🔪 Book Review 🔪

🔪 Finding Tessa by Jamie Lynn Hendricks

🔪 Publication Date - 11th May 2021

🔪 Thanks to @netgalley for my copy to read and review.

🔪 Jace and Tessa appear to be a young couple in love with nothing to hide. But looks can be deceiving. When Jace Montgomery comes home late from entertaining clients, he discovers that his wife Tessa is missing.

🔪 Tessa has had an incredibly hard life from childhood and has made a lot of bad decisions when it comes to men. She thought she'd finally managed to make a good choice but looks can be deceiving!

🔪 From the first page, Hendricks grabs your attention and keeps you turning the pages until your eyes are burning from sleep deprivation!

🔪 Until the last 50 pages, Hendricks keeps the reader guessing who was the culprit and where Tessa was.

🔪 Finding Tessa is a dark tale of abuse, revenge and redemption, full of head-spinning, mind-boggling twists.

When I first saw the premise for this book, I was excited about it as I thought it was quite interesting. The book itself started off well but a few chapters in, I began to feel like it was dragging and I struggled to keep my attention through it. Skimmed through a few chapters to get through it faster.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Read the blurb on this one and I am super disappointed that it wasn’t better than it was. Textbook definition of a three star thriller. In the way stands out from the pack. Filler reading for when there’s nothing else available. Meh.

Book friends, listen to me. Finding Tessa is a book that you won't be able to put down.

Who hasn't met a Tessa or know about a Tessa? Women who make the wrong decisions about a man over and over. Women who are abused mentally or physically. I certainly do!

Tessa has had bad luck with "Assholes". Her latest "Asshole" has punched her in the face leaving her black and blue but this time she is going to disappear and make him pay for it. So when Jace Montgomery arrives at his home and his wife, Tessa is gone, he calls the cops. Of course, the cops know the drill. The husband did it especially after finding broken glass, hair, and blood. But is it always the husband?

With Finding Tessa, we get two different points of view. We are giving glimpses of the real Tessa and Jace. The more info I got, the more intricate the story became.

As a domestic thriller, Finding Tessa receives a two thumbs up from me. Both Tessa and Jace were smartly crafted. There was no way, I wouldn't sympathize with Tessa and her bad luck. With all the times' men have hurt her, she was due to find someone nice but looks can be deceiving.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Scarlet via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot, but it didn’t really stand out for me like similar domestic thrillers I’ve read. It had a ton of twists and turns, and I was surprised by almost all of them. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

Finding Tessa - Jaime Lynn Hendricks

I was very excited to read this book after seeing a real buzz about it on a Facebook group, and glancing over plenty of rave reviews on Goodreads.

No spoilers, but a hard book to review without giving away clues.

The story of newlyweds Jase and Tessa is told in chapters alternating between their viewpoints. Jase's bits mainly cover the present while Tessa's delve deeper into her past.

It begins with Jase coming home to find an empty house, bloodstains, clumps of hair and a broken window. Of course as soon as he reports the scene, he becomes a suspect.

Tessa's past, told through rambling memories is broken, she habitually falls for bad guys. Tessa is a brilliant character, a tragically romantic, sometimes devious, survivor. Jase felt a little flat in comparison.

After a very strong start I was captivated by the story telling for most of the book. Jase's story in the present is a steady anchor, while Tessa's story and history is more desperate and unpredictable. The structure, pacing and plotting is brilliant (for most of the book) with plenty of alarm bells to get the reader worrying along with the characters.

The first 60% is brilliant and much more psychological, but sadly (in my opinion), like a lot of unconventional thrillers when it comes to wrapping it all up towards the end it gets more conventional and loses some of the sharp edges.

A very good book overall, and a superb debut, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is a big hit with a movie or Netflix series coming soon.

Not quite a must read for me, but I'm sure fans of Gillian Flynn and Peter Swanson will thoroughly enjoy it.

Thanks to Netgalley and W. W. Norton & Company.

And the crowd goes wild! 🤩 Congratulations to Jaime Lynn Hendricks on a job well done with your debut thriller, I was not able to put it down and can’t wait to read more by you! In this dark, twisty story our heroine is escaping the clutches of an extremely abusive past and longing for genuine love and happiness. I found myself grieving for her disturbing life, biting my nails over her predicaments and hoping she finds what she’s looking for. But there are some big surprises along the way that made my head spin. This thriller will excite even the most well read thriller reader, highly recommend! Releases May 11, 2021

Thank you to Netgalley, Penzler Publisher and the author for an electronic ARC for my honest review.

Jaime Lynn Hendricks’ debut novel, “Finding Tessa,” is a nail-biting thrill ride from cover to cover! It’s been described by her publishers as a Dear Wife (Kimberly Belle) meets Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn).

Hendricks is counting on you to read this one slowly instead of racing along and flipping pages because you’ll get confused. Guaranteed.

Arriving home late one night after a client meeting, Jace Montgomery discovers that his wife is missing. In addition to Tessa’s purse and phone on the counter, there’s broken glass, hair and blood everywhere. The cops in Valley Lake, New Jersey have him pegged as a suspect. He maintains his innocence despite mounting evidence. It’s only when a co-worker ends up dead and a search warrant turns up an illegal gun in his home, that everyone wants to know what he’s hiding.

Tessa finally feels safe after executing a perfect set up. Her husband will be charged with her disappearance. She’s tired of making bad choices and staying with bad men. Can she outrun her secret past?

Hendriks has a gift for writing psychological thrillers. This may be her first, but with the success this release is certain to garner, I have no doubt there’ll be more of her twists and turns on the way. Don’t miss publication day, May 11, 2021.

Remember my warning. Read slowly. This domestic thriller will make you question everything you’ve just read, everything you know and as you turn the last page, you’ll wonder how well you really know your partner.

Smoke and mirrors, baby. Smoke and mirrors.

Thank you to Jaime Lynn Hendricks, Penzler Publishers and Netgalley. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tessa and Jace married after knowing each other for a very short while. Secrets are kept and "stories" told. Jace comes from from a meeting and Tessa is nowhere to be found - after callin g the police he eventually ends up being a suspect. The reader is taken on a ride of twists and turns and pages can't be turned fast enough. The book keeps the readers on their toes throughout. Good book.

An absolutely strong debut thriller Jamie Lynn Hendricks has crafted with Finding Tessa.

I really don’t want to go too far into the storyline because there are some neat little twists in here that are so well designed that they’re on you before you even realise. Essentially, we’re following the lives of Tessa Smyth, as she runs from an abusive marriage and Jace Montgomery, who finds himself the lead suspect of his wife’s disappearance (and presumed murder) with evidence piling up against him. All told through alternating points of view we as readers are constantly wondering where this will go.

Like I said there’s some very well placed twists in here and I only saw the final twist a couple of pages before it happened because of all the different leads you’re trying to follow. But the best one happens after the first third or so of the book and that’s what really gripped me in once I realised what was actually going down. Hendricks definitely keeps you on your toes (even me a seasoned thriller reader).

I don't know that I've enjoyed a thriller like this in a LONG time. Jaime Lynn Hendricks knocked this out of the park. I was on my toes the ENTIRE time, didn't see any of the twists coming and audibly gasped several times. I want to forget the entire story so I can enjoy the ride again. The writing was incredibly engaging and left me questioning so many people's innocence in the thriller. I trusted no-one and I loved every single minute of it. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Jaime Lynn Hendricks and Penzler Publishers for letting me review this wonderful advanced copy!

This was delicious and insatiable. You never know what is happening behind close doors and if people truly love each other or not. This book had me guessing everything until the end

Finding Tessa by Jaime Lynn Hendricks is such a page-turner, deserving of five chilling stars. I devoured this book and wanted more. At first, I got major ‘Gone Girl’ vibes from it and assumed it was very similar but it was its own unique, insane story!

This book captivated me from the beginning. It was an amazing, well thought out storyline with both lovable characters and characters I hated so much because of how well they were described. By the end of the book, I felt so connected to each character and really felt like they were old friends.

I truly thought I knew where this story would wind up. I ran away with the story so many times in my mind and mentally accused so many people but I was incredibly wrong. The twists and turns were incredible.

I am blown away that this is the author’s debut novel. She is going to be one to watch in the literary world of psychological thrillers. I don’t know how she will top this one!

Also, as a die-hard New York Ranger fan, and someone who has Henrik Lundqvist’s picture saved on my phone when my actual husband calls me, the various NYR mentions were so much fun!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Finding Tessa is a page turner. I found myself pulling for both the main characters, Tessa and Jace, despite the building evidence against Jace. The author’s command of descriptive words creates a vivid image of the characters, the setting and the storyline. The intrigue of Finding Tessa carries to the very end. It’s a ‘who dun it’ of a different sort.
Thank you to Jaime Lynn Hendricks, Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
3.5/5

This was definitely not my cup of tea.
Tessa Smyth goes “missing” one night & now she’s on the run. Obviously there’s some trouble at home with her husband Jace & he’s not innocent either. However I had so much trouble with this one. I didn’t click with any of the characters & Tessa just sounds like a self-loathing idiot & uses her past as an excuse.
Tessa is a no good, trailer trash, cycle repeating woman & I refuse to feel sorry for her.

I loved the way this story was written. Different characters points of view in past and present tense made for a novel that had me thinking I had everything figured out. I was wrong. Tessa and Jace were both easy to connect with and I was left wanting the story to continue. A fast read because I needed to know what happened next. Very good!

This book was very confusing to start with and I felt distracted by the narrative at times. I’m glad I stuck with it though as it proved to be a good read overall. Perhaps it could have been written slightly differently but the storyline was great!

Let me start by saying this novel is everything I wanted Gone Girl to be. Finding Tessa is the fantastic debut novel of Jamie Lynn Hendricks. The storyline spun and spun and somehow came to a stop that has left me both satisfied and wanting more. The story passes back well from both Tessa and Jace’s perspectives, never really sure where the search for Tessa will end. For fans of fast paced thrillers but want a story that hasn’t been done before, Finding Tessa is a must-read this Spring!
Big thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the ARC of this novel.

Jace Montgomery comes home from work to find his wife Tessa missing. Tessa’s life has been filled with men who abuse and hit her, and she’s had enough. A thriller where the plot keeps twisting until the very end.

Well I got absolutely nothing done today due to this book :) What a fun read that really did keep me guessing.

Tessa has had her share of A-holes (never have I related to a main character as much) and is now missing. Is her current husband guilty?

I loved this book. It was told in alternating chapters, but not alternating voices, which I appreciated. It was always Tess's voice. She has a string of A-holes from her past, none with names, all affectionately called A-hole which makes things confusing. But in such a fun way!

The book is gold- I can't wait for Jamie Lynn Hendrick's next twisty turny thriller! I'm a fan for life. Thank you #netgalley and publisher for the complimentary book in return for an honest review.