Alex is a NYT bestselling author who has a stalker who seems to be getting bolder. At the advice of her editor, she heads to his secluded cabin in the woods where no one will be able to find her. But the caretaker seems a little suspicious, as does the bookshop owner and a few other individuals. There’s no way any of them could be her stalker though because none of them knew she would be coming to the area. Right? But someone is there and they’re making threats. With a raging storm and her only way of escape blocked, how can she escape?

I had an inkling as to who the stalker might be and was surprised to see I was correct. However, knowing didn’t detract from the story. This was my first book by this author, and I enjoyed it very much. A fast-paced thriller with twists and turns and plenty of action.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Oh my goodness, this is one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve ever read. I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the story. I got goosebumps several times and was holding my breath through many intense scenes. I was so anxious to find out what happened next. There were many twists and turns, most of which I never saw coming. I was constantly surprised by the turn of events.

Alex is autistic, and I thought the author did a wonderful job of realistically portraying her. She was relatable and easy to like. She faced some seriously daunting and dangerous things with bravery and tenacity.

This was a mind-bending thrill ride. I suspected everybody at one point or another. I didn’t know who to trust. When the reveal came, I was shocked. If you’re a fan of this genre, don’t miss this book. It's a must read. I’m looking forward to more psychological thrillers from this author.

I received a copy of this book and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.

LOVED this!! Completely addictive. Highly recommend and will be purchasing for my libraries. Can't wait to read what comes next!

I really enjoyed this book. It is a slow start thriller that picks up as it goes along and then really takes off. Once it got going, I couldn't quit reading. I really liked the main character and couldn't wait to see what happened to her. The character is well developed and the story is told very well. I received an ARC in exchange for a review.

Cozy mystery/psychological suspense isn't usually my thing, but Heather Day Gilbert is. If she wrote it, I'm pretty sure I'll like it. Queen of Hearts is a far cry from her historical novels, but she handles both genres with expertise. By the way, you'll want to check out her Viking stories too!

The other thing that caught my attention about this book was that the main character has high-functioning autism. Autism isn't represented nearly enough in fiction, and I understand why. Authors want to be respectful and not misrepresent those on the spectrum. But Gilbert's life experience has given her the confidence to write with authority, and that comes through in this novel.

It's a great story and kept me wondering to the end. Another win for one of my favorite authors.

Queen of Hearts by Heather Day Gilbert is the first suspense/thriller I’ve read by her. I’ve read her cozy mystery books, and I love them! I am happy to say that I loved her Queen of Hearts just as much!

I thought that Alex was the perfect protagonist. She is an extremely successful author of romantic suspense and has millions of fans. However, one of those fans “loves” her too much, and now Alex is in danger. I appreciated that in spite of disliking leaving her house, Alex was strong enough and smart enough to realize she needed to get someplace safe. But, stuff happens that makes her realize she's still not safe! I love the remote West Virginia, small town setting which the author beautifully describes.

The psychological aspects in Queen of Hearts really made this thriller! I refuse to watch most horror movies, but I’ll watch them if they’ve got lots of psychological suspense. It’s the same with books! I knew when I saw the author’s name that I wouldn’t have to worry about swearing or inappropriate relationships since I’ve read her cozies and know she’s a Christian author. I was free to just “be scared!” There are so many characters that could be her stalker and so many twists that make it hard to figure out who it is!

If you love clean thrillers with lots of mind-bending twists, you need to read Queen of Hearts! You won’t want to put it down!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

This is my first romantic suspense/psychological thriller by Heather Day Gilbert and I have loved it as much as I've loved her historicals. Alex is a great heroine - full of idiosyncrasies, flaws, and hang ups but also lovable and relatable. Her first person voice is fresh, funny, often self-deprecating, and fascinating as she tries to finish the last of her popular romantic suspense series while dodging an unknown stalker. The stakes are raised when she flies to a small town in West Virginia to hide out and the psychological and physical threats escalate. The story is so well-written that all the secondary characters, including Henry her love interest, are on the suspect list. And you will never guess the villain of the story until the very end. Plus there is a crazy plot twist at the end that will have you going back through the chapters to see if there had been any hints.
It's a fantastic read that will have your adrenaline pumping. It's a short read but I don't recommend that you start the book at night. You won't be able to sleep until you finish the book and you still may not sleep afterwards.
I received a complimentary copy courtesy of the author and NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a positive comment. All opinions are my own.

Heather Day Gilbert killed it in my opinion with this book. This is exactly what I look for in a good thriller, constant clues to who it may be with a lot of reasons to jump between who I suspect is actually the bad guy.

Alex is an autistic female lead who I felt was so relatable, and really well written. I was hooked from the start of this and had a really hard time putting it down. We were left with a lot of red herrings and reasons for so many people to be the villain it really kept me on my toes, and second guessing my initial suspect. I did end up being correct, but I would be lying if I said I never had doubts about the identity of our villain.

On top of the stellar job with Alex’s story, we also get a small side story from Jordan. I loved learning how the two women’s stories intertwined.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I hope we get more thrillers from Heather Day Gilbert.

"Her readers love her...but one has gotten a little too attached."
Queen of Hearts is a suspensful and page turning book until the very end about Alex who is a best selling, but also popular author that has a stalker. Since she is not safe at her own home she reluctantly listens to her editor's advice and goes to his vacation home in West Virgina but her autism makes this hard. The author was new to me and I look forward to more books by this author. This one was written really well with great characters and it keeps you guessing. I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend this to any reader but epsecially to those who love a good thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and WoodHaven Press for this book in exchange of my honest review of Queen of Hearts by Heather Day Gilbert.

A psychological thriller about an autistic author who is being threatened by a stalker. For me it was very original and I enjoyed reading it.

👑👑👑👑👑
Queen of Hearts
by Heather Day Gilbert

Alex is an author. She's diagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder. She has a huge community of loving readers-and one "Highly Invested Reader", aka a psychotic stalker throwing rocks through her windows. When she is offered a chance to withdraw herself from the public and to stay at a remote location to be able to focus on her next book, she agrees in an instant. But the stalker seems to have found her even there. And it seems that her narcisstic and abusive ex-husband has found her as well.
Is he the stalker? Why did he find her? Why is she being threatened and how will she be able to feel safe again?

(I'm Team Henry, by the way)

A fast paced popcorn thriller, that keeps you on your toes. I couldn't put it down until I finished.
Gilbert has introduced a wholesome, realistic and vivid protagonist. I love how she describes Alex's world view and how autism and trauma and dissociation shape her life. I was amazed to read that Gilbert worked together with her daughter that's within the autism spectrum disorder.

I love how everything's so real and how I felt close to Alex from page one on.

Reading about pending dissociation, trauma reactions and confusing the real world and the world according to Alex's brain was thrilling and educational. As a woman with own experience regarding dissociation, I felt seen.
Thank you, Heather for opening this world to me.

Queen of Hearts was a great, quick suspense story that grabs the reader’s attention right from the beginning. It is a clean, suspense story and a quick read.
Alaxandra Dubois is a famous suspense writer who is autistic. She begins getting threats and goes into hiding at a large cabin in West Virginia. But it seems that the terror has only followed her there and the cabin has already seen one grizzly death in it. Suspects line up from ex-husband, competing author and townsfolk. But why would any of them want to kill her?
I had a slight suspicion who the killer was but was mostly guessing throughout story. I liked that the author used an autistic protagonist and that gave the story a different angle than most. I think those who love Colleen Coble or Mary Higgins Clark will enjoy this novel.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, but all opinions are my own.

A psychological domestic thriller that keeps you guessing from the first page. I enjoyed this book a lot and highly recommend.

Alexandra made a name for herself writing romantic book involving serial killers. When a "fan" starts writing threatening letters--she can't help but become aware that this admirer is more like the subjects she writes about than herself. She goes to stay at her editors home in the mountains to finish her book and get away from her stalker. As always the stalker follows and the rest is a wild ride Its a great psychological thriller that is hard to put down. There is a great handful of characters that keep you interested the whole way through.

Queen of Hearts is a suspenseful and complex psychological thriller that kept me engaged throughout the book. Alex, the main character, is a bestselling and popular author who has a stalker. Being autistic, it is hard for her to leave home to take refuge, but it becomes apparent that she is not safe at home. She agrees to leave Greenwich to travel to West Virginia to stay in her editor's isolated cabin (really a mansion) in the mountains to work on her next book. Right away, I thought, not a good idea. And somehow the stalker found her. To make matters worse, another young woman author died in the house before Alex's stay. There is a handsome caretaker, a former sniper, that helps her out as well as a couple of the townspeople but really who can she trust when odd things happen to make her realize that someone in invading her sanctuary. There is her narcissistic ex-husband, a disgruntled author from her past, and maybe others. Things get scary and dicey before it is over. I did figure out who was behind things but it in no way took away from the enjoyment of the book. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a good suspenseful and edgy mystery.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review. These are my thoughts.

This was my first read by Heather Day Gilbert, and I've gone on to read two more of hers--and am nearly done with a third, in just the week since finishing this! WOW!

Gilbert is definitely talented, and has successfully gotten me back into the mystery/thriller genre. The other series I'm reading is a cozy mystery; I wouldn't label this one as cozy, though. Straight-up psychological thriller! (So, maybe don't read at bedtime, haha!)

The autistic main character made for a different slant than I'm used to, in a good way. I was intrigued by her general MO and approach to life, let alone the mystery element, and it drew me in and made the read unique and fresh.

While I don't recall a faith element, the read was clean; no language or romance concerns.

Mary Higgins Clark gets a lot of name drops in the read, and I think it's safe to say fans of her books will also enjoy this one!

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a fun ride of a psychological thriller, with a hint of romance thrown in for good measure. This novel follows a romantic suspense author, who happens to be autistic. When she receives a threatening letter from an "Invested Reader" that continues to escalate, Alexandra Dubois feels she has no choice but to take her editor up on his offer to stay in his "cabin in the woods" in West Virginia while the police work on figuring out who her stalker is. When things start going sideways even there, she begins to question her own sanity as it doesn't seem possible that her stalker may have followed her there. Is there someone truly out to get her? Or is it her own twisted imagination as she pens her next story?

This story had a lot of twists and turns that I did not see coming, along with some good character development. Though I don't have any loved ones on the spectrum, I found Alexandra Dubois to be relatable and likable, if a bit quirky. I enjoyed how she related to those around her and leaned in to the gifts that her diagnosis provides. I had plenty of suspicions as the book went on, but I can't honestly say if I considered how things actually happened. I also enjoyed the epilogue that tied the past to the present! Though I typically only read Christian fiction and this one is general market, this book was completely clean and so, thoroughly enjoyable without any "extraneous garbage", but no faith thread (other than 1 subtle mention of prayer). This was also a quicker read, so one that can probably be consumed in one sitting (though I took longer). The intensity was not enough to keep me awake at night, but it was definitely enough to keep me turning pages. All in all, this was an enjoyable thrill ride that I'd definitely recommend to fans of suspense and romantic suspense. Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this book. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

This book didn't disappoint. From the beginning it got my interest but quickly turned into a page turner. Even though it is a mystery I found myself being invested in the other characters in the book, feeling like they were becoming old friends. Having a neuro divergent leading character was refreshing and alot was learned through her character. This book will not disappoint!

Since I am a long-time fan of psychological suspense stories, I was excited to hear about this latest work by Heather Day Gilbert. Queen of Hearts was the perfect vacation read for me due to its length. I appreciated how the action moved steadily and accelerated as the plot progressed. My heart was warmed by the inclusion of a neurodivergent individual as the main character. I look forward to reading more of Gilbert's future works in this stand-alone series.

I don’t want to give anything away because this book was just so good. Creepy and twisty and exactly what I look for!!


I enjoyed reading Queen of Hearts by Heather Day Gilbert.   Thank you to Netgalley and Woodhaven Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review