This book was great and quick read, it is under 300 pages and it is packed with so much action and plenty of twists throughout and at the end that will shock you. Overall a great thriller that you will enjoy, this was my first book by Samantha Bailey and I will definitely have to check out her other work.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the different POVs and all of the drama that had me hooked! Definitely a fast read and I loved the twist!

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC of ‘A Friend in the Dark’ by Samantha M. Bailey.

Well I have read my fair share of thrillers but I absolutely did not see the twist in this. This was fast paced and a really enjoyable read. Not a single moment in this book did I find boring. I’d definitely love to read some more from this author!

I really enjoyed the twist in this book that I didn’t see coming. I thought I had it figured out halfway through and then I was way wrong.

At first I thought this was going to be more of a love story and I wanted to not like it but I’m so glad I stuck with it!

3.5 stars So many twists and turns! This was an enjoyable, thrilling, fast-paced read. Excellent misdirection! The ending didn’t quite do it for me though.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC

I thought this was fun. The pacing was fast and I never had any moments of boredom. There were lots of twists and turns that I never correctly predicted. The characters were developed well. I thought Eden was especially relatable.

My only issue was the formatting with the flashbacks in my ebook. They were not separated from the rest of the text so it was a bit confusing. They just happened in the middle of the story or paragraph with no way to clearly understand we jumped in time. This caused me to have to reread the passages. This could have been an ARC issue, but I got mine after publication date

I would read from this author again.

Thank you to @netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

After dropping off her daughter Olivia at college and being blindsided by her husband Dave's request for a divorce in the parking lot, Eden Miller is on her own. On a whim, she sends a friend request to an old flame from her own college days and is immediately swept up in a sordid sexting affair that has her feeling desirable again. But after 20 years has passed, how well does she really know Justin Ward?

This thriller pushes along at a pretty quick pace, and there is very little downtime (which is great). I finished this one in about a day and it did keep my interest the whole time. I do, unfortunately, have some major issues with it.

I have never met a character with less regard for her personal safety than Eden Miller. Your spare key is missing, a window to your house is open and your fire alarm is going off in the middle of the night when you know you turned the stove off?

These are not normal occurances, my friend. Please do SOMETHING other than continuing on like normal. You just starting sexting a stranger when these things popped up? It might be the stranger. Just saying.

***
SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE

One of the reveals felt completely overblown to me, especially in 2024, in a book that takes place in the present. The big reason Eden's husband's left her without explanation, the horrible awful secret he was keeping from her... is that he discovered he was interested in BDSM.

🤔

And instead of trying to broach the subject at all, talk to the woman he's been married to for 20 years, he ghosts her in a college parking lot. I cannot make it make sense. Maybe my sensibilities are too liberal but talking about your sexual desires... to your WIFE... feels like a natural thing to do?

Moving past that, there was a lazy reveal that one of the characters had borderline personality disorder the entire time and that's part of why they were acting the way they did... mental illnesses being used as a plot point in novels is very quickly rising on my Literature Icks bingo card.

I unfortunately can't recommend this one.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for providing an honest and unbiased review.
"A Friend in the Dark" by Samantha Bailey is scheduled to be released in March 2024.

Eden was married to Dave for 20 years and has a daughter named Ava. Ava leaves for College, Dave leaves Eden. Eden is super depressed and gets drunk on her birthday because everyone hates her. Eden sends a friend request to her semi-ex from college who immediately approves her request. They start chatting and sexting (I mean really, “I haven’t spoken to you in 20 years, what are you wearing? You’re so damn hot” *GAG*) and her semi-ex (Justin) is a creep and knows way too much personal info about Eden and her family. (Stalker much?) Then Olivia comes into the picture and there’s a bunch of drama and twists and I’ll stop there because I don’t want to spoil it all for those that haven’t started this book…

SO.

I wanted to love this book because Samantha Bailey comes highly recommended from some of my favorite authors (Jennifer Hillier- I mean she’s WONDERful!) but “A Friend in the Dark” fell short. Very short.

The plot was just lacking. The writing felt rushed and amateur. It felt more like a diary or opening a DM with a lot of sexting and bad decisions. It wasn’t a thriller. The characters were easy to hate, extremely naive and of course, avoids all of the 🚩 red flags 🚩… really, this is why Dave left Eden, she’s an idiot.

Like all books, reviews will be extremely mixed. For someone that reads A LOT and enjoys thrillers and suspense, this just doesn’t cut it. There’s no “edge of your seat, heart racing, holy sh*t WTF did I just read” here whatsoever. *SAD*

2 ⭐️

Samantha Bailey is a new author for me. I really enjoyed this dark and twisty thriller! It was non-stop, and I couldn't put it down. While the choices of the characters made me cringe, I loved how flawed they were. As for the twists, I figured out one of them, but I did not see the rest of it coming!! So good. A solid four stars for me, and I will checkout her other books.

I was already sold by the plot of this book and empathized with the main characters right away. I loved the writing of this story and how personal and close we were inside the minds, emotions, and reactions of the FMC. I just enjoyed the journey of how reconnecting with the past can make you feel so alive in the present. I will absolutely read more from this author and highly recommend this book!

A Friend in the Dark is another hit for Samantha Bailey. It follows Eden, a recently separated realtor as she reconnects with her former college crush Justin. Things, however, aren't always what they seem. This book contained a ton of plot twists that left me guessing until the very end. Overall, a fun read!

It did take me a little bit to get into this book because of the cringy texting back and forth in the beginning but it all made sense in the end. I also thought I had the entire plot figured out in the first 10% of the book but I was wrong. This thriller is FULL of twists. Every time I thought I had it figured out Samatha Bailey threw in another curve ball. This was a fun quick read. Definitely worth picking up.

I read this quickly and was entertained. I didn't quite have an idea what to expect, because the summary seems to encompass pretty much all of part 1. When part 2 came with a change in narrator, I was annoyed. But I think the book actually got better after that. Eden made dumb choices, yet she was sympathetic, and Olivia was a really intriguing character. I would read another book by this author.

OMG this book. You need to pick it up ASAP!

Eden and her husband are recently separated. It's Edens first birthday alone. Her 17 year old daughter is in college and her soon to be ex husband Dave moved to his own place. Eden has a couple of drinks and ends up adding her crush from college on facebook. This book will take you on a wild ride that will have you invested in the drama, lies, and secrets. I loved that it was a quick read, with multiple POVs, and plenty of suspence and twists.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This book was just over the top. 😂entertaining but insane. It was a lot to follow but a quick read. Started off strong then just went off the rocker

A book that definitely gets your head reeling. So much going on but easy to follow. A must read thriller. It has so many twist and turns made for a brilliant read. I throughly enjoy this book.


Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the eARC.

This was 100% not for me. I finished it out of spite.

I wish I could give this read more stars because I hate giving less then 3.
This book was just thriller trash. The plot didn’t even make a ton of sense and the characters were just kind of the worst. I haven’t read a thriller this bad in a long time. Wish it could have been different, but I barely got through it.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This one was given so many fantastic reviews and was raved about for its plot twists but I was bored.

I think these reviews were the only thing that got me as far as I did. It was a little too spicy for my liking especially for a thriller and was very concerned about some of the aspects coming into play.

I’ll be honest, I Dnf this one so take that into consideration when deciding if you want to pick it up or not. Maybe the plot twists really are redeeming qualities

A friend in the dark has a decent plot with the character lonely after a seperation and finds her old crush on social media. She instantly falls back in with him but doesn’t realize how much is going on behind the scenes. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc.