Naomi is a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse who has a tendency to get overly invested in her client’s lives. When one of her clients goes missing, she finds herself in the middle of the case, and secrets about her own dark past start coming back to haunt her.

I like to go into my thrillers blind, so I’m not leaving a very detailed synopsis or review so that others can also be surprised. But you should go into it knowing that Sandie Jones is the queen of domestic thrillers. This book was fast-paced and the perfect poolside or beach read. I read it all in one sitting and was constantly surprised by the various twists and turns this one took. There was so much happening my head was spinning at times. It was truly a wild ride!

I really enjoyed the narration by Karissa Vacker

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the advance copy.

This is a confusing psychological thriller with so many twists it will keep your head spinning. This author is talented and it’s well written with amazing character development but the plot was almost too much. I did enjoy the book but felt like it could be toned down a bit. The main character, Naomi, is a psychologist who treats victims of abuse. This character makes me cringe at her unprofessional bedside manner with zero boundaries. She almost becomes friends with two of her patients and even allows them to stay in her home. There is even sexual tension below the surface between Naomi and her male patient. So much so that Naomi’s husband picks up on it. In the real world, Naomi would lose her license to practice. As the mystery unfolds, no one is who they seem and Naomi makes the worst possible decisions when speaking to police and looking into things herself. I sat there listening to the audiobook and screaming “WHY???” to myself. I truly had a love hate relationship with this book. I am interested in reading more from this author because I did find her to be extremely talented. Hopefully her other works are less far fetched and more believable.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by Sandie Jones, wonderfully narrated by a favorite of mine, Karissa Vacker - 4 stars!

Naomi is a psychotherapist specializing in domestic abuse, having survived her own terrible childhood. She is working with Jacob, a man who is being abused by his wife and is terrified; as well as with Anna, struggling after the loss of her son and disintegration of her marriage. Both of these patients need her help and she struggles to draw the line about getting too involved. But when Jacob's files go missing from her office and then he goes missing, the spotlight of suspicion points right to Naomi.

This was another fast-paced thriller by Sandie Jones. There are plenty of twists and turns and I was kept guessing until the epilogue wrapped everything up! There aren't any real likable characters here, although I certainly felt for Naomi and her desperation to help others out of bad situations. The audio narration was perfect - Karissa Vacker is a master of different voices and I found myself gravitating to the audio more than the digital copy. Pick this one up for any remaining trips to the beach this summer!

This book was so frustrating. None of the characters were well fleshed out, which made it difficult to feel too sympathetic to their plight. Naomi's actions are so high risk and really make no sense. Meanwhile her husband Leo is a total jerk. Every single twist was even more ridiculous than the last. By the time I got to the end, I was just thankful to be done with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC.

Naomi is a therapist who appears to be good at her job. Her problem is she tends to cross the line with her patients. There’s a reason she relates to them so much, though.

Right now, she’s particularly close to Jacob, a big guy with an abusive wife. He’s buttered and broken and she’s taken it upon herself to rent out her flat(that she owns with her husband!) to him. It’s causing Jacob to think she may want more.

At the same time things are imploding for Jacob, we find out that Naomi’s old life from America is catching up to her. The person who did her wrong has been released. Are they looking for her? Is it in any way related to what is happening with her wounded-dove patients? Can they both run from their pasts?

I mostly got this because Karissa Vacker was narrating and of course she did an amazing job but I felt this book was a little silly. None of what they did made any sense to me so it was hard to click with the story. It wasn’t bad though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and review!

I thought this was so good! I flew through the audiobook in just about 1 day 😆 it was hard to put down, especially the second half of the book! I loved how each chapter pulled you in and never let you go. I thought the narrator, Karissa Vacker did a really gr at job. She is a narrator I have heard before and always enjoy.

I loved the mystery and intrigue surrounding the storyline. There were several times when I was positive I had the whole thing figured out - only to realize I was wrong.

BUT THE MC OMG I really did not like the Naomi. For being a smart, out together psychologist - she was so dumb! Several times I I cringed a little inside after seeing her repeatedly make the same stupid mistakes.

The ending was a bit ambiguous, but I still enjoyed it overall. Was this book a bit cliche? Yes. But did I also enjoy it and recommend it? Yes!!

𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚.

🗓️ 𝙋𝙪𝙗 𝘿𝙖𝙮: 8/16/22
⏱️ 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 7h 23m
🎧 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧: Karissa Vacker

Thank you @macmillan.audio for my gifted ALC!

After seeing a few mixed reviews on this one, I was a little bit nervous starting it, especially given the book slump I am in. Thanks to having the ALC as well as the physical copy, I was able to start it while doing housework last night, and let’s just say, I couldn’t stop. I was finished by the time I drove my son to camp this morning. Have I mentioned I am in a slump? I cannot believe the hold this book took over me.

There is something about Sandie Jones’ writing style that makes her thrillers so entertaining. They are fast paced, with lots of twisty goodness, and they will not let you put them down. I felt the same about her novel, The Guilt Trip. It feels like what would happen if you crossed the best soap opera with a movie and a book. And it is very unique to her writing.

My only criticism of this one, as well as her previous work, is that the end gets a bit murky and I end up a bit confused and with more questions than answers. I am someone who loves my thrillers wrapped up in a crisp bow, and so I struggle with this aspect of her writing style a bit.

All in all though, I really liked this one and would definitely recommend it. If you are someone who prefers audio, the audiobook is amazing. Karissa Vacker did an excellent job bringing the characters to life while also adding an extra bit of a “things that go bump in the night” vibe that I absolutely loved.

Thank you to Minotaur for my physical ARC and NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ALC.

I can honestly say that I have mixed feelings about this book and it's narrator, Naomi. There were so many dangling plot points that were meant to confuse the reader (and they succeeded in frustrating me to be sure), but I suppose that they all contribute to why Naomi reacted the way that she did in all sorts of situations.

I found the Naomi's choices as a psychologist to be extremely suspect, and everyone knows that hiding things from investigators will come back to haunt you, however, when I had an a-ha! moment about 3/4 of the way through, I forgave some of the things that irritated me all along.

I have seen various reactions to the author's use of the epilogue in this book. I thought it was a good choice but will not go into my reasoning because of spoilers and because of the long-winded rant that would follow due to the idiocy of the epilogue's narrator's choices.

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones was a slow burn book that does not wrap up until the very, very end. Good thing the story was interesting to keep me entertained.

Publication Date: 8.16.22

I enjoyed the storyline and it definitely kept me guessing who was to blame in everything that was going on. There is so much lying and deceit it is almost hard to keep track of it all.

I enjoyed the investigation part of the story as well and felt that this added to the story nicely.

Had this been a physical book, I am not sure I would have enjoyed it as much since there are some slower moving scenes. But, the audiobook was very well done and kept me engaged the entire time. Great job to Karissa Vacker!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast read/listen! I’ve enjoyed Jones’ books in the past, but I was sold when I saw Karissa Vacker did the narration! I listened to this in about a day because I had to find out what happened! This definitely kept me guessing and I didn’t see the ending coming. I occasionally had to rewind a bit and make sure I wasn’t missing any details but overall I really enjoyed this one!

This was a very suspenseful book. I liked that aspect of it. I enjoyed the investigative aspect of it and trying to figure out who was setting Naomi up. However, there were too many things I didn't "get" about this book. I thought it was very unprofessional of Naomi to be sharing all of this doctor/patient confidential info with her husband and the police. It was strange how she was always inviting her patients to stay at her home! But then at the same time, she was keeping so many things from her husband making him suspicious of her. I felt she was naive at times. The relationship between her and her husband was blah. I feel like the story went round and round for too long before reaching the conclusion. The ending was twisty and I didn't see it coming which redeemed it a bit for me.

I thought the narrator did a great job conveying the different characters and the emotion they were all experiencing. I was glad to listen to her narrate.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan audio for access to this digital and audio ARC available on 8/16/22.

In Sandie Jones’ newest book, a therapist with no boundaries gets way too involved in her clients’ lives. This book was a delightfully quick read, and I finished it in a single day while on vacation. It was full of twists, but ultimately I was somewhat underwhelmed. It was a little too convoluted, and the plot points I was most interested in didn’t get resolved. Although I’m glad this was a quick read, I would have liked to see a little more attention paid to Naomi’s backstory.

Audio Review: Karissa Vacker has been all over my audiobooks lately! I liked how quick and to-the-point this audiobook was. However, for a book set in London I was questioning the lack of British accents. I figured that maybe since Naomi was American that explained why the narration wasn’t done in a British accent, but none of the characters she encountered in London did either!

3.5⭐ rounded down.
Naomi is an unconventional psychologist that gets too involved with her patients, not in a totally, totally unethical sense, but always going WAY over and beyond the call of duty. She specializes in cases of domestic abuse which stems from something that happened in her childhood. Her husband, Leon, is fed up with her ways and their marriage becomes rocky after he meets two of her clients, Jacob and Anna. (view spoiler)

I was fortunate enough to receive a kindle copy and the audiobook to review. I started out reading it, then switched to audio, then back again and ultimately my favorite was the audio, so that's how I tackled most of it.
Narrated by Karissa Vacker for 7 hours and 23 minutes and she did a FANTASTIC job! Her accents were spot on.

I wasn't feeling Naomi at all, I didn't like her unconventional ways, the secrets and lies she kept from Leon or her backstory. And inviting people into her home, really?! And when are people going to realize you can't lie to the police? Although, I did predict most things I still liked this one.
I have read every book by Sandie, all rated 4 stars. Her plots are not original, but solid domestic/psychological reads. A quick under 300 page read.

Thank you for a copy of this book. I had high hopes for this book since I loved her other books. I liked that Naomi was so dedicated to her patients but think she was way out of line with Anna and Jacob trying to go above and putting herself at risk.
I found Leon to be a pompous ass that didn't feel supportive of Anna especially finding out what happened in a scene.
I don't know how but I figured out the twist so that may have may have made me enjoy it less.
This book is very fast paced and action packed for a short book.

I absolutely love Sandie Jones so this was an easy one for me to pick up. I got lost in the novel and suddenly found myself 3/4s of the way through in one sitting. I think the characters were well developed and you really had a sense of who the main character really was which not every book pulls off. I empathized with her while also empathizing with Leon’s character and associated frustration. For my domestic thriller lovers I think this one’s for you!!

The downside to me was that the title gave so much away that I had guessed the ending before I even started reading the book which was a bummer. I also tend not to like books that involve gaslighting people so I definitely struggled with that with this read.

Hard to rate this one, 75% of the book I enjoyed but the ending ruined it for me. I predicted certain things were going to happen but when they didn’t, I was disappointed in how everything was tied up. I listened to the audio version and the narrator was phenomenal, very distinct voices for each character.

Full disclosure: I was not a fan of the last two Sandie Jones books, but thought the synopsis on this one sounded good and decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did! This was BY FAR her best book yet.

The best thing about this audiobook was that it was absolutely unputdownable! I was literally walking around everywhere I went reading this on my phone because I had to know what was going on.

The last 25% of the book was fun and crazy and the twists did not stop coming until the shocking epilogue.

All that being said, I do have one complaint. I think it will be a common one, too. I became a little lost in all the twists and turns and I THINK I know what was going on the whole time now, but there are definitely a couple of plot holes that could have used some explanation.

I would still definitely recommend checking this one out, just make sure you have time to read it in one sitting!

The narrator did an excellent job and makes for an easy listen!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the chance to listen to and review this audiobook prior to release. It will be available on August 16th!

3.75 stars

This story is dramatic and twisty and a bit over the top (in a fun way, for the most part). As with many other recent stories from the same genre, it wasn’t ground-breaking or mind-blowing, but I did mostly enjoy the plot development and some of the character progression; that being said, I definitely wasn’t a fan of some of the characters, and I saw a couple of the smaller revelations coming. I didn’t realize initially that I’d read another book from the same author, but now I see the similarities in style; I’ll probably check out other books from the writer again in the future. All in all, I did like it.

Once again, I find myself on outlier island with another blah thriller after the last blah thriller I just finished (The Family Remains for those who are following along at home)

To start off with, I listened to this partially as an audiobook, but the narration was soooo slow, even at 2x speed I thought it was too slow, so I switched to print.

I absolutely did not like or connect with Naomi. She's a therapist who is completely unethical with no boundaries. She is seeing a man named Jacob (or is that really his name?) who supposedly disappeared and she has been tied to his disappearance because she crosses boundaries just to help and ends up putting herself in compromising-ish situations. She lies a lot. To everyone, to the police, to her husband, sometimes to cover her bad choices and sometimes because she thinks that something looks bad so she doesn't tell the truth.

So when she gets called into the police for questioning, does she want a lawyer there? No, that would mean she'd have to tell someone the truth! Does she ever listen to her husband about sticking with her professional role and keeping distance? Nope, she lies to him, then in her frantic behavior decides to accuse him of setting her up. Huh?

There's this whole back story from Naomi's past and it somehow (maybe?) relates to the present but I'm not sure how and the author never makes it very clear. The police believe all of this random circumstantial evidence (text messages, emails, but no voice messages, oh here is this burner phone, you must be guilty!) I have so many unanswered questions in the end of this book that I am left more baffled than anything. The epilogue tries to tie it all together, but that's just bad writing to have to explain things that way, and even then it wasn't as clear as it could have been.

Honestly, this was just a hot mess, I can't really think of anything I liked about it. Maybe this author just isn't for me.

Naomi is a psychologist who specializes in domestic violence and does not know the meaning of the word boundaries. She comes way too involved in the lives of several clients and, needless to say, she faces repercussions that will impact her life forever.

I always like Sandie Jones’ writing. This maybe wasn’t the best book to listen to on audio. Unfortunately I could not stand Naomi and this detracted from the plot for me. Everything she did and said made me cringe and it was difficult to read at times. I also got some of the characters mixed up and the end wasn’t super clear to me with multiple storylines becoming blurred. The print version would probably translate better. Still, this is a worthwhile read and will appeal to many.