Lauren meets jay at a music festival and soon starts a relationship and moves in with him. His home is a rented place in the middle of nowhere with no mobile signal. This is where the dark story of control and abuse begins.
Although overall I enjoyed the story I did find many of Lauren’s decisions quite unbelievable. Sometimes this could be quite frustrating. Having said that there is a good twist and it is , generally, a well written book. This is a debut novel and shows great potential for the author. I would definitely be interested in anything else she writes,

Ridiculous, yet compelling

In order for “that” sequence of events to take place our narrator has to be extremely crafty and clever or exceptionally lucky and having finished the story I can tell you she’s neither. The reason for all this craziness (plot twist) was unexpected. It also made me wonder how she could endure all that suspecting what she did.

The entire cast of characters were awful people with the exception of Lolly. The pacing and premise worked well. I enjoyed the sustainable existence parts very much. The ending wrapped up things nicely if you like a happily ever after (I do). Though the fact that she chooses to return to a place where such tragic events occurred is a bit strange.

I read this quickly and was entertained (not sure that’s the right word) by it. I would read more by this author. If you like a story that’s unusual and a bit preposterous then this is for you!

Thanks NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy in exchanged for a review.

The perfect girlfriend was a unique twist on relationships gone wrong. It starts off with the main character going off to live with a guy she just met. Sounds crazy. The relationship starts off good with little things that make you think the guy isn’t what he seems. I figured this was a typical abusive boyfriend book. Then the twist comes half way in and they just keep coming. This book kept me guessing and wanting to know what would happen next. Thank you to netgalley for my copy!

Intriguing thriller that kept me interested through the whole story. But unfortunately some flaws kept me from loving this one.

What I liked:
- extremely interesting premise
- lots of mystery around Ruth that kept me on my toes
- the short chapter's from Jay's perspective were eerie and creepy
- the side characters were good foils in an unreliable way: I was always questioning their motives

What I didn't love:
- the main character's motivation didn't make a lot of sense; I think some more backstory on her and Nell would've helped as this twist came out of left field and not in a good way
- despite having a mission, Lauren made terrible decisions once she move in with Jay which was frustrating to read
- Lauren as a character wasn't fleshed out enough beyond her trauma; as a reader I was hoping for more insight into her life before Jay
- the ending didn't feel resolved; I was hoping for more after everything unraveled

Overall, a fun and twisty read! But not one of my favorites.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Lauren hasn’t known her boyfriend Jay for long, but she is (seemingly) swept off her feet. As they spend more time together at Jay’s remote house, he becomes more controlling. However, he doesn’t know that Lauren has secrets of her own.

I thought the overall plot of this one was good but I wish we had gotten more suspense early on to really hook us in. I also didn’t love the writing style - I found it a bit choppy. That’s a personal preference though, so others might love it!

ARC Rating 2.5/5 ⭐️

This psychological thriller follows Lauren and Jay, who start a fastpasted whirlwind relationship. They quickly move in together, in an isolated cottage, in the middle of nowhere. And are both keeping secrets from their past.

I really struggled to rate this one. Tbh, I nearly dnfed this one a few times. But the story picks up at the 50/60% mark, and by the end, I enjoyed it.

I liked the story setting and descriptions of the cottage, garden, and sustainable lifestyle aspect... especially the food. But I feel like the first 40% needed to be reduced. I really couldn't relate with Lauren, and I really disagreed with a lot of her decisions throughout. But once the story picked up, I really liked the twist and turns.

Oh, and I'm not sure what I was expecting with the bookcovet and the blub, but I'm not sure the story matched.

Overall, I'm not sure this one was for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, Bookouture, and Hayley Smith, for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I love how relevant this book is. I feel like many readers will relate to (or know someone who will relate to) the subject matters in this book. It felt very real and had me on my toes. The plot twists went nicely and didn’t feel forced at all. Highly recommend reading this novel if you enjoy psychological thrillers.

What a fantastic debut novel a throughly enjoyable read.
Lauren meets Jay at a music festival and quickly moves into his isolated cottage. She is desperately trying to sort her life out after a lot of trauma. She takes up the role of perfect girlfriend. The problem is neither Jay or Lauren are what they seem and perfect doesn't trully exsist.
The thing i most loved about this was the fast pace. I started reading believing it was a story about relationships and then the real truth was revealed in spectacular fashion. It just made me desperate to find out what happened. The tension was build up perfectly. The twists and reveals were perfdctly timed. All characters were layered and developed within the main story. I thought some of the secondary characters were unneeded especially Maria for me she was there to move the plot along. It wasnt until the ending I though more about her. The story was gripping.
The ending yook a big leap of faith to be believed however due to the writing of Lauren i was right there.
I highly recommend this and look foward to your next book
Thank you netgallery and bookoulture for my arc.

This is really very good for a debut novel. It is intriguing and I was engrossed, keen to put together the pieces and find out what happened.

I have to say I guessed about half way through just what was going on but the book is vividly written and I enjoyed reading through to the end. Even although Lauren had some sort of plan in mind, I still winced at all the foolish choices she made and I wanted to scream at her sometimes - i suppose this is a tribute to how well drawn and believable she is.

Some of the descriptions in the book, especially of the garden are lovely and there is a lot of Home Beautiful stuff about throws and carpets and descriptions of kitchens and things but not so much that it becomes annoying.

The book seems to me to paint quite an authentic picture of coercive control as Lauren who is literally isolated in the remote cottage, becomes spiritually isolated but not completely broken.

In my opinion the book would be better without the giveaway part at the very beginning and also it was a little bit repetitive in the middle but all in all it is a quick and exciting read and I enjoyed it.

A fun, twisty thriller that kept me on my toes throughout! Smith's writing style is well-crafted, and the twists and turns in the plot had me hooked. Unfortunately, I had a hard time believing some of the character's decisions and certain plot details - making the novel fall flat in certain aspects. Still a very solid debut, and I`ll definitely be looking out for future works from this author!

I enjoyed reading this book. It started up a bit slow but just before the middle it got really interesting and I couldn't put it down. Good written with a good plot and very interesting characters, liked the fact that the were things coming out through the story that would suprise me and change the facts 😊 definitely recommend it.

Wow! What a page turner, I could t put it down. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout with a brilliant ending. The characters were great, the story itself was amazing and full of suspense and the style of writing was perfect.
This is the first book that I have ever read by this author and can’t wait for the next one out.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading this genre.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

---4 'brb gonna go dye my hair blonde'☆---

My heart flutters with anticipation. My head reminds me to watch my back. After all, some dreams turn into nightmares, don’t they?

tw's: r@pe, sexual and physical abu$e, death of loved one(s), PTSD, use of dru€s and abort!on

Nonetheless, this book omg jsjsishwjzosudh GOOSEBUMPS it was soso good. The way it kept me engrossed and sucked up in the story, every time I had to let go of this book and the characters I had to physically tear myself away from it 😭🤌🏻 

The storyline and plot is mwah mwah, for a debut novel Hayley does an amazing job of creating such a story that'll make you think about it no matter what you're doing or where you are.
And the way I was thinking the description of this book made no sense when acc compared with the book and then those last chapters, chills- 😩🙏🏼😭

Lauren is our " not-so average" 30-year-old and i say that because of her haunting past and the struggles she's had to overcome to reach her (also haunting) present. Eventually she meets a guy called Jay in a music concert and they naturally fall for eachother. Next thing you know, Lauren is now starting  out fresh and new, living with her boyfriend in the middle of the woods with no social contacts attempting to become his "perfect girlfriend". Seems like that's just what she needs to escape from the horrors of her past but it turns out that even Jay has a. lot. of secrets and messed up past of his own that intertwine with Lauren's and that they might not be "The Perfect Couple" for each other after all

The way it kicks off right from the beginning and is so fast-paced, it's one of those books which make you actually forget ur reading. Also the way the prolouge lines up with a chapter ughh perfection!!! Even though there are some unnecessary scenes and choices made by our fmc I simply dont care, I feel like it just makes the book even more creepy

Talking about the writing, it is super easy to follow along and doesn't drag at all. It is paced fast but just perfectly for a book like this. I already wanna re-read it so this time I can pay more close attention to the little little details that make for such and amazing plot later, the way Hayley was just dropping secrets and hints all along.
If I had had sum it up in one word it would probably be: addictive (wink wink)

~Character Rants~
They don't know the strength of my character. They don't know that I will do anything to find the truth.
Anything
Lauren (aka. our fmc) is such a mastermind, it's not even funny. The way I wanna give her such a tight hug for all she's been through 😭🫂💕 please the way I was rooting for her and was ready to through some hands at some *ahem ahem* people *ahem ahem*
and the whole I stalk you and you stalk me thing omg AND THE WAY THE FOX AND CHICKEN QUOTE LINED UP PERFECTLY 😭😭😭

'What a sly fucking fox you are'
Jay (aka. our mmc) one word- NOPE 😃

Aside from our main characters we also have some very.... confusing side characters with a lot of ermmm..... lets just say diversity 😀🔫

~Overall~
This book is filled with creepy moments, dark twists and turns, gripping plot twists and an un-put-down-able quality.
So, I would say that this is a perfect book is ur looking for something to get you out of a slump.

And i speak on the behalf of the whole the long black hair community- 💇🏽‍♀️💇🏽‍♀️💇🏽‍♀️

What started off a sweet romance quickly turned into something twisty. It left me needing to devour this story very quickly.
The Perfect thriller ‘The Perfect Girlfriend’ was. I would absolutely recommend this tasty thriller

Ya'll. This book right here? I can positively say it blew my mind and my socks off, leaving me breathless. Before I get into why, I want to first thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC. I will be posting this on Goodreads as well (goodreads.com/lostinherbook).

Imagine you're touring with a band at an indie music festival and your eyes fall upon the most gorgeous man you've ever seen. Even better, he sees you too... so what do you do? You let fate take its course and you run off with one another. Neither of you have any idea what the other truly desires to get out of this "fated" meeting, and the reader is yanked along for the ride. In this whirlwind, off-the-grid romance, Lauren and Jay fall in love with another while hiding secrets, discovering truths, and running from pasts that threaten to creep up on them at any moment. Just when you think you have it all figured out, think again.

The book does have a slow start, a middle that picks up and falls again only to rise quickly, and a triumphant ending. The twists were very good and the cast of characters were entertaining and interesting.

This was a very slow burn of a story and it took ages for something to happen. Most of the time, I felt annoyed with the main character, who acted dumb and seemed to make stupid decisions

I feel like the story would have been better, if half of it was cut out!

This was such a great read I finished it in a day! I loved the build up of suspense and the numerous twists and turns (most of which i DID NOT expect) and the pacing of the book was also ideal with the author not going too fast or too slow!

My only issue is probably that Lauren's character could come off as very annoying sometimes.

2.5 stars but rounded up.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. I love a twisty thriller that keeps me on my toes. This book begins as a whirlwind romance before delving into someone much darker. As I always do, I try and predict what will happen in books as I read them and I had so many different outcomes plotted out in my head for this title. I'm both happy and sad that my predictions didn't come to fruition. Happy because I was surprised by the outcome of the book but sad as I felt the ending fell a little flat.

The author presents an interesting cast of characters and sprinkles in other characters who are not directly met in the book but only talked about. I feel Lauren the protagonist of the book is a well rounded and fleshed out character (although I didn't know her name was Lauren until deep into the book, an interesting choice on the authors part). Her love interest, or the boyfriend, Jay is equally as interesting due to the uncertainly surrounding his morals throughout.

For a debut author, Hayley has a great writing style. I was quickly swept up but the characters and descriptions. Although the pacing in this book was extremely slow. There was areas throughout the book I read and asked myself why is there so much exposition on this one area and not nearly enough on others.

An example of this is the house decorating throughout. I didn't want to know the gritty details of which colour she was painting each room of the house, I wanted to know more on why Lauren was actually there and what Jay was secretly up to. Well it may be argued at the house decorating uncovered more of Jays secrets it was much too drawn out and could was been condensed greatly! There is a plot point surrounding Laurens sister coming to visit, which is mentioned at length through the first 100 or so pages but when it actually happens the event lasted only a couple of pages at most. I was expecting something tangible to come from this meeting and was disappointed once it was over. I wanted more on the reunion of these to sisters rather then house décor.

About half in you realise the true reason Lauren is in the house with Jay in the first place (after the discovery of an item under the bed) and I was shocked as it felt like it came completely from left field and honestly confused me as I don't believe I read any subtle suggestions to this in the lead up.

I am a fan of the unreliable narrator trope in books (The Serial Killers Wife, The Silent Patient, 56 Days) but the way in which Lauren contradicts herself confused me. If the reason she with Jay in the house in the first place is so meaningful to her, why was house decorating such a priority? Why is attached to a house in which such horrors happened?

Overall I was a little disappointed but equally as excited to see more from this author as I feel she is talented and an excellent story teller. Her description and the atmosphere she created were brilliant I just feel pacing means some adjustment.

This was a fun read! I'm a huge fan of The Housemaid, so when I saw this compared to it, I knew I needed to read asap!

As someone with long, dark hair, Im glad to have never received any "special kisses" from anyone named Jay!

At first, I was annoyed because I thought Lauren was an absolute bonehead by all the red flags she was ignoring from Jay! Then it made sense on why, and I loved her for it! I dont want to give any spoilers away, but I will say, if you're a fan of Freida McFadden, this story is similar to her style and is packed with surprises.

I had to listen to the audiobook at 1.25 because the narrator spoke too slowly for my liking, but I still enjoyed it!

I was gifted The Perfect Girlfriend (ebook and audiobook) written by debut author Haley Smith (narrated by Katie Villa) through NetGalley as an arc in return for an honest review.

The perfect girlfriend is the perfect thriller. Stayed up late last night to finish. Published on the 20 of July. Its one not to miss for the summer