Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher Harlequin UK for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication.
Expected: 23 January 2020
She’s everything he dreamed of. Isn’t she? Ben can’t believe his luck when Bella walks into his life, just when he needs her most. Sexy, impulsive and intelligent, Bella is everything he ever wanted. And Bella wants him. All to herself.
In fact, Bella decides that everything is better when it is just the two of them, making it harder for Ben’s friends and family to stay in touch. And then a sudden tragedy triggers a chain of events which throws Ben headlong into a nightmare.
Secrets, lies, vengeance and betrayal are at the heart of this utterly twisted story about a family that is destroyed when SHE becomes part of it…
In my opinion
Ben can’t believe his luck when Bella walks into his life. Sexy, impulsive and intelligent SHE is everything he ever wanted – isn’t SHE? This is the story of Ben and Bella’s relationship and the secrets, lies, vengeance and betrayal that lie at the heart of it.
The book was written in four parts; the build-up written from Ben’s (and his family and friends) point of view, then the build-up again but from Bella’s perspective, and finally the climax and aftermath which were both written from multiple view points. There’s been some criticism of this format, with some feeling that parts one and two are very repetitive, but personally I couldn’t disagree more. Yes the events and dialogue were duplication but with such a different perspective on the same thing it felt completely new and totally fascinating how (as in real life) two people can interpret the same thing in such different ways.
Bella is a dark, manipulative and evil character but seeing events through her (albeit twisted) view I could totally understand the reasoning behind some of her hurtful actions. She really is one of those characters that you love to hate. But, then again, I loved all the characters. They are all totally relatable, likeable and described so well that they are easy to picture. And, the dynamics and relations between them all cleverly constructed from childhood friends Matt and Ben, to Ben’s idolism of his father and the tense mother/daughter-in-law relationship.
In fact, this was brilliantly written throughout. The writing is really emotive, particularly the funeral scenes which really resonated with me, generating strong emotions thinking about my own loved ones and the impact of each of them in my life. The slow spiral of abuse was also carefully crafted, with the author describing everyday mundane activities such as dinner with friends or plans for Christmas over the course of a year to highlight the gradual submission and dominance of the main characters in a non-sensationalist way. That said, and without sensationalism, the author still manages to keep the pace fast and the story moving on towards its explosive ending.
Tension is built right from the start with a letter from an unidentified man to his child and we are left guessing right until the very end as to whether this was written by Ben, his dad or Bella’s dad. However, whilst it’s clear that events and family relations between Bella and her father have had a very big and disturbing impact on her character and actions, disappointingly her back story is something that was only ever mentioned in passing and never really explored. What did Bella’s dad actually do – we’ll never know....
All the way through I was convinced that I’d be giving this 5 stars but unfortunately this was like many of the thrillers I’ve read recently whereby I am completely captivated throughout, enjoying every page but upon conclusion and reflection the expectation was better than the actuality. What let this down for me was the clichéd and predictable motive behind it all – the big mystery of who SHE is was unfortunately all too obvious and slightly unrealistic. I also disliked the fact that by the end everyone knew who SHE was yet they all continued to pretend otherwise to spare each other’s feelings, so in a sense it was a bit anti-climatic as whilst there was an explosive ending there was no big reveal as such. All-in-all though I really enjoyed this and would totally recommend it.
The author
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