This was such a good book!!!
I loved everyth About it, except Ian really pissed me off a few times and Maddie seemed anxious about literally everything. But the plot was good and the twists were even better.

This book bounced around all over. I struggled with it but continued up until Ian supposedly was describing to his three year old son how to kill a rabbit. Too much for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I'd rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher, and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This book started off pretty slow and I didn’t really get into it until the 40% mark. I truly hated the two main female characters, they were very judgmental and spoiled in my opinion. I started to guess the big reveal around halfway through and I have to admit I was a little sad with the ending. I also feel like one characters behavior almost seem unbelievable. I know it was supposed to be a shock and she had supposedly been acting the whole time, but that’s just really hard for me to believe. I did notice one mistake in a flashback scene. It was a scene from 2001 and Peter mentions Skyping his family but Skype wasn’t introduced until 2003. They also texted a lot in this book when it was 2001 and I don’t remember texting being that popular back then. Maybe I’m just being too picky. Anyways, I really did enjoy this and I’d recommend it.

Maddie, Ian and Jo have an interesting story that will keep you guessing through most of the book. I was not sure what to expect when I started reading, but I would highly recommend to fans of Gillian Flynn. Beautiful Bad shows the dark side of a person and how it all can come crashing in on you. I am so glad that Netgalley and Harlequin granted me the oppurtunity to read this and share my thoughts on my reading experience.

WOAH!!!! I sure didn't see that coming with this book! First off, Thank you so much Net Galley for allowing me to read this early. Let me start by saying, I ALMOST gave up on this book, because the Eastern European backdrop had me so confused. I'm so glad I stuck with this book though. Once I got things straight and realized what was going on (It is sorta all over the place) I LOVED the book. I am giving it 4 stars and that's a rarity from me. This book had me shook till the finish. Great Job Annie Ward!!!

I feel like BEAUTIFUL BAD has a bit of an identity crisis, like it's not sure what kind of book it wants to be. Is it a smart political thriller? Not quite. Is it domestic suspense? Not quite. So we have a little bit of a category problem, which is an issue if you're in the mood for a certain type of book. However, overall I enjoyed the story and appreciate the (many!) twists. I like how Ward tries to do something new here -- and mostly it works if you're willing to go along with the flow and let the story take you where it wants. I'll admit I skimmed some of the parts set in the past because the present perspectives were more compelling. Mostly I appreciated how everything - and I do mean everything - was explained and wrapped up nicely by the end, which was very clever.

Beautiful Bad goes for the shock value mimicking the twists other books have done better.
Maddie needs a therapist. She is having issues with anxiety as well as the fallout after a major physical trauma. She relates to her therapist about losing her best friend years ago and the issues with her husband and her profound fear for her son. It's time to do something, but what?
Beautiful Bad seems to focus on three perspectives: the one of a cop the day of a murder, Maddie as she gets therapy and Maddie telling her past. The first two perspectives are intriguing pushing me to want to know more. The past though is uninspired and takes me out of the pacing of the first two perspectives. These chapters are painfully boring; we get it, Ian is crazy, Maddie is a bad friend and lets Ian run her life. Too much time is spent in the past than what is actually going on in the plot.
By the time we get to the present and the twist, I am uninterested in the characters other than Jo. I didn't call the twist but I wasn't surprised at all; I've seen similar plots written better.
The book tries to play with the idea of head trauma and how it changes personalities, but the novel spends so little time on it, that it's really just an excuse instead of thoughtful insight.
Here's what I liked about the book: I loved the therapist sections. I love the writing therapy, Annie Ward put a lot into that making it fit both scenarios that are playing out. These sections were beautifully done and this is what kept me compelled into what would happen. Ward has a lot of potentials and looks forward to seeing how her work grows.
sometimes riveting, sometimes boring Beautiful Badis an uneven novel of suspense.

Ian was beautiful and strong when Maddie met him in Macedonia and she was smitten immediately. He was broken years later when he came for her in America and she knew it, but she wanted him and thought she could fix him. A few years into the marriage Maddie gave birth to their son, Charlie. A fierce protectiveness grew within her where Charlie was concerned and she would do anything to protect him...anything.

3-4 stars. I enjoyed and didn't enjoy this book, I think I should have noticed the isis part in the description and maybe not grabbed this one, because political type themes really turn me off in my reading and this had a lot of them. It was well written and made me wonder what was going on and why, but I just didn't love it like my normal thrillers.
Will use it in an upcoming challenge in Chapter Chatter Pub and let members know about its upcoming release. I do think some would truly enjoy it.

This book cannot be compared to Gone Girl as in the description. That's what really got Mr to picking up the book. However, the story line is all over the place jumping back and forth. I've read book like this before with the past and present jumping but the murder and setting up the present never really hold my interest.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
3.5 stars
I must say I could not put this book down. I read 90% of it in one sitting. I enjoyed it so much. Even though I didn’t favor any of the characters, the back and forth gave me better understanding of who they are and what they have gone through. Throughout the years they developed and matured, and as I reader I was able to see all of that in the book.

The author did a great job with describing the Eastern Europe settings. I read her bio on Goodreads and it kind of helped me understand and appreciate the book better, knowing that she has written the book based on personal knowledge about some of the places mentioned.

The book was constructed well. It started off with the scene in the house and the police going in, and slowly building up the story to the final chapter that left me entirely shocked. I really did not see that coming.
To me, the ending determined what rating I was going to give the book.
I had problem with Maddie getting away with what she did at the end and that’s why I couldn’t rate it higher than 3.
I’ll definitely recommend it once it hits my bookstore, because it was a good story.

Is given an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This book tried to be too many things and none of them were all that good. I admire the riders ambition, and perhaps with some editing and time this could be a well-written story. But as of now, skippable

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward is one of those books that I had high hopes for. However my hopes were dashed within a few chapters. Initially, the story started off well, with a policewoman discovering a crime in a residence. After that, the book deteriorated. It literally fell apart. They was way too much backstory, in fact, that seemed to be the whole book, I could not relate to the characters who just seemed to try their damnedest to be cool, edgy, uncomfortable, smarter than everyone their, in a scary part of the world. Like it really didn't faze them at all. A bit of a stretch. Couldn't finish the book unfortunately, it did not hold my attention enough to give it any more of my time. Thanks to Netgalley.com for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. #BeautifulBad #NetGalley

This book left me with a questioning feeling at the end. Some of the flashbacks in the story could have been left out for sure. I also felt a bit lost trying to figure out certain POV's throughout the book. The ending seemed a little far fetched.

3.5 stars. Many thanks to NetGalley for my early copy of Beautiful Bad in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an interesting read. There were a lot of parts that I really enjoyed and some that left me bored and confused. Overall, it was a fascinating tale of human behavior, the human psyche and the devastating effects of PTSD left untreated.

Beautiful Bad is about a murder. From page one, you know someone has died but you don't know who, why or how. The reader is taken on a ride all over the world, from past to present, before and after the murder, from different people and different perspectives. First, there's Maddie. When we first meet her, she's an English tutor living in war torn Bosnia who visits her best friend Joanna in Macedonia each weekend, gallivanting around one of the most dangerous city's in all of Europe - maybe even the world. Maddie and Jo are cultured, smart and unafraid. They are best friends living on the edge, working in countries that are filled with hate and war. Eventually, Maddie and Jo meet Ian; Ian is a British bodyguard who follows important people all over war ridden countries ensuring their safety. Ian has seen the more horrendous forms of evil that humanity has to offer, and it's changed him to the core. We see his pain, his struggles, his violence and his heartbreak. The book goes back and forth quite often, but eventually, we learn more about Maddie, Jo, Ian, and how all of their lives and relationships intertwine.

This book just has me torn. I loved reading about the Balkans where Maddie and Jo were stationed. The gritty, dirty, beautiful, hateful, foreign land that they called home. I loved that the book kept me guessing - there's so much more to learn once you find out more about the murder, and that was completely unexpected. Usually, when a murder is solved, the book is over. Not this one - just when you think the book is about to end, you're thrown through another loop. It was fun and I liked the ride.

One thing that was hard for me was that I didn't really like any of the characters in the book. Similar to Gone Girl, I thought all of the characters had major flaws and I had a hard time liking any of them. It can be tough to love a book if you simply hate all of the people you're reading about. I also thought the time the reader spent in the past was a little overbearing. We did need to see the past in order to understand the present, but I do think some of the parts were unnecessary and somewhat boring.

Overall, it was a fun read and I learned a lot about places and topics that I hadn't read much into before.

I was not a fan of Gone Girl, as this book has been compared to by some, but I am a fan of Beautiful Bad. My attention was held throughout this well written book. I read many other reviews and several readers wrote that the ending, albeit intriguing, was a bit unbelievable. I disagree. I am a realist.......read the newspapers, listen to the news, anything and all things are possible. Maddie is a complex, manipulative character, flawed and damaged, yet a survivor. Ian is a product of his horrible experiences in Iraq, Africa and other like countries where there is strife, dysfunction and where horrors abound in plenty. Jo, to me, an unlikeable and complicated woman. Their lives are intertwined forever and some of the reveals are eye openers and page turners. Some things were not entirely clear to me but I believe that was the intention of the author to have me ponder and come to my own conclusion. I would recommend this book. Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Diane (policewoman) enters the back door of a 911 call. Calls/backup and she proceeds anyway - because she thought a child may be in danger. She sees a picture of 2 brunettes in front of a mosque, and then sees a "nightmarish slop of a human spill".

Going back 10 weeks, we see that Maddie has started "writing therapy" with Dr. Camilla Jones. She has a number of sessions with Maddie and has come to the conclusion that Maddie's distorted face and her actions may signal an awful inflicted wound - possibly with brain damage. Maddie says that she fell. Cami knows that Maddie's husband is responsible but does not get her to fully disclose the truth..

Back to 2001 - Maddie taught English in the Balkins - her best friend, Joanna, lived in Macedonia working as a relief aide. After Maddie's "tour of duty" is completed, she still wants to stay awhile. She is given a short reprieve to do some magazine work. Seems as if she visits Joanna (a 5 hour bus trip) often. Maddie and Joanna have been friends since High School. Maddie meets Ian (a British soldier) at a fundraiser on one of her excursions. She falls in love with him (despite his abrasive personality) but he never really shows how he feels. Joanna tells her that he has/had a girlfriend, Fiona. At some point, Ian comes between Maddie and Jo - but not permanently.

Eventually, Maddie returns to New York and works as a tutor. She lives in a small studio apartment in Manhattan and hangs out at a seedy bar for Balkan transplants. Later, Ian calls her and wants her to meet him in Croatia. His brother picks her up and says that Ian is already in Iraq. Oh, boy.

Many false promises, skypes, phone calls (and even letters!) later, Ian and Maddie marry and go on a lot of camping trips. Soon they have a baby, Charlie, who is currently almost 4 years old.


Ian has already convinced the reader that he is deranged. We find out just how much as we journey through the 3 moths prior to the Day of Killing. After (what we think) all is said and done, it looks like Ian was knifed by Madeline as he is choking the life out of Joanna. We see an open and shut case. However.....


Annie waits until the end to give us the shocker we all want! Great read!!! I was interested for the entire thrill of a ride!! Highly recommend!!!


Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for a brilliant suspense-filled read!!!

Though others seem to really have enjoyed this book based on some of the reviews I’ve read, I can’t say it was a great fit for me. I was intrigued and drawn in at the very first scene of a 911 call where clearly something dire has happened. But then the story flashes back in time to two periods in the past and we seem to leave the present far behind. The flashbacks to the oldest scenes were set throughout Eastern Europe and while the setting and political climate was interesting and unique, I did not care for the characters. Their behavior seemed convoluted, crass and unbelievable.
The more recent flashbacks where the main character was seeing a therapist and struggling to deal with her trauma and resultant mental instability were much more interesting to me. I’d rather have delved deeper into those sections and had a more condensed, focused, pertinent view of the past. While the story continued to build in intensity and drama, I found it more difficult to follow and less credible.
All-in-all, the writing felt somewhat stilted and didn’t flow well for me, it was a bit too crude and graphic for my taste, and felt rather far-fetched. I also think that since I didn’t feel for, or connect with any of the characters, I didn’t buy into the plot as deeply. I did enjoy the addition of emails as a form of narrative and the author did do a noteworthy job of building tension, I simply struggled with some other issues. I’m sure others will enjoy the psychological twists and turns of this suspense thriller, it just didn’t quite work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the advance read in exchange for this review.

This book begins with The Day of the Killing as a detective enters Maddie and Ian's home and sees blood. Most of the story is then told through flashbacks as we learn about Maddie and Ian's relationship.

This book is nothing new. You know there is going to be a twist. Someone is going to be the bad guy. Then you'll likely be surprised by something. I predicted the ending and the twist. It's not a bad book, it's just not anything new. The story is pretty good, which kept me reading. I didn't like the main characters. 2 1/2 stars.