I could not get into this one. While the premise was intriguing, I just wasn't invested & it's a DNF for me. Thanks for the opportunity to be a reader & reviewer.

It just wasn’t for me. I was confused and a tad bit bored. I will try another book by Michele and maybe I’ll have better luck.

This was a great edge of your seat book! This book kept me captivated the whole time! I could not put it done!

I was given my copy of Michele Campbell's A Stranger on the Beach by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This book was released by St. Martin's Press on July 23, 2019.

Caroline is unnerved when she sees a stranger outside her perfect beach house. When he ends up being hired as a bartender for her luxurious beach party, she seems to put him out of her mind. When she and her husband end up in a very loud fight at the party, her life starts to unravel. She ends up drinking with Aiden, the stranger at the bar where he works. They go home together, and it means nothing to her. To him, it's a different story. When Caroline's husband goes missing, all fingers point to Aiden and Caroline will have to figure out the enemy before it's too late.

This was a super fast thriller. It would be a great beach/poolside read. The relationship between Caroline and Aiden is so nerve-wracking. The book definitely has the vibe of Single White Female (I'm showing my age, I know). It was really enjoyable. The ending wasn't what I expected, which is always a good thing. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I was definitely entertained. It was a fun ride, and I would definitely give any other Michele Campbell books a chance based on my enjoyment of this one.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars

Caroline Stark's life looked perfect: a loving husband, a wonderful daughter, a budding career in interior design and a beautiful, brand-new beach house. However, during a party to announce her comeback to designing, she realizes her life might not be as perfect as she thought. She's been publicly embarrassed by her lying husbands actions and she soon realizes their bank account has been completely drained. Caroline finds comfort in stranger, and townie, Aiden. What is a fling to Caroline is a true love story to Aiden and this creates a rocky situation once Caroline finds out she can use that to her advantage to manipulate Aiden... but Aiden may be also be gaining something from this relationship. Soon you begin to wonder who is actually manipulating who. This book shows everything is not always as it seems and it's important to pay attention to the small details.

I think this book started out great and I zipped through a bunch of chapters at first but then it became a bit slow and felt a bit like a chore to get through the middle. All in all I did enjoy the book; it had a twist I wasn't expecting and that's something I really like.

St. Martin's Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of A Stranger on the Beach. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Caroline Stark's beach house was supposed to provide her with a moment of glory, not destroy her world. Never truly on board with buying the land or building the house, Caroline's husband does the unthinkable. Jason shows up with another woman to the housewarming party, as their friends, colleagues, and the media look on in surprise. After he tells her to end the marriage, Caroline ends up turning to a stranger for comfort. Will what happens next turn out to be the biggest mistake of Caroline's life?

A Stranger on the Beach is like a classic he said/she said, but with totally unlikable characters. Everyone takes a side, whether on the side of right, of wrong, or so misguided that they do not know what end is up. The best way I can sum up A Stranger on the Beach is "Eh." I have read my fair share of psychological thrillers and mysteries, ones with better characters and a similar plot. This novel does not have a lot of intrigue or redeeming characters and, with certain aggrieved parties covered under a cloud of suspicion, they are not even worthy of my sympathy. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend A Stranger on the Beach to other readers.

Caroline Stark has been married to her husband, Jason, for 20 years. They have one daughter, Hannah, who is a freshman in college. When Caroline's husband brings his mistress to their housewarming party, Caroline is beside herself. In order to get back at Jason, she decides to have a one-night stand with a local bartender, Aidan, who also just happens to be the stranger who like to stand on the beach and stare at her house for hours. But the events that follow that one night are far more than Caroline bargained for. Even stranger her story and Aidan's story seem completely different. Who is telling the truth? And who will you believe?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book drew me in from the very beginning and didn't let me go until the end. Being a woman I truly felt bad for Caroline and the situation she was in. I think I would lose it, if I found out my husband was having an affair. I don't know if I would go out looking for vindication by doing the same deed.

From the start, I didn't like Aidan, he seemed like one of those guys you say hi to in passing and the next thing you know, he's everywhere you turn. He really creeped me out.

I loved this book and I couldn't put it down. I didn't see the twists and turns coming and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Michele Campbell writes books that leave your mind spinning. Pick this one up as soon as you can.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this turned out to be. It's quite different and a breath of fresh air compared to your typical domestic thriller about lies, cheating and secrets. The book was engaging from the beginning and a fun read.

Told in the POVs of Aiden and Caroline, my favourite part was how we got to see two very different perspectives of the same events. It's soon obvious that there's more to what one person is saying but even then, I did not see the last couple of twists coming. Such good execution and storytelling!

The action-packed climax was also quite exciting and I liked hearing about/from all the other side characters too.

Looking forward to exploring the author's other works.

Nail biting twists and turns. A captivating story that keeps you invested. A go to author of mine!

Michele Campbell has done it again! I devoured A Stranger on the Beach. I had so many theories about how everything was connected and how it was going to end, but I was shocked in the end. I LOVED the surprise twist and thought about it for days after finishing the book. Soooo good!

A case of not judging people at face value. Even if it is a beautiful face.
Bit of a conventional start: beautiful older woman sees a beautiful younger man on the beach. They are instantly attracted and begin an affair after she discovers her husband is also committing adultery. Two beautiful people in a beautiful house on a beautiful beach.

After a few chapters (too many) there are some contradictions in the story, as the point of view switches between the man and the woman. As the book progresses these differences become wider and the story takes a sinister turn until someone is murdered. Then we have to choose who to believe, if either of them.

A contemporary psychological thriller that manages to keep the pace and the confusion at the right level. A bad boy or a naive and unlucky soul? A manipulative selfish woman or an abused and trusting victim? Each character displays their flaws, recognises them and then attempts to redeem themselves with a fair bit of self pity.

Towards the end, the story changes into a crime novel and the focus becomes the police investigation and a whodunnit. New point of view and a new character, slightly late in the book to develop attachments, but fairly well-done. Overall an engaging and enjoyable read once past the apparent shallow opening chapters.

This novel is reminiscent of Gone Girl in its style and plot. The dual points of view with at least one, maybe two, unreliable narrators propulses the story making it a page turner. The twists are well executed and some of the characters are well fleshed out. However, there are many questions left unanswered, some loose ends that could have been tied up nicely and a few eye-rolling moments. All in all, an excellent psychological thriller with a twist.

An excellent follow-up to the author's earlier works. While the writing is a bit pedestrian, the tension she creates with conflicting POV characters escalates with each chapter. She lays her cards out on the table from the get-go, but it takes the reader awhile to realize what she's doing. Although I figured out the final twist, it felt like beating an experienced poker player. A wonderful addition to the domestic thriller genre.

This was a great 'beach' read! From start to finish, the book goes quickly and it's over before you know it. I read it two sittings. This was my second book by Michele Campbell, and so I felt good going in knowing it would be a great read. The story is told from a few points of view, but it was easy to follow along and keep up.

Wow! I really loved this one and honestly didn't see the twist at the end coming which made me love it even more. I loved the characters and how the author makes you feel about them throughout the book. Would highly recommend this read!

I struggled through this one. I honestly skimmed some parts because I just did not know why it was dragging so much. A plot like this should move fast and not stop, but it kept dragging. I felt Aidan to be a bit dramatic and Caroline to be pretentious. I am over dual POVs in a thriller. At least ones that alternate often.

This was a pretty decent book, however I didn’t find anything super fascinating about it. I have read books from this author before and found them decent as wel.

This book had me on the edge of me seat for most of it. Aiden sounded like someone who women could easily fall for and was charming at first. I hope this is going to be made into a movie because it will be a perfect thriller to watch. I would definitely go see it. I did not see the ending coming and was surprised by the twist. I will be looking for other books by this author. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC.

Wow, was this one fun, twisty ride! While I wouldn't say it broke any new ground, A Stranger on the Beach was a fast-paced an enjoyable thriller/women's fiction hybrid that just worked! I think that it's a novel with a lot of promise, even if that promise isn't met 100% of the time. Overall, it's a fast and forgettable read, but a solid one

I couldn’t put this book down. This is my first Michele Campbell book, and definitely not my last. A Stranger on the Beach kept you guessing right to the very end. Ms. Campbell has done a wonderful job of switching between Aidens version of the truth, and Caroline’s version of the truth. Her characters a well defined and very believable. Definitely a must read.