Shew what a twisty game of cat and mouse! This book reminded me of a show I use to watch where both main characters had secret lives and we’re both conning each other. This is definitely a case of unreliable narrator you don’t know if you should believe Caroline and you I wasn’t sure I liked her either but the storyline was engrossing and kept me questioning and guessing all the way through.

"I'll tell you everything that happened, starting from the beginning. My first impression of Widen was that of a potential their. If only I'd listened to my instinct, I would've turned and run in the opposite direction. But that's not what I did. I walked toward him. And I will always blame myself for what came after"
This book has me hooked from the start. I loved the the little hints that were dropped in the first few chapters about what was to come. It gave a real sense of foreboding. The descriptions were so vivid that you could clearly picture each and every scene in your mind almost as if you were right there with the characters. And oh the characters... My head was spinning (in a good way) as each chapter went back and forth between Widen and Caroline's perspectives...but who to believe? I loved how what first seemed to be a straight forward plot of a woman who was in an unhappy marriage then finds herself in the arms of a one night stand gone wrong, or so your led to believe, could turn into such a twisted psychological thriller. i was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book but that ending! I did not see that coming at all!!!!
I would like to thank netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I had a feeling there would be a plot twist, but what was that? I was so turned around yet pleasantly satisfied at the same time. The story is told in alternating points of view of both Caroline and Aiden. Both narrators have completely different stories in parts of the book which made it a little confusing as to what really happened, however, Campbell does a nice job of explaining everything in the end. This story kept my attention the whole time and I couldn't put it down.

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

A Stranger On The Beach hooked me from the first page & I read it in one day! Michele Campbell knows how to grab the reader and keep them! This book was right up my alley - and I really enjoyed it! Totally recommend this one for thriller lovers !

Caroline believes life couldn't be better; she has been married to her husband, Jason for twenty years, her daughter, Hannah has just started college. And to add icing to the cake, construction on her beach home is completed. From the outside looking in, Caroline has it all. But does she has it all?

Out of the blue, Jason asks her for divorce without giving a good reason on why he is ending their marriage after twenty years. While drowning in her grief, she meets an attractive young stranger named Aidan. Lines get blurred, and boundaries get crossed, and their one-night stand turns into obsession. Or Does it?

When I start reading books like this, I always know things are never what they appear to be. The biggest challenge for me is trying to figure out all of the pieces of the puzzle before the end of the book. Author Michele Campbell does a great job of throwing the reader off course a few times during this story. The narration is usually there to guide the reader along with the story, but Author Campbell shakes it up so much that you start feeling you can't even trust the narrator.

A Stranger On The Beach will keep your mind racing until the end. Even when you think you have it figured out - the author will throw you off course. I finished 362 pages in a few hours. If you are looking for a read that doesn't disappoint, add A Stranger On The Beach to your reading list!!

4 Stars

Thanks to St . Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book. A BEACH house where Caroline what to show off her prefect family until one night she make one wrong decision that will change in all. She thought she had it all but..she finds out differently. Everyone is watching her and her husband in a public place...everything is not what it seems. Then she makes a huge mistake that puts everything in jeopardy. Very good thriller so hang on for the ride.

To Caroline, Aiden Callahan as a very nice looking distraction. He, however, was looking at her newly done house on the beach. A housewarming party was the main thought in Caroline's mind, at the time. That and the loneliness she feels now that her daughter, Hannah, was off to college and her husband, Jason, travelled constantly on business. At 43,. Caroline had just recently gone back to work as an interior designer.

The homecoming party ended in disaster after Caroline's husband arrived with what was thought by all - a date! Lynn, Caroline's sister, was at 'the party and told Caroline to spruce herself up a bit more. Caroline tells Jason he cannot see this woman anymore - Jason tells her to get a good divorce lawyer.

Since he was bartending on the lawn and Caroline was inside the house, she didn't realize that Aiden had been at her party. Aiden tells his brother, Tommy, (the Chief of Police) that he knows the "posh" woman who had bought Gramp's house. Aiden goes over to Caroline's table (she went to a bar for comfort) - to drink her sorrows away. At first she doesn't know who Aiden is. He bartends at that bar and buys her a drink. She becomes quite enamored of him and they share many drinks. Aiden ends up at Caroline's house. They have a night of great passion. He knows she is the one for him...

But is he the one for her?

A spellbinding read it is!!! One of the most brilliant twisty stories of the year! I was unable to put this one down! The characters were (even if you did not like them) well developed and the plot was superb. Amazing turns of events that you do not see coming!

A Thriller for All!!!


Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a super read !

This was a strange reading experience for me. I can legitimately say I "hate read" more than half of it, and ultimately I'm pleased to have pushed through--the book has good payoff. And that's the thing: large chunks of this book are just FRUSTRATING to read, and then the third act twist makes it clear why. But I can imagine plenty of people DNFing the book based on the start, who don't have the patience to read for the twist. I'm giving it 4-stars, however, because I'm ultimately impressed with the execution--perhaps I was supposed to be frustrated reading?

And yet. I don't know. So essentially the first half and change (up to about the 60% mark) is dual-POV: 1st person from Caroline Stark's POV about her husband betrayal, an ill-advised one night stand, and then how the man in question, Aidan, became an obsessed stalker. And the second is 3rd person from Aidan's POV--some chapters cover the same timeline as Caroline's POV and so you see a contrast between how she sees things and how he does. Often they contradict each other.

Here is where I struggled: I found Caroline's 1st person perspective compelling and engrossing in the way 1st person usually is, and I felt her suffocation and fear where Aidan was concerned. I also was SO ANGRY and annoyed at her first almost every single choice she made. She did the wrong thing... a lot. I also l o a t h e d how she was constantly foreshadowing like "if only I'd known then what I do now!" It actively irked me reading. But! But. It all makes sense once you've read the whole book, yet having to slog through this woman's POV for 60% of the book! Was a lot to ask.

Ditto Aidan's POV. His was really painful to read at times--he's upsettingly emotionally reactive/borderline psycho. The way he talks about Caroline and loving her set off every alarm bell and it was like being in the head of a narcissistic Nice Guy. I did not like being there. Again: having read the entire book, I see the point of the way Aidan's POV was done, Caroline's as well... but I still actively disliked the reading experience of over half this book. I was tense, annoyed... speed reading because I was just itching to get to the twist, a twist, anything that would explain what was going on. Because it did become clear at about the 30% mark that something wasn't adding up between the two POVs--and so from that point on, I was only reading to figure it out.

So yeah: I hate read the first 60% just to get to the third act, which was actually quite good. Ultimately I see exactly what the author was doing, and I admire it, but I still am left with the frustration of the experience? On the one hand, maybe that means the book did it's job, but on the other hand: this will be a polarizing book. But I see the author's skill and would be interested to check out her other work. I'd likely really enjoy reading something that didn't sit in the deep POVs of two characters I actively dislike.

This book kept me guessing from beginning to end. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. It was hard (in an exhilarating way) to figure out who the bad guy(s) were. Would definitely recommend. I finished it in one sitting.

A Stranger on the Beach was a great read. Michele Campbell tells a unique and compelling story that draws you in, and leaves you trying to figure out what may come next. You definitely don't fall in love with Aiden's character, but Caroline has you cheering for her as she figures things out.

From storms to murder, this book covers a lot of ground. Recommend.

I really enjoyed this story. Told in different POV's it worked.
Quick read because it was a definite page Turner.

My latest read by Michele Campbell is a great summer read and a lot of fun. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my review.

I started reading this book making sure to keep an open mind. It is told from two different point of views and I had a feeling nobody was trustworthy. As I got deeper and the discrepancies added up I had no idea who to trust. This book was definitely a page turner. It did stall out a tad halfway through but then picked it up again from yet another point of view, and this really added to the mystery.

I will be honest and tell you that I did begin to suspect how it would end about three quarters of the way through and I was right. This doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable, just not totally shocking. There is so much to enjoy in this book. You have lies, scandal, danger, mystery and a love affair. What more could you want? A Stranger on the beach is definitely worth a summer read! You will enjoy yourself and also wonder who to trust.

He said/she said, which one is telling the truth? Is the narrator unreliable, a stalker or just plain crazy ?

You get to hear from both Aidan and Caroline and both tell a completely different tale. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. Instead of adding intrigue, it left me more confused and annoyed. I thought this book was promising but at the end, it didn't add up for me. One of the characters was way over the top to the point of insanity.

This is my first book by this author and although this one didn't work for me, I will try another.
A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book! 3 stars

The Stranger on the Beach was a thriller with lots of dream like events that was hard to decipher between what was really happening and what was happening. Lots of twists. Trying to find the good guys from the bad ones.

Looking for a book that grabs you from the beginning and won’t let go until the end? This may just be it! It has a lot going on to keep you flipping pages - cheating spouses, a stalker, disappearing money, the Russian mob and let’s not forget the looming hurricane!

Caroline thinks she has the perfect life until things start falling apart after her husband’s mistress shows up at the housewarming party at their new beach house. Caroline has a fling with Aidan, a local bad boy bartender that spirals out of her control! The remainder of the story flips back and forth between both Caroline’s and Aidan’s point of view. Who’s version of events is true? Is Aidan a crazed stalker as he’s portrayed by Caroline or is Aidan so in love with her that he’ll do almost anything to help keep her safe? Pick up a copy and find out! You won’t be disappointed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for providing me with a free review copy of this book.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I looked HARD for redeeming qualities, prayed for an unexpected twist to come at the 11th hour to shock me, but that didn’t happen.

Told in alternative parts by the main character, Caroline, and third person POV, this is a typical unreliable narrator thriller. Caroline is a rich Hamptons wife with a seemingly perfect life who one day sees a strange but intriguing man staring at her house from the beach. Soon after, her perfect life falls apart in epic fashion and she meets that stranger in a bar and then sleeps with him. What is supposed to be a one night stand turns dark and twisty, and things get pretty crazy pretty quickly.

The problem with this book, for me, was that there was not a single likable character from start to finish. They were all annoying, cliche, or completely unbelievable. I figured out the “twist” pretty earlier on and was disappointed to find there was nothing else at the end, no second twist or misdirection. I didn’t enjoy reading this book. I’ve just read so many thrillers that I’ve come to expect more from the ones that I really love reading and stand out to me. This one just was not for me. That said, this is a good light, low-stakes summer/vacation read that will keep you entertained but not stressed out and that you can read at a leisurely pace.

Looking for a fun, "can't put it down" "up all night" read? This one is for you, then! Michelle Campbell's A Stranger on the Beach will hook readers from the very first page, when they are introduced to the beautiful, wealthy Caroline Stark. Caroline seems to have it all. She has a gorgeous, lavish home on the beach, a lovely daughter enrolled in college and a handsome, indulgent husband, not to mention the fact that she can still turn heads with her stunning good looks. However, like a knitted scarf with a single loose thread, if you start to pull one thread, everything begins to slowly unravel. The problem seems to be her one night stand with the good-looking stranger who appears on the beach, or is it? Dive into this great read and find out!

This was an entertaining psychological thriller that left me rapidly turning the pages until the very end. I HAD to know who to believe and who was the reliable POV.
A Stranger on the Beach is told in alternating POVs from Caroline's (first person) and Aidan's (third person). Caroline is of the upper crust. She's beautiful, has a nice life and her and her husband recently bought and remodeled beachside property. What better time to hold a party and invite friends and locals? But what happens when uninvited guests show up and turn your whole life upside down?

From then on we get two POVs and we need to figure out who to believe. It seems we have two unreliable characters, but what clues can you pick up on and who will you believe? The crazy stalker with a questionable past or the jilted housewife that fell down a rabbit hole?

Michele Campbell wrote an intriguing and dangerous book with characters that are so very cleverly portrayed and yet still they left me wondering who I should believe. The plot moved at a steady pace and the supporting characters all played crucial roles to the development of the story.
It's a little Fatal Attraction that is disturbing, entertaining and full of twists and turns that will grip you to the very end. Would definitely recommend for a domestic psychological thriller that keeps you guessing until the end.

This was my first arc from Netgalley & it was awesome! I really liked how the author twisted this story up! Great work Michele Campbell! It kept me guessing until the end! My favorite character was definitely Aidan. The book ended just how I was hoping it would. I love a good "justice served" story! Thank you Michele Campbell, St.Martins Press & @netgalley for the arc!

Really enjoyed this one. Kept me guessing & wanting more. The story would go one way & then have a sudden twist. Characters are well developed, great story line.
Would definitely be recommending this book to other.