This wasn't my favorite Kiersten Modglin. I didn't connect with the main character at all. I thought it was odd that she traveled with her 3 male best friends and didn't realize they wouldn't have enough rooms for the 4 of them. (They made a reservation, right??) Also, I hate the nickname Blondie, and it was used heavily throughout the book. (I recognize that that's my issue, not the author's.) The typical Modglin twists were there. It wasn't terrible and it was nice and short, so it was probably still worth the read.

Kiersten Modglin seems to never be short on ideas, especially the original ones. This was a little different from what I’m used to reading by this author, and by that I mean we had some romance throughout this one. The plot itself had very few twists that weren’t predictable for me but I was surprised with how it ended. It was so suspenseful and kept me guessing the entire time. I loved the characters and how everything came together in the end.

This author never disappoints. I read a lot of mysteries and this author always keeps me guessing. I enjoyed the dual timelines that played a part in this book.

Instead of the happiest day of her life, Colbie's wedding day ends in tragedy. On the would be wedding anniversary/anniversary of her fiancé's death, Colbie and her friends take a weekend trip to get her mind off of the loss. She brings along letters that wedding guests left for the bride and groom to read, but finds a disturbing letter among them and the weekend turns into something very different than planned.

I think this is the 2nd Kiersten Modglin book I've read & I will absolutely continue to read her work. In general, most thrillers aren't unique in structure and a lot of times, how they play out as well. There has been so much hype around "the twist" that everyone expects it now. Sometimes you guess it, sometimes you don't. Either way, thrillers are enjoyable for me. There will always be something I didn't catch or something interesting about how everything is pieced together. What I thought was really interesting about this book were the characters and relationships - specifically the relationships of each male friend with Colbie. There were little breadcrumbs of information about the characters throughout the book that helped really build to the end.

I can honestly say that what I expected for the ending was not what happened & that's what makes thrillers interesting!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Kiersten Modglin for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kiersten Modglin is one of my very favorite thriller writers, and I absolutely adored this one! I didn’t wanna put it down!

Colleen Chi-Girl
Bookshelves/tags:. 2022, audio, contemporary, crime-mysteries, netgalley, read, women-centered, thriller

I REALLY enjoyed this thriller!! You think you know what's going on or what may happen, and you're just wrong.

I received this ARC from NetGalley, the talented author, Kiersten Modglin (who I am adding to my list), and the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for my honest review. I am very grateful for this advanced copy because it was not only a fast read, but I couldn't put it down! In fact, my AirPods died at 1:00 am this morning just ten minutes before the ending! The tension could be cut with a samurai (tantō) knife!

So it begins with a young woman, Colbie Moore, who loses Phil, her fiance and future husband.... it happens on their wedding day. YES, on their wedding day. They ruled that Phil's heart-attack and immediate death were accidental.

I thought it seemed overly dramatic for the beginning, but yet, still, very interesting..... and I easily went with my suspension of disbelief and glad I did.

Fast forward a year later to what should have been Colbie and Phil's 1st wedding anniversary. Colbie is going away for a long weekend for a vacation/celebration with 3 of her best guy-friends (2 of her's and 1 of Phil's). She is still really grieving for Phil and this huge hole in her life. As Colbie prepares for her long weekend away, she brings the box of letters given to her on her wedding day from all their guests. The letters of course were meant for the bride and groom on their 1 year anniversary, but Colbie and her boy pals —Miles, James, and Eric— open them together instead. As an extroverted-introvert, I can't imagine doing that!!! Again, a bump I didn't expect.

PET PEEVE: Eric never calls Colbie by her actual name - he calls her "Blondie" instead.....(YUKKKKKKKKKKKK). That "name" would have been removed if I ruled the book world and it reminded me of the 1970's...when I was called Blondie when guys were trying to pick me up.

I was sad there were no gal pals, but that might be life... all of them semi-celebrating the death of her husband... or the wedding that never happened. Again, I went with it.

Throughout this thrilling thriller we, along with Colbie, learn about some missing information about her fiance, Phil, his unscrupulous family, and other secrets that will help make sense of the wedding day. Hang onto your seat!

Subhadra Newton, the terrific narrator, kept the audiobook thriller thrilling, the pace moving rapidly without losing translation, and included her doing all of the character voices. The audio ended abruptly without "The End" or "brought to you by", or a prelude by the author, which could have been my copy or probably due to poor reception in my hilly area. But I clearly got the ending and so will you.

It's uniquely interesting, a little creepy/scary at times and you surely don't know who to trust or what'll happen next.

Thanks again for this advanced company!

Meh... Not my favorite of Modglin. This was a "just ok" domestic thriller. I was not impressed with this one like I have been with her others. It just seemed too far fetched and completely unbelievable. I listened to the audiobook, which was done really well.

*Thank you @dreamscape_media for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Amazon/Goodreads because less than 4 stars or DNF.*

I have read so many of Kiersten Modglin’s books and have generally enjoyed them all. This one, however, was not one of them. It didn’t have the normal twists and turns that I expect with her novels. Maybe if you are new to the thriller genre, you would enjoy this, but unfortunately this just did not do it for me.

This book has an interesting premise but it gets slow half way through. I think I was expecting more from this author. The twist and the ending had me shaking my head.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was one of the better mysteries/thrillers i have read all year, had me guessing until the end!

THis started great, but halfway through it got a little slow. And the ending was disappointing. I did like the narrator though.

This was entertaining, but a little chaotic for me. It felt really unrealistic. That being said, I listened to it in about a day and enjoyed it, and thought the narration was great!

3.5

This was an easy and quick thriller read, but if you don’t love some plot holes, you might not love this one.

There were some strange elements to this storyline. A girl’s fiancé dies on their wedding day, and she decides to take a trip on the one year anniversary of his death with three of his/their closest friends. The room sharing was strange and felt forced. I think a more realistic scenario would’ve been that Colbie would have her own room, and the guys would figure out something on their own, not passing her off to each boy each night. It was creepy.

The ending was a tad rushed and wasn’t extremely fulfilling in my opinion.

This was just an okay audiobook. It was definitely not a thriller, but more of a mystery. It was slightly entertaining, but failed to hook me. The narrator does a good job bringing the story to life, but I still never felt completely engaged. This wasn’t necessarily a “bad” book, but just wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley for my audiobook.

(3.5)
This was alright. It wasn’t my favorite by the author but since I’ve really enjoyed all her books that’s not to say it’s not still good.
Colbie Moore’s grieving the loss of the man she was meant to marry one year ago. She is now headed out on a weekend away to try to take her mind off the heartache she’s still feeling. She seems to not have female friends (get to this point later in the review) so she goes with her best friends Miles, James, and Eric.
Colbie has a box of letters that were meant to be opened by her and her would have been husband Phil. When she starts reading them she finds a mysterious note from a sender she wasn’t expecting to find in the box. The note sends Colbie down a dark and twisted path as she tries to discover the truth about the life and death of the man she loved. As the mystery begins to slowly unravel she starts to question everyone and everything around her.
The closer she gets to answers the more it becomes apparent that someone has gone to extreme lengths to hide their lies. Now, she has to decide if finding out the truth is worth losing everything she thinks she knows.
I can’t say too much about certain things that happen in the book since it’s a thriller but it’s not bad. I mentioned I would get back to the “no female friends” thing. Obviously that’s not an issue but what is is that apparently “Blondie” is so attractive these friends are also falling all over her and not because she’s grieving. It’s a little bit much with that bit. I really can’t say more without a spoiler but I was getting a tad annoyed with Colbie at times.
Other than that the book is very good. All of the other characters are well written and the story unfolds quite well. I can say I really didn’t see a lot of things happening before they actually happened.
If you like audiobooks this might be one that you’d enjoy listening to. The narrator is absolutely fantastic and gives the story an added pop.

Talk about a fast paced book you can easily read in one sitting. I recommend Modglin to everyone who randomly asks me for a good thriller...especially those who don't read often or are in a slump because I guarantee, you will be hooked to the book with any of hers. This is no exception!

she did it again! she never lets me down. every book gets better and better. the twist was shocking and I really loved the unreliable characters. highly recommend.

I finished it, so it doesn't get 1 star. But I was thoroughly unimpressed, so it gets 2.

The premise is interesting. Colbie and Phil on their wedding day and he's late...yeah, where is Phil? Welp - he's dead. What happened to Phil?

So there's no wedding and instead Colbie mourns and continues to live in the house she shared with Phil, a house owned by his parents. A house she hasn't paid rent for that's owned by not-in-laws who don't really like her much. It's no surprise to the reader that Colbie is told she needs to move out, but it came as quite a shock to her.

On what would have been her first wedding anniversary, Colbie decides to go away for a few days with the box of letters wedding guests wrote to the happy couple and a few friends: James, her BFF; Eric, Phil's BFF; and Miles, a musician at the wedding (I guess he didn't get to play) that no one knew before they booked him (or did they??) but has somehow insinuated himself into a friendship with Colbie.

While reading the letters, they come across one from Phil. It says if they're reading the letter, he's dead. How would he know?!

Back to the weekend away...the rental has 3 bedrooms. But there are four adults, so where is everyone going to sleep??? Well, what makes the most sense is for Colbie to sleep in a different man's room each night. This is where I would have stopped just because it's stupid.

There's sexual tension between the men and Colbie that no one involved could have missed. And why book a 3-bedroom when they needed 4? Why even was Miles there? Who becomes so close to a person they didn't even know one year before. What about the rest of the band? These questions and more made me shake my head.

There wasn't a thriller aspect to this book. What happened to Phil took a backseat to the weird relationships, to the point that I didn't care any more.

I listened to the audiobook and narrator Subhadra Newton was very good. Her voices for the male characters was easy to take and not annoying. Good narration wasn't enough to save a silly story, though.

My thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscapes media for the Advance Listener Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mediocre plot about a woman's husband-to-be dying on her wedding day. On what would have been her first wedding anniversary, she goes away with her 3 best male friends to read the letters people wrote at the wedding. She then discovers that there are more secrets surrounding his death. The narrator's voice was very annoying and the plot was really quite far fetched and the listener was left banging their head because of the main character's stupidity.

Another quick, entertaining read by this author. A woman goes away with her friends after her husband dies. While there, she finds a letter from her husband that makes her question everything. She doesn’t know who to trust or what to believe