I DNF'd this at about 60%... I just wasn't really invested and didn't really care what happened. It felt a little too convoluted and hard to follow.

The premise of this story was what sucked me in. I adore this type of writing where we have two separate stories that intertwine so beautifully. However, the twists fell a little flat for me and felt predictable at times.

The pacing was slower than I expected for the first half of the book, but the latter half was on par with what I’d expect from a thriller like this. I also adored the ending.

The writing prose was elegant and digestible and overall, it was a solid read but nothing to write home about. The ending will stick with me though, and I appreciate the way the author tied the two women’s lives together forever in such a beautiful way.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted e-arc!

This book really hooked me in the beginning! Great opener! Unfortunately after that it didn’t work for me. Maybe others will like twists and characters more but it felt a bit flat for me.

This thriller was exciting and suspenseful! I loved that it focused on two strong and resilient women. You will be captivated from page one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Between 4 and 4.5 stars

I really enjoyed Chavez's first book No Bad Deed so I already knew I would love this one. The author has become one I can rely on and one I will hopefully read anything she writes. This is a quick, clever read. There's some action and a great plot that doesn't move too slowly in my opinion. I like the way Chavez writes her female characters; making them strong, smart, and protective over the ones they love.

I think anyone who enjoys reading thrillers with a strong female voice will enjoy this one.

What an engrossing and fun read! I loved the twists and turns in this book - random shooting to potential assassination attempt to the cat-and-mouse game that followed certainly kept me on my toes and turning the pages. Plus, I loved the strong female leads in this - somehow I found myself rooting for both and their unlikely friendship. This thriller felt fresh and fun, highly recommend as a summer read!

BEFORE SHE FINDS ME is a twisty thriller you'll want to add to your summer TBR. This cat-mouse story starts off with a bang--literally. To say I was unsettled with the opening scene of a mass shooting was an understatement. While I found this to be a bit too graphic to my taste, I did end up really enjoying the book as a whole. As with Chavez's previous novels, the plot was fast-paced and the writing was propulsive. With twists abound, this book makes for perfect poolside reading. I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled for whatever Heather Chavez writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and Mulholland Books for an advanced copy of this ebook.

Publish date: June 26, 2023

Wow wow wow - I will definitely be buying the physical book for my bookshelf.

Dual POV book told from Ren - an assassin trained by her father who arrived another assassin. The three have a pact - only hurt the guilty. Our other POV is Julia - a mother with a difficult past who moves her daughter into college campus. When the pair are celebrating with Julia’s ex-husband and his new wife there is a shooting. Julia acts quick and saves her daughter, but not everyone was okay.

Was the shooting random? Why were they targeted?

Ren realizes this is the work of her husband and can’t understand why he didn’t tell her about it - they always discuss their jobs.

Both women search for answers which will lead them to each other - will they like what they find? Will they both survive? This was a fast-paced page turner that I just couldn’t put down.

Add to your stacks now friends!!

Synopsis: Told through two points of view, this is a story about two women who seek to find the truth about those around them. The first perspective is Julia, who while moving her daughter Cora into college, bears witness to a campus shooting that will change their lives forever. The other is newly pregnant Ren, an assassin who was trained by her father and specializes in poison. Along with her husband, who is also an assassin, they live by a code: shield the innocent, kill the guilty, and defend the family. After seeing the campus shooting on the news, Ren suspects her husband is reponsible, even though she wasn’t aware of the job. Each women is in pursuit of answers, but as their paths ultimately cross, will they both survive?

Thoughts: this was an interesting assassin story that was full of twists and turns. The author did a great job of establishing two plot lines and then weaving them together. It was fun to make guesses along the way, and I found that any twists that arose didn’t seem to come totally out of left field. Still, some belief had to be suspended given the plot line of the story, but it still felt within the realm of possibility.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book as it had an interesting premise of a murder job gone awry. The unexpected twist where the hitman starts targeting the main character was fantastic. I would love to read more books by this author. The story had multiple female leads who enhanced the plot and had well-crafted character development.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. Excellent thriller with some great twists right up until the end. Loved two female characters from beginning to end. Highly recommend! A definite change from the majority of the thrillers I’ve been reading lately.

I always enjoy a well-paced, suspenseful thriller that ends in an unexpected twist. I didn't see it coming. I think I was too involved in the women, Julia and Ren, and didn't pay attention to the little clues the author throws in.

Julia is helping her daughter move-in to her college dorm room. Her ex-husband and his new wife come by to 'help' just adding to the anxiety and overwhelming emotions of letting her daughter go. Then there is a sniper attack on campus. Julia's quick actions help save her daughter, but they are left shaken. As she starts to unravel what happened and sees videos online, Julia wonders if it wasn't a random attack?

Then there is the POV of Ren, a hired assassin. She finds out her husband was the one responsible for the attack and kept it a secret from her. Ren starts to dig into the attack as well, enlisting the help of her father.

Both of the women want answers. Who will find out the truth first? I loved the back-and-forth POV's of these women. As we find out more about their backgrounds, things aren't quite what they seem. I really enjoyed reading this one!

I rated this 4.5 stars!

Julia Bennett is moving her daughter, Cora, into college in Southern California. On move in day, a sudden attack stuns the campus, and Julia’s quick reactions save Cora’s life. In the aftermath, Julia begins to question if the attack was random or if it had something to do with her family.

Ren Petrovic is a trained assassin, who works with a strict moral code. She is newly pregnant and vows to stick to that moral code, especially now with a baby on the way. Ren was not a part of the campus attack, but she knows her husband Nolan was. Ren begins to question why her husband would keep the attack a secret from her and who really hired Nolan for this job?

Both mothers want answers and they must work quickly to get there before the other. One a survivor and one a hired killer, and both women will defend and protect their families until the very end.

Before She Finds Me is a fast paced thriller that is focused on these two strong women, Julia and Ren. It is written in dual POV, alternating chapters between the two. I loved both women’s stories and enjoyed the alternating perspectives. There were a number of twists throughout and I didn’t see most of them coming. I also enjoyed the way the two story lines came together. Each woman had their own secrets that they had battled and that changed the way they reacted to different situations, with the main goal being to protect their families.

This thriller comes out June 27th and I think it’s a great thriller to add to your summer TBR!!

As Julie brings her daughter Cora to drop her off at college, the worst happens. A gunman opens fire, and only Julia’s quick action saves Coras life. Julie is determined to figure out what happened that day and why. Meanwhile Ren, pregnant with her first child, is wondering why her husband took a job without her. While Julia wants to know who and why, Ron knows who the shooter was, but what she doesn’t know is why. As paths cross, each woman works tirelessly to connect the pieces.

I truly enjoyed this slow burn thriller! I listened to this one on audio, and found myself totally entranced in the story and needing to know more. I mean, a husband and wife killing team? And somehow they are connected to this family that just wants to safely drop their child at college? I found the story so thrilling, while also having an undertone of what a mother will do to protect her child. I loved this one and hope you will too!

I love this author and the badass female characters she writes! This book immediately drew me in and didn’t let up. I found it extremely entertaining and highly recommend it!

Before She Finds Me is an interesting thriller following two women, who have more similarities than expected, given one is a contract killer and the other is a botany professor. After a botched contract killing by her husband, Ren gets obsessed with Julia, the botany professor, who manages to protect her kid from a sniper. The story follows both women as we try to untangle exactly what happened. Fairly interesting story, it was well put together and the conclusion was satisfying. It fell a little short of un-put down-able, but was enjoyable all the same

Ok so this is a must read. I thought I had it all figured out but I was wrong.
You follow dual POV's Ren and Julia. Both trying to protect their family.
This is my first Heather Chavez book but her other 2 are sitting on my shelf and I am moving them up on my TBR.
...
When shots ring out on a campus what do you do. You save your family only you wont be able to save them all.
This is a fast paced thrilling ride of a hired assassin and mother and a normal mother all with secrets to protect.

Grab this one when it comes out!!!

I have enjoyed the previous two books from Heather Chavez so I was super-excited to read this one! This is a totally original premise and I feel it worked really well. Ren and Nolan are married assassins. Ren is also pregnant with their first child. Julia is a mom helping her daughter get settled in at college. Shots ring out on the campus; people die, and Julia reacts in a way that catches the attention of Ren. Ren also learns that Nolan was near the campus around that time, possibly on a job? But they always tell each other when they are on a job. Thus begins a cat and mouse game. Who is the cat and who are the mice? I really liked Ren. She is a killer with her own moral code. I thought that was interesting. Julia also has her secrets and is a survivor. Both women are fighting for their families. I did figure out one of the big twists, but there were plenty more. Heather Chavez gets better and better and is definitely an author to watch!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Heather Chavez and Mulholland Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon. Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication.

Another winning novel from Heather Chavez. I stayed up until after 1 a.m. to finish this one, I HAD TO KNOW what was going to happen. Before She Finds Me was a fantastic book with twists and turns and shocking revelations. At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it- a husband and wife assassin team taking out people at the whim of rich clients? Meh. But as I got more into the story, I was hooked.

Julia Bennett has worked hard to create a stable life for her daughter, Cora, in Southern California. So when Cora leaves for college, the worst thing Julia expects on move-in day is an argument with her ex-husband and his new wife. But a sudden attack leaves the campus stunned—and only Julia’s quick actions save Cora’s life. Shaken in the aftermath, and haunted by a dark secret, Julia starts to wonder: What if the attack wasn’t as random as everyone believes?

Newly pregnant Ren Petrovic has an unusual career—she’s a trained assassin, operating under a strict moral code. Ren wasn’t on campus that day, but she knows who was: her husband, Nolan. What she doesn’t know is why Nolan has broken their rules by not telling her about the job in advance. The more Ren looks into the attack, the more she begins to question: Who really hired Nolan? And why did one woman in the crowd respond so differently from all the rest?

Julia and Ren each want answers, but their searches quickly pit them against each other. One woman is a hired killer, but the other is a determined survivor. And both mothers will defend their families to the bitter end.

SO GOOD. Really takes you on a wild ride and fans of suspense won’t want to miss this. Out on June 27.

OOOF, this one was wild. Talk about a hitman/woman situation gone wrong.

I am so thankful to Heather Chavez, Mulholland Books, Hachette Audio, and Libro.fm for granting me both audiobook access and a physical advanced reader's copy of Before She Finds Me. This twisty, who-dunnit is set to publish on June 27, 2023 and I highly suggest you get your pre-orders in now!

Julia Bennett is going through a lot as she drops her daughter off at college for move-in-day, but those festivities get cut short when an active shooter situation rips through campus, killing a few innocent bystanders, including Julia's ex-husband's new wife, Brie -- leaving a broken family in its wake.

On the other side of the narrative, we have Ren Petrovic and her husband, Nolan, who are trained assassins, but one day at a college campus in California, Nolan targets the wrong person and is in a world of trouble with his client.

Chapter after chapter, we get a further peek into what's really going on, who's to blame for the killing, and why the target is being targeted.

TW: Mass Shooting