Just One Look is a page-turning psychological thriller about obsession and how far one is willing to go to obtain the "perfect life." I was engrossed in the story from start to finish and definitely recommend this one for psychological thriller fans.

“Eyes aren’t the windows to the soul. Emails are.”

Cassie Woodson had a promising legal career until a breakup with her boyfriend led to some workplace violence that went viral. The incident got her fired and blacklisted and the only job she could get was a temp job reviewing documents where she sat in a windowless room with scheduled bathroom breaks. Her sudden and disastrous fall from grace has transformed her into an angry individual with a drinking problem but when she stumbles upon some personal correspondence between a husband and wife in her work documents, she develops a mild obsession with the couple. The mild obsession only grows and Cassie is no longer satisfied with simply reading about their lives: she wants it for herself.

As can be determined based on my review, this wasn’t a home run for me. I give this book enormous credit for pulling me out of the reading rut I found myself in when I decided to pick this up though. The beginning of this is entertaining as shit and Cassie and all her crazy actually reminded me a lot of good ol’ Joe from You. It was basically like watching a train wreck because you know nothing is going to end well so you might as well grab the popcorn.

The ending quite literally fell apart for me, thus my low rating. Oddly enough, still entertaining and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what’s next from this debut author.

Just One Look is an enjoyable psychological thriller centered around Cassie, a disgraced lawyer who, in order to make ends meet, must take a temp job reviewing correspondence for a big fraud suit. During the course of her work, she happens upon the emails, often private, of Forrest, one of the firm's partners. To Cassie, Forrest and his wife seem to have the perfect life and the more she reads about it through their personal exchanges, the more she wants that life for herself. Check this one out if you enjoy tales of obsession with crazy, unreliable characters!

I have to be completely honest here. I know the age old adage: Don't judge a book by its cover. I totally did it for JUST ONE LOOK. The cover is absolutely amazing. It sucked me in and Lindsay Cameron did the rest. I couldn't put this book down! If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this book is for you. But be forewarned: you may keep looking over your shoulder while reading this! You've been warned!

This was a fast paced story told from Cassie’s perspective. She is somewhat delusional in her way of revealing the truth (or what SHE believes to be the truth). She has a tedious, mundane temp job sorting through large amounts of email correspondence after a fall from the corporate ladder. She takes this job as a way to survive and pay her bills, but she ends up discovering things that she wasn’t prepared for. All in all, a good psychological thriller that’s worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Just One Look is a twisted fantastic story. It is different than any story I’ve read. It will definitely have the reader questioning who has access to your work emails. Lindsay Cameron does an excellent job keeping the reader guessing how this tale will end.

Cassie Woodson is an attorney at a prestigious law firm and dating one of the associates, suddenly she finds herself single and fired. Cassie finally decides it’s time to find a temp agency and lands a job at another law firm going through documents for a major lawsuit. Not exactly what she planned on doing with her life. One day while going through endless documents she finds an email between a partner in the firm Forest and his wife. She becomes intrigued by the relationship and emails and decides to keep reading about their perfect life. Cassie becomes obsessed with the two of them and their relationship. After a glimpse into their world, Cassie decides that she is going to insert herself into the world of Forest and make him fall in love with her. Does she succeed? What happens when she finds out the secrets of their perfect world? Just One Look is all it took to toss Cassie Into a world she may have been better off leaving behind. Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC. #JustOneLook was a fast paced read about obsession and what happens when you cannot Look Away…

Cassie lost her job at a law firm due to an "incident". She is forced to take a boring temp job at another law firm. Due to a technical error, she can read private emails between one of the lawyers at the firm and his wife. She's jealous of how much he adores his wife and starts digging deep to into their lives.. Fantasizing that he could be hers someday she tries to transform herself into his now, ex-wife to get his attention.

I didn't breeze through this book, but I did stay intrigued and I'm glad I stuck with this one. I wasn't totally on board with the main stalker theme, but if you stick with it, the mystery thriller part will come to light. I was not disappointed in the end.
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“Just one look couldn’t hurt”

Lindsay girl, who hurt you? What in the SwimFan, Joe Goldberg, The Roommate stalker did I just read? At least Cassie is extremely thorough.

I love a good stalker story like the rest of us, but y’all, this had me paranoid of all the data we share on the interwebs and how easy it is to just call up a credit card company to get someone’s bank statements. I liked Cassie because she was so smart and methodical. She knew what she was doing, and she also knew what not to do to scare “the one” away.

I really enjoyed how actually creepy this was. It was a different stalker as she was meticulous, but, I was rooting for her? I rooted for a stalker? The ending was absolutely wild. I don’t want to give too much away because going in blind helps really live up to the hype.

Thank you Penguin for the gifted copy! Just One Look is out now!

Just One Look follows Cassie, a lawyer who’s fallen from grace after a violent episode is caught in her office. She’s been forced to take a temp job doing paperwork for a firm, one of the worker bees instead of the top dogs, like she’s used to. Her menial job involves going through emails looking for anything pertaining to a fraud situation. While doing that she comes across emails from Forest, a partner at the firm. The private romantic emails he sends to his wife sends Cassie spiraling and wondering what it would be like to be with such a successful man who is still so sweet and loving – something her ex was lacking.

What follows is Cassie’s dissent into obsession with being Forest’s wife, by mimicking her entire life and also by becoming his new wife. After staging a chance encounter, Cassie starts to learn that appearances aren’t everything and perhaps she has taken her obsession one step too far.

I really enjoyed this one. It was compulsively readable, definitely could be a one-sitting read if you have that nice quiet chill life with no crazy toddlers or barking dogs haha!

It was soooo uncomfortable to step into Cassie’s shoes and share her POV. She was not a balanced character, and I always enjoy getting to read as the MC with some issues. Cassie was also the kind of imbalanced character that I felt myself rooting for. The ‘turning over a new leaf’ kind of girl, where you aren’t sure if she can do it, but you really want to see it happen (or not). I think she was development well, we were given a fair amount of her backstory to really get a good idea of who she is.

The side characters were developed well also. There was a side plot that I wish had been a little more developed, built up that character a little more so I was invested in him fully.

Overall, this was a good and twisty part-domestic thriller, part-workplace thriller, I would definitely read more by Lindsay Cameron.

Reminiscent of YOU and FATAL ATTRACTION, this suspense debut of Cameron's is a fast-paced and compelling read - even if the main character makes you cringe and want to cover your eyes at times. Cassie Woodson, a disgraced attorney with a bit of a past, finally emerges from her apartment after six months and has a temp job for document review. Once on track for a more glamorous NYC legal career, she now has to sign out to use the bathroom.

But when a legal partner's inbox mistakenly falls under the search terms of the document review, Cassie has a whole new focus to her life - everything and anything related to Forest Watts. Her obsession includes internet sleuthing and some old-fashioned stalking. As this unfolds, reads also learn more about Cassie's own past. While not always likable - or even particularly sympathetic - the story is still compulsively readable. The characters really do come to life and while the ending's final scene reveals that Cassie's character has no arc whatsoever in terms of growth or development, the climax of the book is actually rather surprising. I appreciated the news articles and would've liked them to go even further into the future.

I enjoyed reading this but wanted a little bit more for Cassie ultimately. It's an entertaining - if a bit creepy - of a read and really highlights the way an inbox can really reveal a lot about your life. Although it does seem rather silly to use a work email for so much personal correspondence... but I guess the story really hinged on that assumption! I'm curious to see what Cameron writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Balantine , for an e-book copy to review. THIS book will make you think twice before writing personal emails on your work computer - funny, but kind of not funny.

After suffering an epic tumble down the corporate ladder, Cassie finds the only way she can pay her bills is to take a thankless temp job reviewing correspondence for a large-scale fraud suit. The daily drudgery amplifies all that her life is lacking--love, friends, stability--and leaves her with too much time on her hands, which she spends fixating on the mistakes that brought her to this point.

While sorting through a relentless deluge of emails, something catches her eye: the tender (and totally private) exchanges between a partner at the firm, Forest Watts, and his enchanting wife, Annabelle. Cassie knows she shouldn't read them. But it's just one look. And once that door opens, she finds she can't look away.

This is a book of VERY unlikeable characters. The moral compasses on everybody are nowhere to be found in this plot. Cassie wants the life of the Watts. She wants it all and will do anything to get it.

The story centers a lot on loneliness. Shunned from everyone, having no family left to support her emotionally, being friendless, leaves Cassie feeling vulnerable to doing abnormal things.

We see Cassie coming undone at the seams while knowing that she deserves better than the hand she's been dealt.

This one is a good lesson in realizing your past mistakes and digging yourself out of a deep hole. Also - don't use work email servers for personal use. :)

“Just One Look” is a gripping mystery thriller that made me want to read just one more page. Before I realized it, I have finished the book in one sitting.

Cassie is creepy and scary with her stalkerish tendencies. Yet, once you read of her background, you tend to emphasize her. But, she is the story’s highlight because you don’t know how far she will go on her obsession with Forest. I was engrossed and shocked at some of the things she did, like going to see Annabelle in the gym or checking his calendar. It was interesting to see the various emotions Cassie goes through.

Moreover, the author also executes the story creatively, where we see the story progress through email conversations and news articles. Furthermore, I enjoyed reading about Cassie’s background with her father and grandmother. The author also writes the supporting characters like Ricky and Dalton nicely. Ricky is one of those people who initially got on my nerves, but I liked him later.

However, probably my only criticism of the tale is nothing much happens in the first half. The story is still exciting, but I had hoped the story would be more thrilling. The plot gets extremely exciting only in the second half, which focuses more on Dalton. It would have been nice if the author added more shocking twists at the beginning of the tale.

Nevertheless, “Just One Look” is a gripping suspense thriller. If you are a fan of the TV series “You,” you will enjoy reading this book with the female stalker in the lead.

3.75*
I’m watching you….

Cassie has reluctantly taken on of the lowest positions possible for an attorney. A temp job sorting through mundane emails, working in what she describes as a bunker. But e-mails from a particular lawyer upstairs grabs her full attention. Highly personal emails for one Forest Watts. One of the firms top lawyers. Suddenly she becomes obsessed with meeting him and enmeshing herself into every sordid detail of his life.

The storyline seemed to plug along nicely until about 80% when it jetted off in a totally different and unexpected direction. It seemed completely out of place to fit where (I thought) the storyline seemed to be heading.

This book had a bit of an identity crisis. It had every intention of becoming a thriller, with Cassie playing the role of an obsessed, dangerous stalker. But for me, at times Cassie came off as misunderstood and vulnerable and my heart went out to her. Lol! Yes! I felt for the off kilter stalker! Please don’t judge me! She has some understandable reasons for her behavior!

Overall, a fun read and look forward to more from this author.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for granting my wish.

This was such an interesting concept for a novel. I’m not sure how realistic it is but it certainly captured my attention. This has an unreliable main character who obsesses and stalks her boss after inadvertently receiving some of his personal emails. I blew through this book and was satisfied with the ending. I can’t wait to read the author’s next book!

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and Ballantine Books for my honest review.*

Who wouldn't want a chance to snoop into someone else's life AND get paid for it? But then we also get to see the dark side of this snooping through Cassie when she moves into a slightly manic stalking phase.

Cassie's back story unfolds tantalizingly slowly and the reveal was a bit of a shock, but helps explain quite a bit about her frame of mind. Or does it?

It was hard to like any of the characters, but the story was so intriguing to me that I was able to keep with it and did enjoy it. A few twists and plot lines that didn't seem to fit immediately, but the final reveal was gratifying. And the plot flowed well. And for some reason, I did not really spend any time wondering why Cassie was doing what she was doing. Well, maybe a couple of times. She does let the alcohol control things to an extent.

To say Cassie is unhinged is an understatement. Her obsessive behavior and lack of self-control lead to dangerous and risky decisions that put Cassie in harms way. Her ability to justify her stalker mentality is unsettling and disturbing. She believes that, “ Eyes aren’t the windows to the soul. Emails are.” This book will have you second guessing sending certain emails and might have you looking over your shoulder as well. The story starts out a little slow, but the tension increases creating suspense and outcomes that are shocking and compelling. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my copy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cassie, a disgraced lawyer, finds herself working as a legal temp doing document review for a firm gathering evidence on an impending case. It’s boring, mind-numbing work. Until a personal e-mail from Forest, a corporate attorney, pops up. Cassie is supposed to flag it as irrelevant but just one look wouldn’t hurt would it?

Cassie becomes infatuated and obsessed with Forest and his wife, Annabelle. They are living the dream, the life she wants. The one she deserves. She stalks them over the internet, and keeps a 3-ring binder of information she discovers. She knows intimate details about their life: what wine they like, what perfume Annabelle wears, their favorite restaurant, the gym they frequent, and more. But just knowing isn’t enough. Cassie knows what will make Forest happy and Cassie is just a tad unhinged. Well, ok maybe more than a tad. We know this won’t end well.

This is a stalker/obsession story and Cassie’s actions are creepy, and I mostly enjoyed being inside her head for the majority of the novel. The details of her previous life are slowly revealed, making her a little sympathetic. Readers looking for a straight-up thriller will be disappointed as those elements don’t come into play until later in the book. But readers who enjoy being inside the head of a delusional woman will enjoy it.

For a smart guy Forest wasn’t very smart about what he included in his e-mails.

"Eyes aren't the windows to the soul. Emails are."

But are they? This was one part of the novel I struggled with. Does anyone really e-mail their spouse that much detail about their lives? I don’t know about you, but I text my husband, family, and friends. Or we call. We never use e-mail for casual communication/conversations.

Still, this was a quick read with short chapters that kept the pages flipping, and I loved the ending. The author is a former corporate attorney, which gives authenticity to this part of the story. I look forward to what she writes next!

Here we have not just one look but a cascade of emails depicting a life far from the one Cassie is in now that she is forced to take a low level position. Pushed by failure , at home and work, Cassie toils. It is amid the sludge of work a chance email sends her like Alice down a hole into a moment of clarity and possible regret. Will she give into the chance to change three lives forever? Happy reading.

So this book was not what I expected (which was more of a thriller). It lacked all suspense and was not a page turner or even a slow burn. To be honest, I found it boring. Cassie annoying me. She drank too much and popped so much Advil and Tylenol pm that I was genuinely concerned for her liver. This is getting 2 stars because there was a chapter or 2 that had me genuinely interested but that is it. I wouldn’t recommend this book but hey, everyone likes different stuff and you might love it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.