This has a slow start and then the action builds up. I didn’t like any of the characters. The twists were good and I didn’t see the ending coming. I felt like the author had overwritten this and it could have been shorter.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Secret couple. This is an adult thriller with secrets and suspense.
Written well with interesting characters and a solid plot
3 stars

This one is a slow burn but it's very easy to get lost in. Fascinating characters and plot and I couldn't stop reading.

An excellent read to pack in your bag this coming summer, will keep you gripped from the first chapter and one to take to the beach

A pacey thriller that had me hooked. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is a slow paced book , then halfway it started to move to a fast pace. This book was a rollercoaster and I enjoyed the ride.

This book had me hooked from the very first page and I couldn't wait to read more. It was an emotional rollercoaster of secrets and I loved it!

What a disaster!
I can't believe that anyone in this world can be so naive and blinded like Allison.

God, she drives me crazy. It all seems like a bad movie, you know, when the figures are not thinking about any responsibility and just lost their mind. Having an affair is not bad (you know what I mean, it is bad, but kinda tolerate in the society), but all the other things that she is involved in are ridiculous stupid.

I did finished it, but i feel I have wasted my time.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Chilling, complex and creepy, psychological crime thriller fans will be gripped by J S Lark’s latest The Secret Couple.

As a lawyer, Alice deals with secrets and lies on a daily basis – and nobody knows better than she does just how insidious and destructive they can be. Alice might appear to be on the right side of the law, however, her past had left her with no other choice but to skate very close to the edge and to commit criminal acts that if discovered could have serious consequences upon her life and her future. Alice appears to lead a life most people would give their right arm for – until she discovers that all is not as perfect she had thought. What will Alice do now? Will she find herself left with no other choice but to fall foul of the law again?

When business takes Alice to Bath to meet a prospective client, little does she realize that she is going to be sucked into a dangerous situation where she could stand to lose everything. Alice knows that she should put a stop to it and to walk away from this situation she has found herself in, but that proves harder than she initially thought. Resisting the allure of temptation and desire becomes absolutely impossible – until Alice realizes that she’s in far too deep…

Is Alice’s life about to come crashing down around her ears? Or is there one final twist coming her way that could end up changing everything?

J S Lark’s The Secret Couple is a fascinating, layered and intelligent psychological crime thriller where nothing is what it initially seemed. Unpredictable, engrossing and disturbing, The Secret Couple tells a dark and twisted story of complicated, and damaged characters that will leave readers on the edge of their seats desperately waiting to find out what is going to happen next.

Haunting, gritty and gripping, J S Lark’s The Secret Couple is a chilling rollercoaster ride readers will certainly not forget in a hurry.

Dark thriller that had you hooked from the off. The book was very well written. Great plot. Very exciting. Fast paced to get your heart racing. Loved this book. It had me hooked from the beginning

The Secret Couple is a thriller you won't see coming. With shocks and twists that you will not predict. If you love thrillers than you must read this.

It doesn’t take much to be absolutely intrigued by the blurb I’ve included above and The Secret Couple does not disappoint! Through all of the lies, secrets, and deceptions, I was throughly engrossed in this story. It has so many twists that I never saw coming and was suspenseful until the surprising end!

The characters were well-developed and I really felt like I knew who they were. There were times where I found myself both loving and hating them at the same time!

Definitely a recommendation from me to you!

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources, NetGalley, One More Chapter Books, and J. S. Lark for this gifted review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

I’ll start by saying that I always love a good read about the secrets that are hidden behind closed doors, a way to remind all the readers that no one is perfect. That it doesn’t matter how much you envy your neighbour because she is always perfect and on time or your co-worker always doing the perfect job; they all have their own secrets, some are more dangerous than others!
This is the story of Alice, she will meet Luke just after starting the divorce with her husband; their story seemed casual in the beginning, someone to have fun for a while. But now he is staying at Alice’s home and she really doesn’t know anything about him… but at the same time, she has her own secrets that doesn’t want anyone to discover. So, what will it be? A full and secret free relationship or one with a dark side on it? Of course you’ll have to read the book to know all the answers!
This is a book that it’s quite impossible to stop reading, once you start you’ll get hooked, wanting to know all the secrets. The characters are very well plotted and the story is full of surprises and secrets, exactly what you need to disconnect from your stressful day, believe me!
Ready to discover “The Secret Couple”?

Alice is drawn to Bath by an anonymous email that she thought was from a potential client, She was a top notch solicitor from London. Luke works in a bar in a hotel where Alice is staying but is not allowed to fraternize with the guests so suggests meeting elsewhere so they can talk. Alice has just broken up with her husband, Joseph, so decides staying in Bath for a few days is ok while she finds out what this is about.

When they meet though, Luke asks her questions. He has looked her up on the internet and knows a lot about her. He is like a closed book but they enjoy each other’s company, Alice is paying for everything as Luke doesn’t have a lot of money. They go out and Alice finds she’s enjoying herself. She’s enjoying his company.

There is an awkward moment one night when they meet three men on a street and Luke makes her go on without him. He comes back later, he’s ok. Later on the news she hears about a dead body being found and it looks like one of the men they had the hassle with.

The more time they spend together the closer they become but Alice suddenly decides to go back to London. Luke has never possessed a mobile phone until then when he buys one so he can keep in touch with Alice.

The atmosphere between Joseph and Alice could be cut with a knife and she wants a divorce. There is no going back with him now.

I found this book very slow going but it could just have been me in a reading slump. It did liven up towards the end part of the book and that did get quite interesting with all that was going on.

The title was intriguing and so was the synopsis, so I requested the title on NetGalley and luckily I was approved. The book sat on my Kindle waiting for me to get to it and I finally did. Starting reading it on my latest travels as I waited for my husband to finish the meeting he was attending.

The book started out great but then started going downhill post the 15% mark.

Firstly, the title does not really suit the story. The alleged Secret Couple being a couple had no bearing per se to the overall storyline.

There was no character development for the characters. They started out as two dimensional and remained the same throughout the book. They did not grow into themselves.

Storyline started becoming predictive after a point. As for male main lead, I knew what was going on from the start. Call it a gut feeling.

So basically, I was disappointed with this one so not recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I was hooked from the prologue right up until the very last word, and there were numerous times throughout the book where I was actually holding my breath while reading. The pacing was perfect and the plot was a solid 10/10. A wonderful thriller if ever I’ve read one!

One of the best thrillers I’ve read this year! Complex well-drawn characters and a slow burn, multi layered plot that has you gripped and desperate to read on. If you love a deliciously dark storyline that keeps you hooked from the first page until the last, this one’s for you.

I didn't like this one. I thought so many times of giving up reading it, but I still wanted to see what will happen at the end. The first few chapters were promising, I really thought this was going to be an interesting read. After Alice started her relationship with Luke it was all making no sense. I didn't feel any chemistry between the two. I felt like both Alice and Luke were not such good characters.
It was just a lot of going on with a predictable ending.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK,One More Chapter for the free e-book!

I was really excited to read this new book from Lark, having immensely enjoyed their previous release a couple of years ago. Perhaps I had too high expectations, because I don’t think this book was half as good and there really wasn’t the explosive plot developments I was seeking.

The atmosphere of this story is incredibly heavy and lethargic. Whether this was deliberate or not, I thought it properly conveyed not only the oppressive, summer heat of the main story, but also the lust that drives Alice’s feelings towards Luke. Heady with passion and physical desire, I think Lark portrays this in the plot and I believe this inadvertently slows the pace down as well. Whereas I was hoping Lark would create a story that was an adrenaline rush, leaving me craving for the next shocking plot development, this was a complete contrast and I think this is why I did not enjoy the book as much.

For starters, I was quite shocked at how trusting Alice is towards Luke. He is a complete stranger, yet she gives herself to him in complete abandonment. I disliked his controlling nature and would have thought that based on Alice’s past, she would have shown more reserve, even more so because of her job as a defence attorney. Yet, her trip to Bath to meet an anonymous call for help leads to Alice getting involved in things she would never imagine. Even when she is hiding secrets from her sister, alarm bells do not ring. Even when it is clear that Luke has a Jekyll/Hyde personality, she still intends to stay with him. And even when crimes are being committed, Alice does not question her relationship. It was quite puzzling to watch this.

My intense dislike for Luke never altered in the story and I think this was why I was not very surprised at some of the plot developments. I had such a deep suspicion of him that I could not see this character in a positive light at all. In fact, I mentally accused him of far more crimes than Lark associates with him! Although some of the plot twists were interesting, they were never enough to keep me gripped.

Undoubtedly, this is a well-written novel with very detailed character development. I liked how the story switched ambiguously to another narrative perspective and also Alice’s ‘confessions’ that appear throughout the novel. It allowed me to reflect on how trusting we are of strangers and even people we know. Yet, at the same time I thought the story needed a bit more originality to have the same explosive impact as Lark’s previous novel.

If you have not read any books by this author, I would not recommend this as a starting point. However, it is an interesting story and I found the title to be more relevant after I had completed this story, showing it is quite thought-provoking, despite my reservations.

With thanks to One More Chapter, Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is another show don’t tell book. I felt like I was reading a description of things and not a story.