An ok read I guess for someone else but not so much for me, it sounded interesting but if I don’t like the main character then generally I probably won’t like the story especially when it’s told completely from their point of view. I’m also not a fan of slow burning stories I’ve found which it’s the book’s fault it’s mostly a me problem. So not bad just not for me.

Oh, I loved this twisty, fast paced book. I was hooked by the tagline alone. “Eyes aren’t the windows to the soul. Emails are.”
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Cassie was working her way up the corporate ladder until a mistake sends her tumbling down to a temp job. She is stuck reading emails, reviewing correspondence. She gets sucked into emails exchanged between Forest and his wife.
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She begins living vicariously through their relationship via email, until she meets Forest in person and decides she must do whatever it takes to physically take his wife’s spot in real life.
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Unnerving and compulsive I couldn’t put it down.
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Thank you @randomhouse for an arc in exchange for an honest review

Amazing book! Loved this story and highly recommend it! I look forward to more books by this author!

This is a story about fixation.

This book was not for me, but was well written & will likely work for many readers. If you’re someone who enjoys the voyeuristic, unstable woman trope, I think this will be a good fit! The addition of the parasocial dynamic created by electronic distance was interesting, and I think it felt simultaneously more and less invasive as a result.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books

JUST ONE LOOK centers around the life and time of Cassie Woodson, wherein we follow Cassie
as she begins a new chapter in her life as a temp reviewing correspondence for a large-scale fraud suit.

As the reader, you’re given retrospective moments served in bits and pieces that lay the foundation of her past that explains her current circumstances in the present. (Love It!)

Does the causality of her past explain her unhinged behavior—coupled with a lack of love, friends, and stability in her life, that creates a fixation that ultimately turns into stocking?

You will have to read the book and find out.

I love the premise of the book and the ending is perfect! What I didn’t feel whilst reading JUST ONE LOOK was a sense of suspense-thriller throughout and the pacing, to me, felt too slow.

Do I look forward to reading more books by Cameron?

Of Course!

I can’t wait to see what Lindsay comes up with next!

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books (Random House), for providing me with an eGalley of JUST ONE LOOK at the request of an honest review.

initial thoughts: this story started off really strong and I was hooked from the first chapter. however, the ending and the big “twist” were a bit boring — and frankly, felt way too late and very rushed, not to mention a bit bizarre and out of left field. (I did really like the epilogue, however.)

overall, I would definitely pick up another book by this author, but I’m in the minority with this one, just wasn’t for me.

a big thank you to Net Galley & Ballantine Books for the ARC!

This was a good and entertaining read. It started off a bit slow but slowly worked its way up and got more exciting.. It was crazy reading about Cassie's obsession and infatuation with Forest and his wife. She couldnt get enough. It was cool being under Cassie's POV and hearing her thoughts in her head and what she was thinking. She definitely had it rough and I feel sorta bad for her. Also really enjoyed the short chapters which made this book pretty fast paced for me. I prefer short chapters when it comes to reading.. 3.5 star rating for me.

This book gave me Joe Goldberg from "You" vibes.

After an incident at her previous law firm, Cassie has to settle for temp work to avoid getting kicked out of her apartment. While she’s reviewing emails for a case, she stumbles on an exchange that catches her eye...and completely sucks her in.

There’s never a dull moment here, whether we’re watching Cassie hide a multitude of secrets or getting a glimpse into her difficult past.

This book was a quick read, and a great one to add to the list if you are a fan of thrillers!

At the start of this story we meet disgraced attorney Cassie Woodson. She was a star in her law firm but an incident with a man that she was dating at the firm drove her to madness and she was immediately fired. She receives a temp job to review files for a large case at another law firm where nobody knows her.

As she starts to review correspondence she comes across Forest Watts who is a partner at the firm. Though she knows she should not be reading personal emails she can’t help reading as he appears to have the ideal relationship with his wife, something she longs for.

As she continues to read correspondence in later emails, it appears things might have gone awry with Forrest and his wife and Cassie now his eyes set on him.

This is a classic stalker story with a pretty huge twist. For most of the book, I was going through the motions of reading, but the last quarter of this book, left me fulfilled for a story of this genre. If you like a good psychological thriller, this might hit the spot, but just know it has a pretty slow start with a fast finish.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballentine Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Former corporate lawyer Cassie Woodson takes a job as a temp lawyer reviewing emails at another firm for a big fraud suit -- a far cry from her previous life at a prestigious law firm, but it is all she has going for her. She befriends fellow lawyer outcast Dalton and forms a friendship, eating dinner with him every night on the job. However when a chance email from Forest Watts crosses her desk, she delves right in and is OBSESSED with him and his perfect life and perfect wife Annabelle. But where is Annabelle? Are they still together...or something else? Cassie starts mimicking Annabelle as she has it all, especially Forest -- to Cassie, Forest is perfect! She finds herself head over heels for this man she has never met or is it something else -- an unhealthy obsession perhaps?

I enjoyed this book only to see how it ended -- Cassis is quite frankly a trainwreck and needs mental health help. The twist at the end I did not see coming -- I thought it would be worse honestly. I will say it was addictive, almost like something so horrible you cannot look away. Other than that, I thought the plot was okay. I don't know much about the law world, but found being immersed in it was fine. A good, compulsive read with an unexpected ending!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

NO NO NO NO NO

this book is nothing except an attempted glorification of stalker behavior. it portrays the female lead as an obsessive freak with no other interest other than a man. she stumbles onto a mystery completely by accident and displays no acts of intelligence throughout the book. she is a victim throughout, she is selfish throughout. there is zero character development and there is a tedious about of repetitiveness.

I couldn't get into this one - the protagonist was pretty unlikable and unreliable. It didn't hold my interest.

Thank you to Random House, Lindsey Cameron and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/just-one-look/


“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Cassie Woodson has taken a temp job at a Law firm, investigating a fraud claim. A step down for her, having gone from a prominent position at a celebrity law firm to a very public dismissal, complete with a YouTube video. Now broke, and having lost her friendships, she takes this job at Levy & Strong, looking at boring documents and their relevance to a fraud case. To her new coworkers, she weaves a narrative about her former life, leaving out the now infamous video.

Then Forest Watts catches her eye. There has been a glitch in the keyword system and somehow Watts’ inbox has become part of her work. Cassie does not know how she has become so lucky, but a once mind-numbing temp job has become exciting and now she can’t wait to come to work. The sexy and handsome Forest has the perfect life: fancy car, glamorous wife, beautiful house. In Cassie’s mind, she believes she can make Forest fall in love with her. The more she learns about them, the more she falls in love with whom she thinks Forest is. She drinks the same coffee they do, and the same brand of wine. She frequents the juice shop that Forrest goes to each morning hoping to run into him. Learning what makeup Annabelle uses and which yoga studio she frequents, she desires to become Annabelle so she can be with Forest. Once this happens, Cassie believes her future will be exactly what she has always wanted. As she discovers more about this glamorous couple, it becomes more than she bargained for. Can Cassie keep all of her lies straight?

There is something endearing about Cassie Woodson that makes Just One Look so enjoyable. She is absolutely diligent about keeping her facts straight, and obsessed with every little piece of information she gleans from Forest’s email. Knowing where he is becomes her job. She has a binder where she keeps every detail she learns, including passwords. There doesn’t seem to be an ounce of guilt on her part. In fact, she seems more concerned about getting caught by her micro-manager, Ricky. While this obsessive behavior is not a new thing for Cassie (her old boyfriend has a restraining order against her), we never quite get the complete story until the very end of this thriller. The author has given us some flashbacks of Cassie’s life as a high-profile lawyer, her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Landon, and her past relationships with co-workers.

Just One Look is Lindsay Cameron’s first suspense novel, and it is nearly perfect. She does an amazing job perfecting the un-knowing stalker, and taking us into the mind of Cassie, an unstable narrator who makes the reader actually believe what she is saying. I look forward to reading more of her novels

Incredible. This may be one of my favorites of the year. Just One Look has a down and out young woman whose interest in someone just might be going too far. Loved this one.

A captivating suspense novel that drew me in right from the beginning. The story of Cassie Woodson, a former high profile attorney whose life has taken a turn for the worse. Take a tumble down the corporate ladder, add some mental instability & top with stalker obsession & WOW… what a great read!!!
The novel reads easily & I enjoyed the author’s style of brief interspersed tidbits of Cassie’s past. The slow reveal of how & why she tumbled come to light. Add to that her difficult childhood & it’s easy to see why she is such a hot mess. While Cassie’s temp job is her chance to rebound back to life… she opts to deviate from the work tasks at hand & quickly becomes obsessed with the man of her dreams…or so it appears. Can Cassie overcome her current plight in life or is her mental state MORE unstable that it appears???
A good fast paced read. Somewhat predictable but still enjoyable. Looking forward to reading more from this author. A definite recommendation for those that enjoy a good suspense novel.
Thank you NetGalley, Lindsay Cameron & Random House Publishing - Ballantine for this free digital ARC. This review is my honest opinion & is strictly voluntary.

#JustOneLook #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this thriller! I've been reading a lot of books from the POV of mentally unstable characters lately (don't know if this says more about me or the market), but it's been such a fun escape with a dark twist.

Super fast read, suspenseful, and just the right amount of plot twists. Not a great work of literature, but definitely one to add to your TBR pile. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl or any story that involves slightly unhinged leading ladies with a troubled past.

What an interesting read! It was addictive and entertaining and while I didn’t really love the characters, I still really wanted to know how it all ended up. The beginning was a little slow for me but all in all it was a great read. Thank you netgalley for my copy.

Cassie is in a tough spot and is trudging through her temp job. She clearly needs a little fulfillment in her life and finds it by snooping through emails. Now, this is part of her job but she takes it a little further than she should. I love the premise of Just One Look. What starts as a simple distraction turns into an obsession and strong desire. I appreciated the office jargon and the descriptive detail. I really enjoyed how this was laid out. I would love to see this become a television show.

What did I just read?!?! This was fantastic. I love unreliable readers. It messes with my mind as I’m reading from their point of view. It makes the story so good, when it’s written perfectly and that’s what happened with this story. So good when the main character becomes obsessed. Highly recommend it any YOU fan.

Talk about crazy!

Cassie Woodson had it all. She was an attorney at the top of her game until something happened that made her lose it all. She was disgraced publically with the videos that went viral to prove it.

This made Cassie stay in bed for months barely making it. She knows she can't continue this way and she applies for a temp job which is all she can get with her prior history.

The job entails hours of sorting through emails to see the relevance involving a fraud case. However, by mistake, a partner's personal emails are also in Cassie's review inbox.

Cassie becomes obsessed with Forrest Watts's emails to his wife, Annabelle. They are full of love and they depict a beautiful life together. Things that are all missing in Cassie's life. Her obsession makes her stalk them on social media, following their Instagram posts and saving every detail from their emails in a binder.

Despite not having much of an income, Cassie starts buying the same wine they drink and the perfume and make-up Annabelle wears. Then, Cassie realizes the couple has become estranged and this would be the perfect time for her to fill the void Forrest must be having. Creating a chance encounter to meet him is easy when she has all the details of his life embedded in her brain.

Stalkers scare me for sure but I couldn't stop myself from rooting for Cassie to be able to achieve some type of happiness. The more I discovered the reasons Cassie was the way she was, the more I felt sorry for her. She was smart but at the same time she was so fragile and one step from getting admitted to a psych unit.

Just One Look had me turning the pages in a fast motion. I couldn't get enough of the story and despite seeing the twist from the very beginning, I wanted to see how it would all play out in the end.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Ballantine Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.