So many layers to this story. Loved it. Still guessing at the end and thinking about that night piecing events together.

A very well written suspenseful thriller that was filled with tension, lies, secrets, betrayal, intrigue and a fabulously done plot twist at the end that I did not see coming! I was on edge the whole time reading this story. It had all the elements oh a great whodunit mystery that keeps you guessing to the very last page! The characters were all unique and well done even though I didn’t like them all. I really loved this book and will be looking forward to reading more by this author.
* I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *

A great thriller, lots of twists and turns! This is another one of those type of stories that you can not give a through review without reveling too much. Once you think you know what is going to happen, something changes your mind and you are off one another search for who did it. Several different storyline woven in that plays into and enriches the overall story. Another great read - I couldn't put it down.

Thank you Net Galley and AJ Banner for letting me reading this novel. It is my first time reading a novel by this author. The book starts out really strong, catching your interest right from the first Page. Marissa Parlette is hosting an engagement party. One of the guests is a friend from their university days who betrayed her then. Years have passed by and she has tried to get past the past. This friend is outrageously flirting with her fiancé , causing Marissa to wonder about her friendship. The next morning she finds her friend dead at bottom of a cliff. From there the book is quite fast paced, lots of action.
The book did keep me reading to the end but I felt there was too many episodes that were not plausible . The ending was quite a cliff hanger, would have been nice to see some more character development

In this thriller, the main character, Marissa Parlette, finds her friend dead the morning after her engagement party. This is the first book I have read by the author, A.J. Banner, and I enjoyed it so much! This story had me hooked trying to figure out who the killer was.
I love how the story makes you think you know what's going on but then you realize, you don't. The only negative thing I have to say is that I didn't like how Marissa kept getting into everything. I was like, "Seriously? Call the police!"
If you like a good thriller, this is totally for you, it has you shocked to literally the very last page!

Wow! This book delivered. It sucked me in from chapter one and the suspense kept coming. When Marissa's friend ends up dead she knows she didn't kill herself. Suddenly everyone is a suspect and secrets are revealed. Emergencies are finding Marissa everywhere she turns and she is starting to look like a suspect. With a shocking ending you will not believe, this book is a fast-paced thriller.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36505283-after-nightfall

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchanged for my unbiased review.

I've read several, maybe all, of A.J. Banner's books and I have to say, I didn't love this one. It is a who-done-it centered around a murder. It starts out strong and I was immediately roped in. But there just isn't much character development and that left a lot of the plot hard to believe. The narrator is immediately distrustful of everyone in her life, but there doesn't seem to be logical reasons why. The narrator also finds herself, repeatedly, in sticky situations that just aren't plausible. The didn't necessarily see the ending coming but wasn't surprised by it either. I was interested enough to quickly read the whole book, but I spent much of it think "this would never happen in real life." The very, very end of the book, like the last paragraph, seemed to serve no purpose and acted as a "twist" that just wasn't necessary.

Marissa and Lauren used to be best friends. And then Lauren ended up with Marissa’s college sweetheart, and things were never the same after that. Years later, these women have moved on. They have lives, careers, partners and children of their own. To bury the hatchet, Marissa invites Lauren to a birthday dinner party, which turns into an engagement party. But are things better between them? Not when Lauren flirts with Marissa’s new fiancé throughout the night. When Lauren is found dead the next morning, Marissa comes to grips with various things: were she and Lauren ever friends? Would someone want Lauren dead? If so, who? Several people at that dinner party would have wanted her gone, and then there’s Lauren’s family secrets...

“We Were best buddies, sharing hopes and dreams. Exactly when did our friendship crack apart? Was it years later, when we were young adults in college, driven by hormones and ambition? Or did a rift form between us earlier?”

It would be easy to dismiss After Nightfall as another Gone Girl-esque thriller, but it is better than most. I like that it delves into toxic relationships between women. We’d like to think that these things don’t happen, or that they aren’t happening anymore, but human relationships have always been complicated, and it’ll take years before our petty and competitive nature disappears. I like books like this — books that push the envelope and ask the unthinkable questions. Aside from that, After Nightfall is your typical whodunit. You’ll enjoy it, and the twist is pretty good, but — plot-wise — it is not groundbreaking. I give it four out of five vanilla lattes.

Thank you to AJ Banner and Netgalley for the free copy. All opinions are my own.
I love A.J. Banners books, they just keep getting better and better. This one was possibly the best one yet. I love her story building, It's never simple or predictable. This book was very multi faceted, and the character development was fantastic. I enjoyed the character of Marissa, and as little as you actually see her, I liked Lauren too. I think it would be awesome to have a prequel on these two and their friendship.

I appreciated the subjects AJ touched upon too, Mental health and domestic violence. Two topics that I enjoy reading, because it forces a discussion and an awareness. So kudos to her. If you guys haven't read anything by AJ Banner, you need to fix that.

Let me begin this review by thanking the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC uncorrected proof. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity.

The book starts out strong and introduces us to Marissa Parlette, who tells the story in the first person. She is hosting a dinner party for two other couples who have been invited to witness and celebrate Marissa’s engagement to the seemingly perfect, Nathan Black. Honestly, this was my favorite scene in the book from the very first sentence, “Lauren is flirting with my fiancé over the dinner I spent hours preparing.” Well, now, this could get interesting!

The author does a fabulous job of building tension throughout this scene. Obviously there is a ton of history and bad blood going on between these characters that the reader is not made privy to until later in the book. I actually felt myself squirming and cringing internally while the wine flows, the flirtation builds, the meal is served and the dialogue gives new meaning to passive aggressive. It is here we are also introduced to the other players: Nathan’s 9-year old daughter, Anna, his brother, Keith, his sister-in-law, Hedra, and Marissa’s estranged childhood friend, Lauren and her husband Jensen.

The dinner party comes to an abrupt end after Nathan’s proposal and before the dessert when Lauren must leave in a flourish to attend to her teenage daughter, Brinn. As she is leaving she stands on the steps outside the house and cryptically tells Marissa that she needs to tell her something about Nathan. Marissa tries to get Lauren to tell her more, but she is in a hurry and states that they need to get together so she can tell her tomorrow.

But tomorrow, Marissa finds Lauren’s bruised and bloody dead body at the bottom of a cliff on the beach! Did she fall? Did she jump? Was she pushed? And so begins the rest of the book as we try to sort through and find out what really happened to Lauren.

I liked this book! The storyline was good; it held my interest and at times had me flipping pages at breakneck speed. All of these are the elements that typically lead to a strong suspense novel. There was a large cast of varied characters and none could be trusted including the narrator. It seemed everyone had a motive, even Lauren!

There are a satisfying number of twists and turns. I didn’t quite have the mystery figured out, but it didn’t catch me completely off guard because honestly I didn’t trust any of the characters. In fact, the resolution of the mystery actually made sense so this brought the shock factor down a few points.

I won’t give any spoilers, but I will say I hated the ending of this book! The mystery was solved but the ending didn’t resolve or answer all my questions. I felt terribly unsatisfied when I turned the last page.

I understand that this copy is an uncorrected proof and I really hope the editor and author make the necessary changes/corrections to make this the fantastic novel it has the potential to be. Some of the problems I had with the story were in character development – there just wasn’t enough; the pacing was off at times– some days seemed like there was too much going on for one day and some days were just glazed over; and the author it seemed tried a little too hard for my taste to give us an unreliable narrator. Honestly, there were enough players that I don’t feel like we needed the extra storyline here.

Overall, I’m really glad I was able to read this book. It went quickly and I was finished in less than twelve hours although not in one sitting. I have not read any of the authors other books, but after previewing this one I am curious to read more by her. I will recommend this book when it hits the shelves in August 2018.

I read The Twilight Wife by the same author so when I saw that this book was available, I got very excited. There is a skill involved in writing a book with this many subtle twists and turns, sometimes it can get very muddled but that is not the case with A.J. Banner's books. I was completely surprised down to the very last word. Though I never quite knew where this was going or who was guilty, I never felt frustrated. I simply enjoyed the ride. I will read anything this author puts out any day.

After Nightfall is a thriller with more than enough twists to keep you on your toes. Marissa Parlette discovers her former best friend's body the morning after an unsuccessful engagement party. The shock is so great that she ends up thinking everyone in their circle could be a suspect. I have to admit, I jumped around in who I thought the culprit was as I read as well. This book kept me reading, and guessing, until the very end.

After Nightfall is the latest novel by A. J. Banner. In her books Ms Banner manages to make the reader immediately feel that the characters are people we personally know and interact with, After Nightfall is no exception. After Nightfall is a fast read as you keep saying one more chapter and you'll get up! I was given an early copy to review.

Have to give credit where credit is due, I did not see that ending coming! Lots of twists and turns in this one. Would have liked to see a little more character development to explain how some of these people and situations came to be. May have to go see what else this author has out there.

*I received this book free in return for an honest review.

I was totally enthralled by this book from the first chapter. I loved the way this story unfolded, with each chapter giving us another unreliable character, another set of mysterious circumstances, keeping the reader guessing until the very end. There is such a mood to this book...dark and creepy....the weather and the setting in the woods adding their own broodiness to the story. Fast-paced, compelling, and unputdownable!

Another fast paced mystery thriller from A.J. Banner that did not disappoint. It's a page turner that was easy to read and hard to put down. It kept me guessing right up to the end as to who the killer was and how everything played out. I am so happy that I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really like this author's previous books and this one was great too. This author has a gift for writing these kinds of psychological thrillers that keep you guessing and a way of always hammering home the fact that it's hard to really know anyone and you never know the secrets people are keeping. It definitely shows how if you have the uncanny ability to read subtle clues and really pay attention to people's behavior you can find out a lot about a person. I highly recommend this book and this author if you enjoy these kinds of stories like I do.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook for my Kindle.
This is a good suspense novel with characters I liked, but mostly characters that I didn't like. There's mystery, murder, abuse (physically, verbally and mentally), betrayal, and more in this book. I actually enjoyed the book except for the ending. The book had a lot of twists and turns and kept me guessing until the last few chapters, but the ending was not good for me.

Well written but did not enjoy as much as the previous novel, still an intriguing story.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a galley of this book.

This is a quick, twisty-turny tale the will keep you guessing until the very end. Even once the major twist was revealed, I had questions... but how... but why... And the last chapter wrapped it up without leaving you feeling like they just put the perfect little bow on it. The book leaves you wanting more!

If you're the type of person who reads the last page right before you get started... Don't! Don't do it on this one! You will be so sorry that you ruined all the fun... seriously... don't do it....

When Marissa's best friend ends up dead at the bottom of a cliff the morning after her dinner party, she cannot stop trying to guess who dunnit, and in her mind, everyone's a suspect! Her own paranoia makes her real and keeps you raising your eyebrows at the others right along with her.

If you like psychological thrillers (which I love), this page-turner is definitely one for your to-read shelves!

After nightfall is a mystery/suspense with twists and turns. Marissa is engaged to Nathan (a paramedic). Nathan is living next door to Jensen ( Marissa's college boyfriend) and Lauren (Marissa's ex best friend). One night after a dinner party at Nathan's Marissa finds Lauren's dead body on the beach the next morning. Had she fallen off the cliff in the dark after drinking too much or was she pushed? If so who would want her dead? Lauren's husband or daughter? You are introduced to a number of characters including Nathan's ex-wife and his brother and sister-in-law. All seem to have secrets. Did Nathan's young daughter Anne see something that night that she wan't supposed to see? Marissa can't let the mystery rest and tries to pursue answers herself putting herself and Anne in danger. A bit of twists at the end and a question leaves the book open ended.