Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Loved this domestic thriller. Well written and kept me waiting to see what would happen next.
Well done.

I love that this story was set in Australia. This was a great story that I really enjoyed reading! I will look out for more books by this author!

A character lead domestic thriller where You know going in to the story what is going to happen, and then…it happens. A good read.

This book is all about control and manipulation. What a fantastic debut. I love any book set in Australia, so this one didnt disappoint. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Theresa receives a large inheritance following her nana's death. She decides to move to the High Country of Victoria, Australia, to finally write the novel she has always planned. Theresa meets Rick, a former TV star and local entrepreneur. The two quickly fall in love and marry. Rick seems perfect - he dotes on Theresa and provides the encouragement for her to write her novel.

One day, Rick receives a text message from his ex-wife, advising that she is off the Europe to pursuer an artist's retreat. Rick's ex-wife leaves him with their thirteen year-old daughter, Chloe. Chloe is not happy about her move from the big city. Theresa tries to bond with Chloe, but Chloe misses her mom. Theresa later finds out that she is expecting her own child. Theresa is excited for her new life. However, as months go by, there is still no word from Rick's ex-wife. Chloe is increasingly upset and Theresa's curiosities get the best of her. She starts questioning Rick and his past. Is Theresa's relationship with Rick everything she thought it was?

This is such a quick and easy read. I really liked the short chapters and the overall plot. The story showcases Theresa, Rick, Marco (a realtor), and Chloe's perspectives. This was done super well and was not confusing at all. They did not alternate one after another (ie we might get three chapters in a row from Theresa's perspective or not hear from Chloe for a while). I really liked this way of doing different perspectives!

My main reason for giving this one three stars is due to the predictability of the plot. It's pretty clear early on how this one is going to shape out. The "twists" that happened were not shocking at all. They were super obvious. It didn't help that the reader is not given many choices for possible suspects.

I enjoyed Naomi Shippen's writing style. Although this novel was just okay for me, I definitely will be reading more of Shippen's novels in the future!

Thank you Kingsley Publishers and NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was alright, not one of my favorites. There were twists and turns that I did not see coming! I found this book to be a little slow for me especially since I did not enjoy the characters.
Thank you NetGalley, Naomi and Kingsley Publishers for the ARC!

i liked this book, well written but the story was a little predictable a nice steady read- easy to feel the pain for young chloe and theresa but all was well in the end

A really good addictive read about a murder, two people meeting up and getting married and the domestic manipulation. The story was told from different points of view and I found this easy to follow and it added an interesting alternative aspect to the characters.. A tense ,gripping story and I just wasn’t sure what was going to happen which made me keep on reading. An excellent debut novel and I look forward to reading more from this author,

After coming into money, Theresa moves to an area of Australia where she has always wanted to live to finally write her book. Soon, she meets Rick and marries him. However, Rick isn't who he seems and once Theresa finds herself pregnant, she must uncover his secrets to save her life.

I don't know that this one needed multiple narrators. I really find Rick unpleasant to read, which I'm sure is largely the point, but I didn't find it added to the story. I think it could have been from Theresa's perspective and been fine.

The idea is interesting, but the execution falls short (2.5 stars rounded up)

I had really wanted to read this book for two reasons. First, it's from Kingsley Publishers, and I don't think there's been a book from them yet that I've read and haven't liked. And second, it's endorsed by Naomi Shippen's fellow Kingsley Publishers author, the fabulous Jess Kitching, whose books I've adored. And who calls Far From Harm "a masterful look at control and manipulation".

Now, I could do my usual thing here of trying to come up with an analogy to illustrate how I feel about the book, and thus keeping its author waiting a little longer for me to get to the point. This time, though, I'm going to put Naomi Shippen and Kingsley Publishers out of their misery. I'm sorry to say that this book really didn't work for me.

That's not to say that it doesn't have its good points. Part of the book works reasonably well as a study into how one person - in this case, Rick - can use genuine charm to flatter someone else - Theresa - into believing that he loves her and she loves him, and slowly but surely turning that flattery into manipulation. I'm not sure that I could go as far as Jess Kitching and call it "masterful". But it is interesting.

I also thought that the author had done a good job in creating the character of Rick. A former TV star turned seedy entrepreneur, he's the sort of man that it's easy to love to hate: shallow and superficial beneath a thin veneer of physical attraction and charm. And I liked the passages about Theresa's struggles as an aspiring author trying to write her first novel, which I suspect were written from the heart.

However, the trouble is that that's about as far as my praise goes.

The first problem for me was the other main characters. I couldn't help feeling that the book might have worked better if Theresa had been a much younger woman - maybe someone in her early twenties who had decided to travel after receiving an unexpected inheritance. But as she's aged 37, and has some financial awareness, I couldn't help but think that she should have known better. Which made it hard for me to feel afraid, or indeed sorry for her.

Pretty much the same goes for Rick's daughter, Chloe. Perhaps if she had been a young child who had been secretly terrified into silence - if you've read The Silent Midwinter by Jamie-Lee Brooke, think of seven-year-old Fizz and you'll understand what I mean - it would have been easier for me to feel something positive for her. As it is, she's portrayed, at least initially, as a stroppy, bolshie teenager, and all I really wanted to do was skip to another chapter that didn't have her in it.

The location didn't really come across strongly for me either. I understand that the book is set in Australia, which is a country that I haven't visited and I didn't really get a sensation of what it was like. On the one hand, Chloe complains about how remote her father's place is but on the other, we're told it's an hour's drive from a town that has a coffee shop in it and close enough to the city for Rick to seemingly comfortably travel there and back in a day for 'business'. It all felt a bit confusing and I wondered if it should have been more remote, more lonely, more isolated.

But a bigger problem is the plot. Basically, and without wanting to reveal any spoilers, what happens is what you think will happen, and not a great deal else. There are no surprise twists and, more importantly, no real suspense. I think that, for the book to have been really effective, it needed more drama. We needed to have been reading whilst in fear for someone's life.

I should make it clear that this is Naomi Shippen's debut, and that I'm not about to write her off yet. There's no reason for me to suspect that she can't write a darker, more dramatic suspense thriller than she has done here. I hesitate to sign off with a phrase like "could do better", partly because I don't think I could and partly because it makes me sound like a headmaster writing a school report. However, the simple fact is that, with so many amazing psychological thrillers by both established and new authors having been written in the last few years, Naomi has to do better than this.

My thanks to Kingsley Publishers and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book, which was published on 29 July 2023. Given the critical nature of this review, I will publish it on this blog and Netgalley only, and not shared to Goodreads, Amazon or any social media pages.

Far From Harm by Naomi Shippen, is a newly released debut novel.

I found the first half of the story lacking character, it was rather slow paced and I wasn’t a fan of the Insta love trope in the book either. The second half of the book picked up which made it easier to race to the end but at the same time I wasn’t overly excited to know what was going to happen.

Theresa was a bit daft towards Rick's narcissism and gaslighting behaviour. Which infuriated me because it was so obvious what he was doing.
Rick on the other side was calculating, self-centred and just a straight out prick. I didn’t like either one of them, I think my favourite character was probably Rick’s teenage daughter Chloe.

I think if you like manipulation you might just like this book, but sadly it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Kingsley Publishers for the digital copy of Far From Harm.

Theresa having moved to country Victoria to focus on writing her novel meets Rick, a former TV star who she falls in love with. She believes he’s the best, most loving husband and he reignites her passion to have a child of her own. However when Rick’s ex-wife goes missing and his daughter moves in with them a series of events is set off which ring alarm bells for Theresa. Theresa tries to uncover the truth to save herself and her unborn child.

I really enjoyed this debut novel from Naomi Shippen. It’s a clever domestic suspense which kept me turning the pages to find out the truth myself. I particularly liked the way the story is told from multiple points of view including Theresa, Rick, Chloe & even the real estate agent and the chapters are quite short and snappy which kept me engaged throughout.

The characters were well written, Rick in particular will make any reader enraged by his manipulation and narcissism. I also loved the setting and felt that the authors passion for country Victoria shone through in the novel.

Overall I thought this was a great debut novel and well worth a read if you enjoy domestic suspense novels. Thanks to Kingsley Publishers and NetGalley for the kindle copy for review, all opinions are my own.

I was on the edge of my seat for every moment of this book. There were plenty of times when I wanted to throttle the main characters for falling into such obvious traps, which is probably how the author wanted me to feel. So, bravo! Twists and turns galore.

*4.5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

Really interesting read with great characters. Some characters were great and others were a real piece of work. I liked the ending. Would recommend.

An interesting exploration of toxic relationships and how far they can go. I didn’t really like any of the characters but the author spun such a web around them all that it didn’t really matter. All too credible. This well written book is fast paced and compelling.

I love a good "man bad" woman good" book. These are the funnest.
But for the first 200 pages our girl is spineless and pliable. The daughter is snotty.
It was all kind of silly. Dude didn't feel any guilt for doing his thing? Lady wasn't full of rage?
They re very one faceted characters. People are more complex than that.
That said I loved it. I loved the ending. I want the author to write more.

Thank you for the ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kingsley Publishers for this advance copy in exchange for my review.

This is a great debut!
Naomi did a fantastic job with all of the elements that make for a fun, fast-paced domestic thriller.
The characters were well thought out and the descriptions of the scenery were some of the best I've ever read. It really made me feel like I was immersed in the book.
I'm sad that this was Naomi's first book and that I can't immediately go read more. I can't wait for the next one!

For a debut novel this has promise and I can see the author going from strength to strength.
Set in the outskirts of Melbourne Australia the author has used some wonderful descriptive outlines for you to visualise the surroundings.

Theresa has recently inherited some money after her grandmother passed away, so deciding on leaving the city and pursuing her love of writing a novel she moves to the suburbs.
This is where she meets Rick the owner of a small cafe. Rick used to be a TV star back in the day and this fascinates Theresa, they soon build up a friendship and before long start dating.
Rick has already been married twice with a twenty year old son from his first marriage and a thirteen year old daughter Chloe from his second marriage. But Rick has convinced Theresa that he wants a child with her and being thirty seven she has plenty of time to conceive.
They are soon Married and it becomes apparent to the reader that Rick is up to no good but unfortunately Thetesa is wearing rose tinted glasses.

When Rick's daughter Chloe has to come and stay with them after her mum goes on holiday it is on the understanding the she will return home before school starts back up in a couple of weeks.
The story takes a sudden twist and things start to unravel.
A great debut novel which involves narcissism, control and manipulation.

This was a good book, although not as fast paced as I like. The plot was interesting as you follow Theresa’s learning about the man she married and his secrets. The characters are interesting. Rick is a bit of a mystery man who you have high hopes for. I would have liked for Marco to have more involvement in the story.. Maybe a sequel with him as the focal point??!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc.

I always enjoy reading debut books from new authors and this one didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed her writing style, plot and the twist at the end. I will be looking forward to reading more by this author.