What an interesting and compelling book, which was an almost eerie and unsettling book to listen to in audiobook format. Kelly finds herself in an internal struggle to protect her son and keep her mother-in-law out of things for the same reasoning which is conflicting to read in itself. This book was not my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I enjoyed the audiobook narrator. I think she did a great job with the emotions going on. There were aspects of the book where I had to suspend my disbelief pretty hard, but there were also parts I was genuinely shocked by. So it was very middle of the road for me. It definitely played on stereotypes of mother-in-laws and mothers.

Reported to the police for murder by her vindictive mother-in-law, she was suspected of poisoning her husband, jailed away from her son, and nearly went to prison before an autopsy proved her husband died of an undiagnosed nut allergy.

Traumatized by the experience, she and her son Dan have become very close, while dealing with tension due to the emotional scars from the experience. She keeps a close eye on Dan, and not just because of what’s happened to her.

She has reasons that are more genetic than environmental. Dan, like his grandmother, is a sociopath: manipulative, impulsive, and almost remorseless.

I started out really liking this book and storyline but it started to fall apart and sections were just not believable. There's some shoddy police work, mixed with a little too obsessed MIL, who apparently never talked to her son about deadly allergens, and a twist that was decent but not phenomenal. It had potential but too many unplausible details mucked it up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape media for an advanced listening copy in exchange for my review.

This book has an interesting plot that initially drew my attention. To fully enjoy the story you need to just go with it. The story is over the top but has some good moments.

I've read a few by Cole Baxter lately and this is one of my favorites so far. This suspenseful, psychological thriller isnt too fast moving but does keep your attention throughout. The only thing I would have liked more of was a little more character development of the mother-in-law before the son died and what the dynamics were between all of them before the death. I thought Mona was wickedly interesting and I loved seeing how insanely far she was taking things into her own hands. I loved the mothers resilience in trying to save her son Dan as well and found her character really compelling. Overall, I thought the ending was very fitting and tied up all the loose ends nicely. This was well done and I look forward to more from Cole Baxter. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Being a mom made this book hit a little differently, the craziness of losing a husband, being hauled away from your child, a crazy MIL- idk, seems like a lot of wives and mothers can relate to this intense story. I’d definitely recommend

This one wasn’t for me. I found quite a few things throughout the book completely unrealistic. I found a hard time liking the MC because she made so many terrible decisions.

I was really looking forward to listening to this audiobook unfortunately it turned out to be a very long and drawn out snooze fest and the ending comes a little too late. The narrator did a nice job with what she had to work with.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to review the advance audiobook of What she Witnessed by Cole Baxter.

First I do want to say that the premise is what initially intrigued me into the story; a mother newly widowed and under suspicion of murdering her husband, all the while unsure if her son is a psychopath like his grandmother. And while the first half of the story did focus on the wife's trial, I did find the reasoning behind her suspicion of murder to be extremely faulty (seafood allergy). This right here was red flag #1 for me, if the author wanted the mc to stumble between the lines of guilty and not guilty, then maybe having a different means of death for the husband would have been better. Allergies can come and go throughout one's life, so to have an allergy that neither the family nor the deceased knew about if understandable, unfortunately the author did not go any deeper than that and based on that one fact alone the mc when to trial. Okay......

After the initial battle is over the harassments and the mc complaining the entire first half of the book just made me want to DNF this because I felt annoyed at this point that nothing of consequence or surprising happens. It was like listening to a bad B-budget lifetime movie. Sorry but there really could have been more suspense more action involved for the mc to ACTUALLY have witnessed something instead of that part happening at the end of the book!

If for instance, the mc (the mother) witnessed something happening at the lake where her son and his girlfriend goes then the novel may have held my interested, but this is not something that happens. Would have made a good twist of her knowing what happens and trying to cover it up, alas that was not meant to be.

In truth this novel is more of a slow burn to a somewhat flat suspense at the end that leaves me wondering what the point of the story was. This might have been for some people, however I did not enjoy the book like would have hoped.

2/5 stars!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* this book is wild. i would reread it for sure but wow i still remember all the wild twists!

This is genuinely one of the worst books I have ever read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I actively hated like 90% of this book. Kelly is a widow who is put on trial for the death of her husband. He died of a shellfish allergy that he didn't know he had when they were out for diner one night. Apparently this meant that obviously Kelly killed him??? Red flag number one.

Obviously, Kelly is acquitted of that change, but not before her terrible for no good reason MIL slanders her all over town and to the jury. Mona is a miserable and horrible human being for, again, literally no good reason.

Then for about 30% of the book, we are just carried along for the rest of Kelly's legal troubles-- the civil suit brought against her by Mona; Mona suing for custody of Kelly's teenager. Like okay yeah, you're showing that life is hard for Kelly and that Mona is awful. But did I really need to sit through 2 1/2 hours of Kelly's legal battles???? Please. spare me.

After this, we are introduced to Kelly's son's girlfriend, Sherry. (Oh yeah, did I mention that her 16 year old is named DAN? Freaking DAN. Like he's a 40 year old dad. Who is dating a teenage girl named SHERRY. Sure, Jan)
Dan and Sherry are madly in love, but like to do risky things like go drinking at a pond over by Mona's house. Sherry's parents are thrilled with their relationship because Dan has antisocial personality disorder (APD) and they think it's only a matter of time before he really hurts Sherry.

Then one night, Sherry goes missing and, of course, Dan is blamed for her disappearance and assumed death. Kelly knows her son though, and she's sure that Dan is innocent. Of course, the town (and Sherry's parents) quickly assume that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and neither Kelly nor Dan is to be trusted. Mona comes out of the woodwork to harass Kelly some more, and then we get to see even MORE of their legal battles (OH JOY). At this point, Kelly decides that SOMETHING has to be done. No matter the cost.

If you couldn't tell that things were bad before all of this, let me just keep telling you more
-Story was slow AF
-"What she witnessed" doesn't happen until like 80% of the way through the book
-Written like the author just used a thesaurus. Examples: when Kelly questions something and then says "what am I to do [about it]"; when something happens and Kelly says the situation is "not idyllic" (instead of ideal); everything is "such as." No one says things "such as this" are bad. That's just lazy writing, bro.
-Boring main character
-Teens are written like adults (and boring ones)
-Mona is evil for no reason?
-Demonization of (suspected) mental illness by Kelly even though her WHOLE SCHTICK is about how her son shouldn't be judged based on his APD diagnosis

Please. PLEASE just put this book down and walk away. It's not worth it.

Spoilers below for those who care:













Kelley decides she has to kill Mona because....???? So she goes to her house at night with a lockpicking kit. But what she sees in the attic window is Sherry. Just... standing by the window apparently. So now Kelly has to break in to save Sherry instead of to kill Mona. Or, I dunno, you could CALL THE POLICE, KELLY.
She breaks in and takes about 100000 years to get to the attic. She's almost caught by Mona once because Mona had to leave her master suite in her mansion to use the bathroom (honestly, the most unrealistic part of this whole book. Obviously Mona would have an en suite).
Kelly FINALLY gets to Sherry and then they sit there and talk for like.... 45 minutes instead of LEAVING THE HOUSE. During this time, Sherry says she hasn't eaten because the food is obviously poisoned, but Mona has been going through all the legal channels to get a gun (cue eyeroll).
Of course, Mona bursts into the attic with a gun and now Kelly has to talk both herself and Sherry out of danger. In the ensuing struggle, the gun goes off and Mona falls down the stairs and dies. Instantly. From a fall. Down a few stairs.
Sherry runs away and Kelly is a bit behind after doing.....??? She finally keeps heading home and Sherry is at her house? With her son? Instead of going back to her parents'???? But don't worry, she called her parents. (again, eyeroll)
Kelly finally calls the police after consulting with her lawyer, and the police come in guns blazing being all like "omg why did you kidnap and try to kill Sherry?? Obviously you have done something bad here." when.... why????

The book (finally, mercifully) ends with Kelly in jail awaiting the trial for her "murder" of Mona and she's like totally happy and chill because at least her perfect angel baby Dan is safe and everyone knows he's not a monster now.

Wow! This is my 3rd book by Cole Baxter and I really love their books! This book kept me hooked the entire time! It made me sad, it made me angry, and it made me happy - so it brought on all the emotions! I loved that this had a happy-ish ending and that there was a twist at the end. I kinda suspected it was going to happen so I wasn't totally shocked but I still loved it! Can't wait to read more books by this author!

#WhatSheWitnessed
#NetGalley

Thank you to #NetGalley, #DreamScapeMedia and #ColeBaxter for the advanced listener copy. This is my voluntary, honest review of What She Witnessed

This is my fourth book by Cole Baxter, and probably my least favorite. There were minuscule twists and turns, but nothing super "thrilling" about a woman being falsely accused and a crazy mother in law. I thought it was long and dragged out, there was substance, but not a lot of action. I did not see the ending coming, so that was a plus, but I just feel like this story fell flat. I will also say that I was a little confused, In the blurb about the book, the first line is "how far would you go to protect a secret?" - I am not entirely sure what secret we are referring to, so I feel like there are some unanswered questions that this book leaves you with. I can honestly say, that I did love the character, and thought that Kelly Carlsen took everything she endured quite well. However, I hated her mother in law. She is a sneaky, spoiled, self centered piece of dirt. And that’s all I can say about that character without any spoilers. I will still read more by this author.

This was my first Cole Baxter and I am not eager to read any others. I didn't enjoy a single aspect of this story. The premise had so much potential but wasn't able to capitalize on any of it, the characters were very one dimensional, and the ending was very predictable. I am not sure how a thriller involving a missing girl, wrongful arrests, and a crazy mother-in-law could be so boring. Instead of focusing on the missing girl, a significant portion of the book was focused on the main character raising money to bail her son out of jail or verbally fighting with her nuts mother-in-law. There was also a lot of repetitive moments that I could have done without. I would have liked to see more growth with the characters or a little more thought put in to creating a believable, less cartoonish villain. Overall, not worth the read/listen.

In the beginning, I didn't know the direction this book would take. It went through so many twists and turns that I wasn't sure where it was going until it ended. I found this book somewhat disappointing. There wasn't a lot of substance. However, the narrator was wonderful and I like this author. I just wasn't engrossed in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

Kelly is fresh off a murder trial when her son is accused of murdering his girlfriend.
With a detective who seems hell bent on punishing this family, and a mother in law who has endless resources and all the time in the world to torment her family, Kelly seems to be on her own to prove her sons innocence.

So I had a few issues with this book.
Right off the bat - the synopsis says
“How far would you go to protect a secret”
Am I missing something? What’s the secret that needs to be protected? And who is protecting this secret.
This line implies there is a huge secret. And I waited and waited… no secret.

Second. Kelly. I understand she is having a bad year. But something about her dialogue was just like … enough already. By the end of the book I was so annoyed by her.

Third. Kelly went on an in about how good her lawyer was, but was he?
Why didn’t they sue Mona when she was going on every news outlet talking trash about Kelly and Dan, when they HAD a recording of her basically saying
I will go on every news outlet and lie about you and Dan unless you give me custody of Dan?

In the end this story was so unbelievable that it was basically a fantasy novel with no dragons.

This is a mystery thriller that was just okay for me. It was too busy, brought in too many twists and turns that have already been done. The monster mother-in-law was done well in the beginning, but as other elements were added the story pivoted to a clumsy long magazine story. The ending put the nail in the coffin.

Narrator Chelsea Stephens did a good job.

The story never grabbed me, and I didn't like any of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review What She Witnessed.

#NetGalley
#ColeBaxter
#ChelseaStephens
#DreamscapeMedia

What She Witnessed is the ultimate evil mother-in-law story. Some people may find their in-laws annoying or just not get along with them, but Kelly, the protagonist in this story, takes the cake with having the most horrible mother-in-law. What She Witnessed was an interesting thriller mystery. It kept my attention and I thought that the story was pretty unique. However, the writing itself was not great and a lot of the dialogue came across as cheesy. If the characters had seemed more realistic, I would have probably given this title a higher rating.

I had no idea where this book was headed in the beginning. There were so many twists and turns I wasn’t sure where it was going until it got there.

This book fell a little flat for me. I was interested the whole time but it kind of felt without depth. The narrator was wonderful and I do like this author. I just wasn’t invested in the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the story and the characters, plus the character development was great. However, the unresolved ending was not satisfying. I wish there had just been some sort of closure for the story instead of leaving the reader guessing what would happen.

I would also note that the narrator, Chelsea Stephens, was amazing. She did a wonderful job.

**I have also submitted a review on Amazon, however it has not been approved yet.