This story felt like an escape. A visit to high class with designer brands and a mansion with every luxury imaginable. But does anything that good come without its anxiety inducing murder mystery?

Protocol 202 brings maya, her new husband Colin and their infant daughter, Becca back to England. Arianna has been murdered. Maya, while new to the family has never heard of Arianna. Not only is she meeting the family, she’s learning more about her husband’s uncle and his cousin.

As the deceased heiresses story unfolds, Maya can’t help but to feel the parallels to her own life.

Some of the verbiage felt forced to me but the storyline was great. I was hooked from the start. I was also super excited to have guessed at least part of the twists. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks and Anna Sophia MacLoughlin for providing the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

"A Girl Like Us" features a tough main character, determined to uncover the sinister secrets of the wealthy family she married into. For those who enjoy a slow burn mystery with a twist ending, McLoughlin's locked-room mystery/thriller will leave you satisfied and wanting more.

**Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.**

Who doesn’t love a good mystery where the underestimated, poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks wins big?
I have to admit when I first started reading I thought this might be one of my meh reads. But then holy Mary things got twisty in the best possible way.
I honestly had no clue what new twist was coming next. Everybody is morally gray in this family…and some are downright morally bankrupt.
You’ll love this if you like locked door mysteries with a bit of poor girl marries into really really rich old money.
I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

Set in 2004, Maya Miller is a former reality TV star who hits the marriage jackpot by marrying Colin Sterling. He is part of the very wealthy Sterling family who own a media empire. The couple gathers with the Sterling family at an ancestral estate in the English countryside after the death of a cousin. In a twist Maya is revealed as the next heiress to the family fortune.

The Sterlings are ruthless and greedy. And no one understands how Maya became the name heir. Fingers soon point to her as the killer and she must find a way to clear her name. This is a book where everyone is a little dodgy, but some more than others. There are twists and turns with some I could see coming and others more surprising. I did find the middle a little slow but the tension kept building. I like suspense thrillers, I just wish there were a few more likable characters in the story.

A Girl Like Us…

The title hooked me but it was the first chapter that completely captivated me .

I loveeeeed the English Countryside setting and the nod to the 2000s. There were moments of nostalgia.

Murder and Madness, oh my!

The whole plot was deliciously twisted, jam packed with characters you’ll love to hate (except Colin of course). I devoured this book in one sitting and can not wait to listen to it on audio!

A Girl Like Us, can not be missed .

Check out this teaser :

It's 2004 and former reality TV star and party girl Maya Miller has just married the most eligible bachelor on the planet: Colin Sterling, of the globally famous Sterling family whose history of aristocratic titles and land holdings rival a British royal and whose media empire is comparable to the Murdochs. To some, Maya represents the American dream. To others, a gold digger. But when Colin's cousin Arianna, the heiress to the family's immense fortune, is found murdered, Maya is thrust into the spotlight: first as she is revealed to be the next heiress to the fortune, and then as the prime suspect.

Swiftly, the entire Sterling family goes into lockdown at Silver House, the family's ancestral estate in the English countryside. They're told it's for their own safety—but Maya becomes convinced that it's not to keep threats out, but to keep secrets in. Now, she has no choice but to find and expose the truth hidden within the Sterling family, and why Arianna, a girl she had never met, chose her to take her place. But Maya has secrets of her own. And she knows that in order to survive the Sterlings, she'll have to beat them at their own game.

Thank you to @netgalley and @bookmarked for my #gifted copy of this book!

Wow, this book definitely took me for a ride! While a bit slow at the beginning and dialogue heavy, once this one got going, it REALLY got going!

Honestly, there were several twists in this and almost all of them shocked me! One I did half guess—but just the what and not the how. It was so well written and honestly, major kudos to @annasophiamcloughlin because this is such an amazing debut 👏🏻

This book is described as Succession meets Saltburn, but since I haven’t seen either of those 😂 the closest things I would personally compare this to would be Knives Out (although this book takes itself more seriously) meets the book The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins.

Many of the characters give love to hate vibes, and while I could see why some wouldn’t, I personally liked the duality of our FMC, Maya. I feel like one of her secrets will probably bother some, but…it’s a very real part of life for many people, unfortunately 🤷🏻‍♀️ Although snippets are dropped throughout, I would have liked to know even more about her history with her parents. Also—absolutely LOVED the chapters from Arianna’s POV. What a super well-written character! Her personality and voice SHINES through her journal entries and I couldn’t get enough.

The ending is mostly satisfying, albeit a bit rushed. While some things that happen in the story are a bit unbelievable, I still felt on the edge of my seat to know what was going to happen and invested in knowing.

Overall, a great thriller, ESPECIALLY for a debut, and one worth checking out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC.

This was a twisty ride and I enjoyed every second of it. The family drama, the press drama, all of it was so fun. I didn't predict every twist which added to my enjoyment.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the privilege of reading and reviewing this book. All opinions are completely my own and in my own words.

I know a book is well written (in my opinion anyways) when I read multiple books at the same time AND can keep trap of all the the many characters. I mystery that will keep you guessing until the endThis was a joy to read and I look forward to reading more books by the author.

If you like to read about rich families that have dark scandalous secrets than you will eat this book up this is definitely the type of book you read to get out of a slump

Happy Pub Day to A Girl Like Us ✨

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this early gifted copy!

If you love the following this book is for YOU:
*Locked Room Mystery
*Unreliable Narrator
*Family Secrets
*Reality TV Character
*Riveting High Drama
*Big Twist

I highly think you should move this one up on your TBR - go in without knowing anything else and enjoy the ride! So binge worthy!

Happy Reading my bookish friends!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC. I absolutely LOVED this book! While it was long, it was written so well I blew through it. The writing was great at keeping my interest. I loved the bits and pieces of Arianna along the way. The twists and turns were very well done. There was a lot of characters to keep track of but I didn’t find it challenging. Cannot wait for more from this author.

Happy publication day!

Setting this in 2004 is an interesting choice since other than some cultural references and technology gaps the time doesn't seem too far off of now- which might say something about the lack of change over the last twenty years of how we treat women in the spotlight in tabloids. I like the idea of Maya, a discounted "nobody" in the eyes of the powerful family she's married into, taking control of both her narrative and the power she finds herself coming into in this story. Nice twists and plenty of dark family secrets to reveal.

I think this book has a lot of potential, with some great twists and turns that I didn't see coming. However, this was a lot slower than I wanted with little to no build-up before all the secrets were revealed. I did enjoy the ending for the most part, but after the big reveal, it kind of petered out into nothing.

While this didn't really work for me I did enjoy it enough for me to want to pick up more from this author, and I think if you like a slower-paced book, with the claustrophobic feel of being in a grand mansion where pretty much everyone is out to get you with some great twists I definitely think you should give this a try.

Maya Miller was raised by her father after her mother left them. He did illegal things to get money to feed them and she helped him at times. But when he was arrested and sent to prison, she had to rely on her on wits to get by. A beautiful young woman, she became a TV star on a reality show called “The Springs.” She was very popular.

Then she met Colin Sterling, part of the global media Sterling family that is very wealthy. She became pregnant and shortly after their daughter, Becca, was born, they got married and honeymooned in Mexico. Business is always key in the Sterling family so their honeymoon was mixed with lots of business associates.

It was when they flew back to Manhattan that they learned that the heiress of the Sterling fortune, Arianna, had been murdered. Thus, all of the family have to convene at the Sterling family home in England. There, Maya meets this mixed group all of whom have their odd quirks. As Arianna’s will is read, it is discovered that she left her fortune to Maya. Everyone is shocked and wants to know why and tells Maya she needs to immediately sign it over to the family. She refuses and sets out to find out more about this young woman who had a troubled upbringing and why she would leave her fortune to her. But Maya is hiding her own secret that could blow everything out of the water.

This was a mesmerizing and solid read. The author obviously put a lot of planning and time into writing the story. The characters are believable and typical of people with so much money and ruthless power. It did require a lot of concentration to keep up with the plot and the different characters. Enjoy.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Girl Like Us is a thriller following a mega rich family and their newest addition by marriage. When the heiress is found murdered and new to the family, Maya, is left the fortune, fingers are quickly pointed.

The reveals in this book, while ridiculous, are thrilling and unpredictable. I loved reading about the grandeur of the problematic Sterling family and the fickle relationships held between family members due to secrets and suspicions. This was a very fun thriller read, filled with morally gray characters!

Former reality star Maya Miller knew what she was getting into when she married into the media magnate Sterling family. What she wasn't prepared for was to become the heiress to the family empire right away. Now Maya must figure out the family secrets in order to keep herself off the chopping block.

***

I think this book had so much really good potential, and for the most part, I had a lot of fun. However, it suffers from a few issues.

1) Pacing. This book was slowwww. I wanted more intrigue and excitement.

2 ) Intrigue. The plot issue was mainly due to the fact that we were focusing on the wrong things. This family was supposed to be so spicy and interesting, and instead we were cooped up in this big old house with barely any details into their past or present outside of that one fire on another island.

3) The ending. ??? What happened? It was so abrupt and I just cannot believe that certain characters would fade into the dark.

All in all, it was a decently fun ride. I would read this author again. I just want a bit more glitz and glamour and a faster pace!

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

✌🏼for Tuesday
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Happy pub day to both of these beauties- A Girl Like Us (thanks @netgalley and @sourcebookslandmark) and You are Fatally Invited ( thanks @netgalley and @bantam) here are my thoughts.
*O
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A Girl Like Us- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Maya married into a toxic family, and ends up inheriting the money. I did enjoy Mayas story and perspective. It was a super fun romp with a toxic family, definitely a quick fun popcorn thriller!
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QOTD- what are you currently reading nothing ever happens here and first time caller (I can’t stop thinking about it !)?!

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. Saltburn meets Succession is accurate! Maya just married into the elite Sterling family & inherits everything after her new cousin mysteriously dies. The twists and turns were unexpected and I sailed through reading. This will be a must have on my bookshelf! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars



Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC!!

I don’t always go for a mystery, but I was very intrigued by the blurb/synopsis of this book. And it lived up to my expectations. I was truly shocked by some of the twist and turns in this book. There was so much going on that Really came together with this mystery. the succession themes were pretty obvious, but really what it was about was power and family and the dynamics with all that. Maya was a heroine who I hated to love and loved to hate, but was rooting for the whole time!

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a swing and a miss for me. I was looking forward to it from the synopsis and up until chapter 4. I thought it had some Next Mrs. Parrish vibes and thought it could really be something. The locked-room mystery was fun and I was looking forward to finding out all about what was happening. At about 40% in I didn't know where the story was going anymore and it only got goofier and goofier. The twists didn't really land. I still don't fully understand them. I never ever understood the family and who was with who or how different people were related. I won't even get into the undercurrent of misogyny throughout the book that made me want to puke. Fine. The MC went to therapy and in the end turned down being in an extramarital affair but the way the girls talked about and to eachother and the way the women fawned over the men was something I can't get behind. It's 2025 - we need to stop with that. This totally didn't work for me. Totally didn't work for me.