DOMESTIC SUSPENSE

That is a visual of “The Drop”-a view that people often pause to admire while strolling on Millionaire’s Walk, a sandy walking trail in Portsea-a sleepy coastal town a couple of hours outside of Melbourne.

But, it has also become a popular place for people to come to end their lives. Ragged cliffs above the ocean, 30 meters below- You DON’T survive the fall.

Gabe and Pippa had a fortuitous meeting. It was pretty much “love at first sight”- something that would often bother me in a ROMANCE book-but this book is called “The Soulmate”.

Intoxicating to one another- Yin and Yang.

But their life together has had its challenges, as well.

Their new cliff side home-20 meters from “The Drop” is meant to be a fresh start, for the couple and their two young daughters, Freya and Asha, and at first it is.

Gabe becomes a local hero of sorts when he talks someone down from the ledge. And, then he succeeds time and time again until the day he doesn’t. He is devastated.

The Police rule it a Suicide-but the Victim’s husband swears that Amanda wouldn’t jump!

And, when Pippa realizes that Gabe knew this woman- she has questions about what she thinks she saw before the woman tumbled out of sight.

Told from the alternating perspectives of Pippa (NOW) and Amanda (AFTER) Sally Hepworth delivers yet ANOTHER original story that surprised me not ONCE-not TWICE- but at least THREE times!

Not only that, but she always NAILS her endings-shocking without being OTT!
explores the (mis)perceptions of a perfect marriage. What those see on the outside isn't so perfect behind closed doors.
Short, snappy chapters, paired with alternating POVs, one of which is from the deceased who is stuck in limbo before passing on, provide a clever and suspenseful way of telling the story of what really happened

’ve been in a real riding slump. I don’t think this book helped me.
I’m overly gracious with the 4⭐️ but I did love the ending of this book. The last 15% was a quicker pace and the story finally came together. The middle 75% was meandering and LONG. I liked Pippa, hated Gabe, and misunderstood Max and Amanda.
There is so much to do with mental illness in this book and sadly I’m not sure the character got all the help they needed.
I’ll continue to read Sally Hepworth’s book because I believe she had great ideas and talent. This is not my favorite book of hers.

Another great domestic suspense by Sally Hepworth!
Gabe and Pippa move to their dream house on the edge of a cliff. The dream house that turns into their nightmare…

This was a 4.5 star read for me. The only reason I cannot give the full five stars… I truly didn’t love these characters. The plot kept me intrigued and it was a twisty page-turner, but I found all of the characters to be unlikeable and a tad boring. I wanted more from Pippa!

A solid twisty thriller that I am recommending to all of my bookish friends!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first read from Sally Hepworth, and I'm excited that I already have two of her back catalog waiting on my shelves for me. Her writing style was quick paced and easy to read, and that's not a bad thing! Even with dual POV and multiple timelines (and planes of existence) I was engaged and invested in figuring out how the characters were intertwined from the start.

Pippa and Gabe seem to have it all, two young daughters and a beautiful home in a small seaside town, situated near The Drop, a preferred spot for local suicides. Gabe has been able to talk down every person who has come to The Drop since they moved in, until his luck runs out and a woman jumps despite his best efforts. It turns out the woman was the wife of his former boss, Amanda, and once her identity is known we start to hear her perspective from a place that isn't quite "the other side". Gabe and Pippa don't have the picture perfect marriage they seem to have, rife with infidelity, secrets, and periods of severe mental health issues. Amanda shares insight into her marriage with the powerful media mogul Max, who has unexplainedly taken Gabe under his wing, which started off as a marriage of convenience but slowly morphed into more. With all the jumping back and forth you are never quite sure who the bad guy in this story is, and start to believe maybe it is everyone. Dual twists at the end had me reeling; one that I'm mad at myself for not seeing the signs, and the other that bumped my initial 4.5 star rating up to an 11th hour 5.

This was a quick read for me. Then novel portrayed what a family will do for those they love, the struggle of mental illness, and more.
When the family moves to the house with "the drop" they have no idea how it will change their lives forever. It's usually just a quick talk and the visitor will leave, until one doesn't. #netgalley #thesoulmate #sallyhepworth

I’ve read several books by Sally Hepworth in the past, and although The Soulmate isn’t my favorite, it was still very enjoyable. I binged it in about 24 hours, which isn’t something I do super frequently anymore, so it very quickly gathered my attention and kept it, the chapters flying by and making me want to figure out the whole picture of what was going on. I love books that have short chapters, and this one very much did as well as utilized dual POVs and timelines between the past and the present. There were never really any moments that had me shocked or super surprised (minus one twist that made my mouth drop open while at work), but the story was engaging nonetheless. I enjoyed exploring Amanda and Pippa’s POVs and the secrets that their husbands (and they) held close. Overall, The Soulmate was a fun read, and I’ll for sure be picking up more from the author in the future!

CW for cheating, death, suicide, murder, blood, gunshot, loss of loved ones, mental illness, light sexual content.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth! All opinions are my own.

I'm late to the party with The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth, so many readers are familiar with its premise. A perfect family (dad, mum, and two adorable young daughters) move into a lovely seaside cottage in a coastal town in Australia. But they don't live there happily ever after. Gabe and Pippa soon discover their dream home is near The Drop, a popular place for people to end their lives. Gabe has uncanny success in saving many visitors ... until the evening when a woman named Amanda comes to the cliff.

A queen of domestic suspense novels, The Soulmate is firmly in Ms. Hepworth's wheelhouse. It's written in first person from Pippa and Amanda's points of view; each tells their story now and then. The chapters are short and quickly propelled me through this 320-page story. As the story of two marriages progresses, readers learn the many ways these four adults were intertwined. A few of the reveals were surprising while others were fairly obvious.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Barrie Kreinik (who's narrated several of Ms. Hepworth's novels) and Jessica Douglas-Henry. Having a separate narrator for each of the primary woman characters enhanced my listening experience.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the review copy of this novel

This book is about a couple, Pippa and Gabe, who move into the perfect house on a coastal cliff. Unfortunately, their home is riiiiiiight next to a popular suicide location. 😵

Since they’ve moved in, Gabe is uncanny able to coax the people that have attempted suicide from following through with their plans. But, one day he fails. And then, Pippa finds out he knew the victim that plummeted to her death…

This one was a good overall thriller. Lots of mental health rep and I didn’t guess what was going to happen next. The ending wasn’t my favorite, but it played out logically. I will definitely be reading more Sally Hepworth books eventually; I need to check off the ones on my TBR since this one was my first!

I also love Sally Hepworth's books and this one did not disappointment! I enjoyed hearing the different perspectives from the main characters and the ending was a shock!

Full of lies and betrayals, there were some interesting twists. It was a quick read, I loved the duel timelines and the choices for the duel points of view. The way the story is narrated is different and a lot of fun. Good read.

The book was truly enjoyable and hard to put down! The back story of the location of Pippa and Gabe's home painted a sad picture for those who lost all hope for themselves. They were such an interesting couple and trying to figure out if Gabe pushed the woman or let her jump made for a great page turner. The fact that we learn that they KNEW the woman made Gabe all the more suspicious. It's hard to give such a thorough review of this book without giving away one of the many twists. Between trying to figure out what was wrong with Gabe throughout the book, the instability of their marriage, and the drama around the kids, this was an enthralling story. Highly recommend for anybody looking for a twisty thriller.

Another win for Sally!! I just love her books. They read so easily, and definitely holds attention. I found myself picking this one up as often as I could. Solidifying herself as an Autobuy Author!

Sally Hepworth does a great job of crafting a cozy thriller in which you know who the bad guy is going to be, but the unraveling of the story and the main character making the discovery is where the story lives. I previously read Hepworth’s The Good Sister and The Younger Wife, both of which were really good, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Soulmate which just released in April.

While I highly recommend the first two, The Soulmate was just okay for me. The book itself was good enough, but it didn’t engage me as much as I had anticipated, and I disliked Pippa and Gabe (the main couple) so much that it was hard to relate or empathize with them at all. Most of the story was told from Pippa’s perspective and she just grated on my nerves with her whining and oblivious excuses.

I read this with the #thrillabookstaclub and several of the members really loved this book. It just wasn’t for me this time around.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪs ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ:
🌊 enjoy a domestic thriller
🌊 love a tight-knit family dynamic
🌊 believe in soulmates

Sally Hepworth's latest novel, The Soulmate, shares the story of two separate marriages and how they intersect. There are plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments, partly because the one couple, Pippa and Gabe, live in a seaside home that literally resides on the edge of a cliff. Gabe has made a name for himself because he has talked many a suicidal stranger off of the said cliff and saved them. Then comes the day when he tries and fails to save a woman who plunges to her death.

This is an unusual book because it reads like domestic fiction but carries elements of a thriller within it. There's secrecy around what Gabe does for a living and his mental state. There are doubts about his and Pippa's whirlwind romance and unstable marriage.

Chapters alternate between Pippa in the past and the present as well as another female character in her past and present. In fact, the other woman is the woman who plunged to her death. In those chapters, you find out how she knew Gabe and Pippa and how all their fates are intertwined.

While my suspicions were off in many ways, I wasn't terribly shocked by the reveals. It's not that they weren't good. A few times, I did gasp or wonder what would happen next, but they weren't as earth-shattering when all the pieces of the puzzle came together.

One thing that I felt should have been more prominent was all the people who didn't plunge to their death. I wanted to know more about what Gabe said to them to make them stop, turn around, and not jump. What were their stories--I thought that would be the bulk of the book. I felt that this part of the novel could have been more developed and play a more central role.

If you're looking for true suspense, this may be a little tamer than you're looking for, but it is a good examination of marriage and what it takes to survive. It may surprise you with what the author comes up with. I will say that it isn't slow and kept me entertained, but I still feel like it was missing something for me. Not my favorite of the author's, but I enjoy her books and never miss one.

Love Sally Hepworth! This book was more mystery than thriller and very atmospheric. Loved the setting of the big house on the cliff where many have fallen to their death. Was it accidental or not? Great beachy read!

•BOOK•REVIEW•

Title: The Soulmate
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Thriller

•Quick Deets•
Cliff
Suicide?
Intertwined lives

•Rating•
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars
I recommend this book!

•Review•
Sally Hepworth always writes page turners. There are not lulls in her books, you just keep turning those pages. Another great book by her with some pieces you don't see coming!

•Simililar Recommended Reads•
The Silent Patient
Look Closer
The Lies I Tell

This book was a delight to read - I always like Sally Hepworth's writing but I think this exceeded expectations. I have already read The Mother-In-Law, The Good Sister, and The Younger Wife, so I was genuinely excited to read The Soulmate. While this book doesn't truly deviate from Sally's previous troupes/themes, The Soulmate was a bit darker than her other books. I think the plot was well developed, there was a unique twist that I hadn't seen in Sally's books before, and the characters were compelling. I think I would've liked to see a little more into the love stories of both couples rather than the immediate adoration of the wife to the husband. Sally is always great with the dark humor, and I love that there was a lot of that in the book. Overall, I would recommend The Soulmate!

“The Soulmate,” by Sally Hepworth, is an intriguing Australian fiction about two couples who live near the precipice of a mountainous cliff that has a local reputation for suicidal leaps. As a point of fact, Gabe and Pippa’s new ‘family dream home’ sits directly across from this notorious spot for disheartened jumpers.

Soon, stay-at-home dad Gabe takes upon himself the mantle of responsibility as protector for everyone who approaches the dangerous area. Gabe’s heroics work perfectly until one day they don’t.

That day, Pippa looks across and sees an attractive woman talking to Gabe near the rocky edge. Within seconds, both the woman and Gabe each have arms outstretched towards each other. Suddenly, the woman tumbles backwards over the rocks towards the ocean.

What exactly happened? Did the woman fall or was she pushed? Who was the woman? Did Gabe know her?

TheBookMaven

Imagine everyone knowing about the "perfect spot" to end it all. This location is in a small town on an obscure cliff. Gabe has a sixth sense when someone has made this decision and has saved more than one life. However, this time he failed in his objective. More than that, Gabe knew the person who died. Gabe's soulmate Pippa starts to be more than curious about any role he might have had in the victim's death. Thus, the next thrilling ride by Sally Hepworth begins.

Who are Gabe and Pippa. They are married and have two daughters and have just moved into a cottage in a small coastal town. Gabe gains notoriety very quickly as he has been successful when helping people on that cliff. This time, however, Pippa is standing at the window and sees what happens, and it rather makes Gabe look more than a bit guilty. Doubt sets in with regard to Pippa and she questions Gabe over and over again as to what actually happened, especially when she learns that he once knew the victim.

I loved the narration of this book, especially with two narrators. The setting was already tense, and the wonderful narration made it all that much better. If you like great domestic thrillers with more than a few twists, then be sure to pick up The Soulmate. You won't be disappointed

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Pippa and Gabe think that they’re finally going to be okay. After a few rocky years, they move into their dream home: a small house on a cliff. But they quickly discover that this particular cliff is a popular place for people to go when they want to jump. Gabe begins, literally, talking people off the cliff- until one person still decides to jump. But Gabe knew this woman. Pippa begins to unravel- did the woman jump? Or did Gabe push her? Does she even know her husband at all? “Soulmate” by Sally Hepworth is about soulmates and how far we would go for them before it pushes us over the edge.

This book was tense. Immediately we are presented with two sets of soulmates: Pippa and Gabe, and Amanda and Max. The couples are similar in that they each have a promise they make each other. For Pippa and Gabe, it’s loyalty. For Amanda and Max, it’s fidelity. These promises feel similar, but are different, especially with how each couple’s story plays out.

Hepworth doles out the twists over and over in this book, revealing tiny pieces of the full picture with enough pacing to keep you enthralled. Even towards the end there were pieces that I wasn’t quite sure of, but that I found completely satisfying for a read.

Overall, this book was a solid 4 star read for me. It was interesting and thrilling. It kept me guessing. And it wrapped up into a satisfying ending.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!