The Loyal Friend was totally unputdownable. I read it from start to finish in one sitting. There was an interesting mix of characters and enough twists and turns to keep the tension building all the way to the highly satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for my ARC.

A twisting and compelling thriller if ever there was one. Four women all of those women have dark secrets they want to keep hidden. What could possibly go wrong?

Susan, Natalie and Grace make friends when they join a yoga class run by Jade. All of these womens lives are totally different and world apart but through their fitness classes are pulled together. Jade the instructor is young, beautiful, trusting and a friend to everyone.

Natalie, Susan and Grace all entrust Jade with their secrets and she swears never to speak of them again but when Jade vanishes from her apartment without a trace leaving behind nothing but a diary for the police to go on everyone’s secrets and threatened to be exposed including Jades resulting in some disaster out consequences.

I really enjoyed this book it was fast paced, exciting and had plenty going on. In a couple of places I did find it dragged on a bit and I did feel like saying get to the point with slightly less waffle but other than that I really loved this book and the ending was amazing I did not see that coming at all.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

The Loyal Friend is a don't talk to me , cant put this book down kind of read.

It is full of twists and turns, red herrings , suspense and an ending I never would have seen coming.

Grace, Jade, Susan and Natalie all go the same club where Jade teaches a class.

They are all so different and they all have secrets that would destroy them and others

When Jade goes missing the truth ugly as it is starts to slowly reveal itself.

That's all I am saying except I wont be so complacent when I read She's Mine.

A.A. Chaudhuri you have a new fan for life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hera books for a spell binding read.

Natalie, Grace, and Susan are fast friends. Or are they? Nothing tests a friendship like extreme stress and lies.
The plot was good, I’ve loved Chaudhuri’s series work, but this one is a stand alone.
The Loyal Friend tests the boundaries integrity, ethics, and conscience.
The ending didn’t surprise me, but still allowed for some shock value.

I was completely gripped! Such an intoxicating blend of jealously, rivalry, and questionable intentions. I read this in two settings. I loved the narrative and the love to hate characters. Highly recommended.

This is a really good psychological thriller. It is a slow burner but as the story progresses the suspense intensifies and the action moves up apace. There are a number of different threads and so many twists and turns I lost count, but all so well written. Written largely from the POV’s of the four protagonists my only minor gripe was I had to flick back a couple of times when the chapter moved to the past - very minor gripe.

Briefly, Natalie had a bad childhood and was quite reclusive until she met Jade, a gym instructor, and Natalie believes them to be best friends. When she joined Jades class Natalie met Susan and Grace. Susan is wealthy, incredibly self obsessed and appears to have a perfect life and Grace is the perfect wife and mother. But then Jade goes missing. All the women have been hiding secrets. Secrets that are going to be revealed as investigations into the disappearance progress.

These are some of the best characters I’ve read recently, particularly Natalie. It’s heartbreaking to see how her mental health has been affected by her dreadful childhood. A very satisfying thriller with a brilliant and shocking climax. Loved it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this ARC for feedback. I don’t know where to begin? My first time reading from this author and I enjoyed it a lot. This book kept me on my toes. There was drama, secrets, mystery. I was only able to figure out one tiny part of the plot. I enjoyed it. It was not a predictable storyline. No sexual content and not much swearing if any.
It was a little long. I feel there were a quite a few pages that could have been removed to prevent the feeling of repetitiveness. However, all the work the author put in this novel was worth the type of ending you come to. I am going to read more books from this author for sure.

This is a belter of a psychological/ drama/whodunit with many offshoots and sub stories that all fed into (really well and not confusingly ) the main event

10 reasons why I so enjoyed this

1. The characters were fascinating, each with their own back history that led them all together to be a part of this story

2.The writing which started, middled and ended the same…brilliantly

3.The feeling of menace throughout

4. How the author led you to think as a reader you had worked it out…..only to realise you hadn’t

5. How mental illness and charcater’s various reactions to this led them to behave throughout

6. The unusual way a charcaters pyschopathetic ( is that a word? ) behaviour played out, not seen this in a story before

7. The story being based sometimes around a gym but a gym that was inclusive ( at least for some of the members! )

8. The terrific and unexpected ending

9. How the whole story felt an ‘experience’ you had been through with the characters and

10. The very honest authors letter and acknowledgements

So, yep, loved it

10/10
5 Stars

4.5 stars rounded up

Wealthy, pampered Susan is living the perfect life in leafy Kingston. She'll never let anyone see the darkness she's concealing behind the diamonds and rose.

Grace is new to the group, seemingly the perfect wife and mum. Yet no one knows the truth of what's happening behind closed doors.

Loner Natalie, hides the pain of her childhood behind a carefully ordered life. But how long can the past stay hidden?

Three unlikely friends, brought together for a weekly class run by beautiful, friendly instructor, Jade. But when Jade goes missing in mysterious circumstances, the group starts to unravel.

In my opinion, you're better going into the story not knowing a lot about it. I was constantly guessing throughout. The twists were unexpected, jaw dropping and the ones towards the end, well, I was shocked. The story is told from Susan, Grace and Natalie's perspectives, The book is so well written and the ending I never saw coming.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HeraBooks and the author #AAChaudhuri for my ARC of #TheLoyalFriend in exchange for an honest review.

I stayed up all night to read this book straight thru!

I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

wooooooooooow!

what a story!

I could not put this down, I stayed up all night to finish this book!

Young Whippersnappers! 😳😯🤯😳

Fluffin' poprocks! What the skinny skittles! My gosh, what a thrilling conundrum! An insanely twist of a group of women with a whodunnit. The mystery and secrets galore will keep you intrigued, shocked and undeniably curious to who had to gain from Jades disappearance. The salacious secrets kept things juicy and suspenseful!

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: Jade is popular, beautiful, kind, and runs an exercise class three times a week at a community gym. And now she's missing.
Natalie is absolutely besotted with her friend Jade after meeting a year ago and being taken under her wing. But she's got secrets of her own from a traumatic past during the investigation she can't let be known. Susan, another class goer, is a wealthy, bitter and secretly unhappy woman with demons she's fighting to keep under wraps & allowing her husband she despises from uncovering. Grace is in a loveless marriage herself, desperate to keep hers and her husbands past under lock and key. But with an investigation, their secrets won't be secret anymore. Keep your enemies close, but your friends closer.

I need an oxygen tank from all the gasps & shocks with this novel! This was truly a heart-stopper from start to finish. I was enamoured with this plot more than I thought I'd be and boy did Chaudhuri keep dishing out the dark goods. A yummy thriller that'll keep you guessing and wondering.

Thank you to NetGalley & Hera Books for this ARC!
Release Date: June 23, 2022

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 4 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

I’m a big fan of the authors previous work so I was very excited to hear about a new book being released :)

This book was brilliant. I was gripped straight away, I was really invested in each of the characters stories. The chapters are split between 4 friends, but mostly between 3 of them - Grace, Natalie & Susan as they each try to hide their own secrets whilst trying to discover what’s happened to their friend Jade. Each character has their own issues that they have been through that they are still dealing with and each characters story is told so well and the characters seem so real you can really build up pictures of them in your head, which just shows great writing

The thing I loved most about the book.. that all the women each had the different backgrounds that made them all so different but yet so similar, when books are usually written like that I usually find that one story weighs heavier than the others but with this all the stories have their own heartbreak and I was really interested and invested in each of the characters and it really keeps you guessing throughout the whole thing and suspecting everybody!

There are a lot of twists and turns with this which I just loved! I had a few little ideas of where things were going but towards the end so many other things came out I was like 🤯🤯 I absolutely love a thriller that can shock you and this one 100% does.

I definitely recommend to thriller lovers who love twists and turns 🙂

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I found this book hard to get into, it took me longer to read. The characters were annoying and boring, the twists were good throughout which keep you reading and the style of writing was perfect. I have this authors other book ‘she’s mine’ to read, so hoping that will be more enjoyable. This was not what I expected I’m afraid but I will continue to keep my eye out for more books in the future by this author.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book was captivating and beautifully written. It was a tense and riveting whodunnit that is packed with twists and turns. I recommend this one.

TW: 18+, depression, childhood trauma, psychopathy, death.

When Jade, a fitness trainer, goes missing, police investigate her three friends Natalie, Susan and Grace. Each of them has troubling secrets from the past. Also, each of them had some enmity with Jade though they pretended to be friends and enjoy each other's company. Who caused her disappearance and why forms the rest of the story.
It is quite a complex psychological thriller. The story was slow in the beginning but as the mystery unraveled, I decided to finish it in one go. The ending was quite satisfactory and does justice to the whole premise that is set up.
The story has extremely twisted characters, including Jade. I appreciate how the author put effort into making each character different and intense. Writing one character with psychological issues isn't easy and the author did four.
The english is very simple and suitable for beginners. The backstory of each character is narrated at different times and should be remembered without being confused. This, because each detail is important. In other words, I was immersed into the book so that I don't miss any clue as to who did it. A complete entertainer worth the time and money.
I received a review copy from Netgalley and I am posting my review voluntarily.

Loved it from the start, full of lies, betrayal and suspense. Loved the twist at the end too. Looking forward to reading more from the author.

The Loyal Friend by A.A. Chaudhuri is a captivating thriller that keeps you on edge throughout. You will have difficulty trying to figure this one out as each layer unfolds. The story revolves around an exercise instructor, Jade, and 3 of the women in her class at the health club. When Jade doesn't show up for one of her classes, the detectives start to interview her regulars at class. The 3 women that are regulars are Grace, Natalie, and Susan. As you learn more about each one, you will come to find out that they all had reasons to want Jade to disappear. The fun part for the reader is to figure out which one did it.......or did someone else?

I enjoyed this book tremendously and highly recommend it. The pacing was good, the characters were interesting, and it kept you guessing until the very end. I give it 4.5 stars.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Hera Books for the advanced copy.

AA Chaudhuri has done it again!

She specializes in writing extremely toxic female relationships- and I love it.

Jade is a fitness coach. Natalie is a meek librarian who has befriended Jade. The rest of the main cast, Susan and Grace, are attendees of Jade’s class.

Then Jade goes missing.

This book absorbed me from start to finish. I didn’t find any of the characters very likable, but it was fun and intriguing all the same.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.