This was the first book I'd read by Rona Halsall and it was an easy read. I loved the beginning of the book but the middle seemed to drag for me, with both characters being unlikable. I adored the ending and found myself cheering for Chloe! The twists and turns kept up until the very end. Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy. I will be recommending to purchase at our library.

THE HONEYMOON was a great novel that kept me guessing until the end. I really enjoyed it because it was full of surprises and I was hoping for a great outcome in the end. Great suspense novel and well worth the read.

I love a good psychological thriller so when I read the synopsis for The Honeymoon, I was excited to dive right in and read what I thought was going to be another great addition to the genre. However, when I actually got round to reading it, I wasn’t as gripped as I expected to be and the story fell flat for me. There were so many little things that irked me so unfortunately I finished reading the book more because I wanted to complete it rather than out of enjoyment.

The novel is focused on newlyweds Chloe and Dan who are jetting off on their honeymoon, a seemingly perfect couple with a whirlwind romance…whatever could go wrong? When a last minute change of destination comes up, Chloe is confused but still wants to think the best of her husband, but as more and more sinister behaviour comes to light, Chloe wonders if she knows the man she loves at all or whether she’s made the biggest mistake of her life.

I’m going to be honest here, I didn’t like any of the characters in this novel so it was hard for me to really sympathise for them, including the protagonist Chloe. I feel like she made so many unrealistic decisions through the course of the story and none of them made any sense to me. I also found the supporting characters to be annoying and unlikeable, especially Chloes grandmother. She was cruel to Chloe for no valid reason, despite the fact that Chloe is her full time carer and has put her life aside to help her out. While I respect what the author may have been trying to do here by shedding light on an abusive family situation, it wasn’t nuanced enough and fell short of the impact it deserved to have.

Aside from the characters who felt extremely one dimensional, the thriller or mystery aspect of the novel was underwhelming. While there was one plot point I didn’t expect which was done well, the entire execution and the ‘gas lighting’ of Chloe was just too much for me to handle. The only book where I’ve seen that done well was The Girl on The Train. In short, I wasn’t gripped or as invested in the plot as I usually like to be when reading a thriller so the reveals and twists didn’t have an impact on me.

Overall, while the premise of The Honeymoon sounded interesting and unique, it just left me a bit deflated and wasn’t for me clearly. Despite that, I feel like some readers may enjoy this novel so don’t write it off completely and give it a try, perhaps someone else will enjoy it more.

I loved the idea behind this book and I enjoyed the beginning. Unfortunately I felt there wasn't much happening , I didn't take to any of the characters, didn't care what happened to the two main characters and if I hadn't received the book in order to give an honest review, I probably wouldn't have finished it.
I do wish the author well with this book though and it has received lots of positive reviews. However it just wasn't for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC

I finished this book in one day! A brilliant page turned that is impossible to put down. Very fast paced,unpredictable and not cliche like i thought it was going to be. Twists and turns all the way through until the very end. It was refreshing that no character was completely innocent. Not a lot of characters but full of depth. The story didn't need any additional characters. Loved the tagline that really drew me in. This book shows how you show the best sides of yourself and how well do you know someone especially after two months. First book I have read from this author but will definitely read more. I loved her style of writing and felt like I was transported into the book. Thank you to the publisher, via Netgalley and Rona Halsall for the privilege of an advanced copy in return for an unbiased review.

Chloe's honeymoon is far from newlywed bliss. She quickly learns that something is not quite right about her husband, Dan. This was a fun, fast-paced novel that will make you think twice about if you truly know who you married.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Okay, this was a weird one. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but at the same time I couldn't stop reading it. So, I'm not sure how I feel. I just know that it was definitely an interesting read. Chloe takes care of her grandmother and is estranged from her siblings. She meets Dan and falls in love overnight. They get married right away and fly off to their honeymoon. Except they don't go to their planned destination, because Dan decides to change their plans without telling Chloe. Unhappy, she decides to go with the flow and make the best of their trip. Only, Dan is becoming rather controlling - to the point that he is always with her and won't let her out of his sight. She feels suffocated and alone and afraid. Who is Dan? What happened to the man she fell in love with? Basically, Dan is a stranger and Chloe finds herself having to figure out who he is and what he wants from her. Its crazy, OTT, and fun to read. There were parts that I found annoying and unbelievable, but overall, I did enjoy it. A good summer read.

Not such a good idea to marry Dan so fast- no sirree. No spoilers but suffice it to say that Chloe, who thought she was heading to the Maldives for her honeymoon, finds herself locked up in a house in Menorca. Dan, who seemed so nice and gentleman-like- well he isn't now. There are secrets, there are lies (duh) and there's danger. Halsall does a nice job with portraying Chloe's anxiety and the stress of the situation. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A well plotted and written read.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Honeymoon’ by Rona Halsall in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Chloe is a physiotherapist and during a routine appointment she meets the patient’s good-looking son and they fall in love. Within two months of meeting, Dan and Chloe are married and on the flight to Chloe’s dream honeymoon destination, the Maldives, or are they? When they arrive in Menorca and Dan says they’re going to live on the island permanently, alarm bells start to ring as she’s increasingly getting the feeling she’s being kept a prisoner. Things go from bad to worse and Chloe has to ask herself if she really knows the man she’s married. Is the saying ‘marry in haste, repent in leisure’ true in her case?

‘The Honeymoon’ is a gripping and tense thriller with an intriguing plot. I like the character of Chloe although she’s unbelievably naïve with some of her actions, ready to believe the best in Dan although he proves time and again to be untrustworthy and a liar, and there are times I want to pick her up and shake her. There are numerous twists and turns and a conclusion that’s both surprising and fitting. I’ve been hooked from page one, finished the book it in just over a day and can recommend it.

The Honeymoon by Rona Halsall

As I finished I thought, “twisted web” then had to look the words up and realized it was a tangled web quote I was thinking of, “O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!” and Walter Scott definitely would have agreed with me that this story was both tangled and twisted, too.

We know from the beginning of the book that Chloe, on her way to her dream honeymoon, will soon be having second thoughts. As the story moves from the race to the plane to the first inklings of something not right then on to more and more to question I wondered why Chloe kept giving her husband Dan the benefit of the doubt. There were several flashbacks to the meeting and courtship period between Chloe and Dan and then I scratched my head more than a few times thinking of how naive and gullible Chloe seemed to be. As I read I questioned and though there were times that I disagreed with Dan’s behavior and questioned his veracity I felt that I was missing part of his backstory and was curious about what he was hiding.

I have to say that there was more than one option I saw as the end of this story BUT I was surprised that it ended as it did and for a person who reads the end of a book out of order...this book still kept me guessing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC ~ This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Chloe is a physical therapist and she also is the caregiver for her Gran. She lives a very solitary and quiet life. That is, until a patient comes in for rehab and her handsome son is with her. Sparks immediately fly, there is a whirlwind courtship and marriage. Then, when they go on the honeymoon everything starts unraveling... quickly. Dan says they are going to stay on the island. Not as a joke. He plans to keep her there for good.
Sounds like it would be a great psychological thriller, right? I wish. If you can make it through 4/5 of the book, the final 1/5 is pretty good. Unfortunately, you can't just skip to the good parts. Chloe is annoying and wishy-washy, Dan is creepy and at times scary, Chloe's Gran is very rude and abrupt. The majority of the situations (and Chloe's response to them) were unrealistic. I spent most of the book either wanting to throttle Chloe, or wanting to throttle myself for still reading the book.

<b>‘I’m your husband, Chloe. We’re a partnership now and we do what’s best for us as a couple. Staying here is going to be the best option.’ He picked up his drink and took a sip. ‘It’s not open for discussion. We’re not going home.’</b>

After a whirlwind romance- we are talking a month or two here - Chloe and Dan decide to get married. They are in love. They are soulmates. They are going to live happily ever after. Or are they?

That is the premise here. There are many books out there that ask the question, "How well do you know someone?" Can you really know someone in a months or two time so much so that you marry them and are off on your dream honeymoon - except, it turns out to not be a dream – It’s more like a nightmare.

This book had some twists and turns and lots of warning bells went off in my head while reading this. This was a fun, escapism book which didn't disappoint. At the very beginning of the book, some bells and whistles go off as I read along as the Chloe experiences her honeymoon. It's not the honeymoon she always dreamed about. Chloe and Dan both had secrets going into their marriage, and both are haunted by them.

This proved to be a fast read which kept me on my toes. The characters were interesting. With this book, the reader will see things unraveling and yet, the Author still pulled off more twists at the end. Sure, some of the "relationship issues: we have seen before (I wont name them to avoid spoilers) but this book still felt fresh. There is one twist toward the end, which had the “Oh come on” light going off over my head, but overall, an enjoyable read.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found the suspense and tension of this book really enthralling. This is a true psychological thriller whereby you feel the protagonist’s horror and fear.
Chloe has always wanted a husband and family to love her after her dark past with her own family. So when she meets Dan, she thinks this has finally happened. After a whirlwind romance, they marry and head off on honeymoon as blissful as can be. However, things start to turn very fast, and we begin to see Dan in a completely different light. He is egotistical and controlling, and Chloe is suddenly trapped.
The tension Chloe was feeling kept me turning the page to see how she was going to get out of the predicament she found herself in. It actually started to make me feel claustrophobic like I couldn’t escape. I was in the book in her shoes, feeling it all.
The conclusion took a while to come; the author really built up the suspense and left us, the readers, and Chloe in the unknown. The ending was quite dragged out. You get all the answers and more, but it felt like it went on a bit. Up until about 75% in, this was a five-star read, but the ending, unfortunately, took it down to a four. I like to know the outcome of a story and the aftermaths, but when it said one year later, then six months later, then two weeks later, I found myself rolling my eyes.
Some of Chloe’s actions later in the book were frustrating as well. If I had felt as wary of Dan as she did, and knowing the potential to be trapped, I would keep all my valuables on my person and not let them out of my sight, but she was leaving them all over the place which only landed her in further trouble. This was very annoying as she had seemed on the ball, and wasn’t prepared to put up with any nonsense up until this point. She was a likeable character as she wasn’t one of these weak-willed protagonists that you usually come across in psych thrillers. She knew her own mind and was prepared to stick up for her rights and her life. This made the silly actions even more disappointing.
Overall, it was a good read and kept me hooked to the end, but unfortunately, the ending left me feeling a little disillusioned.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The gorgeous cover caught my eye, and the premise sounded intriguing. Sadly, once I started reading, I found that the cover was the best part - the storyline was very very slow to develop, and I ended up quite annoyed with the main character and her habit of questioning herself, her perception of others, other people (and of course specifically the man she married so quickly). This just went on and on, and the author was obviously trying to build up suspense, but the twists were not twisty and the ending, while satisfying, took much too long to arrive.

Goodreads review posted here (direct link not possible): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2807610200

After a whirlwind romance, Chloe and Dan are married with only 8 people present at the ceremony and Chloe's gran can't wait to get away quickly enough after the formalities. They met at Chloe's work - her job is a physio at the local hospital and she's treating Dan's mum following an accident. They've hit it off from the moment their eyes met and the pair of them can't wait to start their lives together as a couple. Chloe has told Dan her dreams, but has held back on telling him the detail of why she doesn't get on well with her family. She knows very little about the man himself, but is so swept away on her emotions she's not given that side of things a thought. Until perhaps it's too late.

Her first inkling that something isn't going right is at the airport on their way to their honeymoon: the Maldives, they've discussed it. Dan has made all the arrangements, and Chloe is loving being looked after for once - someone else making the decisions and doing the organising for a change. But that's not where they're going. Their destination: Menorca. Not quite the dream honeymoon Chloe had always dreamt of. Why has Dan changed things - and why leave it til they're on the plane to mention the change? Chloe is fuming but the look in Dan's eyes tells her not to push it. She actually feels intimidated by him and a little scared - he's a big, strong guy and her gut tells her that he could do her some serious damage if she crosses him.

At this stage of the book I felt the story was going in the direction of BA Paris's Behind Closed Doors but while the story was equally as good quality it didn't head in quite the same direction. Dan certainly controls Chloe's life in a similar way, however his intentions are quite different. I'm not going to go into any more depth but suffice to say that I really didn't know whether Dan's reasoning was genuine or not. I like that Chloe was no pushover, and despite having rushed into her nuptials she did keep her wits about her in trying to change her situation. My sympathies whilst predominantly with Chloe did sway on numerous occasions towards Dan, but I highly recommend you read this book and make up your own mind as to whether he is just misguided and trying to protect the love of his life or if he just wants a partner he can control 24/7. Certainly a book for fans of BA Paris in my opinion.

This is a book full of surprises and twists.
The finale was amazing and I just had to keep reading. And the shocks kept on coming right until the last page.
It was written in a lovely easy style.
This book is most definitely worth a read even if thrillers aren’t your usual style of book.

Chloe meets Dan when he brings his mum in for physical therapy. After a 2-month whirlwind courtship, they wed and leave for a honeymoon in the Maldives. However, Dan has surprised Chloe and changed their destination to Menorca. This sets off a series of events which has Chloe wondering if her prince charming is really the devil in disguise. I really enjoyed this quick easy read which was full of suspense and surprises. I found the characters pretty much unlikeable including her Gran, but overall it is a very good book and I especially liked the ending. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read an ARC of this page-turner in exchange for an honest review.

My third book by Rona Halsall, the cover ensnared me like you wouldn't believe it. The book brought out the adage in an apt manner
Marry in haste, repent in waste

Chloe married Dan after knowing him for less than two months. And would you believe what happened next... Yeah.. you guessed it, she went for her honeymoon to Maldives. But therein lay a twist.. As she was about to board, she saw that the tickets were to an isolated godforsaken place in Menorca. And her problems started there. Her passport and phone were taken away, she was kept locked in the house, and Dan wanted to stay forever on that island to supposedly protect her.... Did she escape?

Rona's writing was superfluous, I loved the way she kept me thinking who was a liar and who was the psycho. Emotions of claustrophobia literally trapped me in place, stuck to my kindle. But Rona made a way out for her, and Chloe escaped. But found everything changed... She had to come back to Menorca.

Husband Dan was written with quicksilver moods sometimes loving and tender then controlling and ruthless. I never could decide who he was till the end of the story. I liked how the chapters unfurled, pulling the fly into the spider's web. Was I the fly? I wondered...

My niggles flew in soon. Chloe was a pendulum, insecure and non-confident, never keeping to her decisions. She kept swaying in every chapter. He loves me, he loves me not!! And she was supposed to be an independent physiotherapist. Ah well, love does this to sane women, make us all insane!!

A plot line which changed in every chapter kept me hopping through the story. It took me only three hours to get through it. A fast fun read.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story but after that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would certainly recommend it.

When Chloe met Dan, she thought all her dreams were finally coming true. After years of guilt from her past and feeling unlovable, Chloe saw her life taking a step in a positive direction with Dan.

Their romance was whirlwind and within weeks of dating, Dan and Chloe became engaged. And not long after, they had a small wedding ceremony. Chloe always dreamed of honeymooning in the Maldives and was thrilled when Dan took the reigns to plan their trip there. But when they get onto the plane, Chloe learns they’re headed not to the Maldives, but to Spain. Leaving Chloe with no time to process this information, she has to make a split-second decision and she chooses to trust her new husband.

But in Spain, Chloe sees a new side of Dan. A scary, possessive, paranoid and aggressive side. She questions just how much she knew Dan before marrying him. And now Chloe might be paying the price for her naïveté, or maybe it’s payback for what she did all those years ago. But one thing is for sure: this is a honeymoon Chloe will surely never forget.

The Honeymoon is Rona Halsall’s latest thriller. Chloe’s experience is every newlywed’s nightmare and we get to see her situation turn from bad to worse. I felt like I was watching a movie where you’re yelling at the tv, telling the woman to not go into the woods alone—I kept wanting Chloe to make different, smarter decisions, but alas, she kept going deeper into the metaphorical woods. This was a fun, short thriller. Nothing “wowed” me, but I enjoyed it and am interested to read more by this author. 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Rona Halsall for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.