‘Unapologetically Alex’, an Instagram Influencer with 1 million followers wakes up to a nightmare when a video goes viral on the same morning that her personal assistant disappears. Just when Alex thinks her life couldn’t get any worse, everything starts falling apart.

The steady pace and unreliable narrators made for an engaging cat and mouse chase. We start to connect the dots through multiple viewpoints and past and present timelines. I was so intrigued and couldn’t wait to get to HOW they were all connected. I definitely didn’t anticipate the big reveal. Even though everything gets wrapped up, I was happy that it wasn’t an abrupt ending!

This is a great example of my comfort read. Which is weird, I know, because it’s a thriller. But it’s just got it all for me. Intense plot, twists and turns, sketchy characters, writing that flows. I don’t know, it just works for me.

I think it’s pretty obvious from the title/cover that there is something wrong with the personal assistant. So I had my eyes on her from the beginning, because duh. But I actually didn’t see all the twists that popped up! It’s not like they were insanely shocking, but they were solid and added to the big reveal.

This one also fed on very real and everyday fears, such as sharing your entire life online for the world to see and the repercussions that can come of this. I’m very cautious about putting my kids on the internet, and I was fighting off panic attacks over here when the MC broadcasted not only her life online, but her kids’ lives too.

Overall, this is a solid thriller and would recommend if you enjoy that typical psychological thriller formula.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for my gifted copy. This is posted on my Bookstagram and my Goodreads.

Hmmm. This is kind of a hard review to write. There were positives but also some negatives.

Things I liked:
•Getting to see how an influencers life affected the whole family.
•the intense readability- I had a hard time putting this one down.
•the multiple POV’s offered a big picture type of story

Things I wasn’t in love with-
•Predictability- I wasn’t surprised by anything and it took away from the thriller aspect.
•I didn’t like any of the characters and didn’t feel connected to them. It took away the suspense.

So while this was a good book, it had its flaws (for me). I’d give it 3 stars.

I have given up on contemporary mysteries and thrillers because they are just so terrible, but there are a few authors who can really deliver. I really enjoyed Kimberly Belle's Stranger in the Lake (review here) and I'm pretty into "the dark side of social media" reads lately so I thought I'd give this one a shot. First of all, I really loved the Atlanta area setting and the generous inclusion of local details. Second, I was immersed in the story the entire time. With most current "mysteries" I can usually figure everything out within the first couple of chapters (pages sometimes 🙄 but I was mentally rearranging the pieces right up until the end. That is a rarity and earns The Personal Assistant my recommendation to readers who love true mysteries/thrillers, with an added bonus if they consider themselves fairly knowledgeable about social media.

The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle takes us into the darker side of today’s influencer world.

Things I loved 🥰:
•Dual Timelines were well done in this story.
•The mystery of exactly what happened in the past kept me guessing.
•The Writing and plot of the story.

Things I didn’t Love:
•The book felt long to me. Like it could have been condensed.
•The ending. Without any spoilers I felt like the ending could have been a little more exciting and less convenient.

I liked this one and for it was entertaining but didn’t blow me away. Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins Canada for the ARC.

The Personal Assistant comes out November 29, 2022.

I found this book to be a bit predictable. The premise was interesting, a personal assistant that disappears right as posts start showing up that incriminate the woman she worked for? I thought there would be at some point a twist I didn’t expect, but the book ended up being very predictable. I found the twist to be obvious from the start. I think there was hope for the book, but ultimately it just didn’t give me the satisfaction I was quite looking for.

You could not give me enough free stuff to get me to live the life of Unapologetically Alex. While Alex is riding high with a million followers, her family is looking for the ejection seats. Her self-made millionaire husband Patrick has his own TV gig as a financial guru. Her thirteen-year-old twins want to live their own lives out of Mommy's spotlight. It all blows up one day with a cringe-worthy post that does not promote her brand. Meanwhile her personal assistant is missing. The two have to be connected, right? Now the trolls are out in full force. The fallout is horrendous. Belle gives us a compelling narrative with dual POVs that it takes a bit to connect. There is much more to this whole fiasco than you might at first assume. The pace drags a bit in the middle and there seemed to be a good amount of unreasonable dilly-dallying, but still a four-star read for me. Reminded me of Chloe Cates Is Missing by Mandy McHugh.

I love Kimberly Belle books so I could not wait to read this one. The first half of the book I was totally thinking that this would be a 5 star. I was hooked into the story and when I thought I had it figured out…boom…another twist. Alex is a social media influencer and I found her character hard to cheer for. A controversial post of hers goes viral and the aftermath sends her family into a downward spiral. AC, (the assistant from Hades), Patrick, (the devoted husband) and a set of 12 year old twins get caught in the crossfire. The ending of the book felt rushed and even a bit confusing to read. I felt like Belle got tired and just wrapped it on up. I had higher hopes but it kept me entertained. 3.5 stars

I love it when a book completely proves me wrong. I went into this book and started reading it really feeling like it was lackluster. This was simply a case of me truly not giving it a chance. This book takes off pretty quickly when you hit the second or third chapter and it’s the husband and you know he’s lying. Alex is very much a carbon copy of all the social media influencers you see on Instagram with their painfully pristine white cabinets, perfectly laid throw blankets, and impressively dressed children. Included in this novel of suspense was a stark reminder why putting so much of your personal life on social media is not only self-absorbed, but unsafe. Alex’s decision to publicize so much of her life was a huge issue for her daughters and her husband. In an instant Alex goes from being admired instalebrity to a hated fraud when a hateful post is made on her account that she swears she didn’t make. In the midst of this post, her assistant is missing, and someone is trying to ruin her life. Things keep being leaked about her family, doctored voice recordings and pictures, a dead body turns up, and there’s a secret and an affair that aren’t adding up. This book takes us on a journey of the bad side of social media, the lies we tell to protect the ones we love, and how nothing, absolutely nothing is what you think. Another stellar book by Kimberly Belle. Thank you to netgalley and Harlequin for this ARC!

Kimberley Belle does it again in this fast moving thriller! Alex is a social media influencer who’s life starts spiralling out of control after controversial posts are added to her Instagram account. Alex, who’s main platform is kindness and compassion and balancing family life has to deal with the fallout of the posts, as death threats and cyber bullying ramp up. Mysteriously, her assistant, AC has disappeared but things keep happening around her home, her business office and threats made against her twin daughters. Alex’s husband stands by her side….but all is not what it appears. Told from multiple POVs and timelines, this thriller pulls you in quickly and holds you there. As the book started to wrap-up, the story came together with added twists and turns. Definitely a recommendation from me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion. 4-⭐️

Belle is a best-selling American author of many psychological thrillers including "My Darling Husband", "Dear Wife" and "Stranger in the Lake". This new release is another in the same genre and features a social media influencer. When a controversial post that she has no memory of making goes viral, the trolls come out, her sponsors bail and her life explodes. When she turns to her personal assistant for help and advice, she is no where to be found. Then the threats start coming in. This is fun read and a good recommendation for fans of the genre.

A quick and easy read. Alex Hutchinson is a social media Influencer w/ a perfect-looking life. Her husband is amazing and her twin girls are adorable. However one evening, after hitting 1 million followers, Alex's life is blown up by a viral post that she didn't create. Coincidentally, her personal assistant, A.C., disappears amid the blow-up of Alex's life. And then the trolls start threatening and posting and it starts to look more and more like the personal assistant is guilty of sabotaging Alex.
Told in different POVs, it's easy to piece together the story Belle has created. No real surprises once you get to the meat of the plot.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for this e-arc.*

While reading The Personal Assistant, the main thought running through my head was "OMG!!!!" This was such a suspenseful and terrifying story the entire way through. It is definitely one of Kimberly Belle's best! It makes me glad that the only Instagram posts I make are for books...

The plot really had me guessing the entire time. I kept thinking I knew what was going on, but then something else would happen to change that belief. I enjoyed the three different perspectives and didn't know who was the real victim at times.

This novel speaks volumes about today's cancel culture. I read it right around the time a certain celebrity was being cancelled for actually saying something horrible. In this novel, all the outcry is over something that may not actually be what Alex said. However, it's still incredibly stressful to receive all that abuse online and then have it stretch out to affect her family too. Plus, there is even more happening right in front of her face...

I read an advanced copy and felt like there was some information missing, but I may have just overlooked it because I was so wrapped up in other parts of the mystery. I even asked the author about it when I was done and she cleared things up for me. So I'm sure that the final publication has everything right where it should be.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, add this one to your TBR right away (available November 29th)! I have been recommending it to those who are looking for a suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat, can't-put-it-down novel.

Movie casting suggestions:
Alex: Odette Annable
Patrick: Brennan Elliott
AC: Peyton List
Gigi/Penelope: Bailey Skodje
Detective Bennett: Clea DuVall
Kathi: Chloe Webb
Shannon: Sadie Stanley

This is a decent read--as a reminder 3 stars means "liked it". There are a couple of good twists that I didn't see coming, but mostly I figured it all out ahead of time. Will I remember it in a couple of weeks? Probably not, but it provided me with entertainment while I was reading.

The book alternates between three points of view: Instagram influencer Alex, her husband Patrick, and Anna Claire. It opens with Alex waking up the morning after a drunken celebration for reaching a million followers. A scathing post is up on Alex's account, skewering a very popular young celebrity--the opposite of the positivity her account typically promotes. The trolls are out in full force. Alex doesn't remember posting anything, and her personal assistant, AC, is nowhere to be found. It quickly becomes apparent that everyone is hiding something and it could turn deadly.

Although this is a fast paced read, I honestly did not care about any of the characters. None of them seemed authentic, and the ending of the book wrapped up too quickly. I still had some questions in the end that weren't answered. There are also a lot of similarities here in this book to her previous book My Darling Husband--as I was reading I started feeling like I had been there, done that with this plot.

Overall, it's worth a read for the entertainment value and a couple of twists, just not very memorable.

Unfortunately, this is not my favorite book from the author. While I love the concept of social media gone wrong after a bad post goes viral followed up by a missing assistant, I truly detested the MCs. Its clear early on that Alex is written to be an unlikable character but my personal preference is to avoid characters like this. There’s just something about them that always rubs me the wrong way. That’s not the authors fault and doesn’t mean this won’t be someone else’s favorite book of the year, it’s just my preference when it comes to characters and reading. These types of narrators always leave me feeling pretty “blah” about the book. Aside from my dislike for the characters this is definitely binge worthy! Readers who enjoy domestic suspense and mystery will plow through this fast paced read in no time!

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙:
• Domestic Suspense
• Fast Paced Plots
• Books that are relevant to today’s world

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐

Honestly I just couldn’t get into this one. It didn’t suck me in and I wound up DNF’ing it at about 20%. Just wasn’t for me.

Well written domestic thrillers are definitely my jam. And Kimberly Belle's The Personal Assistant hit the reading spot in all the right ways. Morally ambiguous characters, a game of cat and mouse and an exploration of social media culture and how our virtual lives can derail our real life existence.

Alex's carefully crafted Instagram life starts unravelling overnight because of one problematic post she can't even remember writing. As her followers and fans start turning on her, she is not the only one affected by the blow back. Her husband and twin daughters are also caught up in the social media storm. And where is her assistant, AC, who also seemed to have vanished overnight? And how come Alex never realized she doesn't know anything about AC? As police investigation turns the spotlight on Alex and her husband, long buried secrets just might refuse to stay buried.

This is the kind of book I love curling up with on cold winter nights. A hot cup of tea and hours of uninterrupted reading. It was one of those "just one more chapter" kind of reads for me. Suspenseful, entertaining and a great winter escape from reality. I'll definitely be tackling Kimberly Belle's backlist after this one. If you are a fan of the genre and appreciate the reading journey as much as the destination then I definitely recommend this one.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Killer Crime Club and HarperCollins Canada for gifting me an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was a compelling thriller about an influencer whose life is turned upside down by a single post that she does not recall making.

Alex is a popular influencer, regularly posting stories about her life with her seemingly perfect family, her husband Patrick and her twin daughters. Thanks to her growing following and sponsorships, she has made influencing her job, and hired a personal assistant, AC, to work with her. One day, Alex's life is thrown into chaos when a controversial post appears on her account that she has no memory of making -- and AC is nowhere to be found. As the impacts of the post continue to reverberate in the lives of Alex, her husband, and her daughters, the police seem just as suspicious of Alex and her husband as any of the possible suspects, including AC, who may be responsible for the post or the subset threats they face. With her life seemingly falling apart, Alex no longer knows who she can trust ... or if her life will ever be the same.

This was a highly engaging novel. I was fully absorbed by the novel's mystery, and the author did an excellent job of keeping the reader on their toes throughout the story.

Highly recommended!

A Slow-Burn Story Told From Three Perspectives
SUMMARY
After a night celebrating the success of her influencer blog, Alex wakes to find her world has turned upside down. After posting a sensational blog post, her followers turned against her. Trolls are making death threats, and her private information is being revealed on social media. And making matters worse, AC, Alex’s assistant who has access to all of Alex’s personal information, has gone missing. When a dead body shows up in Alex’s carriage house, both Alex and her husband, Patrick, become the focus of the police’s attention

REVIEW
THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT turns an influencer’s life into a nightmare. Best-selling author Kimberly Belle explores the dark side of social media and keeps you guessing until the end.

The idea for Belle’s story came from her experience as an author and walking a fine line between sharing and sharing too much. In a recent interview, she said, “one wrong word can blow up in ways you don’t always anticipate, all of which got me thinking….” She continues, “what if people on the receiving end of these posts don’t have the best of intentions.”

The slow-burn story is written in alternating perspectives between Alex, her husband Patrick, and AC, the missing personal assistant. Adding more complexity, the writing goes back and forth in time, revealing the backstory of the personal assistant. The ending, once we finally got there, was rushed and uninspired.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher November 29, 2022
Published Park Row
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Another bestseller by Kimberly Belle, The Personal Assistant explores how easily the digital world can be used to turn against someone when a mommy blogger’s life gets turned upside down. While Alex is trying to deal with the repercussions of the digital fallout, she discovers her assistant has gone missing and quickly begins to question her assistants motives and ability to ruin her life.
Written in alternating perspectives between Alex, her husband, and a mysterious AC, The Personal Assistant keeps the reader’s on their toes trying to figure out the missing pieces of the story.
Highly recommended. Great read.
* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Park Row in exchange for my honest review