This book gets more and more intense and suspenseful as you read it, and doesn't let up until the very end! Another winner from Ms. Denzil!

Thank you NetGalley & Victory Editing for an ARC or The Nice Guy.

This book took me by surprise in the best way possible! I would categorize this book as a romantically thriller, which I am a huge fan of. When I started the book I was a little apprehensive as to how the book could be as long as it was because I thought all the main plot had already played out. Boy was I wrong, and so glad I was. I was literally on the edge of my seat towards the end. If you’re wanting a thriller that is hard to put down and leave you with your jaw on the floor, then this book is for you!

Amazing book! New author for me and will be reading her others. I could not put this down! I think we all know the self proclaimed nice guys can be… something…. But this guy takes the cake!
4.5/5 stars!!

Laura thinks she has found the perfect guy - Ethan - who saves her during a rally in Brooklyn. They have a perfect night together. However, the next day, Laura notices some red flags. Laura decides to end things with Ethan. Shortly thereafter, Laura finds out she is pregnant with Ethan's child. Laura decides to tell Ethan he is the father. Ethan is overjoyed. As time goes on, we discover Ethan. is a complete nightmare.

I really enjoyed this one. The author did an excellent job tackling difficult issues, such as manipulation and motherhood. This isn't a thriller that keeps you guessing - we know from very early on that Ethan is crazy. However, it is still thrilling and I remained invested for the entire novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent- couldn’t put this book down! A really gripping story, and it was such a quick read that pulled me in immediately!

Really excited about this book. It was an Absolutely phenomenal read. High will recommend to others to pick up as soon as it is released.

I’m giving this 3 stars I felt that it was a little rushed and then sometimes dragged. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either.

Is it ok to wish death on someone?

No?

What about if they are a fictional character?

Okay, okay, not cool Kor, but let me tell you, I definitely thought about it quite a few times while reading "The Nice Guy". Ethan is the guy your Mama warned you about . They can be handsome and charming but deep down, they are not capable of seeing pass their own wants and desires.

I felt terrible for Laura, although dumb at times, she wanted what we all want, a cookie cutter lifestyle with a doting husband cherub child.

The amount of suspense in this book was wild. If you think Denzil won't go "there" you're mistaken. This author pushes the envelope and goes against the grain to deliver a highly suspenseful thriller that will keep you on your toes and begging for your mama.

Free on kindle unlimited, I promise you do not want to miss this one.

Teaser:

Laura thought she’d found the one nice guy in New York City.

When Ethan saves her from a crushing crowd on Brooklyn Bridge, their connection is dazzling. Worthy of a heat-filled passionate night.

Laura falls pregnant from their one-night stand—a miracle considering her past fertility issues. Ethan is attentive and wonderful at first. She hopes he will be the kind of father she’d always wanted for herself.

Until his attentiveness turns to obsession. His questions become demands. Why didn’t she answer her phone or respond to his messages? Why won’t she move in with him and his rich mother?

Soon Laura realises the father of her child is a controlling sociopath. And there’s no telling the lengths Ethan will go to in order to keep baby Christopher for himself.

Laura will stop at nothing to save her baby boy.

But is she too late?

The Nice Guy
By: Sarah Denzil and SL Harker

⭐3.5⭐
(rounding up to a 4)

This book was provided to me as an ARC through NetGalley. Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors for giving this book to me in exchange for an honest review.

Laura has decided to start over. After her divorce, she moved from England to New York with a job in PR lined up for her. She has her best friend, Jessa, there for support. Since her divorce, Laura hasn’t had much luck with men. However, after a near death experience on a bridge during a woman’s march, her knight in shining armor may be just the fix. Ethan is handsome and charming and Laura falls under his spell. One thing leads to another and the pair end up sleeping together. When Laura spends more time with Ethan, however, it becomes apparent that he is not what he seems. Laura tells Ethan that she no longer wishes to pursue a relationship and leaves. Ethan is persistent and Laura fears that this is only the beginning.

When Laura discovers that she is pregnant from her one night stand with someone as unpredictable as Ethan, she’s reluctant to tell him. She is elated to find out that she has conceived a child, as she previously struggled with infertility for several years. After miscarriages and procedures, she was told it was very unlikely that she would be able to give birth. Laura ultimately decides to involve Ethan because she grew up without a father and she does not wish the same for her child. But if she thought Ethan might have been a controlling narcissist before, she definitely thinks so now. He continues his terrible behavior, and strange things keep happening to Laura; framed for writing terrible things about PR clients that lead her to losing her job, a break-in at her apartment, anonymous emails. Ethan continues acting erratic and loops his mother, Alice, into the turmoil. Both Ethan and Alice have personalities that change all the time and Laura doesn’t know what to do or who to trust.

When baby Christopher enters the world, Laura is happier than ever. But Ethan is getting worse. Laura sees signs that he may turn physically abusive to herself or her child. In an attempt to lessen the chance of that happening, she tells Ethan can only visit Christopher supervised. Ethan won’t stand for this and decides to sue for custody. But before anyone steps foot in court, baby Christopher goes missing. And so do Ethan and Alice.

Laura will stop at nothing to get her son back. But will Ethan ever truly be subdued and out of her life?

I finished this book in less than 48 hours. It was an interesting read and I was determined to get to the end to find out the outcome. I would really recommend this book to anyone that is a big fan of shows like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. The plot of this book could totally be an episode of that show! Overall, I would recommend this to someone who was interested in crime, mystery, and psychological suspense. However, I did guess a lot of the twists before they came and I wasn’t shocked about too much of anything that happened. It did hinder my enjoyment slightly, but it was still a very quick read and kept me entertained enough to finish it in roughly two days.

Trigger warnings for anyone that may be uncomfortable reading out miscarriages or infertility issues as that is a common theme here. Additionally, if you have been in a relationship with someone like Ethan (a controlling, gas lighting, narcissist), you may struggle getting through areas of the book.

★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)

Her perfect date is her worst nightmare...

I've been a fan of since reading "Silent Child" some years ago and totally loved it. Followed by "Only Daughter" which was just as thrilling. I have since read a few more and what stands out to me is how diverse her plots are. They can go from psychological to domestic to supernatural. But there's one thing they all have in common - all of them equally chilling. Just reading her novella "The Quiet Wife" was enough to send chills down your spine.

So when I saw THE NICE GUY was up for publication and then caught it on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. It is, by no means, an easy read. Many scenes made my skin crawl and had me squirming in my seat. But I stuck it out because I knew it would all come full circle by the end.

Laura and her friend Jessa are on a women's protest march in New York City when they lose each other and Laura finds herself trodden in the crush when she feels strong hands lift her from the ground and carry her to a nearby pub. And it's there she finds herself looking into the smiling eyes of the most handsome man. He introduces himself as Ethan and before long the pair are heading to Ethan's penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park, ripping each other's clothes off in the process. The following morning, ever the gentleman, he makes her breakfast and has someone run out to buy her a new pair of trainers since she lost one of hers in the crushing crowds the day before. Could he be any more perfect?

But when Laura starts receiving some startling texts following their night together, this sudden possessive stalkerish behaviour begins to raise a few red flags. And when she fails to respond to his texts, they become more abusive so she blocks his number. This doesn't stop him as he starts texting her from another number. Can the guy not take a hint? It was a one night stand. People have them all the time. But apparently, Ethan wants more than what Laura is willing to give. Finally, after tracking her down to her workplace and charming her colleagues, Ethan relents and agrees to stop with the texts and stalker behaviour.

At last...life is good.

And then, Laura discovers she's pregnant - a miracle considering her infertility due to polycystic ovarian syndrome. But she doesn't want to jinx it. She takes five tests to be sure and a blood test with her doctor. All positive. She's definitely pregnant. Now the conundrum. It's Ethan's, of course it is. But what to do? Should she tell him or should she just move on with her life and raise her child on her own? Growing up without a father has made her vulnerable in that respect in wanting to give her child a father. But is Ethan the right person for the job, whether or not they share the same DNA? But at the end of the day, she feels he has a right to know. And so she tells him.

At first Ethan is attentive and respectful of the boundaries she has set. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. But alas, it was not to last. It begins subtly at first with mood swings akin to Jekyll and Hyde before he morphs into a full blown psychopath complete with gaslighting, manipulation to the extreme, possessiveness and a complete need for control over everything. The more Laura tries to be fair, the more control Ethan is determine to have. And control he will get for he will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. And then there is Ethan's equally bizarre mother when upon meeting her it's easy to see that the nut didn't fall far from that family tree!

But just how far is he prepared to go? And just how far is Laura prepared to go to protect her child?

THE NICE GUY is essentially not a very nice tale. It's horrible and enough to make your skin crawl. But I stuck it out to see Ethan get his comeuppance...because they always do in fiction, don't they? Well, generally speaking, they do. And I was flipping the pages of my kindle waiting and hoping and waiting some more. We are taken halfway across the world...ah, Santorini. Such a beautiful place I would love to see but my knees would not.

What this book really is is chilling. It is seriously spine-tinglingly chilling. The lengths one manipulative b***** would go to to maintain control and pretty much get his own way. He was chillingly manipulative. He was a master at it. There was no way Laura was ever going to beat him at his own game or even by playing fair. Because this guy plays dirty and he plays to win. Simply put, he is a psycho. And he made my skin crawl. Laura tried to make the best decisions she could but she had no idea what she was truly up against and when she did, it was too late.

I did find the story dragged a little, particularly at the end. That entire final part I found completely unnecessary and so drawn out and thus being played out step by step by step. It didn't really add to the tension...more like the frustration. It should have ended in Santorini with a nice little Epilogue wrapping everything up and they all lived happily ever after...well, most of them. The twist was pretty predictable given that an entire fourth part was devoted to the aftermath that you just knew something was going to happen. And it was too laughable to be believable. I'm all for stretching the imagination and suspending belief but this had just a little too much elasticity to work. Remove the entire final part and it is a great thriller.

That aside, THE NICE GUY is a chilling tale that is compelling and thrilling in equal parts. About a not-so-nice guy after all.

I would like to thank #SarahADenzil, SLHarker, #Netgalley and #VictoryEditingCoop for an ARC of #TheNiceGuy in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

This story begins with the meeting between Laura and Ethan. She immediately finds him attractive and soon they become intimate with each other. Laura thinks Ethan is a nice boy, but he soon starts acting very strange. Laura decides to distance herself from him, only she discovered that she is pregnant by him. It turns out that Ethan has two faces. One time he is the charming man, the other time he is very manipulative and goes completely crazy. Laura doesn't know what to do with him and things get more and more out of hand.So there were quite a few reruns and I was waiting for the big plot twist. The story started very well, but then the suspense weakened for me. I found it to be a bit long-winded at times. Still, I enjoyed the story for a large part, but I think I expected a little more from it. I held myself back on this one. I was in disbelief that Ethan was this controlling abusive man. I kept waiting for a twist to change the outcome. Had I just accepted the concept I might’ve had different feelings about the book.

Strengths -

• Atmosphere
• Setting
• Characters
• Writing

Weaknesses -

• Plot

Overall thoughts -

I was hooked from page one, the build up was everything! This book was so well written, I was obsessed with Ethan, he was the dream man & I was hoping I had gotten this wrong and I was actually reading a romance because I believed in this relationship, I was hopeful.

Unfortunately, it is a thriller, so the happiness had to end.

I can't praise the writing enough, from the atmosphere of New York and England to the characters.. even the side characters, Anita & Xavier, I loved them! Jessa, Laura's best friend and Alice, Ethans mam, they were such opposites to each other ,but I was interested in both of them just as much.

The only weakness I mentioned here was the plot, it wasn't bad, but the story kind of just flowed, I'd have liked something a bit more gripping.

That being said, I enjoyed following Laura through all of this trauma and I appreciate massively that the main character did everything she was supposed to do in this situation, it made it feel raw and was terrifying to think, no matter if you do everything right or not, you can still end up in this situation - people are scary!

Laura believed that she had finally found a good man in New York City when Ethan saved her from a crowd on Brooklyn Bridge. They shared a passionate night together, and Laura became pregnant despite her previous fertility issues. At first, Ethan was caring and attentive, and Laura had hoped that he would be the perfect father figure for their child. However, Ethan's behavior soon became obsessive and controlling, and he demanded that Laura answer his phone calls and move in with him and his wealthy mother. Laura realized that she was dealing with a sociopath and that Ethan would stop at nothing to keep their baby boy, Christopher, for himself. Laura is now fighting to save her son, but she fears that it may be too late.

I don't have much to say about this, I couldn't stand anyone in this book and I was annoyed for most of the time. Ending was really predictable as well and it felt like it dragged for way more than it should.

A chance encounter, a one night stand and ALL THE RED FLAGS later Laura decides not to pursue a relationship with Ethan despite their initial chemistry. He’s controlling, angry and erratic and that’s just on their first official date but things don’t quite go to plan when she finds out she’s pregnant. She wants her baby to have a father in his life so she tells Ethan the news and he couldn’t be happier. Suddenly he’s the nice guy again but how long will that last..

This story grabbed my attention immediately, I really enjoyed the first three parts and it was going to be a 4 star read for me, it should have ended there but unfortunately it didn’t and the last part really let it down. It was too far-fetched and just not needed at all. Not to mention it showed a major plot hole in the story, but I won’t spoil it.

I’m disappointed in the ending but I think 3 stars is a fair rating for how much I liked the rest of the story and I probably would read another book by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the chance to read The nice guy by Sarah A. Denzil and S.L. Harker. I usually love books by Sarah, and was eager to read this one. It started off great, but midway through it just became predictable.

I was very excited for this book with the cover and the promise of thrill. At the beginning I was like okay… girl meets guy at a woman’s March and it’s called the nice guy so you know somethings going to happen but it just seemed like it took too long for the ball to drop and when it finally did it was just okay. It didn’t give me thrilling vibes until the third part and quite frankly I could’ve done without the fourth even though I get why it’s there. The story build was like okay but you never get actually answers to anything just speculation and I found myself asking a lot of why and could this really happen? Overall is was a very okay book to me.

Laura thought she found the perfect guy after he saves her at a feminist rally. However after the first dates Ethan raises so many red flags. Laura must put her guard up to protect not only herself but the child they conceived during a one night stand. As a mom she will stop at nothing to protect her child, even if that means she’s hurt or worse killed. Unfortunately this book didn’t grab me from the start. It wasn’t a bad book it just took quite a ways into the book for me to be into it. Slow start but the ending was action packed. I did enjoy reading it despite the slow start. It felt like an episode of criminal minds. As a mom I could feel all of Laura’s emotions. The ups and downs. The good and the bad. Definitely a roller coaster of emotions. This book is proof that somethings are really too good to be true.

Laura thought she had met the one nice guy in New York, but she quickly realized that Ethan had a dark side to him and ended it before it went any further. But when their one night stand results in a pregnancy, Laura does her best to include Ethan, but his dark and controlling behavior waits at every turn, and his odd relationship with him mother just makes it worse.

The story is broken down into 4 parts and is meant to fast forward the timeline, but the first two dragged on a little longer than needed, setting the tone and showing the progression in their relationship. I also found myself internally yelling at the MC to run, as the red flags were showing at every turn.

The story was well written with great detail, and although both Laura and Ethan were unlikable, I think that was the intention that works well.

The cat and mouse game in Part 3, didn't really flow as nicely, almost as if it was an afterthought, and although I love a good twist, Part 4 was very predictable and a little grotesque at the same time.

I will say there were some flaws that were hard to overlook, such as how the MC was able to keep surviving in NY on NO money?!
Also, when Ethan fell, did no one check for a body?

Laura thought she’d found the one nice guy in New York City.

When Ethan saves her from a crushing crowd on Brooklyn Bridge, their connection is dazzling. Worthy of a heat-filled passionate night.

Until his attentiveness turns to obsession. His questions become demands. Why didn’t she answer her phone or respond to his messages? Why won’t she move in with him and his rich mother?

Soon Laura realises that he is a controlling sociopath. And there’s no telling the lengths Ethan will go to in order to get his own way.

“Maybe it’s the fact that I was in this man’s arms and he helped me out of this terrifying crush, but I immediately feel as though I am safe with him. “Thank you,” I say, staring deep into his brown eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”

Laura is literally swept off her feet by the handsome Ethan at a women’s march in Brooklyn, but when they meet for their official first date, he seems like a different person. After Laura see’s red flag after red flag, she does the right thing and ends the date midway through – something most women wish they were brave enough to do, rather than enduring a terrible date and then never seeing the person again (If you’re lucky)

Laura is grateful to have dodged a bullet with Ethan, who initially seemed to accept her decision, but then persists to bombard her with text messages, ranging in the usual way from apologising to veiled threats – and then she realises that she’s pregnant….

I really enjoyed this book, the author did a great job at building suspense and portraying the intensity of Ethan’s behaviour, which was sadly scarily realistic and, how she portrayed how his behaviour affected Laura. I felt that I could easily empathize with Laura as Ethan’s behaviour escalated and things got worse for her. It got my heart pounding and I had a deep feeling of unease while reading. The author did a great job of showcasing the immense entitlement that a lot of men feel they have over a relationship and the women that they decide they are interested in (women’s feeling’s on the situation be damned) all the while, still claiming to be this amazingly NICE GUY, and if they’re behaving a certain way – well, that’s your fault! I know that most women will be able to relate in their own way, having experienced something similar – just hopefully not to this degree!!

This book drew me in from the very beginning, it did slow down a bit in the middle, but then picked up again – and then some! I haven’t read anything by these two authors before, but I’ll be interested in reading both of their work from now on. I loved the writing style and the way the story flowed.

My thanks to the authors and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for my advance copy to read and review via Netgalley. Due out 30th May 2023.

A chance encounter. A one night stand. A date full of red flags, and the unspeakable violence that these events lead to are the beginning of a story of manipulation harassment, assault, abduction and cruelty. It's a heart stopping page turning thriller with a mother's love for her child at its core. There are several twists, and the book is really hard to put down until a satisfying conclusion is reached. Sarah Denzil has written another brilliant and thrilling story.