Disgraced lawyer Cassie was successful until she was not- in a very public way. She landed on her couch and then took a temp job and gets interested in someone she reads about throug email exchanges Cassie is clearly not well and tries to latch on to Forest who has issues of his own. Watch the fireworks!

This was a quick read, and I enjoyed it. That being said, I read many mysteries and thrillers. There should have been a bit more intrigue. There were also a few scenarios where it felt a little bit off, it wasn't the one i had in mind. I did enjoy this one though!

I really had a hard time getting into this book. The premise was really good, but it never really grasped my attention.

Cassie Woodson, a once rising corporate attorney, lost her job following a humiliating work event and was escorted from the premises by police, all of which went viral. Several months later, she accepts a temporary position in a law firm assisting with a large document review project. Her days are spent in a basement, windowless room with seventeen other workers sorting through thousands of documents with a click of a button. Cassie is distraught, humiliated and filled with self-hate and self-medicates just to get through the day. During her daily document review, she comes across a personal email from Forest Watts and his wife Annabelle and becomes infatuated with the couple. She obsessively follows their social media presence and scours the internet for any information about the idealist couple, including shopping preferences, likes and dislikes, friends, and personal details about their relationship. As she learns more, she discovers that the perfect couple may not be as perfect as she originally thought and sets out on a mission to replace Annabelle in Forest’s life. She is so blinded by the illusion of the perfect couple that she misses the real story that is playing out in the present.

This novel is told entirely from the point of view of Cassie. The novel starts out slowly but picks up speed and captures the reader’s attention. The reader learns that a traumatic event happened to Cassie but does not know what it is. The author builds momentum and slowly divulges clues as to what happened which sheds light on Cassie’s personality. The author does a great job in developing Cassie’s character. Early into the novel, the reader learns that something is off with Cassie and that she is unstable, obsessive, and somewhat delusional. It is tough at times to follow along her journey as her thought process is frightening. The novel goes back and forth from present and past so that over time, the reader learns that Cassie has deep family issues of abandonment and dysfunctional relationships which causes her to have low self-esteem, feel out of place and unlikeable. Cassie was both frightening and sympathetic. This novel is written in such a way that the reader feels sorry for and is rooting for Cassie during certain parts, which is somewhat usual with these types of storylines. At times Cassie seems highly disturbed, crazed, and manic whereas others she appears to be misunderstood, vulnerable empathetic. The author does a good job of keeping the reader engaged in the various personality traits throughout the novel.

The novel moves a little slowly. There are times when it feels like there are some missing parts or questions raised. The real plot twist was rushed at the end and a major event, and its implications are somewhat overlooked and could have been developed further. That said, the plot twist was interesting and unexpected and created another dynamic to the story keeping the reader engaged until the end of the novel. The author cleverly touches on interesting themes involving social media and the destructive and invasive side effects. The novel has multiple layers in its characters, themes and plot line developments which creates an element of suspense throughout the novel.

The novel was a quick and easy read. It takes the reader through a host of emotions and ends with a compelling twist.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was entertaining and enjoyable. Just One Look gives you something to think about in terms of privacy and secrets and social media. I enjoyed it.

I DNFed this book. I was originally excited for a thriller, but after realizing that the content revolved around someone copying the life of someone else she was reading about via email, it felt intimately creepy. My skin was crawling after the first "recreation" scene with the wine, which I guess can be a good feeling while reading a thriller but I was uncomfortable.

This was such a good book! It reminded me of You and I See You. While stalker books really creep me out, I still pick them up and read them! This pulled me in and creeped me out and I loved every second!

I had a very hard time getting into this book. I found it to be very slow moving and I just didn't enjoy the characters. I think it had some decent twists, but none of them were really surprising to me.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me this widget of this. I ended up listening to it from the library.

This was an engaging story about a young paralegal who becomes obsessed with a man after becoming privy to his personal emails at a job. This was a suspenseful and good story.

Cassie is down on her luck and thinks this man may be her key out of her bad situation. I enjoyed this one.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Loved this book from start to finish. Definitely a plot twist I didn’t see coming. The characters were interesting and the main character was a little creepy and made a you remember that technology can be a scary thing.

This was just an okay and slow-burn thriller. I liked the idea of going into this book with the idea of it being about obsession but the execution didn't wow me enough to rate this over three stars.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Cassie Woodson had everything going for her working as a lawyer at a great law firm. Then she was fired as part of a scandal and became infamous in the lawyer-set. Now, she is doing temp work as a lawyer. Doing drudge work going through emails and files. Through these emails, she becomes aware of what she sees as the perfect man, Forest Watts, and quickly becomes obsessed. Reading through emails exchanged between Forest and his wife, Cassie learns more and more about him. She works to form herself into the perfect woman for him.

This was mostly enjoyable but was a bit much for me. I just didn't "get" Cassie as a character. I had a hard time suspending disbelief for large chunks of this story. But, if you are a fan of thrillers about love and obsession, this may be perfect for you.

This book took self-deprecation a little too far for my taste. The stalking parts were drawn out too long, while the wrap-up at the end of the book was too quick to be appreciated or even believable. I had higher hopes, but still enjoyed reading it somewhat. I felt like something interesting would happen… just took longer than I thought.

Fun little thriller! Would be perfect as a live action (think lifetime but make it edgier like the book). I would read more from this author.

Not the book for me. I didn't care for the the author's voice or her characters. Thank you for the opportunity!

Definitely some stalkerish behavior in this book! The main character, Cassie, is off the rails from a life that has not been kind due to a recent job loss. Working as a temp, she latches onto emails of one of the partners. Let's just say it spirals from there. A fast, fun read.

Let's get the business handled and get down to the fun!!! Thanks to #NetGalley, #BallantineBooks, and #LindsayCameron for the ARC of #JustOneLook.

This was such a great book. Everything that was written is totally possible, which made me love it even more. It's perfect for anyone who has ever wanted to get into the mind of someone who, just maybe, isn't all they pretend to be.

She was let go from her previous job because of an incident that really was a lovers quarrel. Unfortunately she couldn't be calm and just walk away. But, what exactly did she do? Now she must go forward and figure out how to make enough money to survive.

She finds a job temping in the bowels of some huge building with all the "big deal" attorneys on the upper floors. What a mundane job this is. Or at least it was until she found some personal emails that have made their way into the documents she is reviewing. Her job is supposed to be deciding if any of them are relevant to the case the attorneys are working on. Now she can't keep her mind on what she's supposed to be doing. All she can think about is the man, the one who is just right upstairs, the one who would be perfect for her.

Cassie decides she HAS to meet this guy. Forest is the newest obejct of her affection, or maybe I should say obession. The length Cassie goes to, to be noticed are extreme, but they seem to be working, because when she finally meets Forest face to face, he is as taken with her as she is with him. Or so it seems.....

Make sure you grab this one and settle in. You will want to devour it!

You can grab #JustOneLook at any of your favorite book retailers today, so why wait?

#HappyReading

Another book with such promise that I can only give three stars too. I hope in 2022 I do a better job at picking thrillers to read. Cassie Woodson is tempting at a new law firm. Her job is to sift through emails and pick out any that stand out. While clicking away, just doing her mindless job, Cassie comes across private emails from one of the lawyers, Forest Watts. Interesting setup for the story considering Cassie is let go from her last job in a very public shameful way. But I do not want to spill the tea you will have to read all on your own.
One-click leads to another and Cassie knows just about everything about Forest. She knows his address, his wife's name, even where he goes for drinks after work. Feeling like it is not enough, Cassie hungers for more information. She needs to know everything about the man. Obsession turns to fear when she finds out just who Forest really is...

It is hard to read a good stalker, obsession book after such amazing books as Caroline Kepnes, YOU. I fell in love with Joe, and now want all my obsessed protagonists to be exactly like him. I was really hoping to see a little bit of Joe, in this book. But it didn’t really meet Joe's standards at all.
Just One Look isn't as much about the need to stalk, as it is about the actual stalking. The obsessive-compulsive needs to know everything but be comfortable and safe in her environment. It wasn’t as dark and as fast-paced as I would have liked. The whole story could have been turned up a notch and perfect. Instead, it was a slow burn that kind of falls flat. Overall, will read again from this author three solid stars.