I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I found this book to be kind of boring.
The beginning was very slow that I gave up once. I had to come back a couple months later.
I think switching to between the audiobook and ebook helped.

I guessed the mysteries pretty much right away, the author gave us too many details that it was pretty obvious to me.

I would read a different book by this author because I did like her writing. This book was just not my favorite.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Charlotte (previously known as Charlie) has never claimed to be smart or sophisticated. But she married Paul because they were in love, not just because he was rich and made her life a whole lot easier. Paul's first wife had died swimming in the lake outside their house. Some people thought he killed her, but Charlotte recognized that he had truly loved her. Between her poor past and suspicions about his dead wife, they weren't very popular in the small town of Lake Crosby, but that was okay because they had each other.

When Charlotte finds the drowned body of another woman in the same place where Paul's first wife was found years earlier, she's forced to start questioning some unsettling coincidences. She may not have a lot of allies since she moved up from the poor side of the mountain, but now that she's pregnant, she has more than just her own life and well-being to worry about.

Charlotte was a likable character - very down-to-earth, sincere, and scrappy. She knows sometimes she has to do things less than right to survive, but she has a solid line she won't cross in knowing the difference between right and wrong. Even massive amounts of money aren't worth a guilty conscience for her.

I have to admit I did not fully see the ending coming. By about half way through I was starting to narrow it down, but I like being surprised, so I usually just hang on and enjoy the ride. I'd give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. The plot wasn't obvious to me, and the characters felt realistic in most of their responses, emotions, and reactions. I'd recommend this book for those who enjoy unique thrillers and small-town mysteries.

Kimberly Belle is always so much fun to read. Her characters are interesting and the storylines flow well. It’s best not to say too much. Great read.

Wow! One of the Best thrillers of the year hands down! Captivating and totally suspense filled right to the last page! Buried secrets always have a way of coming back to haunt and for Charlotte this is life changing. Thinking she has everything she ever wanted, a husband and baby on the way she finds a body in the lake that will change everything she thought she had and makes her question it all. This is a book that will mostly on the edge the couch all night ! Loved this!

Stranger in the Lake was my first read by Kimberly Belle! It was a wonderful, pageturning book. I will read all of Kimberly's past and future books. Will recommend and reread!

Charlotte has felt a little out of place in her hometown ever since she married the wealthy widower, Paul. She grew up on the wrong side of tracks with her brother Chet, where they were lucky to get three meals a day. Never in a million years did Charlotte dream that she would live with her rich husband out on the exclusive lake. Even now, it still feels like a dream and that she doesn't belong there. Then one morning Charlotte walks down to the dock to discover the body of a woman she saw talking to Paul the day before. Charlotte is not just traumatized but terrified that her husband had something to do it. Especially when he disappears into the North Carolina woods. The longer Paul is gone, the more Charlotte is starting to believe that her husband has been keeping some very dark secrets from her. But was he the one who killed The Stranger in the Lake?

I have heard a lot of people say good things about Kimberly Belle's books, but I hadn't had a chance to read one yet. Stranger in the Lake was an atmospheric psychological thriller. The setting of the lake in a snowstorm gave it a really interesting vibe that I really liked. I liked Charlotte as the main character, but I got annoyed at her very present "imposter syndrome." She didn't feel like she belonged in Paul's life or his home. She always referred to it as "his" not "ours." And that is just sad to me. I also liked her relationship with her brother, Chet. He was always there for her when she needed him. There was a bit of a surprising twist with the reveal of who killed Sienna. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - Stranger in the Lake was the kind of thriller that I love to read. Interesting characters, atmospheric setting, and chilling mystery.

Details:
Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle
On Instagram
Pages: 352
Publisher: ParkRow
Publication Date: 6.9.2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

I am forever drawn into Belle's stories. Here she brings us into a marriage where the protagonist is married to an older man whose wealth provides her with the luxury and security she never had growing up. With this union comes the speculation in this small town as now she seems to neither fit within her new life or her old. The death of his first wife coupled with the mysterious and yet similar death to the stranger found in the same lake by their house brings secrets to the surface. Just how well does she know her husband?

Belle brings us some timely lessons of morality, loyalty, family and abuse of power. I was drawn into the story straight from the beginning. However, I do think there was a little bit of repetitiveness and a slow bit of a burn that caused my interest to fade here and there. I was still very much needing to know what was going to happen and didn't figure out the culprit until it was revealed. But alas, the ending was a tad bit underwhelming while the lessons were strong. Do I sound like I'm a bit torn? Well it's because I am.

I would put this under a lighter domestic suspense of a read. Belle is an author I absolutely enjoy and if you've like your thrillers with some lessons learned, this would be a great read for you.

2.5, rounded down. I'm not exactly sure why this didn't work for me. I figured out the twists, which certainly didn't help, but I think the biggest thing was I didn't relate to the main character, Charlotte. Other reviewers have said they couldn't connect with her at all and I agree. She seemed naive and made a lot of stupid choices. She never questioned her husband, who clearly was hiding something (many things) and never questioned the fact that his previous wife was found at the bottom of the lake behind his house. When another body turns up and he has no alibi, she still doesn't suspect him at all. Nor does she look at other characters in the book that she's connected with and suspect anything is off with them.

I also don't like how the main character suddenly has a revelation which changes everything. It kind of feels cheap for me.

The plot itself was semi-interesting, but it's been done before. With better character development, this would have been a solid three-star thriller, but it just wasn't. I've read other Kimberly Belle books and enjoyed them, so I'll give this a pass and try again.

How well do we really know our spouses? The ultimate question in domestic thriller. The book may concern a stranger in the lake, but the real stranger is the one sleeping next to us. A tight, Christie-like mystery with multiple threads that come together nicely in the end.

This was not what I was expecting. Definitely not my favorite read. I am not sure I would recommend it. I felt like it was more predictable than not.

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I loved all the twists and turns and would definitely recommend this summer thriller of a read.

Kimberly Belle has done it once again! A masterful, twisty, nail biter of a read. Charlotte feels very lucky to have fallen in love with a handsome, kind and generous widower after a tumultuous trailer park upbringing. However, tragedy strikes in their backyard (literally), and forces Charlie to question everything about her husband, friends, and town. Belle kept me guessing right up until the end, and I did NOT see the ending coming. I could not put this book down, I was even reading from my tiny phone screen on the treadmill.
I received this book as an ARC courtesy of #netgalley and #harlequin
#strangerinthelake #kimberlybelle

This story was amazing. Usually I have a good idea of how things are going to turn out, but with this book I was guessing until the end.
Charlotte fell in love. It doesn't matter that they come from two very different backgrounds. She fell in love with the man that Paul is, not his wealth. That doesn't stop people from shunning her or constantly talking about her. Snide looks and angry glares are a regular occurance.

When a so called "stranger" winds up dead on their property Charlotte's neatly packaged life begins to crumble. Brick by brick comes down revealing things that have been hidden for a long time.

A story of love, trust and how far one woman will go to protect the man she loves.

Following the trend of domestic thrillers championed by authors like Kaira Rouda and Michelle Campbell, Kimberly Belle’s STRANGER IN THE LAKE is a darkly chilling work of psychological suspense.

Lake Crosby, North Carolina, is a complicated, breathtaking town, full of not only gorgeous mountain views and smoky skies, but a shocking wealth disparity. Residents from one side of the mountain are poor, live in trailer parks and shacks, and often have few prospects after college. On the other side, you’ll find exorbitant wealth: designer homes, farm-to-table restaurants and private boat docks. It is on this side of the mountain that we meet Charlotte Keller, the young new bride of Lake Crosby hero Paul Keller, an older wealthy widower.

Though Charlotte (formerly Charlie) hails from the muddy side of the mountain, she is no gold digger. The love she shares with Paul is real, and though her former classmates and friends can’t see it, she is settling into her new life smoothly, bolstered by his support and security. Paul is the lead owner and designer of Keller Architecture, where “cottages” are six-bedroom summer homes for the wealthy. But his wealth and Charlotte’s motivations for marrying him aren’t the only things the citizens of Lake Crosby have to gossip about when it comes to Paul. There’s also the fact that his late wife drowned mysteriously in the lake, despite being a strong and active swimmer. Blinded by love and opportunity, Charlotte married Paul anyway, burning bridges between her and her street-smart friends who “know better,” including police officer Sam.

When we meet Charlotte, she has just told Paul that she is pregnant, surpassing his first wife, an ever-present ghost in their relationship, and securing her place in his heart and family tree. After a night of celebrating, Charlotte wakes up alone, which is not unusual with Paul’s strict running schedule, but finds a body washed up under their boat dock, which is definitely unusual. As police swarm the scene and Paul emerges hours later with a mysterious cut on his face, the woman is revealed to be a tourist who Charlotte saw speaking to him the day before. Now it is up to Charlotte to protect her husband --- and figure out how two women with connections to the same man can die the same way only years apart.

Simmering in the background is Batty Jax, the town’s former high school prom king and star quarterback who happened to be part of a trio of best friends that also included Paul. Now he is a homeless nobody who wanders the woods all day, acting as a boogeyman for the town children and a warning to “not end up like Jax.” When the murdered woman washes up on the Kellers’ property, Jax is an obvious scapegoat for the crime, but Charlotte can’t help but wonder if there is something more to him and his connection to Paul and their third friend, Micah, now a police diver and searcher. Why exactly did the three stop talking? And why, when a body washes ashore, does Paul immediately go off in search of Jax if both are innocent? Forced to cover for her husband’s strange behavior, Charlotte begins lying about his whereabouts and her previous sighting of the woman. Before long, the lies are piling up and threatening to put Charlotte and Paul in the crosshairs of a serious investigation with far-reaching repercussions.

As Charlotte begins her own investigation, it becomes clear that Paul is not exactly the man he said he was, nor is he the man the town believes him to be. With dark secrets emerging nearly every hour, Charlotte is left with fewer and fewer people she can trust: Paul has lied, his best friend is the son of the police chief…and who has faith in Jax, a man who threw his life away to run around in the woods? Belle keeps the tension taut and drops breadcrumbs slowly but steadily, all leading to a major reveal.

I have been a fan of Belle’s work for a few years now, and until 2019, I thought nothing could top DEAR WIFE. She is an astute observer of domestic life, and it is her keen understanding of the nuances of private relationships that allows her to infuse them with such drama and tension. In STRANGER ON THE LAKE, she combines this same talent with an absolutely atmospheric setting for a mystery that ebbs and flows much like the lake where it is set, and one that is as dark and unsettling as the stormiest mountain night. I related to Charlotte instantly, and I loved Belle’s inclusion of the theme of wealth disparity and class systems to build her character. Add to that Jax, a newfound favorite of mine, and you have a cast of characters that is fully realized, interesting and endearing, even when they misbehave.

The mystery at the heart of STRANGER IN THE LAKE is a solid one, and I feel confident that most readers will not see every twist and turn coming their way, but I also enjoyed that it is not too scary --- there are few jump scares and moments of violence, but the tone is no less chilling for it. Belle is an adept scene setter, and her emotional intelligence pairs perfectly with her descriptive prose to turn even the most calming scene --- a newly wealthy woman walking through her gorgeous mountain home --- instantly terrifying with seemingly no effort. This is a perfect addition to Belle’s already super list, and I am sure that she will find many new readers with this one.

First off, I loved Belle's writing and the imagery she used throughout that made me feel like I was inside the novel. However, I saw this billed as a thriller and I think it falls more into the mystery category. I felt like both Charlotte and Paul had pasts that helped the story progress naturally. Unfortunately I did figure out who the culprit was quickly, but the journey to the end was still engrossing!
*Thank you to HQ Fiction for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review!*

3.5 stars

I became a fan of Kimberly Belle, after reading Dear Wife, last year. I was eager to pick this one up, and impatiently awaited the arrival for it at my local library.

I specifically saved this one for a week at the Lake, however I soon found out that the lake setting was actually in wintery. It was atmospheric; however the very snowy setting didn't quite fit in to the "beach/lake" read I was expecting :(

Overall, the book was a bit slow for me, but it was done well, and tied up neatly.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I had high expectations of this book but it fell a tad short.

Charlotte comes from a simple background and marries Paul who is a wealthy widower. Of course in their small town people talk and they never really seem to accept Charlotte as Paul's wife.

Life begins to fall apart when one morning Charlotte discovers the body of a woman floating in the water in the exact same place as Paul's first wife drowned. Coincidence? Charlotte knows the woman is no stranger to Paul as she saw them talking together when they were in town. Paul denies ever knowing her but his story starts to crumble and he goes on the run leaving Charlotte to try and piece together the truth.

I felt like this book should have been better than it was. The story had really good bones it just seemed farfetched in places and the characters were unbelievable much of the time.

Thanks to #NetGalley for a copy of this book.

this was a really suspenseful read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the story and writing style.