I'm disappointed that this turned out to be more domestic noir than espionage that it seemed to say it was going to be. I also had zero idea this was part of a series (number 2 I believe?)

I just didn't find myself interested in anything going on because I was busy looking for more excitement.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I was automatically inclined to read this book because of its 1) setting and 2) promise of spy/thriller with a political twist. The cover is REALLY good, and the title seems to fit the summary. This is something I would pick up from a library/store and considering reading. After reading this book, however, I am not sure that the summary/marketing for this book matches up effectively. I think this is more of a domestic suspense or just a general fiction, I wouldn't categorize this as espionage as much as it is.... well, something else. I agree with previous reviewers that mention that there is not enough awareness of its being part of a series, despite it being mostly readable as a standalone novel. I think that the writing was OK, I would give another a go. However, it was not exactly what I expected and would suggest tweaking the way it is portrayed as to not irk potential readers.

I thought this was an espionage thriller which piqued my interest....but it wasn't...at least until you're about 75% through the book. I also found that about 10% of the pages could have been cut as they added nothing to the plot nor helped move the actual story along in any meaningful way. It was a struggle for me to finish this.

While I think many people will like this book, it freaked me out way too much with the human trafficking and how she was being followed. I was too stressed to really enjoy it but I think I am just not the target audience for this one

Apparently this is the second book in a trilogy and I sure hope there is a third book to explain what the heck happened at the end of this one. This thriller had some tense moments and I was genuinely interested in parts of it, but on the whole it didn’t come together. The scandal that Isobel uncovers is the most interesting part but it was barely developed. Gabriela was so unlikeable and Isobel wasn’t much better. I was disappointed with so much of this book.

A Double Life should have been a massive hit for me, an espionage thriller literally is my dream thriller. Except, it turns out its the SECOND in a trilogy and it has the most massive cliffhanger, unfinished ending ever. I so enjoyed reading this, I really did, Charlotte Philby captures the area, the style, the work, so very well, but it swiftly went from 5 stars to 3. It's a bit slow in pacing, there's a whole lot more family drama and romance than I expected, but I could see it all playing out in front of me. I loved Gabriela's chapters, I even loved Isobel's chapters, but neither work together until the very last second so it feels like reading two books. It felt like everything worked, except for when it came to tying the two together and when I hit the last page. I'm left connecting the dots of how Gabriela and Isobel intersect, which is entirely unlike the blurb presents it to be, and I admit I continuously flipped the pages looking to see if it was formatted wrong.

I feel like I might read the first and third book now, but I'm not entirely sure. I wish It had been marketed correctly. I wish I had known it was the second book. I wish I had known cliffhangers were coming. There's a lot I needed going into this, because it is not a standalone as presented and I would not have read it alone had I known. I'm pretty sad, I wanted this to be the five star it started as.

ARC provided.

Though this was categorized as an espionage thriller novel, it most definitely was not. The first 80% of the book are about Gabriela living her best life(s). Intertwined, we also learn of Isobel, a strung out journalist. There’s no real suspense element until about that 80% mark, when it feels like all of the storylines are about to converge. They don’t though, the book ends. Based on other reviews, it sounds like this book is part of a trilogy but even with that knowledge, I am less than thrilled with this one.

If this book “as is” were to be condensed and then the storylines finalized, I do think I would have enjoyed it a bit more. I think there were still enough elements to the narrative that a trilogy would still be successful.

Thank you to Charlotte Philby, Harper 360, and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This is my second novel by Ms. Philby and my second disappointment. I thought I was getting a Spy/Espionage Thriller novel but it turned out I was wrong and that was VERY frustrating. I found the book a little long as well. There were a lot of unnecessary pages that could have been cut. And as with her last book the ending was very unsatisfying.

I did like that it had two women as main characters. I especially enjoyed the fact that the two womens seem to be a totally different paths then they converge nicely at the end. All in all a mediocre book at best.

To be honest, I am not sure I can write a review on this, I just finished the book, and I have no idea what actually happened. What Isobel and Gabriela had to do with each other, I still have no idea. What a mess.

I really wanted to like this book, but for me it was dnf. The premise was so interesting and the first chapter was great. Then the book just became so much exposition and flashback work and I found myself skimming and just not getting into the book. Maybe if I was more patient I would have finished it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I am giving it 3 starts though because I think for the right reader this book would be amazing, I just wasn't that reader.

*I was provided an ARC by Netgalley and the publisher for my honest review*

We have two POV's in this book.- Gabriella a negotiator in the Counter-Terrorism Unit. She has two children Then we have Isobel--who is a journalist for local paper.. The plot is slowly rolled out as the characters' lives begin to converge-- Gabriella's life starts to unravel and Isobel gets closer to the truth of human trafficking. I didn't enjoy the way this book was written it was a bit too disjointed and slow for me. I liked the concept the author was going for, but it turned out to be a difficult read for me. However, I can see certain readers that will enjoy this novel.

This was not the book I thought it would be. Its not a spy story but rather a story about a woman's decision to love a double life as a spy and the impact on her marriage and family. This was 90% about a troubled marriage and 10% a spy thriller.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

The plot sounded so interesting but the mystery was flat and took so long to develop I had long since stopped caring. Not even an entertaining guilty pleasure

This book was good. It kept me entertained but I was not sucked into it fully where I couldn't stop reading. I put it down and picked up it a few times. Overall it was a good book

Not even going to lie! I was a little let down! This was an ok book! I enjoyed the characters. But the plot.... By the end things did tend to wrap up some! The characters were good! Writing was ok! Just wasn't what I'd excepted!

A very long thriller with extremely unappealing main characters—one annoyingly selfish and the other Annoyingly self-destructive. I skipped the middle third of the book to no detriment.
This was all disappointing because the author is a good writer.
Readers should be aware that this is the second book of a trilogy—something I didn’t know when I read it. This explains the abrupt and unresolved ending; everything presumably will be tied up in the third book, which I don’t intend to read.