Happy Pub Day to one of my go to authors.

Synopsis:
Cam Lasky has it all. Six restaurants, a multimillion dollar home, a supportive wife, and two adorable children. When a fire breaks out in his most successful restaurant, it threatens to leave him in financial ruin. Then, his wife Jade returns home with the kids from school pickup and is confronted with a terrifying home invasion. Who has taken her family hostage? What does he want? Does this have something to do with the fire? Why does he need exactly $734,296?

I was lucky enough to get an advance e-reader copy through @netgalley @parkrowbooks and I was quite invested and finished the book rather quickly. It will definitely keep you guessing until the very end! Break-ins are very common and the reality of it is scary. My younger siblings walked into our childhood home during a break in and I can't imagine that for my own kids. Luckily in our case, the intruders got scared and took off through the back door.

I am always excited to check out Kimberly Belle’s newest books. She is a great thriller writer and her books always make the top of my never-ending TBR pile. My Darling Husband was my favorite one yet! It’s written in a unique way with lots of different points of views, which was a lot of fun and kept me riveted until the end. This one was so intense and definitely a good binge read. I did feel like the end wasn’t completely satisfying because I prefer my books with no loose ends but I still loved it so much! This is one to add to your TBR before it hits shelves in December.

This book was truly THRILLING from start to finish. A TRUE domestic thriller!

It alternates between the following three POVs in the same timeframe:
- Jade: a mother and wife of Cam Lanskey, a locally-famous chef
- An intruder in Jade's house
- Cam

As well as interspersed TV interviews with Cam that take place after the invasion.

These four different POVs worked PERFECTLY to gradually introduce information to the reader that only that character would know.

This will have you on the edge of your seat from the first chapter. It really is one where once you start you can't put it down.

The writing style was gripping and easy to follow.

I highly recommend this one! Especially if you frequently feel like domestic thrillers are too slow.

I liked this domestic thriller set in Atlanta. The back and forth between the interview of a husband whose family has been through a traumatic kidnapping for ransom and then the unfolding of those events was a good way to tell the story. It kept my interest and had twists along the way. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up

I am a huge fan of Kimberly Belle’s but My Darling Husband wasn’t my favorite. It started out strong for me but the middle just drug a bit. I was hoping the ending would redeem the story for me but sadly it did not. I look forward to more books from the author.

I love thrillers and stories that take place in real time - the proverbial clock ticking down in the background - with alternate point of views. Well, this book delivers on all fronts - was it an edge of seat thriller? Read on to find out.😉

My Darling Husband is about a husband who is ANYTHING but darling. When the family of celebrity chef, Cam Lasky, is held hostage in a home invasion, It is up to Cam to pay or they will all end up dead. As Cam tries desperately to raise the ransom money, we start to realize - that all is not what it seems in this “happy” family and the “darling husband” - well he’s got a few skeletons in the closet.😮

The good: short chapters taking a different POV each time and I loved the clock ticking timeline. The not so good: for me, there wasn’t a wow moment - in fact mid way through - I felt like nothing was really happening. Overall it was good - not great - but if you like thrillers and clock ticking timelines - you may enjoy this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @harpercollinsca for an advanced copy for review. This book is available very soon on November 30, 2021.

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Wow! This book took my breath away!

You hear the saying alot - "I couldn't put this book down!" - and it sounds trite but it's exactly how I feel. When I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to get back to it. I read it quickly, breathless, because I just had to know how things would end up for Cam, Jade, and the Bees.

Kimberly Belle never disappoints, and she's an author I recommend highly. If you're in the mood for a fast-paced thriller, this story will definitely scratch that itch. I love how the ending wasn't cut and dried, it was a bit different, and the closing message is "use your imagination". I think Cam received exactly what he deserved. What a wild story! It was an honor to read an early copy. Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

Traditional scary stories don't bother me, but do you know what does? Stories like "My Darling Husband." The kind of stories that could happen in real life and are so well-written that you feel as if you are one of the characters. I read this book over the course of a few days and towards the end, I felt as if I couldn't read fast enough! This is definitely a thought-provoking, tense thriller that I enjoyed reading!

My Darling Husband is a taut, fast-paced domestic thriller. Start reading it on a weekend, because once you start, it's hard to put down. The story begins with one of anyone's worst nightmares: Jade Lasky comes home with her two young kids to find a masked man with a gun. Her husband Cam has only hours to pull together the oddly specific sum of $734,296, or Jade and the kids are dead.

The problem is that Cam has nowhere near that amount of money. A successful chef and owner of high-end steak restaurants, Cam is heavily in debt to his investors, and the day of the hostage-taking, his most successful restaurant has just gone up in flames. The novel alternates between Jade and Cam's perspectives, and occasionally the masked man's, whose name is Sebastian. And the result is a tightly woven plot, as Jade and her kids fight to survive, and Cam pulls on all available strings to raise the cash. 

Surprisingly, the star of the show turns out to be nine-year-old Beatrix, who is an even bigger thorn in Sebastian's side than Jade is. I'm not often a fan of overly precocious kids, but even I had to admire Beatrix's cleverness. Watching her and Jade work together to try to outwit Sebastian and protect the younger, more naive, Baxter, was a pure delight.

Interspersed throughout the novel are snippets of an interview Cam gives after the incident, which helps fill in some of the blanks, for the reader if not for Jade. We learn that he's had some shady business dealings, and been involved with illegal activities, all in pursuit of his ambition. We also learn his own family history, and how his father's choices have shaped the person he is today. The book blurb makes a big deal of this aspect of the plot, promising family secrets and public scandals, and to me, the book itself never quite lived up to that promise.

The truth behind Cam's actions and the links to the motives behind Sebastian's actions, turns out to be much more prosaic that the blurb suggests, and I actually think the book is better for it. Rather than a dramatic, big gasp reveal, we get a rather ordinary story, and two complex and flawed men. Their decisions may be questionable, and at times, downright wrong, but their motives are somewhat understandable, and ultimately human. This isn't to say that they're wholly sympathetic -- Sebastian's hostage taking is undeniably wrong, and some of the things Cam does is downright callous. But the author has created some interesting character studies that unfold as she keeps us on the edge of our seat watching all the thriller aspects play out. 

Overall, this is an exciting, fast-paced read, and a lot of fun for a weekend.

+

Thank you to Park Row Books for an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! A great hostage story with many likable and relatable characters.
I started reading this while home alone and I do not recommend doing this HAHA. After that it took me a bit to get back into the story. By the last 100 pages, I couldn’t read or flip the pages past enough. I had to know what was going to happen!
I don’t want to ruin this for anyone but I really liked the theme related to important aspects of our life. It made me wonder truly, would I do the same thing?

Thank you to NetGalley, Kimberly Belle and Harlequin for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Another fast paced, high action and drama novel that kept me turning the pages until way past my bedtime. I love Belle's writing; so full of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

My Darling Husband is so good!! Intense thriller about a mother, Jade, and her two children who are taken hostage in their own home while her husband, Cam, frantically tries to meet the intruder’s demands.

This is a page turner of a novel that keeps the tension ratcheted up throughout. Who is the intruder? Why has he targeted this family? What secrets is Cam hiding? How will this all end? The author takes the reader on a great fast-paced ride. I was glued to the book for a two hour stretch and the world could have been collapsing around me and I wouldn’t have known. I loved this novel!!

Thanks to Harper Collins/Harlequin and Netgalley for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Kimberly Belle. I had no idea it would suck me in this much! I sped through it and was excited for down time to read. I don’t have a lot of time to sit and read but found myself squeezing in a chapter here and there. I recommend this if you’re looking for a really fast read that will suck you in right away. I’ll definitely check out her other books.

I am such a Kimberly Belle fan I couldn’t wait to read this book! So far all of her novels have been 5-star reads for me!

This one will be on everyone’s most anticipated reads of 2022!

I was hooked by the first chapter. I love going into a book blind, so I won’t even mention what happens in the first couple of chapters! The narration is set between multiple POVs, and it makes it so much more interesting and mysterious.

It was such an action-packed roller coaster ride!! I had no clue where this was going but I devoured this book in a couple of days! It had the perfect combination of mystery, thriller, psychological warfare, and revenge!

Definitely recommend this book! It’ll be a major hit when it comes out in 2022. Mark your calendars and pre-order now!

Book: My Darling Husband

Author: Kimberly Belle

Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars



I would like to thank the publisher, Park Row, for providing me with an ARC.



I must say that I went into this one knowing nothing and I think that was the best way to do it. I had very low expectations, because thrillers can go either way for me. Add in the fact that this is a domestic thriller. I do have to say that the past moving pace and edge of your seat ride will keep you going. Plus, the tension throughout the whole book is kept up very well. It is like you are there with the Jade and kids experiencing the whole situation. You can feel the danger and the unknown with them. Then, we switch to Cam’s point of view and you get to see just how desperate he is to try to get his family out of that situation.



Let's start there. This book is about a very well-off family or so it seems. As you keep on reading, you quickly realize that there is more to it than that. We see that what we get on the outside isn’t what is actually going on. You see, Cam has secrets-secrets that the rest of his family doesn’t know about. It is these secrets that causes his family to become the victims of a house invasion and to be held at gunpoint. They are put up for ransom and Cam has to come up with the money or his family will be killed. The book follows just that. We see Cam’s attempt to come up with the money, while Jade attempts to protect their family from this unknown foe. We see them try to piece together as to who could be behind this and why anyone would do this to their family. Like the family, we as the reader don’t know the whole truth. As we keep reading though, we quickly uncover them and grow to understand just what got us to this point.



This is a very tense book and one that will keep you reading. The book only covers about a day in this family’s lives, so you are almost seeing the events in real time. You are learning more about the family as they learn each other’s secrets. Now, you may be thinking that doesn’t give us a lot of time to get to know our characters. I really don’t think this is true. Because you are seeing how these characters react under an intense and life-threatening situation. You want to see that they are going to be okay. You want to make sure that everything goes okay and that they make it out of the situation in one piece.



I guess that what I’m getting at is at the core this one is about one family and a home invasion and their quest to make it out alive. This is about what secrets can cost you and have revenge can really come back to get you where it hurts the most.



This book comes out December 28, 2021.



Youtube: https://youtu.be/trAWAaMxGys

This book was a very enjoyable read. Jade is a strong character with a fierce protectiveness of her family. I could only aspire to be as brave as her if ever put into a similar situation. Which thankfully I am poor that so that very unlikely to ever happen, but hey ya never know.

Jade and Cam seem to have an idyllic life. The perfect house. Children attending private school, one that is a violin prodigy. A thriving restaurant empire, with Cam being known as the Atlanta Steak King. I know you see what's coming...but poor Jade was oblivious. Everyone except for her know that her life really wasn't she portrayed it to be.

Cam now deal with the consequences of actions that he can't or doesn't want to remember. Actions that paint the Steak King in a completely different light. A light that shows the true colors of one of the most respected members of Atlanta's society.

Riveting and heart wrenching. This book will keep you reading until the wee hours.

This was certainly a page turner! It was full of secrets and surprises. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending.
I enjoyed the story.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Another suspenseful tale from Kimberly Belle! This one took my breath away - so fast paced and kept me guessing!

I really enjoyed this title. I liked the twists and turns and the writing style is nice and smooth. The story flows well and kept my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. I will be recommending this one to friends.

Wow, this was such a tense and exciting read! I like how the narrative switched back and forth between the armed intruder, Cam and Jade because it was interesting to see how their perspectives differed. Jade is such a likable character because of her protectiveness towards her children and her tenacity. This is a book which was impossible to put down.