The Girl in the Window by Diana Wilkinson - #bookreview #blogtour

 I can't wait to be settled in the corner of Angelo's, my favourite cafe in all the world. It's nothing to do with the ambience, or even the owner's effusive personality. It's all to do with location...

***

The Blurb

I know their secrets...

Every morning, I sit at the same table of my favourite café, sip my cappuccino, and watch them.

The woman has no idea I’m watching, day after day, unravelling the secrets of her life. I see the way she smiles when he arrives, how she glances over her shoulder… like someone who is hiding something.

She thinks she’s in control, but has no idea I’m on to them…

I know a lot more about the man. For a start, he’s not who he pretends to be – his lies are as plain as the nose on your face.

There’s more to this story than meets the eye, a lot more than I’ll ever let on. I already know a lot about the man, but have learnt so much more from watching.

Why do I think the man should tell me what’s going on?

Because he’s my husband. That’s why.

An unforgettable tale of deceit, lies and revenge, from the bestselling author of The Girl in Seat 2A.

My Review

This book is a psychological thriller full of tension and suspense.

The main character, Izzy, has had a difficult childhood. When she meets and marries Jed, she finally feels secure. Until she notices him regularly visiting a woman in the street where she sits and drinks her coffee.

Whilst I found Izzy difficult to relate to I was totally gripped by her story. The narrative is written completely from her perspective, so it is the only point of view that we read. I found myself questioning how reliable a narrator she was. However, I am going to let you discover the answer to that question yourself.

It was written in very short and snappy chapters that definitely made for 'just one more chapter' syndrome. You know the kind that makes you stay up a bit past bedtime in order to read just a little more of the book. Consequently, it is a quick and easy read and very enjoyable for it.

The book is full of secrets, lies and deception, accompanied by some fabulous twists and turns. The twist the story takes at the end was unexpected and well written. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

I enjoyed this very much and recommend it to fans of psychological suspense novels.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1836033165

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  344 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Waterstones

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Diana Wilkinson was born and bred in Belfast, Northern Ireland and is the number 1 bestseller of The Girl in Seat 2a. Diana spent most of her working life in the business of tennis, and the inspiration for much of her work has come from the ladies she coached over the years.

You can also find Diana at:

Facebook

Twitter / X

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(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds - #BookReview #BlogTour

 

I've woken up in Matt's bed.

Stifling a yawn, I glance over at him. He has his bare back to me; messy hair, long limbs and pale white legs. He couldn't be any further away, curled up on the edge of the mattress like a mountain climber clinging to a rocky precipice. His skin is so translucent I'm able to count each knobbly vertebra jutting out of his spine.

The bed creaks as I roll on to my back...

***

Today, nothing is going right for Em. And it's about to get much worse.

Heartbroken by a recent split, with her 30th birthday looming, she loses her job and her home in the same morning because of two swaggering, dishonest men - the boss who sexually harassed her and the flatmate sleeping with her behind his fiancée's back. But all Em can think about is catching a flight to attend her sister's wedding and see her dying mother.

With a record-breaking heatwave, and a serial killer making the streets unsafe, London is completely gridlocked. Em's life has always been full of men getting their own way, and today the scorched city teems with them standing between her and home. As Em's troubled past returns to haunt her, she refuses to let them win. Her defiance leads to shocking consequences that soon spiral wildly out of control.

In a world where men don't listen, and girls have no voice, one woman can change everything.

Today, no one will be staying silent.

***

This is one of the most powerful books that I have read in quite some time, and it made for an utterly compelling read. I doubt there is a single woman who cannot identify with some of the main characters experiences.

The whole book covers the course of just one day in the life of the main character, Em. In fact, although everyone calls her Em, it is a thread throughout the book that this is not actually her name. She is Spanish, and people find her name difficult to pronounce, so much to her annoyance, everyone calls her Em. All through the book, I was eager to learn what her actual name was, and it is kept from the reader until the conclusion of the book.

The author completely inhabited her main character, so it was unsurprising to read in the author's note at the end of the book that she had experienced most of the things that happen to Em. She is a fully fleshed, highly authentic character and the author has done an excellent job in creating a character that virtually every woman will identify with to one degree or another.

The book is set during a heat wave in the UK and the intensity of the description of the heat made it palpable. I could feel the high temperatures that were being described as the author's attention to detail is superb and were an essential factor into how Em's world spirals out of control during this one, seemingly ordinary, day.

This is a powerhouse of a book which is full of rage, and I have not been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it. To be honest, I am not quite sure I will ever forget Em entirely because she represents all women and the difficulties and challenges that we all face at one time or another.

This book has been expertly written and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. 

ISBN: 978 1035402366

Publisher:  Headline

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardcover

No. of Pages:  384 (hardback)

Purchase link *

About the Author:

As the daughter of a Spanish immigrant, Natali J Simmonds has

lived all over the world. Good Girls Die Last is her first

thriller after writing fantasy novels. When not writing, she is the

Head of Community and Editorial Commissions at Jericho

Writers and lectures at Raindance Film School and The

University of The Hague.

Purchase Link

(Book courtesy of Random Things Book Tours)

*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.