I absolutely loved this book! I thought it was just so so good. It kept getting better and better. It was so delicious.

It’s Catherine and her husband Tom’s fifth wedding anniversary. To celebrate, he’s taken her to a posh restaurant for a romantic dinner, an extravagance he never bestows on her despite his wealth. As usual, he’s planned every aspect of their evening, making all her choices for her including the dress she’s wearing, what she’ll eat, and even what she’ll drink. Tom’s a man who demands absolute control, especially when it comes to his wife. Yet, as he plies her with terms of endearment and expensive champagne, Catherine senses something off about him. She can’t help but be suspicious.

Even though their night has been magical, their marriage has been anything but. Thinking that maybe he’s cheating on her again, she checks his phone when he steps away from the table. However, who he is texting is the least of the secrets her husband is keeping. On the way home that night, Tom’s erratic driving causes a high-speed collision and the death of a woman in the other car. As the paramedics tend to Catherine, she hears her husband tell the police she’d been the one behind the wheel instead of him. Tom says she’d been drinking, and she caused the death of the woman. Catherine knows he’s lying. But why? What is he hiding?

Fast moving, gripping, and completely unsettling, “The Anniversary” by Cole Baxter is a domestic thriller that explores the terrifying progression of abuse within a marriage. Accurately replicating both physical and psychological abuse, it can be difficult to read at times if you’ve ever been through something similar. Tom’s gaslighting of Catherine is all too realistic. Even though she recognizes his lies, he still manipulates her into second-guessing herself and questioning her memories — to the point that it could cost her her life. In the world of psychological thrillers where nothing is as it seems to be, it’s easy for the reader to be gaslit by Tom too. He repeats his lies so much and so consistently that it’s easy to doubt Catherine’s version of the truth. At least for a little while

“The Anniversary” by Cole Baxter is action-packed and loaded with suspense. Tom’s the monster you expect to jump out from around a corner when he’s not in a scene with Catherine. He’s the psychotic abuser who you wish that you could save Catherine from (either physically or psychologically) whenever he is. This isn’t the twisty, shocking thriller you’re used to. This is a heart-in-your-throat, white-knuckled-at-times story with a heroine you’ll think about for a while after you finish the book. As for Tom? You won’t believe what he’s hiding or all the lies he’s told… and why.

It started off strong and at a steady pace moving from past and present timelines. Catherine’s backstory wasn’t long coming together and it gave a real insight into events in the present day. I was really engaged for the first half of the listen but it went downhill for the second half to the point of unbelievable and just to far fetched and I found it hard to stay engaged. Cole really knows how to write completely despicable characters and Tom is right up there for me. It started strong but unfortunately didn’t keep up the momentum and went too far off course.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to listen to and review #TheAnniversary

The Anniversary just didn't hit the mark for me. I love psychological thrillers that seem like one thing and then pull the rug from under me. That's what I hoped for the deeper I got into this book, but was left so disappointed. It was too predictable and too illogical at the same time. It felt more like reading a soap opera rather than a well-written psychological thriller. I just kept thinking "well, that wouldn't happen" and it took me out of the reading.

Now I can enjoy books with illogical storylines when they're marketed like that or when I'm used to it with the author. I also need the illogical storylines to throw me for a loop or to keep me entertained. With The Anniversary, I was just left frustrated. If it wasn't for reviewing the book, it would have been a DNF.

3.5 ⭐

I enjoyed this book and it kept me wanting to read more to find out what would happen next. My issue with it was that some of it, mainly the whole stand off scenario, felt a little bit far-fetched, and that seemed to take away a little bit of the enjoyment for me.

I really enjoy Cole Baxter's writing and this is my favorite I've read from him in a while. These types of domestic thrillers are my favorite because I spend the entire book routing for the wife to overcome her evil husband. I just loved the female empowerment aspect to this one and thought the addition of Jessica's character was the perfect partner for Catherine. I did think the ending was a bit convenient and anticlimactic but otherwise I enjoyed every aspect of this. This story felt all too familiar coming from a small town myself, so it was easy to relate to the frustration of a corrupted police force and an entire community believing a man with power over the female with proof of the truth. I did not see the ending twist/explanation coming and thought it was a great full circle moment. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just okay. I didn't really care about any of the characters and it wasn't what I thought it would be. Not really what I wanted to be at all.

Five years of love, five years of lies. And so, begins this psychological thriller where nothing is what it seems - and of course a murder!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

This domestic thriller definitely caught you from the beginning...I really wanted to know how the events would unfold in this marriage that seemed doomed from the beginning. I was intrigued to find out which characters were to be trusted or who would turn on whom next. But overall there were no big twists. The wildly unbelievable events didn't shock me but rather sort of bewildered me. Baxter has many books already in this genre so I will try some of his past offerings.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

Wow, what an incredibly gripping, twisted and brilliant story! I was hooked - could not put this one down. If you start this one, prepare to set everything else aside as the story takes you over. Just wow!

I really enjoyed this book. The character development was extensive and made the characters feel real to me. The suspense was high, and it held my interest throughout the entire book. This was my first book by this author, but certainly not my last!

Thanks to NetGalley and the editors for the opportunity to read and review this book.

First, I want to thank Cole Baxter, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

WOWZERS!!!!! Guaranteed this is one anniversary you won't forget! Cole Baxter took his readers on an insanely intense roller coaster ride with a lot of twists and turns reading The Anniversary! You will be glued to your kindle and at the edge of your seat as this is a very fast paced addicting read. It is a book that exceeded all my expectations as it deserves more than a 5 star rating. You must go out and grab this book and put it on top of your TBR list.

Cole has such an eye for detail in his descriptions. There were times when I honestly felt I was in the scene with the characters. So much so that I too felt incredible anxiety during many of the scenes just like Catherine did.

Right away Tom rubbed me the wrong way and as I got deeper into the story we saw his true colors. He was controlling, manipulative, secretive, abusive, reckless, etc! There were times when I started yelling at my Kindle and he irked me so badly!

My heart ached for Catherine as nobody should ever endure what she did. One thing for sure she is a very strong woman and a fighter! So many times I wanted to jump into the book and rescue her.

Cole brings up a lot of very important issues in The Anniversary.

There are so many deep dark secrets around every twist and turn in this book. However, nothing can prepare you for the jaw dropping twist at the end.

The Anniversary by Cole Baxter NEEDS to be made into a Netflix series!! It would be so bingeable!!! It was just incredible!!!

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read this. Catherine and Tom are celebrating their 5 year wedding anniversary (even though she’s 23-do the math and he’s a lot older) when a tragedy hits. Tom isn’t the amazing husband Catherine thought he was. We uncover more and more as the books go on. I struggled with the naive Catherine (makes sense if she’s so young) and couldn’t listen to Tom with manipulation and gaslighting. Cole did a great job creating feelings about the characters so I give it that.

This is my first ARC review for a thriller book, which got me into reading and it did not disappoint!

Catherine and Tom are celebrating their five year anniversary at an upscale restaurant in Cincinatti, OH. When they are on their way home, they get into a car accident and killed a young girl. Catherine wakes up in the hospital to hearing her husband blame her for the crash and for "drinking too much", but Catherine remembers being in the passengers seat on the way home... she wasn't driving. Was Tom trying to frame her? How could he blame her after five years of a loving marriage?

It was VERY easy to hate Tom with all the gaslighting, manipulating and lies that he spewed. Catherine was very gullible and the fact that they were 15 years apart in age, she depended on him. She was 23 when they met and she seems to be very trusting, when she shouldn't be.

This was my first book by Cole Baxter and definitely won't be my last! I'm excited to dive into his back log.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Anniversary is being released tomorrow (4/19/24)

Secrets and lies are the name of the game in Cole Baxter's twist filled book, The Anniversary. This proved to be a fast, dramatic, and dark twisted read.

People celebrate their anniversaries in many ways: some prefer to celebrate them at home and some, like Tom and Catherine, prefer to indulge in a lavish meal at a restaurant. But most make it home safely, but not Tom and Catherine. On the way home, there was a horrible tragic crash. When Catherine wakes up in the hospital, she learns she has been charged with being the driver in an accident which resulted in a fatality. But she wasn't driving and has the bruises to prove it. This is only the beginning as Catherine learns more about her husband, things become more dire, more dangerous, and more twisted.

This book started strongly with a horrible accident, disbelief, blame, lies, secrets, and then with revelations which left Catherine reeling. Cole Baxter knows how to write controlling and despicable characters! I mean seriously, Tom was the worst. Try reading this book and not feeling some strong feelings about his character. Catherine was very young when she first met Tom who is 15 years her senior. She is naive, has little life experience, and is a little too trusting. I felt for her for most of the book, while also wanting to tell her to run for the hills.

This book (and characters) has a lot going on in a short amount of time. There are secrets, gaslighting, lying, manipulation and drama galore in this book. It's entertaining and had me thinking of the show Desperate Housewives while reading due to the involvement of the neighbors in this book.

I had both the audiobook and kindle version of this book. I thought the narrator of the audiobook did a great job bringing the book to life.

3.5 stars

The Anniversary is a psychological thriller that began with a very interesting premise. I was engaged very quickly with the story. However, it wasn’t long before I found the story a bit ridiculous.

You have to suspend all belief of reality for the story to work for you (for example - a fatal car accident where very little investigation was done).

In reality, I don’t think the story was very thrilling. Instead I found it far fetched and almost silly. I rolled my eyes very often as I read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this fast-paced and emotional domestic thriller. I truly didn't want to put this one down and flew through it.

Catherine and Tom are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary at a lovely, expensive restaurant in Cincinnati. Tom's behavior seems a little "off", but she figures he was just in the mood to make the night special. But as they are driving home, things become fatal and Catherine's world is completely flipped upside down.

She's recovering from the accident when she soon realizes she's being painted as the driver. She is so confused and disoriented from the accident, but as time goes on, reality about the danger she is in continues to become apparent.

Soon, she realizes that maybe the lies and manipulation don't end with her marriage. Maybe there's more she doesn't know. Could other's be in danger too? How far does the manipulation go?

This story was truly terrifying when it comes to how far someone will go to gaslight and manipulate not just their partner, but the people around them. My favorite character was Jessica, loved how badass she was and supportive.

My blood was boiling for Tom. The audacity of this man and how far his manipulation goes. Wanted to yell at him!

Loved how helpful and encouraging Detective Sheldon was.

I highly recommend this thriller, especially if you love domestic thrillers like the Housemaid, for example. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to review.

Wow. This had me hooked right from the beginning. It was so intense, fast paced that at times, it had me wondering.

The book is about betrayal, lying and deceit. How it eventually catches up with you but also the turmoil it causes for not only the person lying but others. It was about manipulation and gaslighting (which is a huge topic at the moment). I was gripped from start to finish and to be honest, I did think that Tom was a bit of a gaslighter but I’d never have guessed to what extent.

I felt so bad for Catherine. She obviously had no clue who she had married. What he was capable of and what extent he would go to hide what he’s done. But never once did Catherine give up her fight to free herself and show who Tom really was.

I do have to say, my rating is because I felt at times the book was a bit repetitive. I was expecting more from the book and for it to be twists and turns throughout (which we did get) but at times, the dialogue and events just copied from earlier in the book.

I also don’t understand Jessica’s part in it all and her background. I feel she was quite an important character but she was just brushed in and out.

It was a dark, twisted, suspenseful read that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It will make you mad at times but it is definitely worth a read. I want to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy of this ARC.

"... the accusation was a shock, a betrayal that cut through her like a knife."

The Anniversary by Cole Baxter is a story of betrayal, lies, deceit, manipulation, and gaslighting. The author did an excellent job creating a story that kept me glued until the very end. I appreciate a thriller that starts off with a bang and engages the reader immediately, versus a slow burn, which is exactly what this story did. It is full of twists, and a slow release of information that keeps the reader engaged in the story.

This a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 star. I'm a pretty easy-to-please reader, but what lowered the rating for me, is the scripted dialogue which doesn't sound natural. Otherwise, it was a great domestic thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

Please! This was so hard to finish. I made myself do it, but the entire book was pretty much a yawn. Over and over, the same scenes, same dialogue, and same results.

I kept hoping (at least for the first third) that it would improve, but alas, it did not.

I’m usually a softie on reviews, but this one was awful.

I received a digital copy as a gift from NetGalley and Bookouture. My review is voluntary.