I found this book frustrating. In the beginning I really liked it, then the second perspective showed up and things went down the drain. Once I was about 70% finished I started to like it again, but the ending was disappointing.

I wanted to like it, but I cannot say I enjoyed this book. The characters weren't likeable and the story was convoluted. The only reason I finished it was because it was an advanced copy that I had committed to reviewing.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy.

Thanks to netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was great. The story was told from 2 viewpoints, Caroline, the wealthy woman whose husband was cheating and the guy she had a brief affair with, Aidan. You can tell early on that the stories don’t line up and someone is lying. Even though I sort of figured out the ending a little early, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. I also liked the cameo appearance by Melanie Vargas since I had read the series featuring her some years ago. This story had a lot of twists and turns and kept me entertained. It had sex, obsession, deceit, all the necessary elements for a good thriller. Once I got to 60% I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see how it would end. I am excited to read more from this author.

A great read that pulls you in from the first chapter. You'll find yourself drawn into the twisted world of lies and deceit and it will make you wonder who you're truly supposed to be rooting for.

Caroline has just had her life turned upside down when her husband leaves her with no explanation.

Jason, the husband that left her abruptly and destroyed her comfortable life, has secrets to hide.

Aiden, the mysterious stranger who enters her life as it’s being upended, quickly becomes obsessed with her after a torrid affair.

Told from the point of views of Caroline and Aiden Michele Campbell keeps you intrigued and you never know who to believe. There are so many twists and turns. This is a quick paced roller coaster ride that has you second guessing everything and everyone.

This book started well but I found it confusing when the story began being told in alternating chapters by different characters. I didn't finish the book. Not for me

When Caroline’s husband arrives late to their housewarming party in the Hamptons with another woman in tow and abruptly asks for a divorce the next day, she ends up having a one night stand with the younger townie bartender. Told by Caroline and Aiden the bartender in alternating perspectives, as the story unfolds, their versions of events get farther and farther from each other until something terrible happens.

Caroline’s decisions as the book wore on made less and less sense, as did the two conflicting points of view. It wasn’t hard to figure out why it was written that way, but frankly I found it a bit annoying that this wasn’t explicit rather than simply hinted at. Had it been made clear that these were their accounts of events to the police after the fact, I think it would’ve read a lot less crazy and a lot more sinister and mysterious. After the storm, things got much more cohesive and interesting, but it’s unfortunate that you have to slog through half the book with two unreliable narrators before you get there. The plot had promise but the execution was lacking for me. 2.5 stars for the first 60% of the book, 3.5 stars for the last 40%.

“A Stranger on the Beach” is an stunningly powerful novel about infidelity, betrayal and greed. The author tells the story from different points of view and had me wondering who was telling the truth. It’s a impressive psychological thriller that definitely kept me guessing. This novel captured my attention from the first page. It held my interest throughout the book and I found myself wanting to finish it all in one day. Overall it was a superb read. I would love to read other books written by Michele Campbell. I highly recommend this book and this author. I was fortunate to receive this novel from Netgalley as an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Aidan can't stop looking at the spectacular house that was built on the beach property that had belonged to his grandfather. It's everything that he's ever dreamed off. The woman that lives there is beautiful beyond compare. What a life that would be, a gorgeous woman, an amazing house, on the very property he lives so much.
The woman's name is Caroline, she has seen the man standing outside her house. All she can think is that he's casing her home. Maybe getting ready to break in and rob her.
Than one day running on the beach she sees him again, his name is Aidan.
Following a humiliating house warming party where her husband showed up with his Russian mistress, Caroline is looking for a place to try and forget her problems. She goes to the Red Anchor a local bar. There she discovers Aidan is the bartender. He's really not that bad. And, he's very attractive.
This is a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. You get two views of the story Caroline's, and Aidan's. The characters are interesting as is the plot. It was a great read with a surprising ending.

First, I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Stranger on the Beach caused so many vivid emotions for me. Having experienced an abusive relationship in the past, I was sickened reading Caroline’s chapters. This book forces you to weigh the honesty of Caroline and Aidan’s accounts of what has happened, and I immediately sided with Caroline, perhaps out of some sort of pseudo survivor’s bond. However, the more I read, the more I questioned if I was siding with the right person. The retellings given by Caroline and Aidan became so different factually that I started to side with Aidan (even if his supposed love for Caroline was nauseatingly codependent and frankly quite ridiculous and unbelievable). I began to feel as though I were an investigator, trying to work out from Caroline and Aidan’s sworn statements which of them was innocent. I read this book in two short sittings because it was completely engulfing (once I got past the initial aversion to reading Caroline’s chapters detailing her abuse). I do not want to describe more than this for fear of giving away spoilers, but I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves suspense and thrillers. Honestly, I would recommend this book to anyone because it was thrilling to read. I was sad to see that a lot of people who rated this book 1/5 had simply stopped reading after the first few chapters because they had given up on the book. If you only read the first few chapters, of course it is going to seem unbelievable! That’s the point! Your job is to seek out the contradictions and inconsistencies in the “statements” presented to you and figure out what is really going on. Why has Jason’s mistress followed him to his wife Caroline’s party to cause a scene? Why does Hannah, their daughter, side with Jason in all things? Why does Aidan, a supposedly gorgeous bartender, fall in love with Caroline after just one night together? What really happened all those years ago when Caroline and her sister Lynn screwed the rest of the family out of their inheritance? This book causes you to look deeper and piece together the facts until you’re sweating and your heart is racing as you read into the wee hours of the night because you want so badly to just be able to tell the investigators what has really happened. I finished this book late last night and I have been thinking about it ALL DAY. I wish I was part of a book club so I would have someone to gush over it with! A Stranger on the Beach was fantastic overall and I would love to read other books written by Michele Campbell.

#netgalley #astrangeronthebeach

Wow what a twisted convoluted story A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell is. Where is the truth in this book? Subplots and more subplots and it definitely keeps you turning the pages. Great psychological thriller and definitely keeps you guessing. Very suspenseful. Would definitely recommend.

A Stranger on the Beach is a psychological/domestic thriller which is my favorite genre by far. This novel tells the story from the point of view of Aidan and Caroline.

While Caroline appears to have it all, her marriage appears to be falling apart and she falls, quite literally, into the arms of down on his luck small-town boy Aidan. From there you hear the two very different stories from both characters.

I thought the plot and twists were great, the chapters ended with hooks so you wanted to keep reading and the author built up a strong description of both characters lives. Where the book fell a bit flat for me was that I didn't quite get Aidan's fascination with Caroline, while the groundwork was laid I found his passion a bit too outlandish and unreasonable to get really into the story.

While the book was interesting from the beginning it took me about 20% to really get into the book enough to want to finish. Once I hit this point, however, it was a quick read that kept me turning pages. There were characters to love, characters to hate, and plenty of twists to keep me guessing until the end.

A Stranger on the Beach took me by surprise...a bad surprise. It started strong but went sideways. I was excited and enjoyed the twists and turns however half way through it became boring. It did not really believe the story. I had hope for this story. But no luck.

This one is going to be memorable! I didn't seek this book out, it was offered to my by the publisher, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. But I like psychological thrillers, so I thought I'd give it a try. Wow! This will be one of those books I remember for years. In fact, I'm thinking that maybe I should just go back and re-read the last few chapters again ....
As the book started, I didn't care for Caroyln at all. She seemed to have it all and appreciate none of it. I even cheered Jason on, when it looked like he was having an affair. The story is narrated by Carolyn and Aiden, differing points of view, and leaving the other person seeming very different. At first, I felt like the writing was inconsistent for that reason alone. As the story developed and we moved past the half way mark, it got harder and harder to figure out just what was happening. Just who was guilty. Just whodunit. As the hurricane hit I was sure I knew what was happening, but the twists just kept coming! I did anticipate some of the ending notes, but the way the whole story was wrapped up, I didn't mind one bit.
Rating it is hard for me. Parts of the beginning feel like a 2 star rating. Parts of the ending feel more like a 4 star ending. And, this one stayed on my mind when I couldn't read, and kept me wanting more. So I'm going to settle on a 3 or 3 1/2 star rating

I really enjoyed Michele Campbell’s other works and was looking forward to reading her newest novel, but I felt that it missed the mark for me. It began with an intriguing plot, but soon became repetitive and predictable by the middle of the book. I wish I had more positive feedback to give, but feel that a succinct review sums up my thoughts.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

I began this book with high expectations. Unfortunately, these hopes were quickly dashed. The initial few chapters set up the situation. After that, the story was told in alternating chapters from different points of view. Unfortunately Caroline and Aiden saw things from such divergent perspectives that one or both are lying to themselves. The entire scenario seemed contrived and I ultimately gave up. I did not finish the book.

Caroline is a rich wife who has been married to her husband for 20 years. Aiden is the local bad boy who is a bartender in the local bar. He has served time and is on probation.

The story goes between Caroline's version of events and Aiden's version of events. They are very different. Who is telling the truth to the reader? Who is lying to the reader?

Honestly I couldn't stop reading. I was able to figure it out but not until late in the book. I enjoyed this and would definitely read something else from author.

Michele Campbell once again penned an addictive thriller that kept me hanging on until the very last page. The two unreliable narrators kept me wondering who to believe and what really happened during the storm. The contradictory chapters deepened the mystery and the reader’s search for the truth.

I did not like this book but did finish it, as I was granted the opportunity to read and review it as an ARC, via Netgalley. The characters were a compilation of woodenheads and miscreants, including the police, chief of police and the attorneys involved. I do not want to interject spoilers but I will say that I figured out the ending quite quickly.The repetition of dialogue felt like being beaten over the head. I got it the first time! Disappointed with this “beach read” but my own fault for thinking it would be a page turner/mystery. Thank you Netgally and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

This book is a tricky one to rate because I am left trying to decide if the positives outweighed the negatives. The story got off to a real strong start, but about a third of the way in I began to lose interest in some of the characters. Points to the author for coming up with a slightly creative story but there were parts I wish were more fully fleshed out.

Caroline is living the high life in a beautiful new beach house when her whole world is knocked upside down. Her husband has been keeping secrets from her and Caroline finds herself being comforted by a handsome stranger named Aiden. And let's just say this fling is going to have disastrous consequences.

A big reason this story didn't completely work for me was Caroline. I realize the story is complicated but I still think the author needed to fine tune the character a bit along with a few others. In order for a story like this to work on a high level, the reader needs to have this uneasy feeling while reading that something terrible is going to happen to a character they care about. That extra layer of drama just wasn't there and it didn't make a difference to me if something bad happened to her or her family.

I had some problems with a few of the transitions in the book. I literally questioned more than once how the story got to that point and whether my kindle had skipped a few pages. I don't know how to describe it other than it feeling like there was no explanation to why a character was acting a certain way. Fully understanding characters' motivations is something I struggled with at times while reading the story. I think there needed to be a better setup as to why characters made certain decisions as in some cases the reasoning was pretty flimsy. It just wasn't something I could completely buy into and it felt like it was being told rather than shown.

The author tried to do something different with this story which I appreciate and overall this is an okay read. I just think the potential was there for a thoroughly entertaining story but it fell short.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.