3.5 stars rounded up. I flew through this domestic suspense novel wanting to know the ending.

Laura goes from being a single woman to a wife and stepmom of two kids when she marries Peter. His first wife dies by suicide….maybe. Whoa! Talk about drama! Peter is messy, and Laura is passive. Throughout this story, we get to see Laura become less passive and start to speak up for herself. That part I loved! The storyline was full of drama, and I loved that too.

The suspense building in this novel was great. Traymore wrote the plot in a way that pulled you in and kept you wondering what was going to develop. The narrative is told from dual POVs with Laura and Peter taking turns. Laura was the star in this book, and I found myself rooting for her.

The twists in this book were good and believable, which I appreciated The only con I had was the alternating 1st and 3rd person writing. It was slightly confusing. Overall, this was a good read, and I am awaiting book 2 in the Silicon Valley Series. I am a new Bonnie Traymore fan.

Thank you NetGalley and Pathways Publishing for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the idea and the plot but for a thriller, it didn't keep me at the edge of my seat like I had hoped for. I liked the characters and their dynamics but I wasn't rushing to the next chapter to see what was going to happen. The main character was a bit too whiny and annoying for my liking. The ending did intrigue me and I think the author might have a second book in mind but not sure.
It was alright but not my favorite thriller.

An intriguing read, This book had a bit of everything; It had suspense; murder; mystery; and twists and turns to keep you interested.

A physcological thriller with drama, secrets and lots of suspense. The family drama is the focus point in this case.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a great read! The characters and storyline were well done. The short chapters made this a quick and fun book. Highly recommend

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of The Stepfamily by Bonnie Traymore from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. LOVED this and read it so quickly as I was unable to put it down. This had lots of twists and turns and kept me up late into the night waiting to see what was going to happen next. Do yourself a favor and read this ASAP!

Laura's life is going great, everything is good and she is on the up when strange accidents start to happen. She thinks they are coincidences at first but then, things get so strange that she cannot help but start doing some digging and she doesn't like what she finds. Its a bit far fetched an ok read. Not one I was rushing back to but it was ok.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

Apparently this book is the first novel in a new series surrounding Silicon Valley. Indeed, it does involve a family living in Silicon Valley, so I'm guessing future novels will take place here as well. In this story, Laura has married widower Peter and settled into his Silicon Valley home helping raise his two children. All seems well until freak accidents start happening and it appears they cannot be all a coincidence. Laura begins to wonder if someone is out to get her or if it's even related to Peter's former wife. This was my first book by this author and it was definitely an interesting one!

A fast paced thrilling read, with short chapters to make an easy read. There are twists that keep you on your toes guessing the truth.

Disliked: The narration.
The narrator seemed to change mid-chapter and there wasn't any spacing or indication to tell you it was switching, so you read along and all of a sudden, you realize that you're reading from the other character's perspective.
Liked:
I really enjoyed the short chapters and I found that at one point or another, I was suspicious of every single character.

This was an interesting storyline that kept me entertained throughout! I would read more books by this author!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy

I really enjoyed this thriller, and living in the bay area made it so more real to me. When Laura met Peter, she immediately fell for him. Peter's previous wife had passed away in an "accidental" manner and had two young children. When Laura joined the family it took awhile for her to build relationships with the children. Laura never really felt at "home" in the house she moved into. So when Laura's breaks were cut, she immediately felt unsafe, which lead her husband down a PI rabbit hole and his secrets begin to spill out. Strong characters, confusing at times figuring out what perspective we were following since it jumped back and forth. But overall, I really enjoyed and look forward to more from her!

Right from the very beginning, I was enjoying this story. This is a short book, and it kept me wanting to read more. the characters are flawed, but not to where they're unlikeable. There were a few twists, and for the most part I didn't see coming. The ending lacked, but still overall a great book! Thank you NetGalley.

Laura feels like someone from her past is following her. There is twists and turns on this one and you will not be able to put the book down.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and the publisher Pathways Publishing.

To be honest, it took me a bit to actually get hook on the story but oh boy, when I did, I just wanted to get to the end and see if my theories were right.

It is well written and the plot twists are really well thought.

The story is interesting, the link between the characters is very thoughtful and well written.

2.5 stars that I'm rounding up to 3 simply because I found myself sticking around to find out what was going on, even if I did skim through the last 2/3rds to do so. I was pretty much lost to this story almost immediately. Who sees brake fluid on the ground and their thoughts go immediately to "someone cut my brake line and is trying to kill me"? And then it's talked about for chapters as if it were the Lindbergh kidnapping. If you called the police around here because you assumed a brake line leaking was a plot to murder you, you'd be laughed out of town...but I digress. This just wasn't my cup of tea.

Brilliant, one of my favourite books of the year so far, I can’t wait to see what’s next for Bonnie Traymore

This was my first read from this author which I was lucky enough to preview with netgalley. There was a strong plot line with plenty of suspense and twists to keep me hooked! A good read if you love suspense thrillers.

Another awesome read by Bonnie Traymore. The Stepfamily is a dark psychological thriller, that leaves you on the edge of your seat.

I can't wait for Book 2 to find out more in the Silicone Valley Series.

Laura marries Peter after the death of his wife and she helps him raise his two young children. Several years later, Laura is climbing up the corporate ladder, the kids are older and moved out and Peter is awaiting a approval from the FDA. However, someone is out to kill Laura and doubts surface about what actually happened to Peter’s first wife.

The Stepfamily was a slow burn read for me. As the story focuses mainly on Laura’s point of view because she’s the main character we are introduced to other characters’ POVs.

As I was reading this book nothing about the story was really pulling me into it. I didn’t like any of the characters, a lot of mindless actions, Laura’s character was too passive and Peter was a liar and selfish. There were a few moments where it picked up and I was intrigued to learn the outcome, then the story quickly loses its momentum.

The Stepfamily by Bonnie Traymore wasn’t a bad story at all. I was hoping for that thrill, but it just didn’t happen.

Thank you Netgalley and Pathways Publishing for an advanced readers copy for a honest review

I enjoyed this book. The story was good and kept me interested throughout. My only criticism is that after the story wrapped up, there were many “one week after”, “one month after” etc … it was nice to know how they were getting on, however, I felt it was one too many “updates” on the characters life.