Sorry I was not able to read you book but it went to archive before I could get to it. Sorry once again.

72 hours is a stand-alone novel by Bella Jewel. The focus is divided between romance, suspence, and thriller. For me, all these elements were blends in together in a very good way and the reading experience was very pleasant. I must admit that I got frustrated while I was waiting for Noah and Lara to find a way to defeat the bad guy. I kept thinking a flank would work well enough for them. The 72 hour period ended quite early and I was kept wondering what the psycho wanted to do next. I liked how we got to see how the lives and mindsets of the people who survir such a traumatic experience are set. I felt very sorry for the girl whose mother wants to take advantage of the horrible things she went through. I would like to read her story if the author ever writes it.

The story is told mostly from Lara's point of view. We also get to see inside of the psycho's sick mind. The book I read before 72 hours wasn't very good for me, so I ended up almost loving this one. The pace was fast and I devoured the book. I read it in one sitting. I stayed up 'till very late in order to finish it, but it was worth it. The flashbacks were good, but I would have preferρed them tas separate chapters rather than having them thrown inside the chapter that was happening at the present time. Or have them as a memory. I liked the book a lot, so for me it's good and I would recommend it.

What I didn’t really like was the fact that Lara came across as this weak heroine. I had a really hard time trying to connect with her and for that alone, it took away some of my enjoyment of the story.

I've always been a big fan of Bellas books. This is her first Romantic suspense story which overall I really enjoyed.
The synopsis didn't give much away about the story which was good in my opinion. I enjoyed turning the pages with no idea where the story was going to go.
The story was incredibly unique and I got sucked straight in to Lara and Noels 72 hours of messed up madness.
The book was very fast paced which was perfect for this story.
I found that the book started very strong. Unfortunately though the second half wasn't as strong and I was got easily distracted.
There was plenty of suspense, twists and turns throughout.
Bella always seems to create stories with characters that are likeable and interesting. Her writing style is easy to follow and always keeps you wanting more. This book was no different.
overall I enjoyed the story. If the second half was as strong it would of easily been a 5 star read but sadly because it wasn't I can only give it 4 stars.
Another good book by the author though.

Lara is not the same person she was a few months ago. The bright self-assured, confident, take no prisoners Lara has been reduced to a quiet mouse following the death of her Nana, for which Lara blames herself. On top of that, she walks in on the man she loves and has lived with for 2 years, and sees a beautiful woman sitting on Noah's lap kissing him. Feeling that she wasn't good enough for him, she runs....

Months later she bumps into him but she's still refusing to take his calls, declining to walk to him at all. Noah is feeling pretty frustrated and angry that she won't let him explain.

Meanwhile, they don't know they are being stalked by a vicious serial killer... and he decides that Lara and Noah are the perfect victims for him. He wants them to play a game with him.

Noah and Lara find themselves drugged, captured, and left in a huge wooded area. The killer tells them there is only one rule ..... they have 72 hours to run, hide, find a way out before he starts hunting them.

What follows is a harrowing, terrorizing cat and mouse game. Lara is going to have to find the 'old' Lara to survive. And she and Noah are going to have to bury their old feelings and work together if they want to survive.

CAUTION: LANGUAGE, EXPLICIT SEX

I have found that Romantic Suspense is sometimes a hit/miss endeavor. The author balanced the two sides of the coin very well. Both characters have issues and have been damaged in one way or another. Noah is not a super hero by any means, but he is caring and extremely protective of Lara. Suffering from PSTD, he has to learn to lean on her. And Lara has to step up to the plate in order to help Noah.

The human hunting kept me on edge and rapidly turning pages to see what would happen next. I look forward to the next stand-alone book in this series ... THE WATCHER.

Many thanks to the author / St. Martin's Press / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

This was my first book by Bella Jewel and talk about a baptism my fire!! I was literally on the edge of my seat for most of this book. It's suspenseful, dramatic and shows what happens when two people that used to love each other, find that love again and fight for their lives with a passion neither have experienced in a long time.

I loved the action of this book. It's fast paced and kept me intrigued and drawn in to the point that I actually talked out loud when something scary or freaky would happen. I'm sure I was getting all sorts of looks from other commuters on the train in the mornings that's for sure!

Just when I thought I had it all figured out BOOM! And I'm left wondering again. This is just one of the many reasons I loved this book...because it kept me guessing and it wasn't a cookie-cutter serial killer book.

Pick this one up and settle in for a wild ride!!

Overall Opinion: This was a pretty short book, so I felt the character development and overall story line could’ve had more detail. I would’ve enjoyed more background information, because I was dying to know more about the MC relationship. Just giving this in flashback wasn’t enough for me.

Brief Summary of the Storyline: Noah and Lara have a history when suddenly Lara leaves the relationship. They are captured by a “psycho” who plays a cruel game with them. Survival becomes their primary goal, while trying to find strength to get through.

POV: Dual, although primarily Lara’s

Overall Pace of Story: Fast-paced.

Instalove: N/A – the couple had a past history together with just the right amount of coming together.

H rating: Loved Noah and his protective behavior

h rating: Lara was a little infuriating sometimes, but I loved how she ultimately handled her struggle.


Push/Pull: A little, mostly within themselved

Heat level: light

Satisfying ending?: Yes, very. I loved the end and the epilogue.

How I got it: Thank you NetGalley

Post goes live 17 MAY


Once again, this author has brought me to my knees with an epic story that just can’t be put down. A plot full of suspense, horror, forgiveness, love and most important, finding if you have any courage left to survive.

What would be the best game a psychotic killer could create? Kidnapping Noah, who is filled with confusion, anger and resentment, all aimed at the love of his life who threw what they had away. She did not give him five minutes to explain what she thought she saw, her love for him did not last long enough to allow him to tell her the truth. She just left, ran away and tore his world apart.

Of course, the game would not be complete, without adding Lara to the plans. She was the feisty go getter when Noah had met her, her rebuking him was what made him fall in love with her, but then her strong personality ended the life of the dearest person to her. As they laid her grandmother to rest, Lara buried her soul, spirit and courage with the coffin. Now an empty shell, scared of everything and trying to move on from the hurt she felt Noah had inflicted, she lived her life as an awaiting victim, perfect for the killer who had horrific plans for this couple.

But first he needs to drop them off in an isolated area, leave them the note that explains, they have 72 hours to escape or the hunt begins and he will find them and win. No matter what move they make, he will be watching. Every sound they speak, he will be listening and the level of fear they have already, he will raise it to the point of paralyzing them with terror.

I read this book in one sitting, there was no way I could put it down once I started. The twists and turns, the events and emotions, were all shifting drastically with each chapter. Leaving me on the edge with Noah and Lara, making me hate the killer with such a passion that I wanted to climb in the book and murder him myself, this story left me breathless by the time I was done. The ending was unique, brilliant and nothing close to what I had predicted. If you love dark emotional thrillers, that will keep your heart racing, then 72 hours if perfect for you.

***3 "Not so sure!!" stars***

This story wasn't my first from Mrs. Jewel's pen, but it was different, that is the only sure thing!!!!
The storyline was very intriguing and it had many potentials, but something wasn't working for me and that something, i think that it was the heroine!!!
The only person that kept my interest in this story was Noah!!!
But let me take the things from the beginning...

Noah and Lara used to be a couple, but for the last three months they had broken up and they aren't in good terms...
Noah left town and Lara was still trying to pull herself together...
And now, Noah is back and he demands to talk to her and Lara is refusing to do so...
And then everything are changing since they both wake up in the woods and they understand that they have to participate in a crazy game of a phychopath, in which they are the prey!!!
So now, they have 72 hours to collect themselves before the chase will begin...

As you can understand, those two were the victims in a twisted mind and they have to fight for their survival...
They will have lots of things to face and to fight...
Will they manage to cooperate in this crazy game and fight back or the bad situation between them will make them the perfect prey???
Will they put their differences aside and stand together against this crazy man that saw their lives as a sick game???

Well, all those things sounds intriguing, right???
And they were, honestly!!!!
But i had some objections about what i was reading!!!!
I was catching myself to be excited at times, but at other times i was struggling to continue...
I couldn't fully understand the reasons behind the bad guy's behaviour!!!

And i had so many issues with the heroine.... She was such a contradiction... Most of the time, she was weak and i didn't like it at all!!!! And what i didn't understand was how a person could completely change after some incident in the past... She used to be strong and fierce, but here, she was weak and pityful!!!!
But what tired me very much was that sometimes she was one way and other times she was the other way and that frustrated me very much!!!

What was worthying in this book was Noah's character....
He was strong, determined and very stable!!! And he was having the same behaviour from the first page till the last one and i appreciated it very much!!!

***ARC kindly provided via NetGalley for the exchange of an honest review***

Having read and enjoyed a number of Bella Jewel's book in the past and being a huge romantic suspense fan, this book caught my eye right away. A deranged killer, a dangerous game for survival, and two people that used to share an undeniable love until everything fell apart; 72 hours is definitely no boring read.

I love a second chance romance, and weave that into the pages of a heart pounding thriller/romantic suspense, and I'm definitely sold. Bella Jewel certainly created one sick and twisted villain here and to be perfectly honest, the suspense is what ultimately kept me turning the pages.

As much as I wanted to love the romance here, I struggled to truly click with the characters. For some reason they read very two dimensional for me. I think partly the way the flashbacks were written here are to blame for that feeling for me. The flashbacks to their past are randomly placed in the chapters and while they fit the story, they also served to take me out of it. It was almost clinical in the descriptions. This fell apart, flashback to why, revert back to present. This happened, flashback to how, revert back to present. The character development was great for the heroine, but I wanted something more for the hero. I wanted something to connect me to him aside from his fierce protectiveness and love for the heroine. Also, and this is definitely a ME and not a book thing, but I wished for more from the villain. Being a huge Criminal Minds fan, I think I kind of hoped for a bit of that. While the reader gets a peak into the villain's head, I wished for more. I think I was missing the why's of it ultimately and there was nothing. The lack of development on that end definitely fizzled things quite a bit for me.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the romance and the connection between the MCs, but it's not what kept me turning the pages. That was most definitely the suspense and seeing how everything will be resolved and how they'll escape their seemingly dire circumstances of being hunted like prey while thrown in the middle of nowhere by someone that sees it all as a gory game.

There's also a hook thrown at the end that hints at the next book and it was enough to have me wanting to read the next installment in what I'm hoping will be a series. Was it my favorite book by this author? Probably not. But I did enjoy it for the most part and the set up is intriguing enough to have me reading the next book.

Wow
Wow.
Wow

Absolutely FANTASTIC!

I could not put it down!

72 Hours is a suspenseful rollercoaster of emotions. It was heart pounding suspense that had me hooked from the Prologue.


Lara and Noah were picked by a killer for a game. He underestimates their love and strength.
Bella's writing is fantastic and she really makes you feel. The story flows seamlessly and is told in multiple POV's.


I could not put this book down until it was done. The suspense kept me engaged in the story. I literally finished in the middle of the night.


Hang on to your seat, this is a ride you want to experience.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

This particular Bella Jewel book was quite interesting. I'm used to a more sexy style from her. This one is more of a suspense/thriller than the sexy.

There's a guy in this book that's absolutely sick minded. He certainly needs help. He's fixated on this couple and enjoys making them pawns in his game. Lara and Noah just have to stay alive long enough to beat him at his game.

I rated this book a three because Lara drove me nuts. She couldn't make up her mind if she was going to be a strong character or a wimp. There are actual scenes in this book that drove me crazy. I don't think they'd be possible in real life. Some added research is definitely needed.

Overall the story line is good. Just needed more tweaking in either the beta or editing process for me.

Angst 4
Tears 3
Value 5
Storyline 5
Panty Scorching 3
Overall Rating 5

WOWZA! Such a suspenseful read and I LOVED IT. Bella has a way with words that I cant get enough of. And although this book was completely different from her others I loved it just the same. I was on the edge of my chair flipping pages as fast as I could. I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! I was hooked from the start.

Lara. At some points I wanted to slap her and others I loved her hard. She once was a sassy spitfire but when tragedy stuck her demeanor changed drastically. Which is understandable. She ended up winning me over with a huge smile on my face. It was almost as if I was watching a kid grow up. I was so proud.

Noah. Sexy protective man! Most definitely all alpha male. He was strong and a comfort in their doomed situation. He held Lara together in spite of everything. I admired his courage and drive to survive greatly. Hes a fighter through and through.

This was a kick ass read! I cant wait for the next suspense read Bella puts out because this set the bar high! And shes awesome so I know she will kick that books ass as well.

WOW!!! What a departure from what I am used to from this author!!! This is most definitely a very dark and twisted read but I think the author did a pretty good job portraying the evil of her protagonist, as well as the hope and fear of her main characters. I'm not sure I will read more of this series because it's not my usual genre but for those that like this genre I would definitely recommend it.

72 Hours isn’t a book I’d normally request. As a rule I try to steer clear of romantic suspense because it falls into the contemporary romance category for me that usually falls flat. This one sounded good though. I liked the plot idea of having 72 hours to survive a killer who is hunting you. I also liked the idea that the two people chosen hate each other but have to rely on each other anyway. It seemed interesting enough to make me curious. Unfortunately I think that awesome premise was lost a little bit on the telling of the story.

From the beginning I had a hard time with Lara. She was just so dramatic. I get that books are supposed to be more dramatic than real life, but I mean exceptionally dramatic. For instance, in the very beginning you learn that Lara lost someone very close to her in a traumatic way. It devastated her and altered her perception of herself and the world. Yet, just after we read that, she talks about her recent breakup as the hardest thing she’s been through. That was definitely a turn off for me. I just didn’t believe it. Death should/does put everything in perspective. I also thought that Noah was a little too heavy handed and aggressive, but between the two I preferred him.

The middle of the book was a bit better. The characters were still too over the top, including the villain, but I did find myself interested in the suspense of the story. I’m not saying I was super on the edge of my seat, or dying to read nonstop. There were holes in the plot a mile wide, but (I’m repeating myself) the idea was promising and I wanted to see how they would survive. I wanted to see how they were overcome.

Of course, like they always do, they did persevere. I’m sorry if that’s a spoiler, to me all romantic suspense ends like that. I’ve yet to read an author who has her characters lose. Normally after the ending, the book ends. This one didn’t. It was like The Return of the King, just when you thought it was ending there was more. And then more. It was too much. The book needed to be trimmed by quite a few chapters. Not just chapters, the end was just wrapped up way too neatly. It was too perfectly ended. Lara was far too perfect.

Despite all my hangups, I’ve heard that there’s going to be a second book and I might give in and read more. I may not be able to help myself.

From the blurb, I was hooked on this book! I love a good mystery and suspense storyline, and I was seriously hoping the blurb came through on the promise of a good mystery. So many times a good blurb has hooked me, but left the full story with a lot to be desired. I am so happy to say I was not disappointed! I was feeling the whole Hunger Games meets Saw type of vibe throughout the entire book, and I was GLUED to the pages!
I loved the character development of Lara. Starting out the book, we are met with a tragic accident that changed who she was. She became a shell of the woman she used to be, trying to protect herself. As the story progresses, you see glimpses of her old self. In order to survive, she is going to have to find herself again.
Noah has been in pain, but he has to be the strong one. He is still reeling from the break-up and you can feel his pain coming out through the pages. I loved to see the inner struggles he faced, trying to be the strong one while trying to keep himself together.
Although this was definitely a romance, there weren’t many sexy scenes between Noah and Lara while in the game, and I thought that was executed perfectly. Realistically, you wouldn’t believe it if there were pages and pages of passion, all while hiding from a psychopath hunting them in an enclosed arena. The scenes that were included were realistic and passionate! Well done!
We do get into the head of the villain a few times, and I really liked the glimpses into his mindset. A few hints at his motives with the game, and why he chose the players he chose. I also would have liked a bit more of the backstory of our villain. Some was included, so readers will not be left wanting, but I like to know every single little detail when it comes to why people do the things they do, but that is just one girl’s opinion.
Although I really liked the book and I was hooked from page one, there were a few times I felt like they could have turned the tables on the game, and I felt like I would have been able to end it right there, but the games continued. Overall, I still really liked the book and would recommend this to anyone who loves a good romantic suspense and thriller!

72 Hours is a romantic suspense novel from author Bella Jewel. This is the first book I have read by Ms. Jewel and I have to say I really dug it. The suspense part was a little heavier than the romance part, but there was a still a kind of cool concept second chance romance featured in this one. All in all, if you are a fan of creepy suspense/thriller novels, you will not want to miss 72 hours.

Lara and Noah used to date but they wouldn’t call each other friends now. But they are unwittingly picked to star in this creepy, and sick and creepy guy’s twisted version of a game. A life or death game. I was so icked out by the villain in this book. He is someone that will keep you up at night. That is the level of his twisted desires. I loved Lara and Noah. I thought they were really strong characters and they stood up well to the masterful suspense plot-line. Bella Jewel really impressed me with her plot and her writing. She is excellent at creating an atmospheric world that made me feel like I was being hunted too.

Once I started reading 72 hours I was almost immediately drawn into the world. I couldn’t put this book down, it really captivated me. I wish the romance was a little stronger in it, but I do think this would be perfect for fans of twisted suspense/thriller stories who like a secondary romance. I tend to go for books the other way around, but 72 hours had such brilliant writing and such a strong plot, I really didn’t notice I wanted more romance until the book was done. And don’t get me wrong…it is clear to see Lara and Noah’s chemistry. I really enjoyed the romantic aspects of 72 hours and I sure as heck admired and loved both of the main characters.

Bottom line: If you are a fan of extra twisted villains, and love a good suspense chase, you so want to grab a copy of 72 Hours ASAP. You will love it. Bella Jewel did an incredible job. 72 Hours is a thrilling adventure.

Holy crap!! Bella Jewel took me on one hell of a ride with her new release, 72 Hours. It was one creepy as hell romance.

Three months ago, Lara and Noah broke up - she thought he cheated on her. So Lara has spent that time trying to get over him and trying to figure out what her future looks like without the man she planned to marry and have kids with. That becomes all that much harder when suddenly, Noah is every where she turns.

Here's where the book blows up with jaw dropping chaos and intensity. Lara and Noah are kidnapped. They have 72 Hours to figure out how to survive before the kidnapper declares all out war on them.

It's scary and over-whelming. The kidnapper has planned of everything. Well, except for the fact that Lara and Noah might hate him more than one another and are willing to work with each other to take him down.

I don't want to accidentally spoil the story. Just know that once you're in, you're in. The characters and their drama don't give you a moment to relax or to put the book down. It's a fast paced and suspenseful story with a little romance thrown in to heighten an already intense situation. 

So if you're looking for a new book to keep you up all night, consumed with drama - 72 Hours is the right choice. Definitely check this one out.

I love Bella Jewel's writing and this book is quite different than her usual reads.

72 Hours is intense, filled with suspense, mystery, intrigue, love, sexy moments and more that will keep you glued to the pages until the very end!

If you're a lover of suspenseful stories this is the book for you!!!!!

And that ending... I loved it so much!!!

4 stars from me.

Recv'd a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*