We loved having this one as our bookclub pick! Excellent read and such a fun author! Lots of twists and turns and gasping moments. A real page turner!

This book might be considered a “mob thriller”, but it was way more psychological than I expected.

There are 4 main characters in this novel, and a few side characters too, yet none of them felt one-dimensional. I was really impressed by how the author fleshed out each one.

There was also a good amount of action and twists that I wasn’t expecting at all!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was masterfully written, the pace didn’t let up the entire time, and the characters are memorable!

This suspenseful thriller has a gripping first chapter and I was hooked immediately. I love when a story is told from multiple viewpoints and I think that approach worked really well in this book. There are plenty of twists that kept me turning the pages and I like the author’s writing style. The epilogue is beautiful and I love when a novel lingers in my mind and gives me new things to ponder.

Thank you to #NetGalley for letting me review this ARC.

This is a book in a genre I haven't read much from, and I am pleasantly surprised. I had a bit of a hard time getting into it, with all of the characters being a little too hardcore, and there being a little too much violence and too much let's call it weariness, in a way that I just didn't know how to connect with. But about a third of the way through I found myself drawn in.

We follow several different character, all with ties to the Winters crime family. The story begins shortly after the girlfriend of the head of the crime family makes a run for it with another man, and of course must be found and punished. Several hitmen are sent after them, and one of them is one of the characters we follow throughout the novel - Lucky, who has been working for the family for years but are really quite done with it and is trying to find away to leave.

Lucky was by far the most fun character to follow, and the one with the most original storyline. As I said, it took me some time to get into the novel and part of it was that I had a hard time figuring out the people in it. Are the characters believable? I honestly couldn't say. But after a while I think I stopped caring, and went along with it - much thanks to Lucky's strange and rather sad life.

When She Left
Author E.A. Aymar
Available now!

Thank you, @getredprbooks, @eaaymur, #thomas&mercer, and @netgalley, for my gifted e- copy and physical copy of this book!

Wow! This is my second novel by Aymar and now my favorite! This one is a crazy cat and mouse thriller about a desperate woman who left her sketchy criminal boyfriend for an innocent photographer. So what do you think of when you hear mob/ organized crime? Violence, violence, and a little more violence inflicted upon, typically by ruthless cold- blooded killers, right? Yes! A little outside my typical read, but I was rooting for Melissa and Jake the whole time and very quickly decided who I liked and who needed to go!

This suspenseful, twisty psychological thriller kept me glued to my Kindle until I finished it. It is well-written, with nicely placed twists and turns that kept me guessing and flipping the pages. I highly recommend it.

Melissa falls hard for photographer Jake…but there’s one problem. She already has a boyfriend, Chris, who is a star of his family’s crime organization. Chris isn’t going to let Melissa go easily, and turns to his friend, Lucky, (one of his family’s professional assassins), to track Melissa down. Lucky has his own problems; he has managed to keep his profession a secret from his wife, but now that she has found out, he’s desperate to change his ways. So he will help Chris in exchange for his freedom.

It’s been awhile since I have read a crime thriller so I was eager to dig into this one! Told in multiple points of view, this was a fun cat-and-mouse story filled with lots of action. The various perspectives showed just how the organized crime lifestyle affected everyone involved. It reminded me a bit of The Sopranos, which is one of my favorite TV shows. If you enjoy crime thriller/organized crime type reads, you will like this one!

“When She Left” released February 6, 2o24. Thank you to Getredpr, Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC! This review will behsared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

A young couple fleeing a criminal family and then real estate agent turned assassin trying to find them.

Being familiar with the setting always makes a good book even more fun. I loved recognizing the locations, as it takes place near me in Maryland. I enjoyed the story. It has some very unique and interesting characters; so unique they had me laughing out loud at times. This book was packed with action.

When She Left comes out 2/6.

This book was a fast paced cat and mouse tale of a pair of young lovers running from her mafia boyfriend. Told through the points of view of several different people involved in the chase, it kept my attention throughout. It was a good poolside read.

This is my first book by this author and it certainly will not be my last. I was looking for any character that I could like. This is a story that made you literally want to shake some of the characters.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙛𝙩 by E. A. Aymar is a high octane, action packed, organized crime thriller, with a dash of grim humor. If you enjoy a mob boss/mafia read, you won’t want to miss this one!

This was a wild ride, where I truly never knew what was coming next!

There are multiple POVs: Melissa, on the run with new love interest Jake; Jake, aspiring photographer and said love interest; Lucky, realtor by day, assassin by night; and Ruby, member of the organized crime family, the Winters.

If you can keep up with this dynamic cast of characters, and don’t mind graphic violence, pick up 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙛𝙩 today!

⚠️ As always, check your trigger warnings.

Thank you @getredpr and @eaaymar for the #gifted copy.

A young woman leaving a boyfriend who heads up a mob like organization to be with her new love runs into so many threatening situations seems like a perfect catalyst for a thriller. There were many characters to figure out and four different points of view, along with so many connections between characters. At times I was so busy figuring out their connections it seemed to detract from the storyline. Although I felt some sympathy for Lucky at times, the other characters never seemed to come alive for me.
I appreciated the inclusion of mob “behavior” as my knowledge comes strictly from the movies. The Winters’s extensive organization was very scary to read about. There seemed to be an endless supply of hit men working for the Winters…scariest of all was Ruby.
So many topics touched on in this read that make you think what if…. The ending left me with questions.
Many thanks to E. A. Aymar, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this recently published book.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It was full of action and so fast paced. It pulled me in from the beginning and was gripping until the end. This was my first book by this author, and I loved the twists and turns. After reading the book description, I thought this would be a book about a mob/crime family that I wouldn't be able to get into, but boy was I wrong! There were multiple POVs that I was able to follow easily. A very different kind of thriller that I truly loved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Melissa Cruz finds herself in a major predicament. She is seeing Chris who is in a crime organization, but when Jake comes along, she finds herself fleeing a life with Chris. She has feared Chris and his ways for years, and he is not going to let Melissa go so easily.

Chris hires an assassin, Lucky Wilson, but it comes with strings. Chris wants out of this life! Both Lucky and Melissa want a new way of life. Can they both get what they want without more destruction? Will they do what Chris wants or will they form a new plan?

A cat and mouse thriller where you will be rooting for the characters. Can one truly survive a crime organization? Recommend this novel, out today February 6, 2024.

I was pulled in from the beginning. Right away I could feel Melissa’s fear even without her backstory. The writing is simple but gives the reader a great sense of how the characters are feeling as well as the atmosphere surrounding them. I liked how the past was revealed through the different pov’s. I did enjoy Melissa and Lucky’s pov the most. The others slowed down the pace a little, but they were still important to the story’s plot. The action scenes were easy to follow, and I loved how it kept me on edge with the short alternating chapters.

Thank you @netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the gifted copy.

The book's suspenseful plot and well-crafted characters made for an intense and satisfying read. A story full of secrets and lies. It’s one you won’t want to miss.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this read. This book was quite good. I haven’t read a mob or criminal family book in a long time and this was okay in that aspect. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.

Brilliant characterizations, splashes of violence, and unexpected laugh-out-loud moments propel this outstanding crime novel. Set in motion when two very different people take very different routes to free themselves from a crime family, When She Left moves like a speeding bullet, and I was delighted to be carried along on the journey.

When Melissa Cruz decides to leave her boyfriend, Chris Winters, for Jake, the photographer Chris hired to take pictures of her, it isn't as easy as it sounds: the Winterses are a crime family and Chris sends his goons/assassins after Melissa and Jake. One of these is Lucky Wilson, who is having trouble focusing on the job since he is worried his wife is cheating on him, but the Winterses have ears and eyes everywhere, and Lucky isn't the only assassin after Melissa and Jake. I found this book hard to put down as each chapter moved from one point of view to another in a way that I had to know what the next person was seeing or thinking as Melissa and Jake try to stay ahead of those hunting them. If you have trouble keeping track of characters in a multiple POV story, this might not be for you. If you enjoy a fast-paced thriller with lots of twists, you should definitely check this book out!

In this exciting thriller by E.A. Aymar, a young couple faces danger when they decide to run away together. Melissa falls for a photographer named Jake, but the problem is she already has a boyfriend involved in a criminal family. When Chris, her boyfriend, wants to find her, he turns to Lucky Wilson, an assassin from his family. However, Lucky has his own issues with a failing marriage and panic attacks. He agrees to the job if it means leaving the killing life behind.

As the story unfolds, the characters face challenges in their pursuit of something real and meaningful. The tension rises as they navigate through danger and the complexities of their lives. The narrative explores the themes of survival and unexpected partnerships, making it a thrilling read. The characters' struggles and the twists in the plot keep the reader on the edge, revealing that in this dangerous game, an unlikely alliance might be the only way for them to survive.

I just reviewed When She Left by E.A. Aymar. #WhenSheLeft #NetGalley