A really good psychological thriller which is full of twists and turns especially towards the end. The story is told in two time lines which adds to the intensity of the book.

THIS. WAS. INCREDIBLE.
A true nail-biting psychological thriller that kept me up way past my bedtime. I was sucked into the drama and couldn't put it down. I cannot find a single flaw. Every plot hole was explained, and every plot twist had me gasping. That first plot twist I already saw coming but the second one took me a bit to figure out. I enjoyed this so much and it was a wild ride. I'm so looking forward to reading all of Samantha Haye's books. I'm still in a bit of a shock from reading but gosh this was incredible.

4.5 stars rounded up. I requested this book from NetGalley because the premise was intriguing...Hannah's 19-year-daughter Belle has just returned from a school-sponsored trip to France with a new fiance. It's not that he is so much older than her that bothers Hannah, it's the fact that she knows Jack, or the man who is calling himself Jack.

Told in dual timelines, this book navigates from Hannah's past as a troubled young sex worker to a happy woman with a successful career and a loving partner. It's obvious the author did quite a bit of research into the sex industry, as she captured the violence and desperation perfectly.

Jack wants Hannah to pay back an old debt, and he's using Belle as collateral damage. I thought this was going to be another run-of-the-mill domestic thriller, but besides being engaged the entire time I was reading, the tension really amped up in the last 20% or so with not one but two surprise twists. Just the movie Sixth Sense, everything was not just alluded to; it was THERE--I just didn't see it.

I am so thankful to Bookouture for this early copy of this insanely twisty thriller that you will want to get your hands on as soon as it releases January 10, 2023!

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
I requested this book after reading the description that absolutely drew me in. 18 year old Belle returns home for break and introduces her new fiancée to her parents. What is supposed to be a happy moment turns sour when Hannah, Belle's mom, realizes that she knows this man and it is the last person she would want her daughter to be engaged to. Jack is from Hannah's past but coincidently her family has no idea what her past is. The story has a really engaging beginning and ending with a slow burn middle, that I did not mind. The author clearly did research on the lives of prostitutes which added a nice realism to the book. The story line of what they go through beyond the sexual aspect was sad but humbling to read. Overall, the character development and storyline were intriguing. I definitely would read more from Samantha Hayes.

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

I am unsure of how to review this book since the synopsis tells you everything that is not a spoiler already.

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this book. Very well-written!

This was such a fun book! Samantha Hayes has a real home run here. The story was fast paced and kept my interest. The twists and turns kept coming and the final Rob chapter blew my mind. I’m so excited to continue reading Samathas books!

This review is going to be hard to write, as the synopsis tells about all that can be said. The rest is twist after twist and spoiler after spoiler! My jaw dropped quite a few times during this one…and my heartstrings were pulled a bit, too…

Hannah had a rough start at life (to say the least) but she now has a wonderful partner, Rob, a beautiful daughter named Belle, and her own successful business. She has never told anyone about her past, as she has secrets to keep (and they aren’t your typical thriller character secrets - this gets pretty deep).

This book is a fantastic psychological thriller, but it also delves into a very serious subject. When Belle comes home from a summer in France, she introduces a new, much older, man to her parents. They are engaged, and since Belle just turned 18, there isn’t anything they can do about it.

One problem: Hannah knows Jack, Belle’s new fiancé, and knows that their brief courtship was no chance meeting. This man is not only a fraud, but a very dangerous man. How can she tell her daughter the truth about Jack without divulging her past secrets? How can she make her understand that this is a potentiality deadly situation?

My only complaint about this was that it felt a bit long and drawn out. Otherwise, this was a great story - well, stories, told in both the past and the present. The story in the past is quite compelling, broaching a subject few authors do. The story in the present is bonkers, and there were a few great twists that shocked me. Overall, a very enjoyable 4.5 star read.

(Thank you to Bookouture, Samantha Hayes and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released January 10, 2023.)

Omg what can I say but what a story! I cannot believe the twists and turns in this book! I finished this book last night and I am still sitting here in shock with my mouth open at the last chapter of this book! I thought I had it figured but I literally had no idea what was really going on haha. This book was amazing and had such a unique story line. I could not put this down and had to keep reading until I had finished it. I highly recommend everyone read this book if you want to be shook up.
I rate this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cannot recommend it enough!
Thankyou so much for giving me the privilege of reading this ARC. Will be reading more from this author :)

Everybody has a past. Some people have a past that haunts them. But for Hannah, her past is haunting her in the worst way - head on.

When Hannah’s eighteen year old daughter, Belle, comes home from a summer in France with a brand new fiancé, Hannah is concerned. When Hannah sees who the fiancé is - a man from her dark past - she’s terrified for herself and her family. Hannah has to get “Jack” away from Belle and protect her secrets she’s kept from her partner, Rob, and her two daughters.

I really enjoyed this book! I felt like a lot of the drama was unrealistic in some aspects, but it didn’t feel like it while I was in the middle of the story. I liked the flashbacks and I think it helped to tie the entire story together. I feel like some of the last few chapters could’ve been swapped around a bit to make the flashback climax and the present tense climax happen at the same time (instead of the present time climaxing and the resolution coming, then swapping back to the flashback climax and finally resolution). But overall I enjoyed this book, 4/5 stars.

WOW!!!!! Hooked from the first page and read this book in one sitting… Full of tension and suspense. A real page turner, a domestic noir but OMG so much more!!!!!

ARC Review
The Engagement by Samantha Hayes 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars

What it’s about: So much more than the blurb. Don’t even read it. This is the story of a family- a woman and her partner, her 18 year old daughter and their 10 year old daughter- and trying to make sense of their pasts. When Hannah’s 18 year old daughter returns from her study-abroad in France with a fiancé, her parents are allowed to be upset, but the alarm that Hannah feels trickles into a much larger problem when she’s questioning why a man from her past who she escaped from is back into her life.

What I thought: This book was wild. Once I recognized that sex trafficking was a major theme in this book, I thought I might DNF. But nothing got too graphic. The storyline was engaging, and I found myself rooting for and hurting for the girls going through this. The main character fighting to protect her daughter and her family kept me going. I don’t even want to say too much without giving the book away. I thought I had it all figured out, and I had anticipated the first “twist’ of the book. But the second twist was something I never imagined nor expected and it truly shocked me. I read this whole book in under 18 hours only because I had to put it down for a few hours to sleep.

TW: sex trafficking

Thank you again to Bookouture and NetGalley for this advance review copy!
Pub Date is January 10th, 2023
#TheEngagement #NetGalley

I received this book as an ARC that I requested due to reading the blurb. It talked about a women who finds out her young daughter came home from a trip engaged to a man she knew from her past. A man who was bad news and she wanted to keep her family far away from him and her past.

The book was very slow for me. It went between the past and the present. I felt like it slowly showed you the past to better understand the main character but it was so boring…as the book got towards the end, it picked up. I gave this book a 3/5 because the last two chapters had me turning the pages like crazy to find out the truth. I did not see the ending coming at all!

I feel as though the book would have been better had it not took forever to explain the past in order to understand what was going on. I was able to figure out the main characters secret pretty quickly but the last chapter was definitely a surprise that made the book more enjoyable.

The storyline in this book is obviously very well researched, but it took a minute to really get into it. The beginning was a little jumbled, I felt. After the first 60 or so pages, it really picked up speed and I was invested. I wish the end closed a few more gaps. It would’ve been cool to see the epilogue as the last few chapters, and how that played out with the other characters. Then an epilogue about how that impacted everyone.

There were a couple of instances where people were having two conversations in the same breath, which was a little hard to keep up with, but it didn’t take too much away. Just had to go back and re-read a few times.

I wish I knew why the au pair seemed nervous when she dropped Belle off the night of her party. Would’ve loved to see that twist-tie into the story.

There was one error I noticed, where I believe the word “said” was meant to be deleted before published. Probably a very easy fix.

All in all, it was a good read. The writer obviously put a lot of time and research into the book, and it covers a lot of relevant and important topics.

Belle returns from France on her 18th birthday with a fiancé,Jjack in tow. Mum, Hannah, is horrified, as she recognises Jack from her past and Dad, Rob, is concerned about Jack's motives and the age gap between the pair. Belle is annoyingly naive and ignores the concerns of her family and friends, blinded by Jack's promises.
Hannah refuses to share her secrets, but these are slowly revealed and although some of the twists are predictable, this did not detract from the enjoyment of reading this fast-paced, page turner.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for the advanced copy. This book was not quite what I was expecting. I found it a little boring at times, and really wasn't a subject matter I was interested in. However, about halfway through, things got more interesting. I had a hard time with the character of Belle. She was so naive and bratty and I found her very frustrating. There was a twist a the end that was interesting. I give this book 3 stars. I was initially going to do 2 but the second half of the book brought it up to a 3.

This is a tough one to review. I both enjoyed it and didn’t at the same time!
I really enjoyed the premise of the book and liked it when we went back in time for the Molly chapters. This part of the book felt gritty and as if it were leading somewhere.
However, Hanah’s present was a little tedious and frustrating. I didn’t really understand why she was keeping the secrets that she was. Especially when we find out what they were, they could have been explained much sooner, but then again, there wouldn’t be a book. So, it was this part of the book I disliked.
Belle was THE most annoying character ever. She was just too oblivious to the obvious that she drove me insane. Even when her parents, whom she has trusted for almost 18 years, tell her they bought the jewellery, she believes Jack. She doesn’t stop and think that it’s a bit odd for mum and dad to lie about something like that; she just airyfairys it away and goes about her life in a pink bubble!
The ending wasn’t too bad. The action with the fire got a little hard to follow, and Hannah’s reason for doing this made no sense, especially as we had already been told there was only one way out of there. I had guessed the Molly side of things, so that wasn’t shocking.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad book, but it just didn’t grip me and wow me. I read it, it passed the time, and now I’ll move on and probably not give it another thought. Just three stars from me on this one.

I was interested in this book because of the titles name especially. I was right, the book caught my attention early on, and i was hooked.

The main character Hannahs daughter Belle just turned 18 and returns from a 2 month trip to france, engaged to a man Hannah already knows! The past is coming back to haunt Hannah and its a wild ride!

I am definitely recommending this book.

Wow! What a twisted thriller. From the start the author sucks with you with a plot that is like no other. The tangled web that is weaved between lady and present and relationships that were forged on lies captivated me.

There are a few trigger warnings to be aware of throughout the story. But this story was very unique and extremely fast paced with a MASSIVE twist at the end!!

This is the first book I have read by this author and I am now a fan! The story was told from different perspectives and across times (then, now) but it was easy to follow. I had two of the twists figured out but the last was a surprise. This was a thrilling story and I recommend it to anyone that is looking for a wild ride!

Wow! Just...... Wow! Once I started reading, I had such a hard time putting this book down. Belle comes home from a summer abroad engaged. The problem is, her mother already knows this man. Everything he has told Belle is a lie. But she can't let on without telling the truth about her sordid past as a sex worker. There's a dual timeline, which I really enjoy. There are also multiple narrators. There are a few big twists in the story. The whole time I was reading I would think I knew where the story was going and then bam! Plot twist. Read this book, you won't regret it!