For a thriller, this one seems a bit slow and predictable. It have likable setting and twists but nothing that surprise me. I will still recommend it. It really have good points too.

The Best of Friends was a well written book but the pace of the story was just too slow for my tastes and it was a little predictable in places. I read it, I finished it but it wasn't one of my favourite reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The Best of Friends fits fairly into the domestic suspense novels spanning both friends and lovers it is the tale of Susannah and Charlotte, and Dan.

Susannah has recently located to a quiet village in the South following her exit from London following the breakdown of her marriage and bankruptcy. She descends with no links to the area, no job and unsuitable clothing and her two sons much in need of a friend. Of course she has a past.

Charlotte is a wealthy man's wife who busies herself with her splendid four sons and her house. She has expensive hobbies and is the centre of village life be it the foraging society or the paper chase. Of course she has a past.

The sorry tale is told by both women and an engaging if somewhat familiar tale it is too. The characters were of equally unreliable in my opinion which lifted the potential of the story which kept my interest.

I tried to like this but nearly gave up twice.

Nothing happens at all for at least the first 2/3rd of the book. Then both of the main characters turn out to be spoilt horrible people.

I appreciate that this must have taken lots of time to write and I usually love a thriller but this was just dull and then annoying.

This book started off excruciatingly slow but got better about 60% of the way in. I almost gave up on it several times. There were a few good twists but nothing groundbreaking. I don’t know what might have made it better - I don’t think I liked the narration style or any of the characters. It was also painfully obvious as to what one of the women’s secrets was, but the other’s was an interesting reveal. I would give this 2.5 stars.

This book was sent to me on Kindle by Netgalley for a review...it is told in two different persons...two women who become unlikely friends...one husband is in the middle of this friendship dynamic...the story is slow moving and leaves the reader wondering what is this all about? Try it and see...you might like it...

Susannah is recovering from a messy divorce and has left behind the life she had in London to move to a small country village in the south, to make a fresh start with her two young boys. She is befriended by Charlotte, who appears to have everything, the perfect family life in a beautiful manor house and a rich, handsome husband, but things aren't quite as perfect as they seem, and both Susannah and Charlotte are hiding something from their past, which they don't want anyone to know about.

The Best of Friends is a dual narrated story told in mainly alternate chapters by Susannah and Charlotte. It's a web of deceit and betrayal, perfectly executed by the author, with great characterisation and a believable plot. It's an intriguing, fast paced read which I devoured in a matter of hours, with a few surprising twists along the way that kept me guessing till the end. It's the first I've read by this author and I look forward to reading more in the future.

I'd like to thank HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Charlotte: the wealthy wife and mother who has it all.
Susannah: the broke divorcee with kids of her own.
The two become friends quickly. One or maybe even both have secrets.
A very predictable domestic tale that rambles on quite a bit.

Thanks to netgalley and One More Chapter for the arc.

The scene setting is a slow burn but as the story unravels the tension starts to builds however the plot was fairly predictable.

A domestic drama, two ladies from two different walks of life come together to form a friendship bring on the secrets, lies and deceit. An easy ease that I found "OK"

I love a good multiple perspectives book. I love getting thoughts and feelings first-hand from more than one character.

Unfortunately this one fell a little flat for me. I found I didn’t really care about the characters or their past indiscretions. I also found multiple elements of the story to be quite predictable, though I do read a lot of thrillers, which may have contributed to that. Also, there was a blatant red herring towards the end of the story that wasn’t really given an explanation, which bothered me.

Overall, I didn’t mind it, despite knowing exactly where the plot was going from an early stage. This one might be better suited to people who haven’t read a whole lot of the genre.

Thank you to @netgalley for my free advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review. It is out from April 9 if you want to check it out!

A good book, but unfortunately not a great one. I finished it but I think there was a lot of the story that went on and on. I found the characters hard to relate to. Sorry I don't recommend this xx

Psychological thriller?
Or, more a domestic suspense?
Either way, the story is full of secrets, lies and betrayal.
I had a bit of a struggle reading The Best of Friends. I really found the main characters not relatable. Also, the story unfolded quite slowly to the point of me nodding off more then a few times.
Overall, a pretty good book but not one I’d read again.
Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for my advanced reader copy of this book.

3.5 stars for me .

The Best of Friends is a quick read that does keep you turning the pages to see which of the two friends will survive and which one is more evil than the other.

I could not decide actually.

Susannah has recently moved to town with her 2 boys and the wealthy Charlotte befriends her.

Both of them have secrets.

Both of them are wily and think they are outsmarting the other.

The ending was a surprise, which I loved.

Well worth the read and I am off to buy The Missing Twin.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK , One More Chapter for the opportunity to read and review The Best Of Friends.

I am a bit mixed about this book. I read it in one evening after work and found it entertaining. The writing was... not particularly bad but not particularly good either. The structure is one I've seen with many thrillers recently - the two main characters alternate, one chapter after the other, more or less - this time addressing each other. The two women - Charlotte, rich, married to Dan, and Susannah, broke, divorced, just moved into the village - quickly become friends. Both of them have a "terrible secret" hidden in their pasts (one of them is a pretty solid secret; the other feels a bit forced). Not much happens for a while even if I could see where this was going. The only reason why this is going to be 3 stars rather than just 2 is because the end of the novel was masterfully done - a great twist, reveals given like breadcrumbs to build to that end. Was it memorable? No, but as I said, it was entertaining.

This is such a great book and easily devoured in a few sittings. Charlotte and Susannah's lives couldn't be more different. Charlotte is stinking rich and has everything and more, whereas Susannah has lost everything including her bankrupt husband. When Susannah moves to the village, they quickly form a friendship as their children are the same age but what happens is completely unexpected and simmers throughout the plot until it reaches boiling point and bubbles over into a thriller with so many twists and turns by the end you may well feel lost. A real gem of a femme fatale thriller!

A story of friendship, for 2 women who struggle with the concept, and have such different backgrounds. Both have secrets and as the two women form a bond, and it soon becomes apparent that this is a friendship that has been built on a foundation of lies.

It is written from the dual perspectives of Susannah and Charlotte and although the story and ending was pretty obvious, I really enjoyed it.

Twisty tale of two women who become fast friends, each with a nasty secret. Their children get along well and as things progress we find out bits and pieces of each's lives that belie their public faces. When one covets the other's life the real action begins. Good domestic drama!

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this ARC!

It’s nice when a past catches up with you book isn’t overly complicated and dramatic. This one keeps it simple enough. Clever, an easy way to pass the day. I’d recommend to anyone who wants an authentic, entertaining book to read for any occasion.

Loved this! So good, so exciting, so gripping and great story. Can't wait to read more by this author - absolutely brilliant.

“They say someone’s past always catches up with them. But I’m sprinting like the wind to outrun mine.” You don’t need to know whether Charlotte or Susannah thought this. It could have been either woman, both determined to keep their past a secret.

Charlotte has the perfect life. Dan, the handsome, wealthy husband, two lively boys, a gorgeous house and the staff to run it. Yes, on the surface it certainly is perfect. But underneath it all is a secret that threatens her ideal lifestyle. Susannah is new to town and her life is far from perfect. Recently divorced from her bankrupt husband, she is raising her two sons alone while counting every penny. She falls under Charlotte’s spell and the two become fast friends. There is, however, a catch. That’s Dan, the handsome husband, who seems to have a thing for Susannah. She feels the attraction. Now the question is: What will she do with it?

You’ll guess where this is going and you will be right…but then everything changes, again and again. You won’t know what really happened until the last chapter. What a read this is! Told in alternating chapters by Charlotte and Susannah, The Best of Friends is a suspenseful psychological thriller that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Excellent plotting and writing style! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Alex Day for this ARC.