My first AJ Banner book and absolutely not my last! The premise intrigued me tremendously when I read the summary and I'm glad I decided to read it, despite not being released for 4 more months! A backstabbing best friend, Lauren, is trying to worm her way back into Marissa's life, years after a terrible betrayal. When Marissa begins to let Lauren in a bit, Lauren turns up dead and Marissa finds her body! This book explores friendship and relationships and the impact of secrets on everyone involved. I loved theorizing what I thought was coming and being wrong every single time! To me, a good twist that I do not predict but still fits the story is a hallmark of a great story and a better writer. I'm looking forward to jumping back into prior novels of Banner's following this!

Thank you to Amazon publishing for an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was ok full of twists and turns , but slightly predictable.

This was a good book, full of suspense and some plot twist that kept me guessing till the end.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review.

The book opens on a dinner party where Marissa and her fiance, Nathan are announcing their engagement. An old friend, Lauren, is there with her husband and despite that is flirting with Nathan. I think we've all had that friend, right? That no matter how happy you or she is in your respective relationships, she throws herself at your man simply because she needs affirmation and attention? Annoying!

Just that fact alone really sets the stage for the type of "friendship" that Marissa and Lauren have. More like keep your friends close and your enemies closer! But the evening goes on which seems like a nice party, but there is definitely tension there.

When Marissa finds Lauren's body at the bottom of a rocky cliff outside their home the next morning, the scene is set for a classic who-dunn-it. From the onset, I thought it was Nathan with the candlestick in the library. Not really. But its a fun situation (hmm, I find this fun), where we aren't sure who has motive (maybe everybody) and opportunity. Everybody is a suspect.

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read. You can put it down and pick right back up where you left it. The characters are clearly written and developed. I did think Marissa was a little bit of a sucker to let Lauren back into her life after what she and her husband had done to her in the past, but it's probably actually something I would do so....

Overall I definitely recommend this book for a good light, albeit slightly suspenseful beach read. Definitely more of a mystery than anything else. It releases in August, so it should time perfectly with whatever beach get-aways you have planned this summer

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for a free e-galley in exchange for my honest review.

The story begins with a dinner party to celebrate Marissa and Nathan’s engagement. One of the guest is Lauren, Marissa’s former best friend. Lauren betrayed her trust in the past and swears she’s changed her ways, but after a night of alcohol induced flirting with her finance, Marissa isn’t so sure. The tension among the other guest is palatable and makes for an uncomfortable gathering.
Waking up in the middle of the night and discovering Nathan missing only exasperate the doubts that Marissa has started to have.
When Lauren’s body is discovered the next morning at the bottom of a rock covered cliff, her doubts only intensify. Was it an accident, was it murder, where was Nathan during those crucial hours?
This is the third book that I’ve read by this author and it doesn’t disappoint. A fast-paced, suspenseful, ‘who-done-it’, that will keep you reading long into the night. If you love a well-written, intelligent, psychological thriller, this is the book for you! I highly recommend it.

I loved The Twilight Wife and I liked this one a lot too! Fast paced and gripping!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this book. I'll preface my review by saying that the e-copy I read was an uncorrected proof, which may have an impact on my thoughts.

The cover of the book, grabbed my attention and interest. I'd not read anything by this author before so I was going in with no preconceived notions. From the first, the contents grabbed my attention. The book style reminded me very much of Daphne du Maurier, a bit broody and a gothic thriller style, which was great. I really enjoyed reading the novel - it unfolded at a good pace, and there were quite a few twists and turns that kept the story interesting. I have to say, I didn't really like the characters in the book, with the exception of the protagonist and her best friend. Everyone else fell a bit short for me, and I found myself getting really angry at some of the reactions and circumstances. I found some things a bit too pat, and some a bit unrealistic. Maybe that's the sign of a good read though - bringing emotions to the surface. The novel wasn't too predictable at all, and it didn't shy away from addressing deep issues (domestic violence, broken friendships and families, psychology through art, for example). I read through the book quite quickly because I just couldn't put it down. The ending was satisfying if a bit abrupt... I'm not sure if I like how it ended exactly, I feel like there was no conclusion, just an... end. It's not a bad thing, and it left me thinking afterwards, so again, another sign of a good book if I keep thinking about it afterwards.

As I said, this was the first book of the author's that I've read... but it certainly won't be the last.

After Nightfall has everything and more that you could want from a psychological thriller. This book will keep you guessing till the very end with many twists and turns just when you think you have it figured out. The suspense was great and sometimes chilling. I highly recommend this book.

If you love suspenseful, nail biting novels, you will love this book as much as I did! It kept me on pins and needles. I was kept guessing on who did what to whom until the very end! You will definitely not want to put this book down once you start reading it.

I think this is my favorite by this author. Love all the twists In her books and this does not disappoint. Keeps you guessing and page turning. Could not put it down.

This book was furnished to me by NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. Thankmyou for this opportunity.

Without giving anything away just get this book now!!! It's very compelling and I literaļy flew through it. This book can not be missed!!

nother scary creepy psychological story comes to us from A.J. Banner. After Nightfall centers around Marissa Parlette, a newly engaged woman whose receives a visit from an old friend named Lauren. She’s looking for forgiveness from something that happened years ago.

Soon after, Lauren’s dead body is discovered and now Marissa is scared. What happened to her friend, did she innocently fall? Was she pushed? Did she commit suicide? More questions begin to surface as Marissa start to dig deeper.

Lots of twists and turns in this book to keep you on your toes!

Description
Beware of friends with secrets…
Imagine your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.
My Thoughts
Marissa Parlette has a job she enjoys and has just become engaged to Nathan, someone who is kind and who she truly envisions a happy future with. She met him through his daughter Anna who is having trouble accepting her parent's divorce and the fact that Marissa will be her stepmother. Marissa believes time will strengthen her bond with Anna and she is excited about this next chapter in her life.
Things start to go wrong at the dinner party Marissa meticulously planned. She invited her old friend Lauren and her husband Jensen, but Lauren seems to only have eyes for Nathan. Lauren's behavior combined with Anna's hostility turn what should have been a perfect evening into a memorable one for all the wrong reasons. When Marissa finds Lauren's dead body the next morning, lies are told, secrets are revealed and no one, not even Marissa is above suspicion. Figuring out who would want to kill Lauren and why took me on a journey full of more twists and turns than I could count and I didn't see the ending coming.
Without any spoilers, I will say that even if I don't figure out the guilty party before the author's reveal when I go back and consider the story, I can usually recognize clues that I missed. Not so with After Nightfall, the who and the why surprised me. Either my sleuth radar malfunctioned or A.J. Banner managed something not every author can accomplish.
Thank you, A.J. Banner, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC to read and review.

The true hallmark of a good book with a twist is the end you don't see coming; I could legitimately tell you I didn't guess right on this one, which makes me happy, as it kept me turning page after page.

Enjoyed the writing style and storyline but thought it lacked character development. There were a lot of what I’d consider “filler” characters and that just cluttered what could have been an amazing storyline.

While not my favorite book, it definitely engaged me from the outset although I found i did not get emotionally connected to the characters as there was very little character development.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was hooked from Chapter 1, and tried to race through to figure out what had really happened to Lauren. I liked the smaller subplots throughout the novel. It was different than anything else I've read lately. The twist at the end was great, I definitely didn't see it coming! Would definitely recommend. This was a quick, enjoyable read!

Being engaged is supposed to be an exciting and blissful time in a woman's life, but for Marissa Parlette it's anything but that... her longtime friend has just been found dead at the bottom of a cliff following a tension filled dinner party at her home the night before. Finding her friend Lauren's lifeless body at the bottom of the cliff is downright unsettling, and it leaves her wondering if it was an accident or if someone "helped" her down there. With all the suspicious nature of Lauren's death swirling around her Marissa decides to take matters into her own hands, and begins doing some investigations of her own, and finds far more than she bargained for. As she closely examines everyone who attended the party, she begins to realize things around her weren't quite as innocent as they seemed and many unexpected secrets are being kept, by the people she should be able to trust the most. Now she doesn't know who she can trust...

After Nightfall is a drama-filled page turner that is sure to keep you guessing until the very end, with it's intriguing and disbelieving story-line, and untrustworthy cast you'll have a heck of time finding the guilty party! This was quite the first read, from the moment I cracked the cover I was pulled into these characters lives and left completely enamored with them and their drama... WOW what a first impression!! I have a feeling I will be checking out more of this authors work in the very near future, her newest offering was quite addictive and entertaining, so much so that I devoured it in one sitting. Highly recommend you meet these wonderful characters, they are sure to keep you captivated from start to finish!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of this book. I am a big fan of A.J Banner and was so excited to read After Nightfall. I thought the characters were very interesting although I wanted to know more about them! I loved how fast the book moved, literally never a dull moment. It pulled me right in and kept me guessing. My only complaint is that I felt liked I was dropped into the middle of the story and would have loved having a little bit more background information on the characters as they all seemed to have bigger back stories that were just touched upon. I also wasn't thrilled with the ending , it just didn't seem finished to me.

I tore through this one and probably pinned the tail on every character at some point. Lots of suspension of belief for a series of events but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Not a lot of character development and a wishy washy lead character but that benefited the story. What it lacked in those areas it made up for in drama.

Free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.