BLOG TOUR: My Best Friend's Secret - Danielle Ramsay

Five women; pretty, privileged, perfect, and ultimately protected… but not for long…

 

It was ‘their’ dark secret. For twenty-two-years ‘they’ kept it buried. Time hasn’t healed my wounds. Instead, they’ve festered. Their actions went unpunished. Until now…

Shamed, scarred, and shunned, I watched, waited and plotted how to shatter ‘their’ enviable lives. Now, finally, they will suffer as I did in ‘their’ cruel hands that fateful night.

Time’s up. I am here for you, Dr Claudia Harper. But first, you’ll witness your childhood friends, one by one, beg for mercy.

And I’ve saved the best ‘til last, so watch your back; I’m closer than you think. I’m here to expose your best friend’s secret. The one you’ve all kept hidden...until now.

A tale of betrayal, dark, twisted lies and long-awaited retribution. Perfect for the fans of Claire McGowan, Shalini Boland and S. E. Lynes

 

What did I think?

This book is an absolute corker!  I couldn't put it down until I had discovered the secret that this group of friends were hiding.  Revenge is a dish best served cold and in this case it's positively glacial.

Claudia is reeling from the sudden death of her best friend, especially when they weren't on the best of terms when Jaz died.  As Claudia and her old schoolfriends Willow, Issie and Ava gather to pay their last respects, it's clear that something is being kept back from Claudia and paranoia sees her spiralling out of control.

I wanted to reach into the book and give Claudia a shake and a hug at the same time.  She has hit the self-destruct button and has front row seats to watch her life blowing up spectacularly.  My brain was whirring at a rate of knots as I tried to work out what was going on and just what the big secret was.  Whilst I had some suspicions about particular characters, I really couldn't have guessed any of the explosive plot.

Fast-paced, gripping and chock-full of intrigue, My Best Friend's Secret has a razor-sharp plot that reminded me of a firework display; it fizzes and crackles with tension and as the smoke begins to clear there are yet more surprises in store.  It's a fabulous psychological thriller and one I highly recommend.

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Purchase link: https://mybook.to/bestfriendsocial

About the author:

Danielle Ramsay is a Scot living in a small seaside town in the North-East of England. Always a storyteller, it was only after completing a First Class (Hons) Degree in Media Production that she then went on to follow an academic career in literature. She was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in 2009 and 2010, and appointed a New Writing North Read Regional author in 2011. 

She is the author of five DI Jack Brady crime novels and The Last Cut, a dark thriller with DS Harri (Harriet) Jacobs. Danielle fills her days with horse-riding, running and murder by proxy.  She is also the proud Patron of the charity SomeOne Cares, which counsels survivors of domestic violence, rape and child abuse. 

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielle.ramsay.author/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielleramsay2 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielle.ramsay.author/?hl=en-gb 

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The Street - Susi Holliday

Their neighbours welcomed them with open arms. Now they’ve vanished without a trace.

Anna and Peter desperately need to escape London for a fresh start. And they’ve found just the place: a perfect house on a perfect street in a perfect new development on the Scottish coast. But before they’ve even unpacked, they discover that the community they’ve moved into might be keeping secrets of its own…

Eager to fit in, Anna and Peter spend their first evening with their new neighbours, a couple who turn up on their doorstep to welcome them with open arms. But when Anna pops over the next morning to thank them for their hospitality, there’s no answer. The house is bare and unoccupied, and the neighbours have vanished without a trace. What’s more, everybody else on the street is convinced that no one ever lived there at all.

As she battles a growing obsession with the mystery, Anna finds herself becoming increasingly paranoid. She thought she’d escaped her own troubled past, but as the truth catches up with her, life starts to unravel. Maybe she’s not the only resident of The Street with something to hide…

 

What did I think?

I was hooked from the start when I picked up The Street and I couldn't put it down; it's SO intriguing and gets darker and darker as you start to work out what's going on.

There's something not quite right about Anna and Peter's relationship but my interest in that had to be put on the back burner as the freaky street they had moved to took centre stage.  The residents are all strange and a little creepy and the only normal ones seem to be the next door neighbours who disappear without trace overnight.  

I didn't really like Anna or Peter but I did feel sorry for Anna as she starts to feel like she's losing her mind.  Good on her for sticking to her guns though and trying to uncover the secrets of the street, although she doesn't realise how much danger it is putting her in.  I can't say any more for fear of revealing any of the plot and spoiling it for others.

Brilliantly written and filled with tension and suspense, The Street is a massively intriguing mystery that kept me riveted from start to finish.

I chose to read a digital ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Everything but the Truth - Gillian McAllister

Do you ever check your partner's phone? 

Should you? 

Are you prepared for the consequences?

Everything but the Truth is Gillian McAllister's stunning breakthrough thriller about deceit, betrayal and one woman's compulsive need to uncover the truth

It all started with the email.

Rachel didn't even mean to look. She loves Jack and she's pregnant with their child. She trusts him.

But now she's seen it, she can't undo that moment. Or the chain of events it has set in motion.

Why has Jack been lying about his past? Just what exactly is he hiding? And doesn't Rachel have a right to know the truth at any cost?

What did I think?

I had no idea when I started this book that it was part set in my neck of the woods so it was a lovely surprise to read a setting comprising Grey's Monument (the iconic towering statue at the heart of Newcastle), The Boat (Newcastle's floating nightclub with the famous revolving dancefloor), The RVI (a hospital in the heart of Newcastle) and The Hoppings (the annual fair on Newcastle's Town Moor).  To be fair, it could have been set anywhere and still been an amazing read, but I get an extra buzz when reading books set in my area.

Rachel and Jack are in a relatively new relationship when Rachel discovers that she is pregnant.  Unlike most men, Jack doesn't run back to Scotland but instead embraces the addition of the baby fondly referred to as 'Wally' to their family.  One night Rachel sees an email appear on Jack's iPad referring to his history being dredged up in the John Douglas case.  Who is John Douglas and what does he have to do with Jack Ross?  When Rachel meets Jack's friends they call him 'JD' and Jack says it's because he used to be a heavy drinker in his youth.  Rachel, however, is no stranger to lies and paranoia as she discovered after her mother's death that her mother had been having an affair.  So Rachel starts digging into Jack's past, but will she be prepared for what she might uncover?

Rachel has a story of her own that we are treated to in flashback chapters which takes us back to when Rachel was a promising junior doctor.  Rachel isn't practising now so just what happened a year ago with 'the boy'?  Cue the fabulous DOUBLE HOOK!  Both Jack and Rachel have secrets and I for one couldn't read fast enough to uncover both devastating and heart-breaking stories.  I'm not a Newcastle United fan, but Rachel's story affected me so deeply that I shall remember it every time I see the black and white stripes around somebody's neck which, due to where I live, will be very often indeed.

I think this is the first book that I have read where The Hoppings have been mentioned.  The Hoppings is an annual event held in June where Europe's biggest travelling fair appears on Newcastle's greenbelt, The Town Moor.  We always joke that we know when The Hoppings is here as we usually get a week of rain, thanks to the gypsy curse.  It was nice to read that the sun was shining on The Hoppings in Everything but the Truth but I can't remember The Hoppings ever being held in October.  A bit of artistic license perhaps or maybe I'm wrong, either way it doesn't really matter.

Everything but the Truth is truly a fantastic book!  I'm now a self-confessed Gillian McAllister junkie as I was addicted from the very first page.  Like stepping on a rollercoaster at The Hoppings, once you get on there's no getting off until the ride stops.  So stand in line and hop aboard for the ride of your life!  I promise it's well worth it, then join me in waiting for our next Gillian McAllister fix.

I chose to read to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

The Stepmother - Claire Seeber

The perfect wife. A fairytale family. Don’t believe your eyes…

Jeanie and Matthew are a happily married couple who both have teenage children from previous relationships.

No one said it would be easy to raise a blended family under one roof but Jeanie and Matthew are strong. They will make it work.

And whilst Jeanie’s step-daughter Scarlett rejects her, Jeanie will just have to try harder to win her over.

But Jeanie has a past. A terrible secret she thought she’d buried a long time ago. And now, it’s coming to the surface, threatening to destroy her new marriage.

Someone is playing a terrifying game on Jeanie and she must put a stop to it once and for all.

After all, a fairytale needs a happy ending…doesn’t it? 

What did I think?

I may have mentioned in the past that my favourite fairy tale is Cinderella, but Snow White comes a close second.  The Stepmother is something of a modern fairy tale for grown-ups loosely based on Snow White, but with strange ghostly goings-on instead of cute little dwarfs.

Jeanie has had a tough life but she thinks her dreams have come true when she meets and marries Matthew, after a whirlwind romance.  Jeanie and her son, Frankie, move into Matthew's home which has an evil Queen style ornate mirror and its very own turret. Matthew has two children from his previous marriage: twins, Luke and Scarlett.  Scarlett's moods are as red as her name - she's very angry that her parents have split up and resents Jeanie moving into what was once their home.  Luke is more accepting and quiet on the outside, but is he more affected by his parents' split than we realise?

When strange things start to happen, all seemingly directed at Jeanie she feels her marriage crumbling before her eyes.  Jeanie has a secret (or two) hidden in her past and like many secrets, nothing ever stays buried for long.  As one of Jeanie's secrets is discovered, it is used against her and even Matthew doesn't side with her.  As Jeanie is mentally tortured, she starts to think that Matthew also has a few secrets hidden from her as the paranoia in The Stepmother reaches record levels.  As Jeanie's mind whirled with questions, I was eager to find out the answers too!  What really happened to his previous marriage?  What's behind the locked door?  Who is the woman whose post gets delivered to the house?  

The Stepmother kept me on my toes from start to finish; filled with secrets, lies and paranoia it's such a gripping read that I found difficult to put down.  I loved the links to Snow White: 'mirror, mirror on the wall', the good instead of evil step mother and the young beauty of the story being represented by red instead of white.  Hugely enjoyable, twisty and gripping: make sure you put The Stepmother on your list to read.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Bookouture, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon