This had been a surprising read, with an original starting, the book attracts you to a web full of lies and surprises that will leave you with a good taste after reading it. Ready?
This will be a twisted story, because you don't feel connected with the main character Emily, she is one of those people that think that deserve more without trying to change, that's why when an accident happens in front of her she will start becoming obsessed with the victim, Rose.
Rose seems to have the perfect life; but as I am sure you know, perfect doesn't exist, so Emily will try to refill the space that Rose has left in her life, no matter at which cost. During the process she will not only discover Rose's secrets and problems but starting to discover herself and her own faults. She needs a change in her life, but maybe this one will be too drastic...
This had been a slow paced story, but full of surprises and emotional situations, and making the reader to never know who to really trust. Sometimes reading a book makes you change the point of view of your life, your values and your relation with your loved ones, this had been a great read and a way to make us remember that we are the only ones that we have the power to change the course of our lives, only us.
Ready to discover who really was Rose?

I thought this was a great read. At first yu think, OK, I know this story, then you find that you really don't.

The twist at the end I never saw coming - which is what makes a good suspense novel - otherwise no suspense - right?

But, I did find the Epilogue content expected but forgivable under the circumstances of this being billed as a Romance imprint.

Oh my god, this book really was quite gripping. I tend to be a bit sceptical now with these claims as most books in this genre of psychological thriller make the same promise. But this one delivered. Emily is a character who has nothing, no friends, no job, no proper home, no love of her life. Rose has every one of those things. Until the day that Emily lets Rose out of the lift before her and suddenly Rose is killed by a passing car. Leaving behind her fantastic job, devoted husband Cian and her baby son. Emily really would like a bit of that. Somehow she manages to get a job in the dentist where Rose worked. She meets Cian and becomes close to him. But is everything what it seems? Did Rose have it all? At times it should feel a bit far-fetched how Emily inveils herself into Rose's world but somehow it works. A few twists that I didn't see coming. I would definitely read another book by this author.

I honestly absolutely had to devour this book it was fantastic, kept me guessing at every chapter.
Loved the snippets into roses pov.
Unexpected twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting...Awesome

Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan was a gripping read but a bit too predictable for me. I enjoyed reading it, but I can’t imagine it will stick in my mind for much longer than it takes me to write this review.

Her Name Was Rose begins with a rather shocking description of a hit and run. Emily is witness and feels guilty because she let the young mother step out of the lift before her. Now the young mother is dead leaving behind her little boy and Emily can’t help but think that she should have been the one to die.

Emily’s own life has hit rock bottom and when she looks up the victim of the hit and run she can’t help but feel jealous. Rose Grahame had it all. She had a beautiful house where she lived her with her author husband Cian and their son Jack. Her Facebook was full of posts about her wonderful life and the friends she had at her job as a dentist’s receptionist.

Emily can’t help but feel jealous of the dead woman and her perfect life, so when the opportunity arises for her to insinuate herself into Rose’s former life she can’t stop herself from jumping at the chance but was Rose’s life as perfect as it seemed?

If you are looking for a fast-paced thriller that you don’t have to put much effort into reading, then Her Name Was Rose is the ideal read for you.

4 Stars! Her Name Was Rose was everything I expected and more! With so many high reviews I was skeptical going in, as I have read so many books in this genre and sometimes the stories blur into one another. This was not the case with the story of Emily and Rose, I am usually pretty nit picky and found myself in more of a reviewer mindset for the first half of the book. If I had to put a finger on why, it was the pacing, It was a slow slow go for awhile, if it would have picked up a bit faster this one would have been a 5 star for me, I understand that the stage needs to be set and we need to get to know our main characters, but I think we could have moved this along faster. The second half I devoured in the middle of the night after being awakened from a nasty storm, and I just couldn't go back to sleep until I found out who dun it!! The rain and wind may have helped set the atmosphere for a compulsive, original and pretty near perfect read. After the 60% mark I was no longer in review mode, looking for flaws, but was instead was totally sucked in to the story. I, however, do have one tiny gripe beyond the pacing... that ending! We don't always need things wrapped up with a neat bow, I was searching for a twistier, more complex ending, but readers looking for a satisfying ending will not be bothered a bit! Overall a huge win for Claire Allen, can't wait until the next one!
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my review!

Amazing story, and quite a different direction for Claire Allan. Looking forward to more in the same genre.

Couldn't put it down :-)

Okay i really liked this book but i felt like it had too much extra context which i was not willing to put up with. I was skim reading, skipped pages with all the cringy love parts but the story was great! Definitely worth a summer read while youre traveling.

One day, a young woman is riding on an elevator with another young woman and her young son. The first young woman allows the second woman and her child to exit the elevator before her, then the woman walks into the street and is hit by a car and killed. Her Name Was Rose was a crazy ride through the eyes of Emily, a young woman who does a kindness for someone else and ends up caught in the turmoil of the dead woman's life. But Emily is also not necessarily innocent, as she purposely makes her way into Rose's life, taking her job, becoming "friends" with her husband, and getting attached to Rose's son. Emily finds out the hard way that, although she thought Rose's life was perfect, the truth is much more sinister.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book, I like reading books without reading the blurb, or when I read the blurb so long ago that I’ve forgotten it and just know that I want to read the book.

The book starts off brilliantly with an intense scene where Emily sees a woman hit by a car and killed instantly. It sucked me right into the story and I was excited about where the story was going to go next.

Seeing something so horrific will mess anyone up right? But as the book progresses I became unsure of Emily and quite how stable she was. Her way of thinking about things and events seemed so unlike that of people around her so it wasn’t clear who was telling us an accurate account, if anyone was.

When Emily steps into the life of Rose, the woman that she had seen killed, we know that it can’t be a good thing. She’s so desperate for friendship and love, but will that make her blind to what is really going on?

At times I felt frustrated with Emily, she really was incredibly naive, but had she finally found people that cared about her for who she was? People that would finally help her move on with her survivors guilt and the mess that she got herself into?

I really liked how some of the characters in Her Name Was Rose developed, small characters became big characters, nice characters became bad and bad became good. It was cleverly written and played out.

I didn’t really like Emily and I felt that the ending was just a tad too obvious, but I really enjoyed reading My Name Is Rose and I know that this book will appeal to many readers. It certainly appealed to me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for a copy of Her Name was Rose by Claire Allan. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Wow, what can I say about this book. Hooked by the blurb and then once I started reading the end of the book came far to quickly. The pages turned themselves.
This book is well written and is easy to read and follow the plot. It totally leaves you guessing.
Full review to follow.

Emily D’Arcy, age 34, was preparing to cross the street but allowed a young mother pushing a baby to go before her. Just then, a car sped through hitting and killing the mother but the child was safe. Emily wonders if it was her abusive ex-boyfriend, Ben, who had meant to run her down. She is so traumatized by it all that she decides to attend the funeral. The young woman’s name was Rose Grahame and she was married to an author named Cian who appears to be grieving his wife.

Having lost her job when it was discovered she attended a funeral instead of a medical appointment as she said, she decided to apply for the job that Rose had at a dental office. While it seemed a bit morbid, it was just what she needed. She was so happy to get the job and settled in with the other office workers very well.

Emily had been quite depressed after her relationship with Ben and still used pills and alcohol to calm her.

The police discover that it was a young teenager who ran down Rose and then took off. However, he was later found dead floating in a river. The police figure he committed suicide due to his guilt.

When Cian brings his young son into the dental clinic for a checkup, he and Emily click as she she shows her sympathy for him. However, Cian and the dentist, Owen, do not like each other.

What is going on and what truly happened to Rose? Was it a hit-and-run or something or more sinister?

This is a good book with a twisting story. Emily is a woman with low self-esteem, but who wants to have a happy life. The characters are well-written and I never saw the twist at the end coming. This is a must read.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

From unfaithful wives to murdered wives. This is a slow-burner, but an entirely different ball game. This time, Emily is a bystander who steps into Rose’s life after she’s struck down by a car in front of her. But there’s something a little more sinister behind Rose’s death than first imagined: is it Emily’s imagination, or is something dangerous around the corner?

It’s hard to believe that this is Claire Allan’s first foray into the thriller/ psychological genre. The tension builds slowly throughout the book as we switch between Emily’s present-day viewpoint and Rose’s diaries, which gradually reveal that not everything was as perfect between her and her husband Cian as first thought. Allan has a great knack for creating utterly believable characters, whose layers only start to peek through over the course of the book. By the end, nobody is who you think they are, especially Emily, who is a fantastic example of the unreliable narrator. Mentally disturbed and haunted by her past, she’s especially vulnerable, which of course ups the tension throughout as she gets closer and closer to the truth.

And, for once, there’s actually a happy ending!

A great psychological thriller that has many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing until the end. I really enjoyed this book.
Thank you for my ARC.

An intense and quite disturbing psychological thriller. Enjoyable, well written and with a good plot that kept me engaged right the way through. 4* from me. One to recommend. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

I thought I had it sussed from quite early on but this didn’t spoil my enjoyment and there were a couple of surprises still in store for me. Apparently this is the author’s first attempt at a psychological thriller so I’m doubly impressed and I do hope to see more of the same from her. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed Her Name Was Rose. It’s the type of book that hooks you in and you don’t want to put down until you’ve finished it. Another great book by Claire.

A really chilling thriller with lots of twists and turns this kept me gripped the whole way through.

Oooh, I love a dark psychological thriller particularly if the main character is disturbed and unreliable and that’s exactly what you get in Her Name Is Rose.

This is a story of a deep, uncomfortable obsession when Emily witnesses a tragic accident and is convinced she was the intended victim and decides to manoeuvre herself into the life of Rose, the young mother killed in front of Emily.

There were several times throughout the book, I was shaking my head at Emily’s needy and rather troublesome behaviour, and wanted her to pull herself together and STOP doing what she was.. but I was totally gripped by the storyline and needed to know what was going to happen.

I read this book in a single afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it and therefore can highly recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers

Excellent book. Well written , plenty of twists and turns . Highly recommend and cant wait to read more of her work.