Hold a grudge much? One Bitter, conniving, manipulative woman whose life is a wreck envies another who seemingly has hers altogether. There are successes, stalking, lying, faking and infertility but there are also surprises in store.
I thought I had it figured out, truly, then the switch flipped and OMG! Just when you think you know a person! The gears all lined up and I realized I’d had no idea all along. One intensely permeating mystery!

Good plot and interesting characters! I kept waiting for something to jump out and yell "boo!" but when it happened it wasn't what I was expecting. Also, what I wasn't expecting was how slow the book went at times and then how quickly it seemed that connections were made. Connections that didn't seem really there to me. Did I miss something while reading? I don't think so. I think the jumps were a little too easily made to get things wrapped up. Maybe some of those pages spent in the middle could have been removed and replaced with more detail as things were coming to a close? But still, a good read.

Sam Hepburn writes a cozy domestic noir, which isn’t a thing, but could easily be the next genre. Two unlikely women , Gracie (the one with the absolutely perfect life) and Juliet (the one with practically nothing) develop a must needed friendship. Neither women are particularly likable but the characters are so well written that you care about what happens to them. And, oh, what happens indeed to them. I e joyed reading all the twists and turns leading to a rather unexpected ending. It’s a fun, easy read, nothing too hard, perfect for a quarantine day.

Gracie Dwyer has a well-known and popular cooking show. She makes it all look so easy. She is married to Tom and step-mom to Elise. They live well and have a nice home.

Gracie has had a number of threatening notes over the last years sometimes saying she needs to die. She doesn’t have any idea who her stalker is and the police are well aware of the case and are on it.

Recently, when Gracie was filming in New York, Tom brought a young office intern to see his house and ended up having sex with her. When he confessed to Gracie, she was devastated but determined to make their marriage work.

Juliet is the mother of Freya, Elise’s age. Juliet admires Gracie’s life and wants to be a part of it so she works to insert herself there. What is her motive and why is she so centered on Gracie? Is there some past history with the two women?

Juliet drinks and smokes a lot. While she is intelligent, she just hasn’t made a good life for herself. Gracie, on the other hand, is charismatic, the perfect hostess, wife, and mother. She’s efficient and gets things done.

This is an overly long, twisted story that at times seemed so far-fetched that I thought about abandoning the book. However, I know that the author is a good writer and decided that I just had to stick with it. It wasn’t until the very end that it all finally wrapped perfectly and the plot was a good one, leaving the reader with a lot of food for thought.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Wonderfully addictive. An absolutely amazing and transporting read. This author is just brilliant at creating characters who stay with you and who make you think and question, wonder what you would do in their situation. Just absolutely fab! I would recommend this to everyone.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It was pretty slow moving and I am not a fan of slow moving thrillers. I like them to be fast paced to keep me engaged. Wasn't a fan of the characters didn't really care what happened to them. I struggled with this book and it took forever for me to finish it.

Wow - there was so much going on in this book!

When Juliet was first introduced, I was rooting for her - she's on the cusp of getting awarded a big project...but man is she one bitter lady. She's jealous about the the success of Gracie, a woman who has it all - looks, a handsome husband, a big house and a famous cooking show. But there is a bratty daughter who is the link between them as single mom Juliet maneuvers her way into Gracie's life by way of her daughter Freya, a kind little girl who goes along with whatever her mom wants.

You can't help but like Gracie, because even when she's feeling put out she responds with a smile and food. Speaking of which, do not read this book if you are hungry! The descriptions of gourmet dishes had me looking up definitions to see what these edible creations were. The author really did her research (and it's worth reading the author's note to the reader at the back of the book - "A Letter From Sam").

Did I mention there was a lot going on? At times, characters seemed to jump into the story and I found myself doing a search to see if the character was mentioned before, but they hadn't been. So a little more back story when characters were introduced could have helped to smooth some of the transitions. I also found some unresolved (for me) threads, like what was the nanny, Heather's deal? And was there more than one stalker? I also found the diary entries annoying. I knew they would be tied into the plot eventually, but that technique breaks up the flow of reading for me. However, the ending was so unexpected, I can forgive the quirkiness and applaud the author for her creativity.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced reader's copy of this interesting read.

Loved this book, and wow, what a shocker of an ending! Highly recommend. Great writing and plot, and had me mesmerized from the very first page. Going to read another from this author!

DNF at 45%, 3 hours left to read.
Gracie has built an empire for herself. Cook books, cafe, tv show. After returning to her London suburb award winning house, her husband confesses a drunken one night stand on their house. After serious consideration, they decide to sell the house and move closer to both their jobs.
Juliet can't keep it together. Smoking and drinking, freelance PR jobs are not paying the bills. Her daughter, Freya, simply goes along.
Gracie and Juliet meet- for the second time. When Juliet was trying to get work after leaving her abusive husband, she pitched ideas to Gracie at a conference. Gracie chose a different firm. Juliet wants revenge.
So long. Subplots all over the place. Just didn't hold my interest.

Really more. 2.5 but rounded up for a trippy ending

This wasn’t bad it just was a bit too long and, at times, a bit confusing. I felt that some of the repetitive internal monologue could have been trimmed and tightened this story up.

The story takes a while to pick up but then throws you several decent twists (some predictable, not all). The final zing was one good, it ended well for me. If you have patience then this is a decent story. Not my favorite, but I think many readers will enjoy so give it a try.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.

Gracie Dwyer has the perfect life and Juliet Beecham wants it. Her Perfect Life, a suspenseful domestic thriller full of manipulation and mystery, tells their story.

Gracie, a cookbook author and famous host of a TV cooking show, is married to Tom, an architect. They married after the sudden death of his first wife and Gracie is stepmother to his young daughter Elsie. They move from one beautiful home to another nearer to a new business Gracie is starting and she meets Juliet at their daughters’ dance class.

No one would describe Juliet’s life as perfect, especially not Juliet. Her freelance PR career is sputtering to a halt, she is separated from her abusive husband Ian, she drinks and smokes too much and barely has the energy to take care of her daughter Freya. Both women have plans that involve the other and both are very good at keeping secrets. Complicating this twisted plot even more are mysterious, desperate diary entries with no link to either Gracie or Juliet.

Narrated by both women, Her Perfect live is deliciously readable with a totally surprising conclusion. However, the pace is too slow and would benefit from a heavier edit. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Sam Hepburn for this ARC.

I was given an ARC of this book for an honest review. Thank you all for allowing me to have this opportunity.
I have to say I just couldn’t get into this one it was a slow start and the different characters just didn’t stand out to me. I had a hard time waiting for it to get to the thrilling twists . I have to be honest not just wasn’t the book for me.

Her Perfect Life is the story of Gracie Dwyer, celebrity chef and entrepreneur, and washed up PR exec Juliet, a single mother with a drinking problem. They enter each other's lives thru the shared interest of their little girls. Gracie's life seems like a dream to Juliet, whose own life has been on a downward spiral, and she makes plans to attach herself into Gracie's world.

This story was very well written but a little slow in the beginning however when it got going, I couldn't put it down! It kept me guessing til the very end with the twists.. and that ending was insane! Didn't see it coming!

This addictive psychological suspense novel is centered on two female protagonists, Gracie Dwyer, a celebrity expert in domestic arts, and Juliet, a faded alcoholic PR freelancer. Scattered throughout the chapters which alternate between the points of view of these two very different women, journal entries of a teenager called Pauline appear. The story brings the lives of Gracie and Juliet into contact through their respective five-year-old daughters, but we learn that they have met before—a fact which Juliet, though not Gracie, is aware of. Juliet has her own plans concerning Gracie and is not particular about causing pain to the TV star while realizing them.
Gracie also has a stalker whose psychological torture ramps up throughout the story. The stalker has an unnerving knowledge of Gracie’s secrets, and insights into her private life including her relationship with Tom, her husband, and his former in-laws who resent Gracie’s usurpation of their deceased daughter’s place—her husband, home, and child.
The novel’s pace is good and the story compelling. The reader is tantalized by several secondary characters who might turn out to be either Pauline or the stalker, or both. The author does a good job of scattering hints and revelations throughout as the story reaches its climax.
I must admit that I was mildly disappointed in the ending revelations as the threads of the novel come together. Without giving spoiler details, the solution was one that I felt was always a main possibility and failed to be much of a surprise twist. Having said that, however, I really enjoyed the book as a whole and found the writing, suspense quotient, and the characters absorbing until the very end of the story.

Her Perfect Life is such a clever and original story. I flew through it not wanting to miss one detail. It is the story of the haves and have nots but with plenty of twists and turns and an ending that will make you gasp!

Gracie appears to have the perfect life as a tv cook. She has a husband and a daughter who she loves as her own. Juliet comes into her life with her daughter, Freya. Juliet appears to have a messy life. Is everything as it seems?

I found this book very interesting but struggled to understand the reason for the plot. I liked the story but spent most of the book trying to find the endgame. The ending was shocking and completely unexpected.

DNF.

I’ve read on one of the book blogs that if you are not enjoying a book after 30-50 pages, don’t feel obliged to continue. With that being said, this book was DNF for me. It is described as an absolutely gripping thriller but the beginning did not grip my interest at all. Very boring and slow and I did not have any interest in continuing with reading it.

Thank you NetGalley, Sam Hepburn and Bookouture for a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Her Perfect Life is full of secrets and lies, and I really enjoyed it! I liked that the story was told from the perspectives of both Gracie and Juliet, and all the characters were very well-written. There are plenty of surprises in the book, and though I suspected one of them pretty early on, I didn't see the rest of them coming at all. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read Her Perfect Life early...I'm looking forward to reading more from Sam Hepburn. : )

4++Stars
Awww Gracie Dwyer has a perfect life ~ handsome husband, wonderful child, a beautiful home; an amazing career ~ has it all Right?
Hmmm
Have to admit the book jacket had me asking…. Really?

Yep this was addictive! Had me curious ~ I liked Gracie and dislike Julie.
Yep turned out to be a twist I should have suspected but didn’t!!!

This was GREAT! I have been going through Psychological/Thriller withdrawal.
To me NOTHING is as good as a GREAT Psychological thriller!!!
.
I put “Gone Before on my TBR list.
Thank you Sam Hepburn, my new favorite author!!

Nothing Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this uncorrected Digital Galley which granted to readers in Canada and US and to me for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 15, 2021

I enjoyed how much of a psychological thriller this was. The twist at the end got me good, I never would have predicted it! It wasn't as much of a thriller as it was psychologically screwed up in a way. It kept me entertained and I read it pretty fast.