Thanks to Net Galley and St Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
A gripping read, full of suspense, unputdownable! Hooked by this physiological thriller from page one.
The story goes back and forth from Caroline’s perspective and Aiken’s perspective, it’s very cleverly written.
Aiden is the stranger on the beach.
Caroline thinks her husband is having an affair after he shows up at their housewarming party , which she has spent weeks organising, with another woman. As her marriage of 20 years and her lavish lifestyle seem to be falling apart Caroline turns to Aiden for attention. A one night stand, which means nothing to Caroline leaves Aiden besotted and obsessed by her, it seems he is not only stalking her but her sister, her 18 year old daughter and her husband Jason.
This book is a rollercoaster of twists and turns, it’s hard to know who is telling the truth, it kept me guessing right to the end.
A 5 star read.

Michele Campbell is a new author to me but I’m sure I will be reading more of her books. This one is a page turner for sure. Trying to figure out who was doing just what to whom in this book is definitely a challenge! Thank you so very much for the challenge!

3.5 stars

Middle aged man and woman having marital problems. Woman meets young, sexy man on beach and affair ensues. But then things start to get out of hand.

The first half of this book was incredible. It reminded me of You by Caroline Kepnes and I loved the stalkerish feel. I was totally invested in the affair and was wrapped up in where the author was going to take it. The second half.... was more of a struggle for me. It took a completely different turn which ended up feeling a little bit long and drawn out.

To be completely honest, I saw where this book was headed from a mile away so I've got to say that I didn't really find any of the twists to be all that surprising. But, despite that, I still enjoyed the story.

One major issue: I don't want to give anything away, but now that I know the ending, I have a hard time understanding the decisions of some of the main characters in the beginning. They made sense at the time when I was living under certain assumptions, but given how everything transpired, some of the narration at the start doesn't really work. So I had a hard time with the inconsistency, but I'm willing to look past it.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Campbell, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review.-

I have to admit I was attracted by the description of this book and some of the reviews, but I found it rather disappointing. The storyline was rather far fetched and the characters all quite irritating. Lots of loose ends. I read it to the end to see if my theory was correct (which it was) but even the ending was disappointing. It was a quick read though.

Loved this one!I really got into the characters and the setting, Didn't see the end coming, would highly recommend!

I would suggest this book to fans of The Affair on Showtime. Each chapter goes through a different characters perspective, sometimes of the same piece of the story. Each person has their own version of the events - so which one was reality?

While I saw the ending coming, I still enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to my friends!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Ups and downs, some twists and turns. This book makes the most of suspense, but I wasn't always wild about the characters. Perfect lives are never perfect, so when Caroline's world stars to come apart, it's super crazy. There are plenty of "why would you do something that stupid" moments? Those make me sigh, as they tend to irritate me. So what really ruined the book? Um, well - I could do without the too much sex aspects. I had to skip all those places. That cost this book stars.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Compulsively readable and deeply satisfying—Michele Campbell’s latest psychological thriller is suspenseful and wild in the best way! I have read both of Michele Campbell’s previous books and I am a huge fan of hers. She is certainly a queen of the summer thrillers—her books are perfect summer reading in my opinion. This is one you won’t want to miss!

“If only I’d listened to my instincts, I would’ve turned and run in the opposite direction. But that’s not what I did. I walked toward him. And I will always blame myself for what came after.”

Caroline has the perfect new beach house. It will help re-launch her interior decorating career now that her only daughter has left for college. One day she sees a stranger on the beach staring at her house. Thinking he might be casing it for a robbery, she confronts him. Later, she’ll regret that.

On the night of her housewarming party and re-introduction into her career, her husband arrives at the party with another woman, and Caroline watches in horror as her perfect life crashes down before her eyes (and the eyes of everyone she knows). But the stranger from the beach Aiden is there to witness too as a bartender for the party. As Caroline’s life continues to crumble in the wake of the party, she finds herself turning to Aiden for comfort and revenge. That turns out to be a huge mistake.

After a wild night together, Aiden becomes obsessed with Caroline. 16 years her junior, he knows they are meant to be together, and he’ll do anything to ensure that they are. And so when Caroline’s husband goes missing soon after, Caroline comes to the shocking realization that she is the one who brought the stranger into their lives, and her husband is the one who paid the price.

I really loved how this book was told from both Caroline’s and Aiden’s point of view in alternating chapters. Sometimes we’d see something unfold from one person’s perspective, then the same from the other’s but with a different spin. It really turned up the suspense in the story, and I felt a bit off kilter hearing Caroline’s story and then how Aiden was interpreting what was happening.

The ending to this one was so good and it definitely has some twists! I don’t want to spoil it, though, so I don’t want to talk about the ending other than to say it is WILD and a lot of fun!

There is a lot of unreliability in the story and I promise you that you won’t have this one figured out! I really loved when the police got involved, and we also had chapters centered around the investigation. A top-notch summer thriller that should definitely go on your to-read list!!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

The novel opens with what appears to be a classic story. A bored socialite housewife, a husband whose eyes have wandered, and a beach house where the housewife finds refuge. However, when housewife Caroline has a chance encounter with a man on the beach, her world is turned upside down.

I was drawn to this book when I heard it was a psychological thriller, but what kept me reading were the discrepancies in the dual character narratives. Switching back and forth between Caroline and Aiden's (the man she meets on the beach) point of view revealed not only two sides to a story, but two versions of a story.

Overall, the mystery was simple and straight forward, but earns that 5th star, for an ending that will leave readers wondering, who was the real stranger on the beach?

I was fortunate to receive a free ARC of this book from Netgalley. The above thoughts, insights, or recommendations are my own meek musings.

**I received this book from St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley for an honest review**

Caroline is one for appearances. She has the lavish beach house that she is extremely proud of. She also has what some would say is the picture-perfect family that only looks good on paper. Aidan is the stranger on the beach who is obsessed with the house that Caroline calls home. After a couple of run ends and a very public fight with her husband, Caroline seeks comfort outside of her marriage.

What a book by Michele Campbell. What I thought was the real deal got thrown back in my face every time. I could never decide on whom to trust with all of the twist and turns. I questioned Caroline so much throughout this story, she was in denial about almost everything and her decision making was trash. I went from believing almost every word she said to not liking her as much as this story went on. I felt pretty early on that Aidan was crazy but then I wasn’t too sure as the time went on. It’s like he and Caroline were perfect together, until they weren’t.

Overall, this was a very good read that took me for a ride while also making me feel crazy in the process. It was manipulative, frustrating and filled with just the perfect amount of suspense. This was a book that would adapt perfectly on the big screen.

A thrilling psychological read that will keep you up late into the night. When you get to the last 15-20 chapters, make sure you can finish in one sitting. I had to wait to finish and it was agonizing!

Campbell does a great job alternating the first-person accounts between Caroline and Aiden. One minute you feel sorry for Caroline and the next Aiden. You don’t know who to believe until the very end.

This the perfect vacation book as you won’t want to put it down.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

Whoa, what a ride. This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. 

This is about Caroline, who's marriage is on the rocks. Shes goes out drinking to numb the pain and ends up bringing the bartender home. She immediately regrets her wild night with Aiden- who seems to be a little too interested in her. She wants to try to get her marriage back together, but Aiden has other plans. 

This is told through two perspectives; Aiden and Caroline. Both tell two completely different stories so we know early on that someone is lying. The author has you second guessing everything you think throughout the book.  I wasn't necessarily an original story line, but it played out really well. 

I could not put this one down! It was nonstop craziness! This was definitely a fun thriller, full of twists and turns.

Beach town weekender Caroline Stark meets townie Aidan Callahan on the beach in front of her house. After Caroline’s husband publicly humiliates her at her big housewarming party, her and Aidan’s lives become tangled.

This story is told primarily through the perspectives of Caroline and Aidan. Their accounts of the same events are at times dramatically different. This drove me crazy after a while. I couldn’t be sure which character was lying and neither character was especially likable. It annoyed me to the point that I almost put it down, but the last quarter or so of the book made up for it. There are unexpected twists and turns that take this in a direction you definitely didn’t see coming.

This was an super filled fast paced thriller that kept me on my toes. I found it really hard to put down

What a ride! This book was definitely not what I expected and I DID NOT see the twist coming. Definitely cleaver and fun. But I also struggled with connecting to the characters and didn't really like them and therefore wasn't rooting for anyone. Still, a fun summer read!

2.5 stars. This started out strong and had my attention. But then I spent almost the first half hating Caroline and how naive and dumb she was and then spent the second half in disbelief of the reveal and how abruptly it ended without much explanation. The Russian aspects were such a weird plot point for this story.

Terrific story! Not the most likable characters but that didn’t even matter. Had me guessing almost to the end. Full of twists and turns. Can’t wait to read more from her!

2.5 stars
This was probably one of the most creative plot frameworks that I’ve ever read in a thriller. The story itself was twisty, clever and full of surprises and suspense. The author used a he said/she said alternating perspective to bring the action to life. I thought it worked very well.

The wealthy and beautiful Caroline claims she’s being stalked by Aiden, after a drunken one-night stand. Her husband of 20 years has left her for another woman and penniless. She takes Aiden home after a few too many drinks and soon comes to regret her decision. Aiden claims it is mutual love at first sight - that Caroline wants his attention as much as he wants hers...and so the crazy begins...

For me, this book would’ve been a superb read except that I just couldn’t get past the writing style. I did not connect with the shallow descriptions and ongoing prattle that failed to bring me in to its folds. The characters felt one note and I did not enjoy being spoon fed plot elements. For instance, the author writes that muddy footprints eventually disappear further in the house. We are then told this is because the mud is wearing off the intruder’s feet. Yes, I understood that was the case without the additional explanation. I prefer when authors give readers the benefit of the doubt in being able to make the connections rather than having it all spelled out.

There are many positive reviews for this book and I believe that if one is not bothered by the writing, they will thoroughly love the wild ride of this psychological thriller. I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book looked great when I first saw it but now I am realizing it just wasn’t for me. I think that this will be great for many people but not for me at this time.

I could not get into this one. While the premise was intriguing, I just wasn't invested & it's a DNF for me. Thanks for the opportunity to be a reader & reviewer.