⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the early listen!
This is what happens when someone in your present tries to hide the past. What a ride this story was. I had a couple suspects but it definitely will keep you second guessing yourself.
Narrator did a good job telling the story.
Will recommend!

Caroline (Caz), is a 30yo professional dog walker who just moved back in with her mom. She's out walking her clients' dogs when she discovers the dead body of a man she was supposed to go on a date with later that day. The most shocking thing about it is that this exact same scenario happened to Caroline less than a year ago with a previous boyfriend. It's hard to believe that it's all just a coincidence. But when one of her clients -who she's been dog/house-sitting for- goes missing, the situation becomes downright terrifying for Caroline.

This book was pleasantly entertaining ! The fact that I listened to the whole audiobook recording in less than a day bears proof of it. However, the more I'm thinking about it, the more I find it impossible to come to terms with some aspects of the story (spoilers ahead)

1. Unfitting title and synopsis : I find them a bit misleading, there's no perfect date to speak of. The book litterally starts with a dead man with virtually no flashbacks on Caroline and Harry's relationship (I think that’s his name, but I'm not sure of it, given how rarely they mentioned him... That’s how insignificant he is in this story). The story focus much more on the history and bad blood between Caroline and her ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend.

2. Plot convenience : There are plenty of examples. Let's start with the fact that the police wasn't involved until the very last minute. I get that Caroline didn’t want to attract negative attention to herself by disclosing her involvement in a previous homicide case (it's dumb, but understandable to a certain degree). However, not calling the police when her former friend disappears ? Okay Caroline is a terrible persone (she is), but what about their other friends ? WHY DOESN’T ANYONE CALL THE POLICE ?! The funny thing is that the only time Caroline seriously considers it is when the DOG disappears for like 5 minutes (that sociopath). Also, why trust Peter and not talk to the detective in charge of the investigation ? The fact that she so easily agreed to keep important informations from him is so incredibly stupid (and illegal). There are so many more examples of "convenient" things happening that are completely illogical (another one for the road : the security system and people's phones are hacked, but Caroline "calls" her friend to "tell" him to call the cops, because she's afraid the killer might hear her if she calls the police herself ? ................ wut?)

3. Flat characters trying hard to becoming 3 dimentional : most characters were flat, everyone is whether a good guy or a bad guy, with very little nuance or depth, EXCEPT in one small paragraph where Caroline recalls a time where Ruth (her mom) who spent 30 years hidden from society because she didn’t want anyone to look at her, was flaunting her naked body (ok I'm exagerating) before her daughter's eyes, to teach her some body positivity lesson. I'm not making fun of the character, her traumas or disabilities, what I'm saying is that the author's attempt at adding depth to her characters and their relationship seemed awkward to me and inconsistent with their personalities.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me access to this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Perfect Date
By: Julia Crouch
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dating is always hard so when Carolina, or Caz meets the perfect guy on the “perfect date” she is excited.

She is a dog-walker and takes her Border Collie on a walk, and the dog discovers a body! The body turns out to be her date. There have been incidents in the past. She makes the final decision to delete her dating app, “SeeMe”.

I knew this was going to be twisted and dating can have its own hitches. Is the app spying on her? Does someone want revenge?
She agrees to house sit for her old friend Colette for a week. While there her past comes back to haunt her! Is she imagining things?

Buckle up for a bumpy ride for a twist that will leave you in the dust! This was my second by this author and she writes wonderful domestic suspense.

Available October 6, 2024
#theperfectdatw, #juliacroich, #bookouture, #bookstagram, #booksconnectus, #stamperlady50, #bookreview

The Perfect Date by Julia Crouch
(Narrated by Sarah Durham)

Fast-paced, twisty and gripping thriller.

Caz went back to her old home in order to take care of her ill mother. When she was waking her dog Joe, Joe found the dead body. Caz recognized it’s Harry, the guy she met on a dating app and was seeing. This was not the first time happened to Caz.

The two men she was seeing for killed. Was it a coincidence? Now will Caz let the police know she met these two men? Would this made her to be the main suspect?

Fast-pacing! The author created the whole tension very well. It kept me figuring out what’s going to happen. Who’s the real murderer out there! The narrator played the characters vividly. I was tally drawn into the story at the beginning!

Loved the narration for this one, and the story was solid! It kept my attention and kept me guessing.

A refreshing thriller with a unpredictable plot! This follows Caz (Caroline) who is a dog-walker who stumbles across human remains. The catch? It’s the guy she’s dating. THE BIGGER CATCH? this is the second time this has happened. (And that’s legit just the beginning few pages of the book) Caz is in a new town, and is hoping lack of police communication will be in her favor. As this is happening her friend asks to house sit and dog sit for a week or so while she’s out of town helping her aging parents. Things start to get weird, and it leads Caz on a twisty turny adventure with no end in sight. Family secrets, a stalker, and a lot of stuff isn’t adding up. I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to any thriller reader, but especially Lisa Jewel fans (it’s definitely in the same vibe). Grateful to receive this ARC in return for an honest review.

Plucky lady dogwalker’s dates keeping dying on her, and there’s a few obvious suspects. Caz and Joe make quite a team, but I would definitely swipe left!

So this was good. I was jumping all over the place trying to guess who it was. Right from the beginning I was invested in finding what was going on.

I felt like there was a lot of characters and they were relevant but it was a little annoying sometimes to follow that many people.

Chaz’s character was kind of dumb. She constantly made bad decisions. And she was easily manipulated. She’s all over the place and trusting random people. I didn’t care for her.

This is a slow burn for the first half of the read but the author is really just building the story and suspense and it’s worth the wait for the unfolding that takes part in the second half. Interesting storyline that has so much going on my head was in a spin. I was suspicious of everyone but each character had their own baggage to unpack. It was both engaging and page turning. Really well developed storyline and characters that were both likeable and unlikeable. The narration was well done she engaging. How it all came together is a rollercoaster. Well worth sinking your teeth into.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review #ThePerfectDate

This my first book by the author and the book was fun. First if you are a dog lover then you’ll really enjoy this book.
I’m not a fan of slow books and this one this start of really slow but the final bits were really thrilling. I predominately only read thrillers so this was a little bit predictable in some parts. But a newbie to this genre would really have a good time.

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for given me an advanced copy. All reviews are honest and entirely my own.

This is a dog-gone thrilling book ;). When dog-walker Caz happens upon her date's dead body on a walk with her best doggo Joe she neglects to tell the authorities that this isn't her first time this has happened to her. Does she have a stalker, is this coincidence? Is someone sending her a message? Undoubtedly.

Then Caz house-sits for her ex BFF Marcy who contacts her via text and when Caz gets to the house Marcy has already left? Seems sus!

This book has a lot going on and a lot of different storylines, but they all work. I did not see the (surprising/twisted) ending and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture and Julia Crouch for granting me access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun - twisty, thrilling, and at times even cozy! It was a multidimensional read!

I really enjoyed Crouch’s writing style - she has a lot of breadth as a story tale and at times I was terrified, while at other times I felt like I was reading a cozy women’s fiction.

The twists always came just when needed and I didn’t anticipate them. The final twist and whodunnit were so trippy and not at all what I was expecting.

I won’t say more to avoid spoiling it, but Caz was a well developed protagonist (she felt very real) and the final twist blindsided me in a very enjoyable way!

Thanks, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the free ARC in exchange for an honest read.

This was a fun listen, I did find bits predictable but so what it worked, the start is a bit slow and sometimes I thought Caz really - but the last part is great just works so well.

The narration really suited everything.

I was given an advance copy by Bookouture and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.