The ‘shocking’ twist is telegraphed from miiiiiiiles away, but it’s such a fun ride I didn’t mind!

Premise - after getting engaged to the love of her life, Lizzie should be over the moon. Instead, she can’t shake the fear that her possessive mother is going to ruin everything. Only a year earlier, her sister’s fiance died on their would-be wedding date under suspicious circumstances. Now Lizzie is worried Owen is in for the same fate…

<Spoiler> Owen was suspect af from page one. That said, is it really realistic that Lizzie wouldn’t have immediately called it when she saw a photo of Joseph?? It’s not like he was a toddler when everything happened!

Believability aside, the voice is so easy and fun (perfect for the popcorn thriller crowd, Freida McFadden fans) and it’s so well paced that I had an absolute blast reading it! I’ll definitely read more from Samantha Hayes.

Thanks, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: March 26th, 2024
Page count: 347
Audio length: 9 hours 43 minutes
Narrator: Tamsin Kennard
Genre: domestic thriller
Setting: small town

Elizabeth’s soon to be brother in law is found dead a year ago right before his wedding. She finds her mother’s bloody corsage by the body. Elizabeth has found her mother to be controlling and abusive- and there are many mysteries surrounding her past making Elizabeth to think her mom harms people. Elizabeth is afraid to get married to Owen because of this, but her mother is trying to speed up the wedding to occur in 2 weeks. Who can be trusted? This book kept me on the edge of my seat!

I really enjoyed this book- and plan to read more books from this author!


Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced copy. This is an honest voluntary review.