I really enjoyed this one because it kept me guessing throughout the entire book. This is why I don’t join dating sites….I’ve read too many crime fiction books and watched too many true crime series and I’m just too freaked out by stories like this! I was, however, a little disappointed in the ending. Even though it surprised me, I felt it was rushed and then left me hanging with the hope of a sequel or series.

When Mia Anderson, who is used to flying under the radar mostly unnoticed, receives a note saying “You look beautiful today” she is very confused. That note is just the beginning as her secret admirer “Adam” begins texting her with suggestions for how she should dress or wear her hair. In attempt to appease him and keep his attention, she follows his advice. As time progresses, she is totally caught up with this person that she’s never met. Then, something terrible happens and Mia beings to question everything. The story evolves into a cat and mouse game as things begin to spin out of control and Mia tries to absolve her self of any wrongdoing.

This books premise was so intriguing and promising. However, I feel that it underdelivered on that promise. For me, it was a little slow and some of the events were hard to buy into. A lot
of the twists I had worked out before they were revealed. It was still decent overall. If the plot seems interesting to you, I’d recommend trying it out for yourself and seeing if you like it!

Thank you to NetGalley + Thomas & Mercer for the ARC. Pub date was 6/1/23, so it is now available for purchase.

This book follows Mia, a 30-something woman who works in a library with her best friend Jack. Her other best friend is Jess, who is a successful magazine column writer and a trust fund recipient. She wants Mia to go on a dating website so she can write about it. Mia ends up on the site and connects with Adam, who tells her she is beautiful, but scared to be herself.

The story is told in flash backs and present day, and opens with a death, we just don’t know who it is. The book goes back in time to introduce you to the characters and get their motivations.

This one about 45% of the way through I figured out who the killer was. The jealousy was palpable. Also, the main character was kind of naive and vulnerable. She talked a lot about being invisible and it did get a bit tiresome. I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I felt like it had potential but the ending was pretty awful.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for the DRC!

Mia is okay with being invisible; it's how she feels most comfortable. She just wants to live her life and do her job. Sometimes, it makes her sad to realize that even the people who see her every day don't know her at all, but it's still her choice.

Her best friend, Jess, is the complete opposite and invites Mia to join a project creating a profile on the hottest new dating site. At first, Mia is hesitant, but she agrees to read some messages and share her experiences so that Jess can write an article about them.

Things are going well until something strange happens: someone notices her in real life, not just online. A note surprises her, saying "You look beautiful today". At first, she has no idea who sent it. More messages are sent later. Someone is stalking her, but why? Why is this person suddenly so interested in her after so many years of being invisible to everyone else?

What was supposed to be romantic suddenly feels very, very creepy. Many people get involved - her family, her friends, her boss - and some moments are very triggering. People die. The admirer treats those deaths as gifts to Mia. He says he used to be invisible, just like her, and now he is showing her how to take control of her life, how to be seen, and how to get the things she wants. She doesn't want any of that, but how can she convince him to stop?

The ending was a little predictable; I suspected who it was from the beginning. But I still wanted to know how the author would explain the reasons behind the killer's behavior. It's all very, very creepy.

If you have ever been catfished or stalked, this book can be really triggering. I don't recommend it. But if you enjoy thrillers, this will definitely keep you on your toes for days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the eARC.

Look, if you can really allow your mind to believe the things that are happening in a novel can actually happen you are going to be able to really enjoy this. It was not my favorite thriller I've ever read, but I enjoyed it overall.

A Secret Admirer's Deadly Game is a gripping psychological suspense that had me hooked from start to finish. The mysterious notes and twisted cat-and-mouse dynamics kept me on edge throughout. This thrilling read is perfect for fans of suspenseful page-turners.

I was instantly pulled to read this book when I read the premise and found out it was a stalker story but this one definitely exceeded expectations!
Mia is an invisible girl who works as a librarian. She likes to keep to herself and severely lacks confidence. Her best friend, Jess, on the other hand is complete opposite personality. She signs Mia up for a dating app to get her to open up. Mia also has a great friendship with Jack, her work friend and confides in him.
Despite earlier reservations, Mia is curious to try out the dating app and has a match, At the same time, weird things start happening in her life - a stranger staring at her in the library and creepy notes left for her when she is grabbing coffee - things that don't make her feel so invisible anymore.

The build up of the book was promising, at 25% mark the spookiness started creeping in and things got really twisty at 50% mark. The story got really unhinged at points and delivered all the promised creepy vibes. The pacing and the plot were great, kept me hooked reading late into the night. The author really did well with building up the suspense and keeping the reader hooked. The only downside was that I was irked by some things that the protagonist did, maybe that was the intended but it turned me off a bit. The character aspect prevented this from being a 5star for me. But if you are looking for an unhinged ad compulsive staler story, look no further!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Eenee, meenee, minee, mo…Which one of the people closest to Mia Anderson is hiding a massive amount of secrets from her? Which one is secretly turning her whole life upside down? It was nice to be seen a little bit, for a little while, but then admiration turns into control and all Mia wants to do is to go back. Only she’s no longer in control of her own life.

You Look Beautiful Tonight was an okay read: it was diverting and engaging in a lot of ways, but the ending was one of the worst I’ve read recently in a thriller and a lot of the characters (including Mia, our protagonist) were written either too flat or problematically.

The most entertaining aspect of this book was the way Mia (and by extension, us readers) constantly examines the motivations, honesty, actions, and words of everyone in her life out of the paranoia created by a man she met online who seems to know everything about her even though they’ve never met. She can’t figure out how he’s getting all this information about her and her life. Is it her bestie? Is it her closest co-worker? Who knows?

It’s the characterizations, character development, and the ending that bring the book down to a 3.5 star rating and make the book just an okay read. Mia is treated like a dowdy librarian who, if she removes her glasses, lets her hair down, and starts wearing pretty clothes she’s all of a sudden worth attention and is taking control of her life. That’s problematic to me. Having her male co-worker and good friend approach her more than once about maybe trying dating again during work hours is problematic. Portraying her as a spoiled brat when she doesn’t get the promotion she was up for instead of maturely filing a complaint with HR is problematic.

The characters are all just a little problematic.

Would I say I recommend this book? Not really, but I’m not going to tell anyone not to read it. Like I said, it’s engaging enough, but be ready to suspend disbelief.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All opinions, thoughts, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Domestic Thriller/Kindle Unlimited/KU/Murder ThrillerPsychological Fiction/Psychological Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Women’s Fiction

<i>Digital ARC was provided by Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer.</i>

Suffering from a 'am I reading the right genre' at first, but gave me a bit of reward in the end.

<b>Synopsis</b>
Mia was invisible, that was what she told herself. She only had two close friends: Jess and Jack, who didn't like each other. When one day, an admirer made himself known to her, Mia was at a crossroad, keep being her invisible self, or opened up more. The decision was made for her when a murder was involved.

<b>What I like</b>
The writing. I don't think I've ever read anything by Jones before, but her writing was quite engrossing. And to piggyback this point, I think it's more suited towards another genre.

<b>What I don't like</b>
I need my mystery to be fast-paced to keep me interested. It didn't happen here. It felt like reading a drama with a hint of thriller. Also, the way [redacted] talked was like a whole self-help book I almost cried for the ridiculousness.

<b>Final thought</b>
It was still a good experience from others digital arcs I requested. Although disappointing at some degree, I enjoyed the plot and the surprise.

This book is full of twists and turns. Mystery and suspense. With a no way at the end. Book started a little slow, but still kept me turning page to page. I had to know what was happening and going to happen. It was creepy. But all stalker books are. I enjoyed this book and thought it was pretty good.

Fast paced thriller about a librarian with a secret admirer. When Mia gets a mysterious note telling her she looks beautiful she is baffled. As someone who prides herself on being invisible, Mia is dumbfounded about who her admirer is, and when the note becomes texts with suggestions about her appearance, she is even more confused. Could her admirer be someone she knows or a dangerous stranger? Mysterious, impossible to put down thriller.

Thank you to #NetGalley, L. R. Jones and Thomas & Mercer Publishers for the opportunity to read an arC of You Look Beautiful Tonight. Wow…unexpected thriller. It started with the present day but most of the novel was described as ‘in the past’ which set the groundwork. It was a fast-paced read with believable characters. 4/5 stars. #NetGalley #L.R.Jones. #Thomas&MercerPublishers

This starts off real slow, I almost put it down a few times. Once you hit 40% it picks up and I couldn’t put it down. This is such a messed up story and that is right up my ally.

As we have come to expect, LRJ has a home run on her hands. I will fully admit that it took me a little bit to get into this book. I honestly wasn’t looking for a thriller when I picked it up (my own fault I know). But WHOA, when it gets going, it really gets going! I couldn’t put it down! The heroine, Mia, was terrifyingly relatable for me. She’s an introvert at heart, living her life trying to be invisible to the world around her. She has her two besties, her parents, a job she loves, a boss who gets her. What more could she want? Until her friend Jess asks her to help with an article that Jess is writing on online dating. Reluctantly Mia agrees, and now, she’s seeing secrets everywhere. Everyone seems to be hiding something from her. But she’s also hiding something from them…a new man, Adam, who sees her despite her best efforts. But as she starts changing more of herself, she realizes that it’s not just a game of dress up for Adam. And when people around her start turning up dead as gifts, she has to figure out who Adam is before it’s too late.

This book has all of the twists and turns that fans of Lisa Renee Jones know and love. It falls definitively into the thriller category, not romance or romantic suspense. Although the hopeless romantic in me sees hearts and flowers at the end. Or was that just me?! I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for somewhere to start with this author that doesn’t want a multi-book series. Great representation of her writing but a stand-alone which she doesn’t usually do.

YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL TONIGHT starts out innocently but soon builds into a thriller that has you trying to read faster.

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Complete review: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=82167

A twisty novel about Mia, who finds herself first stalked by and then in a relationship with Adam, who seems like a good guy. At first,. Then the bodies turn up and now Mia's got questions. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This has hints of You and it might seem way over the top at times but it is a page turner that will be good for the beach or travel.

Edge of your seat, action packed, emotionally thrilling roller-coaster journey filled with danger, intrigue, heart racing twists, engaging charters and witty banter. Great reading from beginning to end.

In general, I try not to be a hater, but oh my lord, this was bad. It was so bad it became good, in its own way. It was very entertaining; I will give it that. But the characters were absolute cliches, there was so much filler that I ended up skimming over, and the twist, while it made sense, also made me laugh. This book made me laugh more often than was intended, I'm sure.
Spoilers Ahead:
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The convenient FBI friend she just happened to run into, the "black ops" blackmailing Mia into wearing her hair down and changing from glasses to contacts, the cutscenes from "The Present" that came up at random and added nothing to the story. Also, explaining Jess's actions away as stemming from a mental illness is so tired and tasteless. We learn at the end of the story that she stopped going to therapy and went off her meds, and now she's having people killed. It's never explained what sort of illness she has, and on top of that, we are told that she was molested as a child by her father, which, given that she's the villain of the story, has troubling implications.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher of this book for providing this eARC.

Shortly after this novel begins, the main character is prompted by her friend to post a romance ad; ultimately, the replies are predictably mundane and dreadful, however one is intriguing.

From that point, things rapidly start going predictably squirrely and out-of-control, although I was shocked by the "big reveal". Brings up some interesting points about those who chose to be "invisible" versus those who chose to be seen and heard.

Ultimately an excellent entertaining read!

Until next time...
Be careful about who you let into your inner circle.

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a real slog. Slow slow slow and lots of filler, agonizing descriptions and stilted dialogues, not to mention threads that were spun and then vanished - the blurbed psychological suspense was a complete miss, and the thrill for me was confined to finishing it and being able to put it aside. Some of this could be compensated with better editing, but overall I doubt the premise and the author's perspective could carry even an edited, shorter story.