Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Oh my….. I did enjoy this book. It had a bit of an angle that does get on my nerves a bit- but there was lots of more to this story!

A naive wife angle can work my nerves- I like my women strong, ready to fight, and not singing stand by their man. Charlotte, at times, had a bit too much naive wife going on- she had her reasons (which I understood) and more to the point- I think she actually LOVED Paul. Overall, her character had the most depth to her- she was fighting a war in herself over who to trust, what to believe, and what could be the best outcome of her situation.

What I liked:

The creepiness of the cover. If you are going to have a title like Stranger in a Lake, you gotta have a good cover.

The setting. I don’t think there was a better setting to this book than the one that Kimberly Belle created- one to really drive home some of the things that Charlotte was wrestling with.

The ending. I loved how it all was revealed (and it was a good reveal!)



Bottom line: Put this on your TBR list, folks.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

This one didn't do it for me like all of Kimberly Belle's other books have. It wasn't bad or anything, it just had a lot to live up to and fell flat.

I was not a fan of the story - Charlotte who grew up poor and with an alcoholic mother marries Paul the wealthy it-man in town. Paul's previous wife went missing - and drowned. One morning Paul goes for a jog and another body turns up in their lake. .

This one is OK, but moved too slow for my taste. Charlotte, or Charlie, was an interesting narrator, and she kept me interested, but I would have preferred something a little more fast paced. I did enjoy that the lake, really the setting as a whole, felt like a character in the story.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I loved the voice of the main character -- Belle nailed it with this one.

The main character was sympathetic and interesting and tough; the girl from the wrong side of the tracks against the town's wealthy elite.

When I saw the author was Kimberly Bell I knew I couldn't go wrong. All of her books are amazing and this one didn't disappoint. Try it!
When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned.
At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two.
As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.
StrangerintheLake #NetGalley

Stranger in the Lake - Kimberly Belle ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I finished Stranger in the Lake 2 weeks ago. I really enjoy the book. It’s a slow burn read, but it kept my attention. Stranger in the Lake is filled with secrets, lies, and drama. I couldn’t trust any of the characters, because they all lied, and kept secrets from their past. All the lying and secrets kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. I thought there were too many characters to keep up with. It was confusing at first, but after a while I figured out who is who. That is why I gave the book a 4 star rating. Overall, I enjoyed the book, it is a perfect weekend thriller read. I would definitely recommend it to my thriller loving friends. 🔪

Thank you Park Row, for the arc copy of Stranger in the Lake.

This book had plenty of twists to keep you guessing, even when you think you have it all figured out!! I loved the way so many different things tied together. I recommend this book, I loved it.

Kimberly Belle always delivers with her novels! While I still think "Dear Wife" is my favorite, this was a close second. She writes in such an engaging way and it never comes across as trite or contrived. Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read and review this!

I thought I had figured out the ending to this book, and was a little disappointed. I should have known better. The author throws in a major twist with only a few chapters left to go. While the ending of the book was a little predictable after the twist, the story was overall pretty good for a suspense book. I will say I did not care for the main character, but that may have just been my opinion.

No revelations in this book, but a good easy-to-read thriller. Bonus points for the MC standing up for her morals and not giving in to the "love" storyline

I have become a fan of Kimberly Belle's writing ever since picking up The Marriage Lie a few years ago. Since then, she has taken me on a wild ride with her novels. Her latest, Stranger in the Lake is definitely mysterious and suspenseful.

While the premise of this novel was interesting, it took a while for the story to really take off, even when Charlotte found the body in the lake. The characters were diverse and really worked well with the plot. It was nice to include Jax's perspective as a teenager. The mystery itself had a Nancy Drew feel. I liked one of the character's names for personal reasons. Some of the descriptions were good and others were hard to picture, as I don't live in an area by a lake. The story went to places I wasn't expecting. I also thought it was going to end at one point and then it kept going.

Overall, this is a worthwhile read and the pace might feel different to other readers, given no two are alike.

Movie casting ideas:
Charlotte: Taylor Misiak
Chet: Charlie Tahan
Paul: Bradley James
Micah: Alan Ritchson
Jax: Paul Dano
Diana: Brenda Strong
Sam: Josh Hutcherson
Miss Jamie: Justine Bateman

Well, I had my suspicions, which I changed a couple times since I was trying to figure out the twist but I should listen to my gut. Very intriguing story that entertained me while the kids played outside and in my drives around town picking up my drive up orders lol

A brand new marriage. A secluded lake home. A dead body washed up under a dock. A husband who takes off, leaving his new bride to deal with the aftermath. All of these elements combine to form a masterpiece story rife with secrets and betrayal. Readers of psychological thrillers should definitely partake of this one!

Kimberley Belle has once again written a tense chilling thriller.From the first pages I was drawn in.A new wife her husband to her a wonderful man .There are rumors that he is not who she thinks he is.Is she wrong is she in danger.A book I read into the night that kept me guessing till the end Highly recommend#netgalley#harlequinbooks

In Kimberly Belle's A Stranger in the Lake, this newest domestic suspense is so twisted, that it hit a home run right out of the ballpark. Charlotte McCreedy lived in a trailer park with a druggie mother, an absentee father, and her baby brother Chet, during her youth. But a year ago, she met and married Paul Keller, a rich man who's 10 years her senior, and a widower, and lived in a home on the Lake. She was happy and just found out she's pregnant with her first child, when she later looked for Paul on the dock, talking to a woman. Hours later, she's found dead in the lake with a suspicious death. It brought up memories of how Paul's first wife Katherine landed in the lake as well. Paul's been acting suspicious and Charlotte wants to know why that is, as we have multiple flashbacks from Jax, Paul's long lost-best friend, and the events that led to that tragic night in the past. Everyone has their eyes on him and leaving vicious presents on her doorstep. Charlotte's friend Sam warned her about him before she married Paul and more questions pop out about this lady's death and why she came to Lake Crosby in the first place. In the end, Charlotte doesn't know who to trust and who to believe, when she comes face to face with a killer and does the right thing in the end to free herself.

I loved this thriller. It was very engaging and it definitely held my interest. The plot and the characters were very well written and I cared what was going to happen to them. It made the time reading it fly by.

In Stranger in the Lake, Kimberly Belle tells the story of Charlotte, a young woman in her twenties who marries a wealthy widower. Her new life seems perfect until a woman is found floating in the water near their home—the same fate as her husband’s first wife.

Unfortunately, I found the plot to be fairly predictable, slow, and, to be completely frank, boring. I guessed the main twist of the book almost from the start, and I feel like many people would be able to as well. The isolated setting of the story had potential, but due to the lack of suspense, the author never managed to capitalize on it.

For me, the highlight of the book was Charlotte’s relationship with her brother. It has been a while since I read an adult novel with a strong brother-sister bond, so I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.

Overall, I found Stranger in the Lake to be somewhat disappointing, but I have heard positive things about Belle’s other books, so I would definitely be willing to give them a try.

Thank you to NetGalley, HARLEQUIN/Park Row, and Kimberly Belle for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fascinating tale of lies and deceit!

I really enjoy Kimberly Belle’s novels and “Stranger in the Lake” is no exception.

Charlotte Keller is on her way to pick up her husband from work. Paul Keller is the owner of Keller Architecture. The company sells custom house designs for million-dollar properties. Charlotte also works for the company in client relations.

Charlotte is headed towards Paul’s office when she’s approached by Jax, an unkempt man many call the town loon. At one time, Jax (son of an insurance tycoon) was a star quarterback with a great future ahead of him. He was also one of Paul’s best friends. Jax tells Charlotte that it’s important that he talks to Paul but then quickly walks away. Paul and Jax haven’t spoken in many years. Why is Jax looking for him now?

One of the designers tells Charlotte that Paul went to do some errands. Charlotte finds him down the street having a conversation with a woman she’s never seen before. Later, when Charlotte asks Paul about the woman, he claims he doesn’t know her, and that she was just asking about his coffee.

Charlotte never thought she’d fall in love with a man eleven years her senior and Paul never thought he’d marry again. It was the fact that they’d both suffered tragedies that really brought them together. To many people (especially Paul's mother), Charlotte was just a gas station clerk from the wrong side of the mountain. Charlotte didn’t marry Paul for his money, but the security that comes with the marriage is something she doesn’t take for granted.

The next morning Charlotte wakes up alone. Paul's left for his morning run. Charlotte realizes she left her cell phone and some work documents on the boat the previous evening. She worries they'll get ruined so she slowly makes her way to the boat. She finds the documents and her cell phone onboard. Just as she steps back onto the dock, she sees something in the water. It’s long and white with seaweed on it. She looks closer.

It’s definitely not seaweed.

She feels like she’s going to be sick…

She reaches for her phone but the battery is dead from being outside all night. She rushes home to the landline and calls for help.

Then she waits.

How could this be happening? Again?



Another riveting and well-written read from Kimberly Belle!

This story makes you think about life’s defining moments. The moments that change you and make you question everything you think you know.

How well can you really know someone?

Told from multiple points of view, most of the story takes place in the present, but there are quite a few chapters from the past that add to the story.

A story of love, lies, guilt, and secrets that slowly pulled me in, then gripped me right up until its very surprising ending.



I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Blog: The Life & Times of a Book Addict
Published: August 4, 2020

REVIEW:

I've been in such a weird book funk lately, so I was very surprised when I not only read, but devoured Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle.

The story is told from the main character, Charlotte’s POV. I really liked Charlotte. I thought she was interesting and likeable. It was easy to understand her reasoning for marrying her husband even though the townspeople didn’t.

The mystery was not easily guessed, which I was happy about. Some of the characters did make some odd choices though, so I started second-guessing almost everyone. It made it harder for me to guess who the real culprit was.

This is the second book that I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. It was a quick and entertaining read. And it didn't take long for things to start happening in the book. There were several surprises and twists to the story, and I enjoyed discovering each and every one of them. Like her previous book, Dear Wife, Kimberly Belle has created a story that is intriguing and grabbed my interest from the very first chapter. I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.


RATING: 3½ OUT OF 5.