Kimberly Belle has done it once again!!! Her latest novel The Personal Assistant is absolutely unputdownable!! Centering around, Alex, a mommy-blogger that has gained followers through her “honest” portrayal of herself as a mom/wife. While enjoying her rise in notoriety and followers, Alex’s world come to a screeching halt when a toxic post is posted on her socials and it goes viral! Alex has no clue who or how the post was posted from her account, but immediately and frantically tries to get in touch with her personal assistant…who is absolutely nowhere to be found! It was from this point that I literally did not put my kindle down until the very last page!

Kimberly Belle is a master a domestic thrillers! I read a lot of thrillers so I can usually foresee twist and turns a mile away, but Kimberly brilliantly shocks me every time! The pacing is lightening fast and storyline is well planned out! I haven’t met a Kimberly Belle novel I didn’t live and this 5+++ star novel is my newest from her!

The Personal Assistant is an addictive and original thriller about the dark side of social media. It follows Instagram influencer Alex, who just after reaching 1 million followers, has a post go viral for all the wrong reasons. At the same time, her assistant, AC, goes missing, the internet trolls begin to target her family, and following that, her loving and loyal husband, Patrick, starts to act like he’s hiding some truths. Alternating between Alex and Patricks perspectives in the present, and AC’s perspective in the past, what uncovers is a twisty narrative full of secrets and surprises.

What I loved:
-The social media aspect to the story and having the POV of an influencer
-Alex and Patrick were both very likable characters and it was clear to see how much they loved each other
-How the past and present timelines eventually connected and all my initial predictions were wrong

Insta influencer Alex, who posts about family life and motivational moments under the tag @unapoligeticallyAlex, has amassed a million followers and a lot of sponsorship and endorsements. She had to hire a personal assistant, Anna Clare, known as AC, to help with the sheer volume of her social media, while also trying to keep up with her busy twin 12 year old girls. Alex’s husband Patrick is a perfect stepfather to her daughters, but works long days as a TV news financial advisor and doesn’t quite understand the world of Instagram or the celebrity of influencers.

Just as Alex is celebrating her one millionth Insta follower, her world blows up spectacularly. A post she doesn’t remember making appears on her site bagging a teenage actress in a popular high school drama in the worst way. Suddenly the trolls come out their lairs ready to take her down. And not just her, her husband and daughters also become targets of fake photos and accusations. On the same day that her blog implodes, AC goes missing just when she needs her most, and the police are now snooping around in the belief that Alex might be responsible.

Alex feels her world closing in claustrophobically as the vitriolic attack of the internet trolls, led by the ironically named Mr Fluffles, ramps up to tangible threats of violence and real harm for her and her family. With still no sign of AC, Alex begins to wonder is she is behind her downfall. Could the ever pleasant AC hate Alex so much that she would do something so horrendous? Alex is also concerned that her husband is hiding something from her. He’s never liked AC, so does he know something about her he’s not telling Alex?

The suspense and tension build up gradually, but inexorably, never feeling too slow, keeping the reader guessing at the reasons behind AC’s disappearance and the toxic attack on Alex’s social media and her family’s safety. Through it all is woven an earlier tale of a young motel maid and her relationship with a wealthy man. How this connects to the current story nearly thirty years later takes some time to resolve, leading to some unexpected revelations that ultimately connect the two events. This is a multi-layered tale of greed, revenge and obsession that you won’t want to put down until you find the answers.

Oh my, this was intense and sometimes plain uncomfortable reading but for all the right reasons!
The stalky, creep levels were on high alert throughout this book, with twists making my head hurt. The writing is sharp and modern.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This book taught me the importance of job references and background checks!

If you enjoyed My Darling Husband last year, I think it's safe to say you'll also like this book! Belle has proven she is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the art of misdirection and writing from alternate view points. I could not put this one down until I figured out what on earth was happening.

Alex is an influencer, Unapologetically Alex, has become so popular she has had to hire an assistant. AC is the perfect assistant or is she? When a post appears that bashes another influencer Alex's world begins to fall apart and her personal assistant disappears. The posts and recordings continue involving her husband and twin daughters Alex can't figure out why her assistant would do this to her. When the threats become more than verbal and a body shows up in her carriage house it is time to give up on worrying about her million followers, getting her life back and protecting the one she has. This book will make you wonder if having an online presence is a good idea.

Alex and Patrick seemed like the perfect couple. They had a super adorable meet cute and he loved her. He loved her twin daughters. While he didn't like Alex's job as an influencer, the dealt with it because it made her happy. But it also put their family out in the public all the time. When Alex hit one million followers, she, Patrick, and the assistant, AC, celebrated with a lot of tequila. The next morning, Alex quickly realized something was wrong. There was a post on her Instagram attacking a teen actress. It was bad and she knew she couldn't have written that. Alex calls AC to help, but she never gets back to her. Alex figures it must have AC to posted, but she can't understand why. They always got along well together even though Patrick didn't like her. The internet trolls get really bad and start sending death threats. And then things start happening at the house. Is it trolls? Is it AC? And then she finds a dead woman. Alex has to dig deep and try to figure out who this woman is and why she is after Alex. Or after Patrick.

The book had a good pacing. There were chapters from Patrick, Alex, and AC. The story goes back in time for part of it. I mostly figured things out, but I did have one thing a bit mixed up.

I gave this book 4 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

Thank you NetGalley.
This book had so many twists and turns that it kept me reading to find out what happened.
Alex is a mom to twing girls and is married to Patrick.
Alex is an influencer and is all over social media. She posts her family life. She has amassed a large following and is in need of help as her hobby has become a fulltime job.
Alex hires AC to be her personal assistant. A post gets posted on Alex's social media and the trolls start coming threatening her family. Alex want AC to help with damage control. AC goes missing and Alex and Patrick are suspects. Alex starts to do her own research into AC's life.

Thank you Killer Crime Club and Netgalley for this ARC. First time reading Kimberly Belle. I would definitely recommend this book to all my friends! Thank you!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Kimberley Belle, and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Personal Assistant invites readers into the dramatic life of a successful Instagram influencer who gets "canceled." Details of the "influencer" life felt very real and well-researched. Often, writers fail to accurately capture Instagram/influencer culture without airing on the side of "cheese" - Belle does very well in this regard. I only wish more time was spent in "influencer land." I was drawn to the story based on the premise of influencer culture but found myself viewing the protagonist as a generic Lifetime movie character as the novel went on.

Though a lot was packed into the plot (arguably too much), it kept me turning pages. Though I had a suspicion I knew where things were going (turns out I did and I didn't), I was invested enough to continue.

The Personal Assistant reads quickly. It is predictable in parts, and relies on tropes seen often in the genre, but is an entertaining thriller nonetheless. 3 Stars.

Ooh this book was so good! Kimberly Belle is so good at creating these believable characters and tangling their relationships and emotions. The book is centered on a blogger whose life is upended when someone posts a nasty message on her blog and her personal assistant goes missing the same day. I loved this book! So many great twists and turns and doubting the motives of everyone.

I love how this psychological thriller is set in the world of influencers. It is a classic psychological thriller in a modern world, with a gripping, dual time period. I flew through this book because I could not put it down.

I found this story to be captivating from start to finish. I admit, as a parent, I was frustrated with some of the choices made by Alex in regard to putting her children and family out online for all to see. I personally steer away from too much shared on social media and found it hard to relate to some of the things she was going though BUT at the same time I felt empathetic to what was going on in her life as things fall apart from bad to worse. I enjoyed the different plot twists in the story and can admit that while I figured out some of them, I didn’t figure out others. The author did a good job with this story and it is entertaining and worth the read.

The Personal Assistant by bestselling author Kimberly Belle is a timely thriller that explores the dark side of social media and the world of influencers. The novel centres around the highly popular Atlanta based influencer Alex who posts highly motivating positive messages celebrating women as well as showcasing her own family. However after a night of celebrating with her husband and personal assistant AC, a controversial post is unknowingly put on her page. Alex is quickly cancelled by her followers and she also has the added problem of being accused of harming AC, who has not been seen since that night of celebration. What quickly unravels is how well do you know your family and friends and how much truth do we share about ourselves on social media. Is it all an illusion?

What I liked about the book:
-multiple perspectives with dual timelines
-the world of successful influencers and the question of what is too much sharing especially about your family and how much is truth versus fiction
-cat and mouse intrigue that had several surprising twists and turns
-a highly satisfying ending
-theme of cancel culture and woke-ism
-nice pacing of story

What I didn’t like about the book
-the only criticism I had was I found the characters unrelatable and self absorbed-the children were privileged and spoiled and all the adults all seemed narcissistic and fake (that all being said, the unlikeable characters added to the story)

My rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5

My final takeaway…this is a highly entertaining twisty thriller that if you are a user of social media will make you question what is real or fiction on the internet and how much is too much to share about yourself.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this eARC.

This book was intriguing. I would recommend it. It was different and the plot was good. I would recommend it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’ve enjoyed Kimberly Belle’s books before and this one was good too! Alex is an influencer on social media platforms and lives with her husband and twin daughters. One night Alex has too much to drink and posts something controversial opinion online. She doesn’t remember creating the post, and the next morning her personal assistant, AC, is also missing. While trying to locate AC and attempting to keep her family safe from the online threats, we find out the people in Alex’s life are not who they seem to be….and they never were.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC.

The Personal Assistant is an action packed thrill ride. Alex is an influencer at the top of her game until she wakes up one morning and everyone has turned on her. She gets canceled by her followers and all of the sudden her assistant, AC is missing. Alex has to navigate the fall of her career and the secrets surrounding her missing assistant. She soon learns she didn't know AC at all. This story is told from multiple perspectives to fill in the story and weave thrilling ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle.

This was an entertaining, fast paced thriller! The story follows Alex, her husband Patrick and her two daughters. Alex is a social media influencer who hires Anna Claire “AC” as her personal assistant. Things start to go haywire when a video is circulating the internet, posted from Alexs’ Instagram, bad mouthing a teenage influencer. The next morning, AC is nowhere to be found.

I enjoyed this quite a bit! It reminded me of My Darling Husband but that’s not a bad thing at all. I connected with this book because I use social media for everything and I understand how you can get addicted and caught up in likes, comments and the opinions of others. What you see online is usually not the truth. People share what they want you to believe.

Overall, this was great story! We kept finding out secrets about each character, things I didn’t expect at all. It had great flow and easiness. I recommend if you like thrillers!

Great book! Lots of twists and turns. Kept me entertained until the very end. Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC.

Beware the dangers of social media. We allow them far too much access into our personal lives. Alex, a social media influencer, finds this out the hard way. After having too much to drink a post appears on her account which brings out the worst trolls. Her home and children are threatened and her personal assistant has gone missing. Kimberly Belle does not disappoint with the twists and turns of this thriller. Told from multiple points of view we get a picture of the lives involved and how one small thing can change them forever. An excellent read for those who love mysteries and thrillers.
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