I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It’s mixed media, and I think that helped a lot with the mystery of what exactly was going on. I think the twist is good too. The characters? You probably won’t like any of their decisions, tbh. Story reads well and it was hard to put down once it started rolling.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this ARC! This will be out in July of 2025.

Okay, this book had me yelling at the pages like I was watching a true crime documentary. 😳 You know that feeling when a situation seems too perfect, too charming, too good to be true? That’s exactly how this story hooks you.

Melissa is just trying to start fresh, heal, and move on from a messy past, but then along comes Thomas—handsome, successful, a great dad… and oh yeah, once accused of murder. 🚩🚩🚩 At first, you want to believe in him. Maybe people really do get unfairly accused. Maybe he really is just misunderstood. But then things start feeling off. The whirlwind romance, the subtle control, the way the past never quite stays buried… It’s that slow, creeping dread that makes this book impossible to put down.

The writing is fast-paced, addictive, and full of psychological tension. You keep thinking, “Would I ignore the red flags too?” because honestly, the way things unfold feels so realistic and eerily plausible. The romance and suspense are perfectly balanced—just when you get comfortable, something happens that makes you second-guess everything.

My only gripe? Melissa frustrated me at times with how easily she brushed things off. But honestly, that just made the story feel even more real because, let’s face it, we all want to believe the best in people.

If you love twisty, domestic thrillers where the main character’s choices stress you out in the best way possible, this book is for you. Trust me—you’ll be side-eyeing every charming guy you meet after this one. 👀

I think I liked this one? It’s confusing, I liked the passages from Rose and the therapy sessions better than the actual plot. The romance was too insta love for me.

STAY AWAY FROM HIM is a strong novel that should appeal to fans of domestic suspense stories. You can tell the author put a lot of thought into how to plot this one.

The inclusion of mixed media/epistolary format (diary entries, therapist session transcripts, etc.) may be divisive; some readers may feel they take away from the narrative drive, whereas others may appreciate them for providing an extra layer of entertaining context.

Melissa and Thomas are great characters. You need to suspense disbelief as to how quickly their relationship develops, but they are certainly relatable and entertaining.

The suspense elements are very well done; the twists keep coming and just when you think you have this one figured out, another twist is on the way. This novel fits squarely within the domestic suspense category and expertly fulfills the reader expectations for the genre.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

Twisty!! I did not see any of the twists coming, so that made this a satisfying read. I love the writing style. Good stuff!

Absolutely amazing book! I was definitely hooked from the beginning and I literally could not put the book down. Highly recommended!

This book was a wild ride! It keeps you guessing throughout! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what this author does next!

On the evening she met exonerated murderer Thomas Danver, Melissa Burke let him help put her five-year-old son to bed before coming back upstairs to enjoy the dinner party. Thomas was so nice, and a pediatrician. She didn't know anything then about his wife's suspicious death... Good book! I definitely enjoyed reading this one! It had great suspense, intriguing, murder, mystery, and some really crazy twists and turns! The story was very interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

What could possibly go wrong with dating a man who was accused of murdering his wife? This was my first read by this author and I would check out other titles. It was a quick read for me. Did I suspect every character in this book? Yes, Did I come up with a new theory on what really happened every chapter? Yes. Overall a quick, enjoyable read.

This was a good read. I enjoyed the different ways of telling this story. We have several different POV's told from diary entries, therapy sessions and actual real-time to name a few. Melissa is a recently divorced single mom to a toddler. She meets a possible Mr. Right, Thomas at a friend's party. Thomas is a widower, pediatrician and the father of two girls. What's the problem? Well, he was acquitted in the murder of his wife. Whoopsie! Melissa begins a relationship and strange things start happening. I did think the relationship/romance aspect happened sort of fast, but that was just me. The suspense and aforementioned ways of telling the story won me over and I would read more from this author.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Andrew DeYoung and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Facebook and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of July 8th, 2025.

Stay Away from Him by Andrew DeYoung is a pulsing thriller where we follow Melissa,a recently-divorced woman with a toddler, moving into a new neighbourhood. This is where she meets Dr Thomas who might be the potential love of her life but also happens to be a key suspect in the disappearance of his wife.

This was a great thriller that had mixed media elements like recordings which elevated my reading experience. I was completely hooked as the book pivots from various POVs to uncover the truth. Apart from the “insta love” moments the couple shared, this plot was definitely a page turner!

A fun entertaining domestic thriller you have to check out this July!

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital ARC!

This was my final read of January and a 4⭐️ from me. This book tells the story of Melissa and her relationship with pediatrician Thomas Danver. It touches on psychopathology and gets you qiestioning who is telling the truth and who has done what.
It has some good little twists, most I felt were at the end. Character wise I only really liked Melissa. I guessed who had done it so to speak. It was a page turner and I loved how it fluttered between the different narratives, there is a diary from one character, psychiatry recordings from sessions of another and the main character narrative. That was cleverly done and flowed well.
The author was new to me and I would certainly read something by this author in future. It kept me up until the vampire hours reading and was a 4⭐️ as for part of it I found it a bit far fetched. It felt like the characters relationship was unrealistically fast. I have worked with psychopaths and sociopaths and even for them, felt it was still too fast. Hence the loss of one star. Overall a decent read and enjoyable.

I absolutely LOVED this one!!! The suspense had me HOOKED, the characters were so well written and I was invested in everything that was happening. I literally could not put this book down, I had to find out what was going to happen next!! So many twists and turns and suspenseful moments, I'm sad it's over!

I devoured this domestic thriller in 2 sittings, the writing is easy to follow and I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives throughout the book. Real time moments, transcripts from therapy sessions and diary entries worked really well in piecing everything together whilst keeping you in the dark, questioning your own judgement.

The twists? I always get so smug thinking I've figured it all out but again I was wrong.. so very wrong hah. I didn't see the twists coming AT all. The book was tense enough to keep me gripped whilst not too intense that it was too much to handle.

The writing is related to freida mcfadden, easy to follow, gripping and never guessing the endings.

This was honestly just an okay read, sadly it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I found myself hoping for a stronger focus on the investigation but the overall pace was slower than I anticipated. Unfortunately, the mystery element felt underdeveloped, taking a backseat to the romantic dynamic between the protagonist and the possible murderer. While this might appeal to readers who enjoy romantic suspense, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. For those looking for a more investigation-driven story, this one might fall a bit short.

Great fast paced read. Kept me guessing (and second guessing) the whole way through.

I loved how it was told from different perspectives—real-time moments, diary entries, and even audio transcripts from psychiatrist sessions. It was such a cool way to piece everything together, and it worked so well.

The mix of suspense and emotional moments was spot on, and the twists, oh the twists! There are some super brief spicy moments, not my thing, but they didn’t distract from the story. If you’re into stories that keep you on edge of your seat that you just can’t put down, this one’s definitely worth a read.

This was a very interesting premise and as I read it I wondered how the author would pull it off. It sounded quite simple. She is fresh off a divorce, falls for a dude that is suspected of murdering his wife, womp womp right? Wrong. I don’t want to say too much but what I thought was going on, wasn’t going on. What I thought of so many characters was wrong. The ending was delicious. It was a rollercoaster that I thought I predicted all these things and I was way off. Andrew fooled me which makes it an automatic must read!

SYNOPSIS: Melissa has just gotten out of a bad marriage and has met someone she thinks could be special. Problem is, 3 years ago Thomas was acquitted of murdering his missing wife. Can she trust her instincts that he is a good person or should she stay away from him, as the note that was mysteriously left in her apartment threatens?

First off, I felt like the relationship between the two main characters developed way too fast for me to believe or get on board with. Putting that aside, I was hooked by the mystery of did he or didn’t he kill his wife, which was the main premise of this story. Once the story gets going it is intriguing and I will say that I didn’t see the twist coming. However, I think the best written parts of the book were the journals and interviews that interlaced the chapters. For some reason the actual story part just didn’t hold me as much as those other two parts did.

I will be checking out other novels from Andrew DeYoung so thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

**TRIGGER WARNING**
Brief animal cruelty and human mutilation.

was a decent thriller with some predictable twists. Overall, wasn't my favorite, but was a quick and easy read!

I really went back and forth on how to rate this book. There were a couple of details that felt unbelievable and I think that’s what influenced my final rating. Overall, a great domestic thriller that was interesting to read! I recommend!

The story centers around Melissa, who is recently divorced and just moved into her friend’s basement apartment with her young son, Bradley. She’s trying to piece her life back together when she meets Thomas, a handsome, charming, pediatrician. The only downside is that Thomas was accused of murdering his missing wife 3 years ago. The book goes back and forth between Melissa’s POV and “therapy” excerpts from Thomas. I enjoyed the addition of the therapy discussions- it really added to the story.

I will say, I was constantly trying to figure out what happened to Thomas’s wife. You don’t find out the true story until the very end and I was kept guessing. It was fun! However, when you do find out the truth I was left feeling like I wish the author had dropped a couple more hints through the story. I think it would have just wrapped it together a little better! My only other critique was I felt like Melissa and Thomas moved SO fast. Of course, that’s supposed to be part of the story but I did feel like Melissa actions didn’t exactly line up with her character.

I would still definitely recommend this book! I think others might not mind the details that I got caught up on. Plus, it was an interesting plot filled with good main and secondary characters. I will definitely read more by Andrew DeYoung!