Kim Slater is easily one of my favorite psychological thriller writers and every time I discover a new title is coming out I get that feeling of Christmas having come early. Single is already the tenth Slater book I've had the chance to read and while I might be a bit biased when it comes to her books, there is no doubt that it was another winner for me. Brace yourselves for the superlatives and the catchy and cliche one liners, because there will most likely be fangirling involved while I describe my experience with this newest story.

You know all those catchy one liners they always try to sell thrillers with? I mean the 'hooked me from the very first chapter', 'had me on the edge of my seat', 'grabbed me from the beginning', 'gripping thriller with an explosive twist' and similar comments? Guess what: they all most definitely apply when it comes to my reading experience with Single. It was hook, line and sinker (oh, here's another one!) as soon as I opened my copy of Single and read the first few pages. Kim Slater has a way of tempting you and drawing you right in with a combination of an engaging writing style and a compelling plot. Her psychological thrillers always tend to open with a bang, giving you a little glimpse of what is yet to come and the first few chapters will always leave you fully enchanted and impatient to discover how things would develop for the main characters. You should definitely try to clear your schedule before starting Single, because once you read that first page it will be really hard to let go!

Part of the reason that Single is such a gripping psychological thriller has to do with the plot. Cleverly constructed and developed, the plot slowly evolves as things are starting to get out of control. The fact that we don't know for sure who is behind these escalations for a long time definitely adds a healthy dose of suspense to the story. Secrets and lies are combined with a series of plot twists that change the direction of the story and will leave you with your mouth hanging wide open. Especially towards the end Single starts feeling like a war zone with all those plot twist bombs being thrown at you... And trust me, at least one or two will completely blow you away. I always love it when a story manages to surprise me and while sadly it doesn't happen all that often anymore, Single managed to do exactly that.

As for the characters... While I did have mixed feelings about most characters, their development and description is realistic and thorough. Flaws, mistakes, secrets and also the mental health issues make the characters feel truly lifelike and especially Darcy was fascinating to follow. Nothing is as it seems and my best advice would be not to trust anyone, as it seems that every single character is hiding something... Single is unreliable narrator at its best, where you can still connect to the main characters but are also led astray and misleaded without you even realizing it straight away. There are two different 'threats' in Single, and both make for very interesting storylines you will have a great time unpicking the truth about.

If you enjoy reading a well written psychological thriller filled to the brim with secrets, lies and plot twists that will manage to deceive you as well as an ending that will leave you glabbergasted, Single is without doubt an excellent choice. In fact, I can recommend Kim Slater's psychological thrillers in general if you enjoy the genre!

Single is the first book I’ve read by K.L. Slater so I had no idea what to expect. I loved it! It’s one of those books that you don’t want to put down. It follows the life of Darcy, a single mum who meets her perfect man. It’s not a romance, it’s an amazing thriller that twists and turns all the way through. Absolutely fantastic read

A psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns. This has been a fantastic lazy afternoon read which I have really enjoyed. This is my first read by this author but it definitely won’t be the last. This is a tale of two singles whose baggage comes back to haunt them. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book, the way the plot unfolded was brilliant, plenty of twists and turns. Highly recommended

Many thanks to Netgalley and K.L. Slater for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Once again Kim Slater has come up with a masterful psychological thriller centred around Darcy and her 2 boys Harrison and Kane,now single, by chance she meets the handsome surgeon George when he helps Kane at a local playground and saves his life,naturally Darcy is in awe of George and after meeting up to say thank you they quickly become an item and all is well as they move into George's huge house.That is when things start to go awry for Darcy as strange things start to occur and George has to admit that he has a stalker who he was seeing for a while and Opal Vardy wont leave him alone.Throw into the mix Darcy's interfering in laws and sister in law from when she was married to her cheating ex husband and what you have got is a superb psychological thriller that speeds along at a great pace with an ending i certainly didn't see coming.Having read all of Kim Slater's books, in my opinion i really do think she is up there at the top of the tree when it comes to the psychological thriller genre and if you do enjoy this genre of books believe me you wont be disappointed with any of her books.Another masterful story from Kim Slater,5 stars all the way !

Outstanding best book I’ve read this year it had name gripped I couldn’t put it down the twists and turns are genius I wish I had ur imagination it keeps you guessing from the start couldn’t have wished for a better book this is deffo in my top 5 of all time ansolutely amazeing

Darcy Hilton finds out after her husband’s death that he had another woman. Suffering a breakdown, her children were removed from her and placed in the care of her husband’s parents. After she recovers and the children are returned, she finds love with Dr George Mortimer and moves in with him and his daughter, much to the dismay of her parents-in-law. However, George Mortimer also has family problems with his ex-girlfriend stalking him, and now apparently also stalking Darcy and her children…

I love this author’s books and this one was no exception. Initially, you can empathise with the main character, Darcy. She obviously had a difficult time following the death of her husband and then finding out about his affair. Her husband’s parents also appear to be quite overbearing and very distrustful of Darcy. As the story moved on, Darcy began to annoy me!! She really needed to grow a backbone and tell her parents-in-law to back off, and I have to admit I started to waver between liking Darcy to not liking her at all! None of the characters in the book were very likeable however. They all seemed to have their own hidden agendas and were either bullies or liars! Interspersed amongst the chapters is another story of a child being bullied some years before. It is obvious that this has some relevance to the present-day storyline, but this isn’t revealed until some way into the book.

This was a twisted story filled to the brim with lies, mistrust, deceit and bullying (for the want of a better word!). It will take you through a range of emotions, constantly have you changing your mind as to how you feel about the characters and keep you guessing what is going on right up until the very end. I did feel the ending was perfect, and rounded everything up nicely, tying up all the loose ends for all the little bits throughout the book! It was full of tension and suspense and at times made your heart beat faster! If you love a nail-biting thriller, then I would definitely recommend this book!!

Single mothers have it tough when it comes to having a new man in their lives. We not only have to think about how the relationship affects us. We also have our children’s welfare to worry about.

Single tells about Darcy Hilton’s struggle with a new boyfriend, George Mortimer, and her two sons, Kane and Harrison. She has only just gotten back custody of them from their paternal grandparents. After the death of her husband, the children’s father, Joel, she had to give up custody for a while due to her declining health. She meets George Mortimer, a local surgeon when he saves Kane’s life at the playground. What was supposed to be a mere thank you gesture develops into a full-blown relationship. Eventually, she moves into his mansion with her children. However, they soon have some run-ins with Opal Vardy, who George claims is a psycho ex-girlfriend of his. She eventually confronts Darcy with evidence that could affect George’s life with his daughter, Romy. Darcy is fearful for her sons’ lives.

This book was full of twists and turns. I was actually able to guess one of them but the rest were not so easy. The ending was quite surprising, if not a bit melodramatic.

Darcy was not particularly likable to be honest. I understood that she had some mental issues but she allowed her in-laws to bully her into anything they wanted. Imagine she had not seen anyone romantically since her husband died FOUR YEARS AGO because they would be upset.

Her in-laws were awful especially her sister-in-law and husband, Steph and Dave. From the beginning, I disliked Steph, sensing she was not as sweet as she pretended to be. Dave was not there much in the book but the little I saw of him did not make me a fan. I think the only people I liked in the book were the children.

The plot moved at a nice pace. I was able to get into the story quickly and found it an easy read. As I said earlier, the ending was not to my liking and was my only issue with this book. It was a bit unbelievable and Lifetime-ish (I’m not a fan of Lifetime movies).
Violence: There were some descriptions of childhood bullying which some may find triggering.

Sexual Content: Mild

Profanity: None

Religious Themes: None

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Some mention of drinking wine

Lots of threads going on is this story which at times I found confusing. I liked the plot in this book but felt the confusion ruined it for me a bit. Well written as usual by the author and loved the characters. Great ending.

Gripping story of trust, or who you can’t trust. Mother of two young boys and terrible luck with the men in her life. Keeps to turning every page wondering what will happen next in this widows life, or was she a widow at all? Stunning read!

I’ve read a few by K.L. Slater and they’re all enjoyable yet lacking in depth. Single follows Darcy and her two sons as she navigates life after the loss of her husband.

A few of the twists were a bit too much in the sense that it was too coincidental how many psychos were in connection with one another. Overall a decent read but nothing I’ll linger on.

Wow what a story, Darcy’s husband died leaving her to raise two young boys, she suffered from a breakdown shortly after, she has a huge amount of support from her inlaws or some might call it control depending on your outlook! Her youngest son has a close call at the playground but dashing doctor George comes to the rescue… Darcy calls to the hospital personally to thank him again and so ensues a romance, whirlwind..... in that they’re soon living together, they seem like the perfect family her two sons and his daughter, what could go wrong…. The inlaws are not one bit impressed nor is George's housekeeper and don’t think Darcy should even be looking at another man so soon… its been a few years!!! Can I say I just wanted to shout at them back the f*** off on her behalf!

Its hard to say too much about this book without giving any of the plotlines/twists away so suffice to say you’ll just have to read it, it’s a quick read as you are gripped from the start, wanting a happy ever after but obviously this is a psychological thriller so don’t keep your hopes up! Reeling from the ending when it all came to a head, blown away from the twist… thoroughly enjoyed.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Single’ by K L Slater in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Widow Darcy Hilton is at a play park with her sons Harrison and Kane when Kane suffers an asthma attack. Single-parent George Mortimer comes to help and introduces himself as a consultant surgeon at City Hospital, staying with them until the paramedics arrive. Darcy’s attracted to George and she’s flattered when he contacts her. Very soon they’re dating regularly and Darcy’s delighted when he asks them to move into his expensive house with himself and his six-year-old daughter Romy. It’s not long before Darcy feels she’s being watched by a woman who she later discovers is George’s ex-girlfriend Opal. She wants to inform the police but George tells her not to and that he’ll sort it out himself. But who can Darcy believe, George or Opal?

‘Single’ is a psychological thriller with a plot I found disturbing at times, interesting characters I wasn’t sure could be trusted, and an involving storyline that dealt sensitively with the subject of juvenile bullying. Although I enjoyed this novel the twists and turns were confusing and the conclusion was rushed making it necessary to have the plot explained, which was a disappointment but just as well otherwise I wouldn’t have known what was happening. Nevertheless, K L Slater is still one of my favourite authors and I eagerly await her next book.

Everyone has secrets and some aren’t who they appear to be. Single, is a suspense filled read that will have you guessing till the last page.

This book is a pretty good read. It has some twists. The characters were hardly likable. Kind of refreshing. I know, weird right? That is part of why the story worked for me. Some of the things that happen cannot be pulled off by likable characters. This is my first K.L. Slater book and it won’t be the last! I loved the author’s style of writing. I can’t wait to check out more! I give this 4 stars.

This was another solid Slater book but didn’t really wow me like her other books have. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

This book was interesting and about Darcy who was a very good mother to her sons Kane and Harrison’s she always look out for a friend called Romy
I had anARC from Bookouture

The ending of this book made it for me. I found some of the book quite a bit repetitive and boring and I wasn't sure where the story would go. The last 25% or so seemed to really amp up and everything happened all at once, all the answers and all of the pieces falling into place very quickly. Although I did like the ending quite a bit, I did guess a few of the big shockers that happened as the repetitive nature made it a bit predicting. Overall, it was a pretty good read and I would definitely recommend to thriller lovers.

For me personally I think there was just too many unnecessary layers to this story. I found the main character unlikeable which didn’t help. It was a chore to finish unfortunately 🥺

This is the first book by K. L. Slater that I've read but based on my experience of this one I am sure it will be the first of many more. (I have already got her novel 'Blink' in my 'to read' pile). I love a good psychological thriller and this is up there with some of the best I've read. I don't think there was a single person in the book (apart from the children) who didn't have a secret - and some very disturbing ones at that! I was torn throughout as to which of them were victims or perpetrators of evil deeds and just when I thought I had it figured out the story revealed something that turned my assumptions upside down. The ending was a real heart pumper as so many things were happening at once, so many surprises were coming out right, left and centre and it was a mad rush to get to the end to see how it all turned out! I totally enjoyed this book. I also liked that the chapters were fairly short which, I think, always urges the reader to read 'just one more' and speeds along the reading process. I am so glad I was granted the opportunity by Netgalley and the publisher to read this pre-release copy. Thank you for introducing me to another author who is now one of my new favourites!

I read this book in a day, I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next!!!! I didn't know what to expect and then it was like a jigsaw, everything fell into place nicely with lots of omg moments along the way. This story will definitely keep you on your toes. Highly recommend.