I received a gifted copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Zooloos Book Tours.

The Perfect Suitor is a slow burn, character driven book about Charlene who's at an all-time low in her life after losing her beloved husband Christopher. Nothing brings her joy or happiness since his loss and therapy doesn't seem to be helping her in the slightest. After chatting to a stranger (Samuel) online, Charlene begins to feel a flicker of happiness, beginning to light within her. After some time of messaging and coaxing on Samuel's part, the two decide to meet. Samuel is fun to be around, has similar interests to Charlene, and seems to be a salve to her grief - but is he who he makes out to be, and can she truly trust him?
This is more of a suspenseful read than a thriller, but I still enjoyed it!

What a gripping read this was.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

As Charlene grieved the loss of her husband, I felt for her. However, she was naive and it turned into a bad romance. Samuel was a horrible character and was only after Charlene's money; she should have seen through him, but it gave the story a thriller aspect. Her story is a survivor's tale. Despite the odds, she fights back. Despite her depression and all the other challenges she is facing. I was surprised by the twist, it kept me interested. After the happy ending, she falls into another romance despite still being naive. It had me scratching my head in confusion.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I loved the premise of this book. Charlene is massively depressed after the violent and senseless death of her husband, so much that she's basically a shut-in. The only contact she has with the outside world is her therapist and an online girlfriend. But then she's contacted via social media by someone who shares her interest in art. With encouragement from her therapist, Charlene goes on a date with Samuel and the two hit it off so much, that Charlene (almost) forgets about her husband. And to top it off, he's good-looking, wealthy and dotes on her. Maybe a little too much....

However, Charlene comes across as really naïve, vacillating between trusting and not trusting Samuel's motivation. Which is probably more realistic than we, the omniscient readers, would think. Once she commits to having him investigated, she metaphorically pats herself on the back. But the twist can be seen a mile away. Even knowing what was going to happen, I still found the writing tense and suspenseful and I am grateful to NetGalley, Inkubator Books and Booksprout for an advance reader's copy.

Let me start by saying this book was a very close DNF for me. After reading No Exit I was on a high for another Psychological thriller and this was sitting on my Netgalley shelf. I couldn't wait to dive right in but I was greatly disappointed. To me this read more like a tragic romance. Charlene becomes a shut-in, blaming herself for her husbands death. Meanwhile the father she never knew leaves her with a substantial sum of money. Charlene has to hire a therapist just to prove that she is mental stable in order to keep her good for nothing mother away from that money.
And then comes a friend request out of the blue from Samuel.....
This was the first book I've read by Cole Baxter so I didn't know what to expect. I feel like the twist could have been more suspensful.....it just seemed like the writing was flat. I didn't feel what Charlene the main character was feeling.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this great book!!!

The Perfect Suitor is a great easy read by Cole Baxter, for me it was predictable but that didn't take away any of the enjoyment.

Charlene is morning the loss of her husband Christopher, who was stabbed to death 3 years previously in Egypt. She blames herself and has basically been a hermit for 3 years. She has inherited millions of dollars from her Dad, who she has never met and her mum is awful and has tried to get Charlene sectioned to get her hands on the millions.

So when Samuel comes along, although Charlene does approach with caution, she is encouraged by her therapist to go on a date with him and see how it goes.

I won't say anymore than that, as I don't want to give all the story away, but Samuel and the therapist, Dr Neal play huge parts in the book.

A great easy fantastic read, which I would highly recommend!!!

When Charlene loses her husband Christopher in a tragic incident, she doesn't think she will ever get over it. Three years later she still grieves, keeping herself locked away in the house and pouring out her heart to her therapist online everyday. Then one day she meets Samuel and quickly becomes charmed by him. But is he as perfect as he seems? When things begin to seem suspicious, Charlene starts investigating, unaware of the shocking events that will unfold...

I loved this book - it was exciting and tense, and I couldn't stop turning the pages until I reached the shocking conclusion. Great twists and interesting characters, a recommended read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

I gotta be brutally honest with this one...

This is just so badly written that I gave up less than halfway through. There is no depth to the characters or the storyline. Everything is told just as it is, with no nuance or illustration. It reads like a middle schooler wrote it. It's cringey. The characters are not likeable. There's not really a redeeming quality here for me.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Inkubator Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I look forward to reading a thriller keeping me engaged, done. .


I didn’t put this one down.

This was an enjoyable book and I devoured it in one sitting however the only reason I kept going in the first two thirds was that I really enjoy Cole Baxter books. I really wanted to shake Charlene and tell her to wake up and smell the roses. The last third got so much better and it made up for the beginning as I knew it would do.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

The cover of this book is really stunning. Well done to whoever came up with this idea. Because it is definitely eye-catching and really makes one want to read it.

Also the blurb on the back is really catching so I think people will definitely pick this up for sure.

The start of the story is really gripping it's fast paced at least at the start and really pops you into the heart of the action. The middle however is a little bit slower and doesn't really have the same connection as the start. But the end does pick up once again and makes you remember why you really liked the start. However I do think the book could have been condensed a little bit just to keep the reader engaged all the way through. However overall it was a good book.

In this book we meet Charlene who is morning the death of her wonderful husband who tragically died three years ago.

Charlene is desperately trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Which is when she meets Samuel. Who seems like the perfect suitor. He is handsome, well educated and charming but is he all he appears to be on the surface.

As Samuel and Charlene begin to get closer, Samuel starts acting strangely and Charlene starts to suspect that something is very wrong and that Samuel is hiding a deep dark secret. Things start to escalate as Charlene realises she is being followed. She begins to question weather she can really trust Samuel and so she decides to take matters into her own hands and starts to investigate who exactly Samuel really is.

The more digging that Charlene does the more that she discovers and the things she discovers are beyond her worst nightmares. But will Charlene be able to find the strength to confront the shocking truth and be able to pick up the shattered pieces of her life once again and start all over again? Well you will just have to read it to find out.

(Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for a honest review)

Publication date: 16 March 2022
Publisher: Inkubator Books

Plot:

Charlene is in a happy marriage with her husband, Christopher. Until he died and her world shattered.

While unable to get over the past she meets Samuel, a delightful, well-educated and charming man and over time Charlene gradually lowers her walls and lets him in. After a few alarming incidents between Samuel and herself, she starts to have suspicions and her trust in Samuel decreases. The suspicions increase and what she discovers is not expected.

Thoughts:

This was my first book from Cole Baxter. I really liked the cover too, it's why I requested for the ARC.
The start got me hooked but then it died down in the middle and towards the end it picked up again. The book felt too long and the story could have finished definitely faster.
I could understand Charlene's grief but I could not stand how naive she was. She portrayed herself as someone who could be walked over and I thought being in the circumstances that she was in, she should have been a little more assertive.
Though, I felt that it was a book well focused on the main characters. There were supporting characters but they didn't overwhelm the story. I would say the end was mainly unpredictable and it increased the overall rating. Overall, it was readable.

Who Is This Charming Man….?
Who really is this charming man? Charlene, still mourning the loss of her husband, meets Samuel. Samuel is charming. He’s clever, well read and handsome. He really is..the perfect suitor..or is he? A slow burn suspense with a credible cast and with the final twist making the whole run up to denouement wholly worthwhile.

I received an ARC of this upcoming novel through NetGalley. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley. Although I enjoyed reading “The Perfect Suitor”, it was a bit slow for my taste. I like my thrillers to be a little more “thrilling” I guess.

I liked the premise of the book but it was all a bit slow for my liking. I struggled initially until I started to see the plot move forward a bit but it wasn't one which got me deeply invested. I'd say its en easy summer read if you're just looking for something to kill time whilst you sunbathe etc. There aren't many twists but there is that sense of suspense and wanting to know just what's going on and that's what kept me reading! It wasn't terrible and is definitely worth a read

I found this book to be very slow and I didnt like Charlene's character at all. I'm sorry that this book wasnt to my taste but thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC

On holiday in Egypt, Charlene’s husband, Christopher, is stabbed to death during a street robbery. Desperately unhappy Charlene slips into her own depressive world, staying in her house, afraid to face the world. Three years later she meets Samuel, online, who seems the perfect gentleman. When they meet in person she begins to realize that Samuel is not what he seems and in her mind, she begins to question everything.

The book starts well with a quite shocking beginning but the early parts of the story are quite slow. I have to say that this is not my normal read but I persevered with it. The book could be described as a ‘slow burn’ for me. There are some humorous parts and as the novel progresses, the pace does begin to pick up and the story moves faster.


Later, it develops lots of twists and turns as the pace hots up with quite an unexpected finale. For anyone who likes to think they can guess the ending halfway through this is a book to test you on. On the whole a decent read with lots of twists, a shocking start, and an unexpected ending.

Unfortunately I found the main character so naive as to be annoying, and the pacing of the novel was far too slow to hold my interest. I did finish reading, but never did warm to the main character or to the writing style. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to read this book.

First, I’d like to thank the author, Inkubator Books and NetGalley for allowing me early access to this book. I will be perfectly honest, up until nearly the end, I thought my rating was going to be very different. But the final twist really surprised me and drastically improved my opinion of the whole story. It helped tie up some things that I had had issues with earlier in the story. There were still a few things that could have been improved, but overall I really enjoyed the book. I liked the main character and while she fell into some of the usual traps for a narrator of this type of story, it never seemed unbelievable or unforgivable. I also like that the author gave us a peek into her future at the end of the book.

Now to address the negatives in a bit more depth. The biggest issue I had was the pacing. Both the first and second thirds of the book drug on far too long. The first part felt more like a poorly written romance novel than the lead-up to a mystery/thriller. And the main character became far too wishy-washy in the second part. While that became more understandable to the end, I do still think it could have been shortened a bit. I will say though, once things really got going in the 3rd act, the pacing was perfect.

The other two negatives that I really noticed were smaller, but still glaring enough to take me out of the store. One I believe may have been an editing error that created a bit of plot hole. The main character references having read a news article about a side character in the story years prior and then in the next scene she no longer has that knowledge(sorry for being vague, trying to avoid spoilers). The other problem came in one of the last chapters. A character is referenced as being “posthumously convicted” which is not a thing given the fact that this book is set in the United States.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator books for an early release of The Perfect Suitor. I did not like this book at all, main character terribly naive and everything was soooooo drawn out. I’m not sure what kept me reading it but I did finish and the ending was ridiculous. I’m so sorry.