No Smoke Without Fire was one of my favourite reads in February. I enjoyed the different elements that each of the point of views and flashbacks provided and the way the MC changed her stanse on the situation towards the end.

I was disappointed with this book. The storyline sounded great but it just did not hit the mark for me. Characters unlikeable and plot far fetched at times.. Did not like the ending at all . I skim read over several parts as I just wanted to finish it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

Unfortunately this book did not hit the spot for me. Marketed as a thriller I found it lacked any sort of tension and suspense and I wasn't really gripped enough by the storyline to keep reading.

The storyline seems a bit all over the place and hard to follow, everything is revealed to us very early on so it's more a case of following Celeste discover what's going on as opposed to figuring out ourselves, which I think takes a lot of the intrigue and excitement out of it.

Talking of Celeste, I'm not sure whether we were meant to like her or not but I found her quite difficult to like. Her character is quite inconsistent, one minutes she's helping people the next she is using them to her advantage. The rest of the characters seem fairly one dimensional and didn't seem to add a lot to the story.

For me, the ending was the best part of the book, I quite liked the turn it took.

I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend this book, the psychological thriller market is a saturated one and there are better books out there to read.

I received No Smoke Without Fire by Claire Lewis as an ARC from NetGalley. Celeste still feels guilty about her brother's death 7 years ago in a fire and is still dealing with the aftermath. Also she has a stalker and can't figure out who it is. This book fell flat for me. I didn't like the character of Celeste and didn't feel any sympathy for her even with all her problems. I also didn't like the way the book went back and forth between Celeste's point of view and the stalker's point of view.

The synopsis and cover for this book really caught my attention and after seeing so many positive reviews, I was really looking forward to a suspenseful thriller. Unfortunately I was just left feeling disappointed.

There was something lacking for me. It started well and I was getting “You” vibes - a stalker watching the girl from across the street and stalking online - sounds great right? But instead it didn’t really go anywhere. It felt far too slow. The plot could have been great but didn’t deliver on the promise it showed early on. Although there was a twist at the end, it didn’t feel realistic or make sense to me. Instead I was left thinking, is that it?

The other reason this book didn’t really work for me was Celeste. As the main protagonist, who’s clearly been through a lot of trauma in her life, I wanted to like her. I wanted to root for her. Instead she irritated me. I found her to be annoying and manipulative. I couldn’t warm to her at all and therefore I didn’t feel any connection to her story.

No Smoke Without Fire promised so much but sadly it didn’t deliver and just wasn’t for me.

2 stars

Trigger warnings - rape, gaslighting, stalking, violence, abuse.

No Smoke Without Fire is a slow burn (no pun intended) of a story. There are multiple timelines and points of view but at no time was I confused. The story is unraveled bit by bit, without telling you too much at a time. There are some dark themes of rape and abuse and this story might not be for everyone. Some scenes were hard to read.

Celeste is a young, single student who lives with 2 of her closest friends. She works part time in a florist when she is not studying. We learn about her traumatic past through her flashbacks. Her ex-boyfriend has returned and wants to re-connect but she has tried really hard to put her past behind her. At the same time she has a stalker. She is determined to find out who is watching her and why. The ending is dramatic and unexpected.

Thanks to Netgalley and Aria for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

A good read and an interesting plot. I liked the idea of this story but I thought it was a bit slow in places. I also did not like the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This was an awesome book. It was great right from the start. I really connected with the writing. It really had me not wanting to put the book down. Great plot and great characters.

Great read! A suspenseful must read! Draws you in from the beginning. Held my attention throughout. I highly recommend this one.

Thanks Netgalley and to the publisher for the advance ecopy.

Wow, this was one of those books that really grabbed my attention and did not let go until I was finished! It was absolutely unputdownable, fast paced, well written, and also provided the necessities a good thriller will; shocks, twists & turns, suspense, thrills, and chills! I will be looking into more by this author! I highly, highly recommend!
Will make sure to buzz it up on all the different platforms!

Really enjoyed reading this one! Solid plot, well developed characters kept me gripped till the end.

The narrative shifts between the past and the present which helps to connect everything together.

Is really creepy and dark suspense novel. I really enjoyed it. A few scary moments and surprises. We’ll worth reading xx

The synopsis and the cover made me excited to read this book, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy the story as much as I thought I would. The story and the characters lacked depth and the book didn't hold my interest.

Fantastic read. I thou roughly loved this book. It had me hooked from the first page. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I will definitely be looking for this author in the future. Very well written

A good story. I didn't power through it and did find it a little slow, but once I got into it I enjoyed it. No real stand out features for me though, sorry.

I really enjoyed this book! A great story line that kept me hooked and excellent main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

Fantastic book from beginning to end. This is full of suspense and I haven’t been able to put this one down. It is a fantastic read and the author really pulled me in from the very beginning.

I find this one hard to review. It definitely kept my attention and had me wondering what was actually going on. But I guess it all ended a little too neatly for me. I found the story a bit twisted but not twisty- and I’d prefer it the other way around. Not enough surprises for me.

There is some sexual content, including rape. It is somewhat of a #metoo story so it’s not as if it’s extra to the story (I guess except for the main character’s stalker) but I’ve already read a couple of these recently and maybe would have skipped a third if I had known ahead of time.

I was disappointed by lack of character depth. You really only get to know the main character, Celeste, even though most of it is told in the 3rd person. There are several other characters in the story but they’re all pretty shallow. We get into the stalker’s mind but his involvement toward the end seemed like a lazy way to handle it.

I also thought there was a lot of extra information/facts included that though a few times were interesting, I didn’t feel like it meshed well with the story unlike other authors’ attempt at this. It just felt a bit tedious to read through and move on.

I think there are a lot of people that this book might resonate with and find more appealing. I guess for me it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t necessarily one that I’d be recommending to my friends.

My first thought when I finished was: “Okay....sooo...? Okay, I guess that’s just it then.”

I’d call this book average, but I won’t go so far as to say not to read it. It’s your call, bro.

**Received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

There are some books out there that will pull you in straight away but just as quick will disconnect you... this was one of those for me.!

The blurb and the cover had me hooked but in all honesty I was just left feeling disappointed. It just didnt capture me at all and I spent the majority questioning whether I should carry on reading or not, wanting to give an honest review I did!

The two timelines are obviously there to show how the personality of the main character Celeste has grown but I found it distracting alot of the time.

On a positive the actual storyline is well played out.

I loved Claire's first novel 'She's Mine' and will definitely read the next, this one just wasnt for me.

With thanks to netgalley and Aria for the ARC.

No Smoke Without Fire by Claire S Lewis is a solidly written, passable thriller that, unfortunately, just did not grip me in any substantial way. I am unsure if my disconnect was with the writing style or my ambiguous feelings for the protagonist, but sadly things fell a bit flat quite early, and I failed to muster much enthusiasm for the duration of the narrative.

Celeste is continuing to struggle with feelings of guilt seven years after a personal trauma. Adding further to her stress, a stalker is on the prowl, while at the same time her high school boyfriend makes a timely reappearance. With all of these factors contributing to her anxiety, Celeste decides that the time is right to start a new business of tidying up gravestones for those who are in absentia. Naturally, spending lots of alone time in dark and deserted cemeteries is all in a day's work for the enterprising Celeste. The idea of this being a sensible business plan for someone who is already vulnerable as a result of PTSD is perhaps where I began to question the plausibility of the storyline. Yes, I am almost certain that it was.

While I was unable to suspend all disbelief enough to fully engage with the story, I definitely feel that I am the odd one out here, so please give this one a try for yourself. I would certainly consider reading more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria for this ARC.