The Bitter Truth was a very good thriller I was instantly hooked on. With the way the story was written in multiple pov's, it was great to get new reveals without getting the whole picture about the dark secrets of politician Dominic Baker. It surely kept me invested in this rollercoaster ride. I just couldn't help but try to predict was would be unveiled and if everything was all as it seems with all the protagonists. Needless to say this novel had me on the edge of my seat all read long. I highly recommend this read!

** ARC provided via NetGalley by Kensington Publishing in exchange for an honest review**

This thriller was an easy 5 star read for sure! I absolutely love Shanora's writing; she keeps you engaged for the whole roller coaster ride.

Dominic and Jolene Baker are a power couple residing in North Carolina. Dominic has found himself in the governor's seat for the last 4 years and he's up for reelection. Jolene, his doting wife, follows him to his campaigns.

Dominic receives several threatening letters. Dominic has a secret, and someone knows. Dominic plans to do everything in his power to keep this secret hidden from everyone, including his wife. This secret could ruin Dominic as a person and as governor.

Jolene notices Dominic has become withdrawn. He's stopped talking to her and refusing to answer questions. Jolene is now making it her sole responsibility to find out what Dominic is hiding.

This book is full of twists and surprises. Definitely check your trigger warnings before reading. I would highly recommend this book, and any of Shanora's other thrillers without question!! Thank you to Shanora Williams and Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC!!

Everything is great for Jo and her husband Dominic, who is the governor of North Carolina. Until it's not. Dominic starts receiving threats about a secret he's been hiding. Dominic will do anything to keep his secret from coming to light. This book is a must-read! It will have you hooked from the very beginning. I loved the whole political power couple. There are so many lies and secrets! I couldn't put it down. I had to find out what happened because the twists kept coming. I can't wait for everyone to read this !

Some topics that may be triggering to some include:
date rape and body shaming/ED

Shanora is one of my drop everything I’m doing to read her books and she did not disappoint!

This story was full of a lot of twists and turns. I loved the multiple POVs and different timelines.

Also, one thing that was really different was this book actually had a “happy ending” haha I was like wow yes bad guys lose and good guys win!

Shanora Williams kept me gripped from page one of her newest thriller, The Bitter Truth. Jolene is married to picture-perfect governor Dominic but behind the facade is a history of abuse, deception and destructive secrets. When mysterious messages about an ex-girlfriend of Dominic's start appearing and the warnings that his past is catching up to him become more and more disturbing, Jolene has to make some life-changing decisions.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this fast-paced, compulsively readable thrill ride!

Just finished "The Bitter Truth" and wow! It's this political thriller with a dark secret that comes back to haunt a governor. Think suspense, revenge, and some crazy twists.

Overall, it was a fast and entertaining read, especially in the beginning. The author did a good job of building tension and keeping me guessing. The ending wasn't mind-blowing, but it tied things up nicely.

If you're looking for a quick thriller with a political twist, this could be a good pick! Let me know if you want to borrow my copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for my Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

How far will someone in power go to bury the truth? Told in four parts and 3 POV by Dominic, Jolene and Brynn. From the beginning, the story will command your attention! Shanora Williams is a great writing and always draws in the reader!

Jolene and Dominic are a powerful married couple. Dominic is the governor of North Carolina and running for a second term. Dominic starts receiving threatening messages. What is Dominic hiding in his past? Does his wife know? How far will Dominic go to bury his past?

"I truly felt like I'd died that night. And perhaps a part of me did--that bright-eyed, kind, and generous version of myself."

This book is twisted and crazy!
Revenge, Past Secrets, and Thrilling! 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 6/25/24.

So good!! I love anything by Shanora and this book didn’t disappoint!
A political candidate suspects he’s being stalked because of a secret he’s been hiding from his past. Dominic starts receiving mysterious messages and threats from an anonymous person stating that they know what he did and that they will release the information to stop him from becoming governor.
Meanwhile, his loving wife has some secrets of her own that she’s dealing with the consequences from as well.
Such a good book!

This is my first read from Shanora Williams. The plot was fresh. The characters were well developed and it had a twist that I didn't see coming. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you for the advance copy of "The Bitter Truth." I love this book and the plot twist Shanora did again with this novel. Thank you again.

This was my first time reading a thriller by Shanora, and it did not disappoint!

Jolene is the picture-perfect governor's wife, and they appear to be the perfect couple to the public. Dominic, the governor/Jolene's husband, owes a lot of his success to her but comes with emotional baggage and trauma that he can't seem to shake. Unfortunately, that results in a very toxic situation between the two behind closed doors.

I'm not going to lie -- I wanted to curse every damn body out in the book, LOL. The characters were stressing me out; between yelling at Jolene to "stand the hell up" and wanting Dominic to get hit by a bus, I wanted to smack every damn body. There's also an important undertone of the importance of friendship between women that I really loved.

I really enjoy Shanora's writing, and recommend this book if you enjoy domestic/political thrillers. Just check your triggers before reading because there are some heavy scenes in here.

4.25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ .25 stars! Thank you to NetGalley for this arc. Dominic is the governor of North Carolina and he is currently running for his second term. Jolene is his wife who has always supported him and been by his side making sure that he’s successful in his personal life and in his career.

The story starts with Dominic about to start on the campaign trail, and he finds a note on his desk about a secret only he and two other people know about that can ruin him and his chances of becoming governor for a second term. This causes him to start acting different and Jolene starts to question him, but he doesn’t feel comfortable telling her what happened. Jolene has been asking him what is wrong and because he isn’t sharing any details, she is determined to find out the truth.

It is told in dual timelines and multiple POVs. We learn about Dominic and Jolene’s past which determines why they are the way that they are in the present. There are also other people involved in the secrets that Dominic has and we find out why he’s so scared about the truth coming out. This book is not what I expected, in a good way! I thought that I knew what was going on, but I had no idea! This is a fast-paced psychological thriller and grabbed me in from the first couple of pages, and the ending was not what I expected! There was a lot of twists and when I thought I figured it out, something else happened to change my mind! I definitely recommend!

𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔, 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓.

I'm always excited to see a new release from this author. I love her characters and the terrible situations she puts them in. As a huge fan of the show Scandal, this book had the same vibes.

Dominic Baker dreams of being governor of North Carolina. With his beautiful wife Jolene on his arm and her working her magic behind the scenes, writing his speeches and hiding the bruises, he's sure to win...until they start seeing a strange women turning up at every campaign event. A woman who stares at Dominic and makes him feel as if she knows all of his secrets.

She knows something, all right.

Dominic has been straddling two personas; one, the charming politician on the precipice of greatness, and two, the monster who uses people, especially women, for his own pleasures and then discards them like trash. Turns out that someone knows what he's been up to.

I discarded three books after reading this because they didn't come close to measuring up to the level of dread and excitement that was infused on every page. I am not usually affected by much, but do heed the author's message at the beginning for some troubling situations. Some of the dialogue hit very close to home.

Thank you so much to Dafina/Kensington Books for this early copy. THE BITTER TRUTH will publish June 25, 2024.

This was a dark and twisted thriller that focuses on all the things that can cause people’s true demons to come to life…. Money, power, greed, and ohhh sweet revenge!
Jolene is introduced as the supportive wealthy housewife to Dominic, who is running for his second term for Governor. To the outside world they seem like the perfect couple, but to those close to them .. very close they knew the dark truths and secrets. There is also Brynn who has her POV chapters. How is she connected? Keep reading! The darkness starts when Dominic starts getting threatening messages about his past that he doesn’t want anyone to know. And thus begins the ride of who to trust, who is lying, what are they hiding, and most importantly, what lengths will they go to protect that from coming out?
This book was definitely a very easy read and kept me wanting to keep reading because it was definitely giving good twist and juicy details. However I did find the first half to be more interesting than the second half due to the fact that I felt the second half started to drag a little bit and started to become a little bit more than a little bit far-fetched. I will say I didn’t see some of the twist coming, however like I said the ending and how it all wraps up and everyone is connected was just a little bit too far-fetched and unrealistic for me. I did really enjoy how the author focused on female empowerment and of course this was a book filled with men with huge ego, driven by power and the desire for everyone to think they are these amazing trust individuals, when in fact who knows who they really are.
Simply due to a lot of eye rolling moments thinking about how a lot of the stuff wouldn’t ever happen. I am going to write this book a 3.5.
Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Kensington Publishing for the ARC!

Loved this!! Shanora has a way of making me feel like I am watching a movie in my head while reading her books. Flew through this in 24hours and enjoyed it all.


Thank u, netgalley and publishers, for the e-arc

This one was crazy! Shanora writes a great thriller. This book has a lot of twists and turns and keeps you on your toes until the end.

We've got another thriller from Shanora Williams and you know I loved it!!

The conversational writing style and multiple POV's combined with the twists and turns made for a delicious story!

This was definitely a wild ride that had me hooked from the beginning. I really thought I knew what was going on but baybeee- I was wrong!

This comes out on June 25th and you should definitely read it too! Thank you to Netgally for letting me read this early!

Always love a good stay up way past my bedtime suspenseful book and this was it! I always love her books and this was fantastic! Highly recommend

Shanora’s best thriller yet! I was hooked from the very beginning. There are so many twists. This book had me guessing until the very end. Will be recommending this book to all of my friends. This is a very fast paced read.

The Bitter Truth is an engaging and entertaining thriller that follows the mishaps of a politician and all he is willing to do to get and keep his position of power, and how the lives of the people around him are affected by it. Throughout many twists and turns you end up being witness of the consequences of his actions. There's not much character building, but the story is moderately paced for the readers enjoyment.