This story really dragged for me, the characters were dreadful, and I thought the narrator was just okay.

'How Can I Trust You' is a captivating domestic thriller that delves into the dark underbelly of seemingly perfect relationships. The story follows a seemingly idyllic suburban family whose lives are upended by a shocking murder, uncovering a web of secrets, lies, and betrayal that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The novel's strength lies in its complex and flawed characters, each with their own motivations and agendas. The protagonist, a seemingly devoted wife and mother, finds her world crumbling as she uncovers the truth about her husband's past and the dangerous game he's been playing. The narrative skillfully shifts between multiple perspectives, allowing the reader to piece together the puzzle and question the reliability of each character's account.

The pacing is taut and the tension builds with each revelation, leading to a climactic and unexpected conclusion that will leave readers both satisfied and unsettled. 'How Can I Trust You' is a gripping exploration of the fragility of trust and the lengths people will go to protect their secrets.

Holy crap!! This book starts off speeding and doesn't let up off the gas until the very end! This one was full of twists and turns. Everything I thought to be true was WRONG! Once I started this one, I couldn't stop until it was over. It was such a tornado. It was so gripping!

Danny and Ashley seem to have the perfect life until Ashley's best friend Lucy is found murdered, and it looks like Danny did it. Will Ashley believe him when he says he didn't do it even though it looks like he did?

Campbell did a great job at developing the characters and the plot in this book. The characters were well developed, and the plot moved at a pace that made this one hard to stop reading. There were twists and turns with an ending that will leave your mouth on the floor!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you #netgalley , the publisher and author for the audio book. This was great! I loved every minute of this. I was shocked by the ending and that to me is how you know you’ve read a good thriller. Ashely and Danny’s story was a ride. Did he kill Lucy? Was he involved with her? Why did he insist on moving back to his home village? This came together nicely and didn’t leave unanswered questions. I liked how this ended and I will read more by this author.

Holy crap!! This book starts off speeding and doesn't let up off the gas until the very end! This one was full of twists and turns. Everything I thought to be true was WRONG! Once I started this one, I couldn't stop until it was over. It was such a tornado. It was so gripping!

Danny and Ashley seem to have the perfect life until Ashley's best friend Lucy is found murdered, and it looks like Danny did it. Will Ashley believe him when he says he didn't do it even though it looks like he did?

Campbell did a great job at developing the characters and the plot in this book. The characters were well developed, and the plot moved at a pace that made this one hard to stop reading. There were twists and turns with an ending that will leave your mouth on the floor!

Eilidh Beaton did a phenomenal job bringing all of the characters to life in this audiobook. It was so easy to differentiate between characters with all of the different voices the narrator used.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The production was good and the narrators voice was easy to listen to. With that being said, I had a hard time differentiating between a few of the female characters. The storyline got a bit muddled in the middle. Not my favorite or least favorite book this year.

Loved this book was not expecting the ending and kept me gripped throughout. However I will say the voice reading the book is was a little cringey

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this audiobook.
I’ll start by saying this month I have been in a thriller / mystery / horror mood so this book is up against some really good titles.
I could not get captivated in this story the way thrillers are suppose to captivate you and keep you wanting more. I kept thinking how melodramatic the MC is but yet I didn’t feel it. I would probably more so market this as a cozy mystery instead of a thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoture Audio for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

The premise of this book had me hooked and the start was really good. The story opens at a birthday party that goes terribly wrong when a scream shattered the air. Danny, the MC, Ashley’s husband is found standing bloodied over his childhood friend’s dead body with a hammer in his hand. As he’s being handcuffed by the police and chauffeured off towards the police station he looks desperately at his wife: «I didn’t do it, you believe me, right?»

Of course Ashley is confident her husband could never commit murder, but at she starts digging into his past the more she begins to doubt. What were the secret messages between him and Lucy, his childhood friend? Why was he contacting a divorce lawyer and what’s the matter with his company?

I found the story interesting and there were several plot-twist I didn’t see coming. I did however think the story was dragged out, and the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Nonetheless it was on good domestic thriller, though it won’t stand out in the crowd for me.

Firstly, I want to give a huge thank you to Net Galley and Bookoture for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

4 Stars
This audiobook starts off action-packed and then shortly after there is another huge event which sets this book up for readers to really want to know what happened. I've read in some other reviews they found it to be predictable, but although it may have been clear "whodunnit," it did not take away from any of the twists and turns that we were taken on through the chapters.

The narrator was great for the most part, although I couldn't stand her "child" voice. I found Elliott to be unbearable, but maybe it was just the narrator's child voice I didn't like.

The climax of this book was absolutely crazy and terrifying. You really don't ever know anyone ever. Highly recommend this to other thriller lovers.

This was described as an unputdownable thriller. It's domestic thriller set outside of London where a family friend of the main character is found dead at a party. The main character's husband is found with the murder weapon and covered in blood at the scene. The book revolves around the main character, Ashley, discovering all the things her husband has kept hidden from her. I made a note at 50-60% and the book still hadn't picked up. I wanted to finish it to see how it all ended and who killed Lucy and it felt like it drug on forever.

One of the. most important elements of a thriller for me is the ending. This one fell flat for me. I won't put spoilers in here but there was a ton of build up for really nothing.

Interesting the title change. Which do I think is better? I liked How Can I Trust You? more. I think it fits the book better. My Perfect Marriage is too similar to other thriller titles.

Thanks to Bookouture, AJ Campbell, and NetGalley for the arc in turn for my honest review.

How Can I Trust You? was a well written novel, but for it fell into the relatively predictive category.

There were many things I enjoyed about the book. Like I said, the writing was well done. I did not find it full of "he said" and "she said" remarks. That is one of my biggest irritations. The dialogue was engaging, and the characters had a decent amount of depth. However, for me, it lacked the surprise element that I look for. I also found the son incredibly irritating, spoiled, and whiny. And yes, I do have children.

I do think I would like to read other novels written by this author to see if her other books have a wow or surprise factor because her writing is worth it, but I am hoping that the other story lines are a little more intriguing.

With all of that being said, if you do not listen to a bazillion thrillers, I think you would find this book enjoyable and the narration pleasant as well.

This was such an enjoyable thriller! I loved the twist and turns. This book left me constantly wondering who to trust. The book flowed easily and the narrator was pleasant. There were times in this book where I found. myself yelling at main character just to use common sense, but what fun would that be in a thriller?

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC.h

Wow. This was such a different novel, I was left guessing until the very end, and couldn't help but spend the the entirety of the story wondering what I would do in the same scenario. AJ Campbell did a fantastic job of creating empathy with Ashley from start to finish. From being dragged to a child's birthday party that she wasn't in the mood to attend, to her utter confusion and horror at her husband appearing to have murdered their close friend at the busy party - I thought Ashley was really well-developed, and a smart character whose reactions I completely understood (I really dislike novels where the MC acts irrationally, or in ways I can't identify with). I thought this was a great, engaging story and I would totally recommend it.

I devoured this book in one sitting! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Right from the first page, you are thrown into the action. It was interesting to find out how the prologue tied into the overall storyline. While most of the book is a page turning good time, there are a few slower paced moments of filler. But the conclusion will have you on the edge of your seat!

The story begins with Ashley, her husband Danny, their son Elliot, and Ashley’s sister Susie heading to Elliot’s best friend Grace’s birthday party. Grace’s mother Lucy is also Danny’s childhood best friend. (I don’t think I could add any more names and relations in those sentences if I tried!) The party is in full swing when Ashley hears screams coming from the garage. When she goes to investigate, she comes across Tom, Lucy’s husband, in shock with blood on him. When she gets to the garage, she finds Danny standing over Lucy with a hammer completely covered in blood. But he says he didn’t kill her.
Lucy is determined to uncover the truth of what happened, but first she’ll uncover secrets that have her questioning whether she can trust anyone.

I honestly suspected everyone! It was laughable how quickly my loyalties shifted throughout the story. I even suspected Ashley at one point. (Hello, unreliable narrator storyline!) The twists and turns kept coming with each new secret revealed. I liked the ending and how everything tied together.

This is my first story by this author, but it certainly won’t be my last!

Guess I’m in the minority on this one, but it just didn’t do anything for me. ??

This one takes place in the UK. We have several couples involved in this one, and they are work partners, friends, and even couples.
At a birthday party for one of their daughter’s, a Mom is killed…horrifically.
The police are there in an instant. But one of the husband’s comes out covered in blood! The police bring him in for questioning…but surely, he couldn’t have done it, right??

And so, we spend the entire book looking into who did this terrible thing…and at various times, different people are brought in for questioning, held, and usually released…

Also, though the plot was really good, I feel like the book just did not come together well.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which is due for release on 4/8/24.

How Can I Trust You by AJ Campbell.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

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Narrated by Eilidh Beaton
Presented by Bookouture Audio

I felt unreasonably detached from this story, so the whole thing was kind of bizarre.

Ashley and Danny are the perfect couple - until he's discovered standing over the bludgeoned body of his best friend, with the murder weapon in hand. As Ashley tries to work out what happened, she discovers more and more secrets that seem to have been deliberately hidden from her. Maybe her husband isn't the man she thought he was?

This was a really great setup and I was so bamboozled for the whole thing. There were so many secrets and lies and it was so hard to keep up with what the hell was going on.

Ashley had an excellent balance of believing her husband but also confronting him when necessary. She struck me as a really clever character, and I thought she handled things pretty well, actually. I wasn't sold on her love for that bratty kid of hers, but otherwise she seemed pretty switched on and it was easy to root for her.

The narration was otherworldly somehow - I don't know if it was the accent or tone or what, but it completely transported me to a different world. I did find it confusing to differentiate between who was speaking, but otherwise it was easy enough to listen to.

This was a decent thriller with some interesting moments. I did want a little more than just a secretive marriage and the related troubles, but otherwise this was a fun listen that kept me guessing.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

A bit predictable and I wish she saved herself and her son instead of him. Other than that an enjoyable read. Narration was good.

This book was really good! I did not guess the ending until the last chapter or two. It really kept my attention...nice job!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook.

I had a hard time getting through this one. The narrator wasn't my favorite, I found her diction sometimes to be really slow or the emotion in the voice not matching what I felt the book was trying to portray in those moments.

I like thrillers to dig their claws in me and drag me along, but this one just kinda poked me when it felt like it and ran away. There was a lot of talking, a lot of slow moving, and I just wasn't finding myself very "thrilled".