Cover Image: No Smoke Without Fire

No Smoke Without Fire

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Member Reviews

I got super confused for about a third of this book as it's told from multiple POV and I just couldn't make head nor tail of what was going on! Once I got into the swing of it though, I really enjoyed it. There were some unexpected twists and the end was a complete surprise....Celeste is a fighter, she's confident and feisty and also a bit of a mess emotionally. I think that the book was written well after I sorted it out in my head and it deals with lots of sensitive issues in a fair way. Parts were hard to read, but overall it was good. I'm looking forward to more from Claire in the future 😊

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No Smoke Without Fire - Claire S Lewis

Thanks to Netgalley & Head of Zeus for this one.

You can't run from your past forever which is exactly what Celeste has been hoping to do for the past seven years. Running from the tragic events that led to her brother's death. Struggling with the guilt and shame that she carries on her shoulders. Ben her high-school takes the running away from her when he comes crashing back into her life. Battling with a stalker again. But soon Celeste realises there is more truth that she needs to uncover.

Be warned when you play with fire you get burned.

Although confused at times with where this was going this book will give you a sense of unease with the stalker element. There's a few twists and conundrum moments to keep you wondering .

A story with a fantastic protagonist. I enjoyed the character development with Celeste and watching her rise to face her demons.

I was disappointed with this one. I wanted so much more. I'm left wondering what the point of certain characters was.

The ending wasn't for me personally, I was left wanting more. But If you enjoy a book with multiple view points and a "You" vibe then be sure to check this one out.

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No Smoke Without Fire is Claire S. Lewis's second psychological thriller and I had actually finished the entire book before coming to the realisation that I had read her debut, She's Mine, last year and it wasn't an enjoyable read for me. Luckily, this one was much more my bag with a better crafted plot. It's one of those books that are most enjoyable when the reader goes in blind so I will not be expanding too much on the rather sparse synopsis as I wouldn't want to give anything away or spoil it for any potential readers as I know there is simply nothing worse.

It centres around Celeste who it's fair to say hasn't had the easiest of lives up to this point. She's a single, twenty four year old part-time student working as a florist and living in shared accommodation with her two closest friends. She still feels regular guilt about her brothers death in a blaze 7 years ago and it taunts her day after day. On top of that she has a stalker and despite trying to work out who it is she is no closer to identifying the creep. But her determination knows no bounds and she has promised herself she will get to the bottom of it. Then there's the fact that her old, abusive high-school boyfriend has decided to put in an untimely appearance. For most of her life Celeste has merely ran from her problems but now she must face them head on...

This is a solid and decently paced thriller with a chameleon as a protagonist; it's not often a character starts out as seemingly helpless and desperately needing support before slowly beginning to grow, evolve and morph into a woman who appears much more in control of her life than she was at the start. Then she turns into a devious and rather disturbed thinker who decides she wants revenge for past wrongs and thinks this is the way to right them. It's very much a domestic based thriller with plenty of family drama and a unique air of mystery about it that comes from its sheer unpredictability; the atmosphere is really quite chilling and there's a palpable sense of unease that once it begins never disappears until the conclusion. There are a few twists and turns throughout the story that will satisfy crime fans and there were a few reveals I didn't see coming around the corner. It is completed by an unexpected ending. All in all, this is quite a twisted, slow-burn story that deals with many complex issues surrounding abuse and its lasting impact in a compelling fashion. Many thanks to Aria for an ARC.

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No Smoke Without Fire was one of my favourite reads in February. I enjoyed the different elements that each of the point of views and flashbacks provided and the way the MC changed her stanse on the situation towards the end.

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I was disappointed with this book. The storyline sounded great but it just did not hit the mark for me. Characters unlikeable and plot far fetched at times.. Did not like the ending at all . I skim read over several parts as I just wanted to finish it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

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Unfortunately this book did not hit the spot for me. Marketed as a thriller I found it lacked any sort of tension and suspense and I wasn't really gripped enough by the storyline to keep reading.

The storyline seems a bit all over the place and hard to follow, everything is revealed to us very early on so it's more a case of following Celeste discover what's going on as opposed to figuring out ourselves, which I think takes a lot of the intrigue and excitement out of it.

Talking of Celeste, I'm not sure whether we were meant to like her or not but I found her quite difficult to like. Her character is quite inconsistent, one minutes she's helping people the next she is using them to her advantage. The rest of the characters seem fairly one dimensional and didn't seem to add a lot to the story.

For me, the ending was the best part of the book, I quite liked the turn it took.

I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend this book, the psychological thriller market is a saturated one and there are better books out there to read.

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I received No Smoke Without Fire by Claire Lewis as an ARC from NetGalley. Celeste still feels guilty about her brother's death 7 years ago in a fire and is still dealing with the aftermath. Also she has a stalker and can't figure out who it is. This book fell flat for me. I didn't like the character of Celeste and didn't feel any sympathy for her even with all her problems. I also didn't like the way the book went back and forth between Celeste's point of view and the stalker's point of view.

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The synopsis and cover for this book really caught my attention and after seeing so many positive reviews, I was really looking forward to a suspenseful thriller. Unfortunately I was just left feeling disappointed.

There was something lacking for me. It started well and I was getting “You” vibes - a stalker watching the girl from across the street and stalking online - sounds great right? But instead it didn’t really go anywhere. It felt far too slow. The plot could have been great but didn’t deliver on the promise it showed early on. Although there was a twist at the end, it didn’t feel realistic or make sense to me. Instead I was left thinking, is that it?

The other reason this book didn’t really work for me was Celeste. As the main protagonist, who’s clearly been through a lot of trauma in her life, I wanted to like her. I wanted to root for her. Instead she irritated me. I found her to be annoying and manipulative. I couldn’t warm to her at all and therefore I didn’t feel any connection to her story.

No Smoke Without Fire promised so much but sadly it didn’t deliver and just wasn’t for me.

2 stars

Trigger warnings - rape, gaslighting, stalking, violence, abuse.

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This was a great read, though unfortunately the twist was spoiled for me after someone posted a review on here telling it word for word.

Despite that, I really enjoyed this one. The characters were written beautifully. I just wish I could go back and read it with fresh eyes before I stumbled upon the spoiler.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced Kindle copy.

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It was really good book to read..

She knew it was him after all, for what he did to her brother’s death in the house where the party held..it was terrible thing happened to him and hers too..

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy...

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No Smoke Without Fire is a slow burn (no pun intended) of a story. There are multiple timelines and points of view but at no time was I confused. The story is unraveled bit by bit, without telling you too much at a time. There are some dark themes of rape and abuse and this story might not be for everyone. Some scenes were hard to read.

Celeste is a young, single student who lives with 2 of her closest friends. She works part time in a florist when she is not studying. We learn about her traumatic past through her flashbacks. Her ex-boyfriend has returned and wants to re-connect but she has tried really hard to put her past behind her. At the same time she has a stalker. She is determined to find out who is watching her and why. The ending is dramatic and unexpected.

Thanks to Netgalley and Aria for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

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A good read and an interesting plot. I liked the idea of this story but I thought it was a bit slow in places. I also did not like the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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This was an awesome book. It was great right from the start. I really connected with the writing. It really had me not wanting to put the book down. Great plot and great characters.

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Great read! A suspenseful must read! Draws you in from the beginning. Held my attention throughout. I highly recommend this one.

Thanks Netgalley and to the publisher for the advance ecopy.

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Wow, this was one of those books that really grabbed my attention and did not let go until I was finished! It was absolutely unputdownable, fast paced, well written, and also provided the necessities a good thriller will; shocks, twists & turns, suspense, thrills, and chills! I will be looking into more by this author! I highly, highly recommend!
Will make sure to buzz it up on all the different platforms!

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Really enjoyed reading this one! Solid plot, well developed characters kept me gripped till the end.

The narrative shifts between the past and the present which helps to connect everything together.

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Is really creepy and dark suspense novel. I really enjoyed it. A few scary moments and surprises. We’ll worth reading xx

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The synopsis and the cover made me excited to read this book, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy the story as much as I thought I would. The story and the characters lacked depth and the book didn't hold my interest.

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Fantastic read. I thou roughly loved this book. It had me hooked from the first page. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I will definitely be looking for this author in the future. Very well written

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A good story. I didn't power through it and did find it a little slow, but once I got into it I enjoyed it. No real stand out features for me though, sorry.

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