop reading, which is ultimately why I liked this book so much ... Full review can be found on my instagram in the link below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz9hPbVATzq/

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC of this book. It comes out July 23rd!