What starts as a seemingly tranquil house-sitting opportunity takes a dark and ominous turn. The story weaves a twisted and intricate narrative, with Caz occasionally emerging as an unreliable character. This aspect adds an extra layer of mystery, making it enjoyable to unravel the mysterious murders and their connections.

Sarah Durham's narration, though acceptable, didn't particularly stand out when listening at an accelerated rate. However, it doesn't detract from the overall listening experience.

If you're a fan of psychological thrillers and enjoy trying to piece together a complex and suspenseful plot, I highly recommend "The Perfect Date" as a must-read. It will keep you guessing.

I missed my chance to listen to this before it was archived but reading the blurb it sounded just up my alley and I purchased my own copy.

This is a fairly decent thriller kept me on my toes with lots of twists and turns. I loved the main character Caz and of course the dogs. Definitely packed full of suspense. I was practically tearing out my hair trying to figure out who exactly was the killer. My only criticism is the ending after all the suspense fell a bit flat.

Definitely would recommend to thriller fans.
3 stars ⭐️

3.5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

After a traumatic event, Caz has moved back home to care for disabled mother after a traumatic event. Caz has started her own company as an exclusive dog walker for a wealthy neighborhood which suits her new lifestyle just fine. One morning while out with her clients her own dog, Joe, stumbles on a gruesome sight... a dead man. And not just any man, the one she was dating. She is shocked but this isn't the first time this very thing has happened to her. Could this be a coincidence or is someone targeting her? Spooked by the idea that the two deaths have something to do with her she gladly accepts to dogsit for her wealthy frenemy. Caz decides to take full advantage, after all this is the life she was supposed to have. Will the danger of the past few months follow her to this exclusive neighborhood or is she finally safe?

This is a decent thriller with enough drama and suspense to keep my interest. It is told from Caz's POV and she comes across as sympathetic after all her love life is in shambles. She makes a number of questionable decisions along the way but is an enjoyable character. The dogs are fun except her following Joe around leading her to dead bodies and other drama began to feel like a bad episode of Lassie. The ending was a bit of a stretch but overall I liked the novel and it kept my interest. I had the audio version read by Sarah Durham who is very enjoyable to listen too.

I listened to this one. The story description was what caught my attention first, and then the story kept me my attention. There are so many possible suspects to choose from, in the end it all makes perfect sense. The narrator did an excellent job, I could listen to it at 2 times the speed with great ease. I was reading two books at the same time with monkey puzzle trees, so I had to look that up, so I also gained some knowledge while reading. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for letting me enjoy this audio book. I'll be looking into more of this author's books.

Honestly, I found this book extremely average. The characters were all predictable, and frankly, so was the story. I saw every twist coming from beginning to end, and eventually, the characters just started to get on my nerves with how absolutely oblivious they were.

Wow, just WOW.
This book is utterly incredible, terrifying and thrilling with so many brilliantly crafted characters and the storyline, just increases its pace, each chapter left me more frantic and desperate to know more.
It’s akin to watching a really tense thriller and you find yourself shouting out as it’s so well written.
This story is unique and original, I lost count of the number of twists, thrown out with shocking abandon until the horrifying finale that left me mute.
The dog too, Joey, he was a little hero.
Omg, I LOVED this and if you only read one book this year, please let it be this one.
Utterly INCREDIBLE.

Thanks #netgalley for the opportunity to read this book! I am an avid thriller reader and I felt this was a fresh story line. There were good twists and turns…not mind blowing, but definitely enjoyable.

*3.75 stars

Wow that was a twist I didn’t see coming!

I loved the narrator of this story. The emotion and pitch was perfect!

As for the story, like I said, I wasn’t expecting that twist. However, I did enjoy the red herrings, and going back and forth with who I thought was killing Caz’s dates.

This book was entertaining and kept my attention as is sometimes difficult with audiobooks. I would recommend!

the setup…
Caroline (Caz) Sessions is a professional dog walker living in Brighton with her mother Ruth. She’s really good at it, too, and always has her own border collie rescue dog Joe with her. One morning during one of her dog outings, Joe breaks from her and leads her to a body. As horrifying as that discovery was, what made it worse was Caz recognized who it was…Harry, the man she’d been dating and who’d stood her up last night. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the same thing happened to her six months ago in London! Uh, oh.

the heart of the story…
Let’s back up a minute. When Joe the dog discovered Caz’s guy Ash in London, she was the primary suspect for a hot minute until her alibi cleared her. That one night in jail terrified her and ruined her life. She resigned from her teaching job and returned to live with her mother who had recently had a fall and needed some help. Now to have it happen again defies the laws of probability and if the police made the connection…well. Caz is also house and dog sitting a Maltipoo called Bridget Jones for her former BFF Marcy who is away taking care of her own father. Marcy and Caz have only recently reunited after splitting because Marcy stole boyfriend Mark. Yeah, Caz’s life is sort of a mess but it gets worse as the story progresses because she makes terrible choices along the way. Soon she’s surrounded by people from Marcy’s neighborhood, any one of them a potential suspect. But the worst decisions she makes is to not always follow dog Joe’s lead who is the smartest pooch ever. Even I knew a few minutes in that he has better judgment than Marcy. And, yes, he’s the heart of this story!

the narration…
I thought Sarah Durham was pitch perfect, especially as Caz. She gave great voice distinctions to all the key characters and did wonderful storytelling. But she really got Caz’s craziness and fear.

the bottom line…
Caz made so many terrible, TSTL (too stupid to live) decisions as the situations kept getting worse. But she was making a lot of them out of fear and being in the blind about what may be behind what’s going on. I was all over the place with the suspects…was it John, the next door neighbor’s new ex-con boyfriend, or the stalker fool Edwin from London, or ex-beau back-in-the-picture Mark or even Marcy running a game on her, or Peter the retired police detective? There’s an explosive secret that opens things up and I did guess before the reveal but this was a fun and challenging psychological thriller ride. And Joe the rescue pooch? He’s the real hero. 3.5 stars

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The narrator is really good and keep you on the edge of your seat, however as it often is in a lot of books I kept shouting at Caz to just tell the police the truth! That part of the book was just ridiculous, hence the 4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I received an audio arc copy and this is my honest opinion.

The audio on this book was good. I was able to distinctly tell who was talking and what was going on.

I found this book to be okay.
It was a bit slow.

Messy friendships involving stolen partners is just something I don't enjoy all that much.

I enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the story.

Overall it was good.

Overall, this is a pretty good thriller.

With great characters, although some of them are questionable when it comes to being 'nice', a good 'who-dunnit' plot, some tense moments and a good narrator, The Perfect Date kept my interest. Unfortunately, I think the pace let it down a little - the start and end were great but the middle was a little slow for me with bits that didn't, for me, really add to the story.

Like i said, overall, this is a pretty good thriller and I will definitely look out for more by this author.

Many thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Perfect Date.

What if every time you think you have met Mr. Right, he ends up dead? I would start questioning the dating app. Caz and her mutt Joe keep discovering dead men who were past dates of Caz. There were plenty of unexpected twists and turns in this tale, and well worth the time. As far as I'm concerned, Joe, the mutt stole the show.

"The Perfect Date" by Julia Crouch, narrated by Sarah Durham, is a thrilling audiobook that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This psychological suspense novel is full of twists and turns, making it a compelling choice for those who love a good mystery. Every time I thought I had it all figured out, I was proven wrong.

Julia Crouch's storytelling is masterful, and she keeps you guessing until the very end. The characters are well-developed, and their complex relationships add depth to the narrative. It's a rollercoaster of emotions as you follow the protagonist's journey into the dark secrets of her past.

Sarah Durham's narration is top-notch, capturing the tension and intrigue of the story perfectly. Her voice is clear, and she effectively conveys the characters' emotions, making the audiobook a truly engaging experience. With Julia Crouch’s storyline and Sarah Durham’s story telling, I found myself wanting to extend my drives so I could keep listening.

"The Perfect Date" is a captivating listen that will have you hooked from start to finish, making it a must for fans of psychological thrillers and earning a four star rating.

Thank you NetGalley for this book. I was excited to listen to it after reading the blurb.

First off, this book had the potential to be good. The beginning started off okay. But throughout the whole book it was so much inner monologue from the FMC.

In all honesty I found this books quite boring. There wasn’t much suspense. It was a lot of talk and rarely any action. Some parts were captivating, but no enough to make me enjoy this book.

Many of characters were extremely irritating and bipolar it seemed liked 😅. This book felt all over the place at times. The ending was a relief, I was glad to finally get to the bottom of the mystery and the FINAL end of this book.

The narrator did amazing with this book. I just hoped the story would have had more suspend or a horror aspect to it.

I honestly believe I would have DNF'd this book 30% of the way through if I had read it and not listened to it. I could not connect with any of the characters and some of them were just poorly written.

Book was archived two days after I was approved for an ARC. I did not have time to finish (or begin) it, which is very disappointing as I was really looking forward to listening.

A stunner! I guarantee you’ll put everything on hold until you arrive at the shocking final scenes! With a deftly drawn cast of characters, an intriguing plot and an immersive and compelling narrative, this is a one sit compulsive read. Narration was great too!

Fab read, really enjoyed the plot! Would recommend reading as the audiobook, the narration really added to the story.

this book has dogs! :)

After returning back home to look after her mom Caz is now running a dog walking business. During one such walks she happens to find the body of Harry who she was seeing via dating app. This brings her back all kinds of old memories, because this is not the first time she has found a body - a few months ago before she quit her school job she had found her then date/partner Ash's body - is this a coincidence?

With many suspects, one missing friend and a stalker Caz has to deal with the detective's suspicion as well.
As she is trying to figure what's happening around her, she comes face to face with the killer who she thought was helping her, being there for her!

This was a very good gripping thriller - thank you to netgalley, bookouture audio and Julia Crouch for approving this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review

Netgalley ARC review
This was honestly pretty boring. The characters were all unlikeable. It made it very difficult to keep track of who was who. I also didn’t really care what ended up happening because the main character was such a disaster.
The author clearly is good at writing but this one missed.