Vera was so full of herself and so phony. I did not enjoy this book. Definitely not up to par with other work from this author.

Vera, an ambitious beautiful woman, meets Tom, a wealthy older man on a dating app. Days later, he and his wife are found dead in their home and Vera is inadvertently blamed for their murder.

A year later, she is invited to the memorial of Tom’s wide, Odilie. Odilie’s sister Page, immediately strikes up a friendship with Vera and wants to learn more about her sisters life in New York. On their quest to uncover the truth, they find a web of lies and secrets amongst friends.


When you first read the synopsis and then read the book, it doesn’t add up. Vera is never accused of murder although she is branded the mistress. I mostly just found the story boring and didn’t find any of the characters likeable. I usually love dual time lines especially for thrillers, but I didn’t care for the “past” chapters; They weren’t engaging at all. I found this story to just be kind of all over the place and when it ended it still didn’t feel complete.

I will say that the book seems to have good representation and I think readers will enjoy that.

Thank you to NetGallery and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vera lives and breathes fashion. She works for Huda as the director of sales at a small, but growing apparel company. Huda convinces Vera to make her social platforms public to help build the brand. Before working with Huda she kept her life private. Vera is a workaholic limiting her friendships to Quinn, Sam and Huda.
Vera didn’t realize the dangers of making herself public until she met Tom who she matches with on a dating app. Tom is a wealthy man who’s ten years older than her. Vera didn’t bother researching Tom beforehand because she wants to save the mystery of who Tom is for when they meet, Vera is used to dating wealthy men spending nights with them in expensive hotel suites. Nothing set off any alarm bells until tragedy struck. Now Vera is immersed in his tragedy.
One year after the tragedy Vera is invited to Odilie’s remembrance ceremony. It was at this moment Vera began to look for ways to exonerate herself from the blame of Odilie’s death. Odilie is Tom’s pregnant wife. She’s hoping to recover her reputation image, in the fashion industry, after setting her private life free into the public eye.
This is Odilie and Tom’s story yet Vera is part of it too. After losing her job she decides it’s time to investigate the man she briefly knew.

This is Flora Collins second book. I requested this book on Netgalley after seeing another author rave about it. I unfortunately, didn’t share the same experience. Flora allows readers to immerse themselves into Odilie s world. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a world that interest me. The story alternates between the present and the past which brings to life Odilie’s choices. Flora keeps readers engrained in the story by withholding what actually happened to Odilie and Tom. Yet, the execution fell flat in several areas.
Unfortunately, the story never took off in a way that gained any attention from me. The premise seemed so promising too. I couldn’t find a connection with these characters or the plot. The more I invested my time, the more I realized it all didn’t matter to me. Seeking the truth behind the lies was my only concern. The how’s and why’s were of no interest to me.
The execution of A Small Affair wasn’t what I imagined from reading the premise. This had very little to do with the affair and more to do with Odilie and who she became at the hands of a friend from her past. Vera was the unlucky victim in this game. I didn’t care about Odilie’s backstory. It also could’ve been the way in which it was written. Flora’s writing voice didn’t excite me as a reader.
The world with which Flora Collins created is exhausting to read. I felt like this was written in code. Most of the details were unnecessary drivel that drove me to skim read over. This reminded me of high school. The separation of clichés based on looks, popularity, and money.
The fun was getting the sordid secret life about Odilie except with less details. I’m an on-the-point reader needing few details to get to the point.

Name of Book: A Small Affair
Author: Flora Collins
Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing -MIRA
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Pub Date: December 27, 2022
My Rating: 2.5 Stars!

Vera is a twenty-eight year old workaholic, she lives and breathes fashion. She is the director of sales at a small apparel company run by her friend Huda. Vera is a private person her friends are Quinn, Sam and Huda.

Story is told both in the present and multiple past timelines.
Vera gets herself gets into a situation with Tom a married man: we also learn more about Odilie, Tom’s pregnant wife – who has an interesting story.
Only problem is none of these characters are likeable making it difficult to stick with the story when you really don’t care to know. However, if they were all likeable, it would have been a different story!
However, it is what it is and wasn't what I was hoping! 😑

Want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing-MIRA for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for December 27, 2022

Thank you to #NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. In this novel, Vera connects with Tom on a dating app, and doesn’t mind that he’s been married and already has a child…until he fails to mention that he’s already married. After he commits a horrific crime, Vera tries to understand the man she briefly dated, who left her life in shambles, and to pick up the pieces after she becomes associated with his actions. Split between Vera’s present and flashbacks to Tom’s wife’s past , the reader gets to make discoveries alongside the protagonist. I would liken the plot to a “The Girl On the Train” meets “Ingrid Goes West” Flora Collins’s writing is clear, vivid and beautiful, and this book was masterfully crafted.

I just finished reading "A Small Affair", by Flora Collins. Thank you to Harlequin Pulishing and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in return for an honest review.
This book is about a young successful ambitious women who embarks on a relationship with a handsome stranger she meets online. What starts as a hopeful first few dates, it rapidly gets worst and the young woman, Vera, ends the relationship. The man, Tom, doesn't take it well and something happens which basically causes Vera to lose her job and ruin her life. We learn about Odilie, Tom;s wife and a character named Peri, who is dramatic and over-the-top. There is a history that unravels and exposes the truth about Tom and his past, and the connection between Odilie, Peri and Vera is revealed slowly and in a captivating way that kept me wanting to keep reading.
There are alot of characters in this book and alot of intrigue and excitement. Vera is a strong arrogant woman, but she is written in a captivating way and I wanted her o get closure on what happened with Tom. The story is told both in the past and the present , and from different points of view: that of Vera and Odilie and Tom towards the end when we finally find out what really happened.
I really liked this book. I found the character of Page to be annoying, but her prescence in the story was necessary. I also liked the relationship that Vera had with her roommate.
My favourite part of the novel, was learning about Odilie and her relationship with Peri, and how it came full circle at the end of the book.
A great read for those who enjoy this genre. I am happy to recommend this deliciously wicked book with so many twisty revelations that it will keep you turning the pages.
Happy Reading!

I will be posting this review on my book Instagram account on September 16th!

Vera MacDonald is an ambitious, career-focused woman in her late 20s who will do (and has done) whatever it takes to reach her goals. However, Vera unexpectedly finds herself in the crosshairs of both the media and the public after Tom, a man she was dating, is found dead in his home along with his pregnant wife, from whom he had told Vera he was separated. As Vera begins to notice facts that don’t add up about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Tom and his wife, Odilie, she becomes intent on unraveling the truth behind their demise. “The Small Affair” follows multiple timelines (for example, Vera when she met Tom, Vera one year after the horrific incident, etc) and a few different characters.

This book is a rollercoaster! Flora Collins has a clear and obvious talent for writing. This is the first book I’ve read by her, but I expect to hear her name come up more and more often as she releases new books.

“A Small Affair” is a VERY dark, twisted book about very dark, twisted people. Every character is primarily driven by selfish and often cruel motivations. There were many moments where I had to put this book down and come back to it later because the deviousness of the characters and the bleakness of their lives was too much.

This story is primarily told from the point of view of the main character, Vera, but we do get another character’s point of view starting about a third of the way into the book. The second character’s point of view is significantly more unsettlingly and lonelier than Vera’s. I think it was an important addition for the reader’s understanding of the plot and was, like the rest of the book, skillfully written, but I disliked the secondary POV character so much that it made it hard for me to get through. What drove me to finish this book was the desire to get answers to the mysterious events of the book, rather than care for any of the main characters. None of the characters in this book were relatable, and I don’t think they were meant to be.

For me personally, this book was a two star read. It just left me feeling sad and desolate, and a bit disturbed, which is typically not what I want to feel after reading a book. What brought it up another star was the quality of the writing. As I said at the beginning of this review, I think Flora Collins is a great author and wrote this story very well. The fact that I was so impacted emotionally by this book is a testament to that! I would be interested in reading other books by Collins in the future. This one just wasn’t for me, but I think there are many readers who would like it.

“A Small Affair” will be out on December 27th, 2022.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Omg. Y’all. I loved this book. WAY more than I thought I would!! The writing and the characters and the storyline. A++++++!!!

It is very rare that I don't finish a book once I have started it. Especially when NetGalley has allowed me to read a novel before it is published. However, I couldn't make it all the way through A Small Affair. I struggled through the first half of the book but gave up at the 50% mark.

The characters were uninteresting and unlikeable (Vera this especially means you) and the story to that point dragged and drifted along with no sense of purpose. I really wish that authors wouldn't use so much filler, especially in the first half of a book.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this novel and I hope others have found this feedback to be useful.

4/5. The main character was written as overly arrogant and pretentious. Throughout the book there is a decent level of character development. Story is told both in the present and multiple past timelines. The “us vs them” dynamic of townies vs rich folks on Summer vacation tied in to the stories of the characters yearning to be more than they are. Solid read, kept my attention. I have a few questions that didn’t get addressed though.

Heart throbbing web of lies built around tech millionaires with lots of twists, internet stalking, obsession! This is absolutely thrilling ride!

I could love this book more if I didn’t detest the characters and barely pass through the first third. It was a little slow burn but thankfully the pacing picked up at the rest of the story.

Let’s talk about main 3 characters I can find more than 10 things to hate about:

Vera: 28 years old, passionate, ambitious, narcissistic, cutthroat bitch who always gets what she wants, climbing the corporate ladders of fashion industry a little faster than her peers with her power thirsty moves.

The story starts as she finds a rich, attractive tech mogul named called Tom, our second not so likable character, in his 40s via a dating application and then we move back to the present to see she just moved to her middle age hippie- holistic (not so likable secondary character) mother’s house who is as selfish and know it all as like her.

Something terrible happened to tarnish her reputation, forcing her laying low, cutting her connections with outer works. This traumatic thing is related with Tom she’s dated.

When we move back and forth we realize Tom: who seemed like a perfect candidate was a liar from the beginning. He told her he divorced and they shared the custody of their daughter with his ex. But we just understand that he was still married. He and his wife Odilie are dead. People just blamed on Vera for her recent relationship with Tom. She’s the scape goat of this tragedy.

When I learn more about Vera and the mean things she’s done to her inner circle, her merciless attitudes made me hate her more. But I kept reading the short and intriguing chapters because I was still curious to learn more about Odilie and the cryptic way of her dying.

Thankfully at second part of the book, there are Odilie’s POV telling us the great change of her. A random, ordinary girl finds enough funds to turn herself an ItGirl, marrying with Tom and getting estranged from her parents and her overachiever sister Page.

Page invites Vera to memorial of her sister, befriending her to learn more about Tom and Odilie’s secret lives and Vera accepts to help her because she knows she must owe more to Odilie even though she’s not directly related to her death.

I loved how the mystery unfolded at the end and bigger twist about how these three people found their lives tangled with each other.

If I didn’t hate the guts of three characters I would give more than three solid stars. But this time I couldn’t give higher rating but I still enjoyed the author’s creative mind and how she wrapped up the entire mystery. I’m looking forward to read another works of her.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/ MIRA for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of A Small Affair.

A better title for this would have been Gumption.

This is a tale with a painfully familiar premise, and nothing original about it; the pages are filled with beautiful shallow people, someone trying to be who they're not, despicable men, name dropping designer labels, drinking, boozing, partying.

When Vera's life and reputation is taken down after the death of her ex-lover and his wife, she hides her ruination at her mother's.

But, a year later, after attending the memorial of her former lover's ex-wife, Vera meets the deceased woman's sister, Page, and is swept up in the partying and social scene once again.

As a result, Vera discovers there is more to the story behind the shocking deaths of her ex-lover and his wife, and she aims to find out what secrets are hiding behind closed doors. At all costs.

Vera is a typical main character in these books; naturally, she's beautiful (she mentions it often enough), ambitious, which is great, but has no female friends (because of her beauty and jealous that almost every man want to jump her bones). Okay, we get it. You're hot and you know it.

It was easy to dislike Vera; Odilie, too; a shallow, desperate plain Jane with no brains, charm, or beauty.

The chapters into the past discussing Odilie's transformation from townie into Tom's wife was tediously boring and predictable; hooking up with Peri, a stunning and charismatic woman/mentor she idolizes and wants to be just like.

There's a lot of partying, boozing, drugging, lots of filler about her transformation, partying, before she finally meets Tom, nearly at the end of the book.

We get a brief snippet from Tom's perspective, which I thought was pointless. Who cares about his POV and what he did to engineer to meet Vera?

The ending is, at least, realistic. We sometimes make deals with the devil to better our own station in life.

The writing was okay, but the premise, characters, and lack of suspense and urgency made this an uninteresting read for me.

Holy Fluffer Doodle! 😳😯🤯😳

Whoa double whoa! Duuuudddeee! This was one crazy, incredible, dark & devious novel! You will love and dislike each character simultaneously. Their lives & history will yank you in and keep you hostage not relenting. I sped through this dying to know more about Vera but also Odilie. Collins did amazing at feeding you enough to keep you appetized, but still leaving you wanting more. Needing more!

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: Vera is at the prime of her life - confident, financially stable, at the top of a fashion up-and-coming company and totally self-sufficient. Some would label her cold, calculated, ruthless and stunning. Although not one for relationships, she ends up meeting Tom, a father and recently divorced. After a few dates, she finds out both Tom and his wife are dead in their home. The scape goat? Vera of course. A year later, living with her Mother, trying to stay hidden, she recieves an invite to the family of the wife deceased. She befriends the sister, Page and when she does, she'll realize just how deep some layers really are with Tom and his wife. Because after all, reputation is money.

I don't know why, but lately when it comes to suspenseful thrillers involving the elite, wealthy or famous, it's like a guilty pleasure for me. This one totally satiated it. It's suspenseful, drama filled, no holds barred with a delish unraveling of crazy secrets, intense lies and succulent truths. You won't be able to put this down for anything! I suggest keeping your favourite sweet treat on hand during revelations as you read!

Thank you to NetGallley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC.
Release Date: December 27, 2022

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 4 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

An amazing thriller that I would recommend to all readers looking for an unputdownable scorcher of a read!

ASmallAffair #NetGalley
I enjoyed this book but it wasn't a slam dunk. The protagonist was unlikable however, the story telling was great. I liked how the author introduced 2 storylines. You learn about Vera and how she gets into this predicament. And you also learn about the wife of her former lover and her background. I found the wife's life more interesting. There is some drug use in the story as well. But all in all a nice summer read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This book wasn’t awful but also nothing I found fantastic. All in all it was a good read but I wouldn’t recommend it to all my friends

I really, really enjoyed this book and I’ll be reading more from this author in the future! Can’t wait to own a physical copy!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Harlequin Trade Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Not exactly what I expected, I enjoyed it even more. A twisted tale of love, deception, obsession, an affair. Crafted with an artistic expertise and flair that’s a true rarity. Far from formulaic, I hope for more from Flora Collins soon.

I… really did not jive with this book. The storytelling technique was employed neatly, but I just could not connect with a single one of the characters. For good reason, but it did diminish my ability to enjoy the book.

An excellent drama/thriller showing the dangerous side of extramarital affairs. I was routing for the heroine the whole way!