OMG what did I just read?! This book was SOOO good and utterly addicting, I couldn’t put it down! I absolutely loved the dual timelines with chapters mixed in of podcasts/social media posts/tabloid articles. The characters were so well written, especially Ivy as she was someone I found to be ver relatable and someone who had to overcome quite a bit. I couldn’t wait to find out the twist and I did NOT see it coming. It was well executed and left no questions for the reader. Five stars for this one and I plan on adding more of this author’s books to my shelf!!!

Hello, Juliet comes out April 29th!

Really good. Held my attention and kept me guessing what was going on. Enjoyed the characters and the plot. Flew through this book in 2 Days. Definitely recommend for a good quick mystery! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

Loved, loved, loved this book! The ending was such a surprise, definitely not what I was expecting. I loved how the book went between two time frames to tell the story. Who is the true villain… trust me you won’t see this one coming!

I really liked the synopsis and was hoping it had like a behind the scenes Dawsons Creek type of vibe but it felt more like Nickelodeon immature dialogue. I’m very surprised this book isn’t classified as YA.

I saw the plot twist coming from the very beginning somehow. It was very eye roll inducing the way it played out.

I think this must just be a me issue though because it has some amazing reviews. I think if I liked the characters more, I would’ve enjoyed the book more.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

When Ivy Westcott’s acting career came to an abrupt ending while filming the show, Hello, Juliet, she fled Hollywood, leaving behind her cast-mates, including her first love. Ten years later, Ivy receives an invitation promising her money that she desperately needs, if she participates in a reunion with the cast-mates that she once called family. Needing the money to help her mother who has been suffering from health issues, she accepts the invitation, knowing it would dredge up the old scandals from which she tried to escape.

Ivy hoped to move forward and repair her broken relationships, but things don’t go as expected when she arrives and finds one of her costars is dead, and the only other person at the scene is the man who once broke her heart. Ivy realizes that the reunion has turned into a crime scene and she is suddenly a suspect who needs to clear her name. Even worse, could she be next on the killer’s list? Not knowing who she can even trust anymore, Ivy must find the answers and uncover the chilling secrets that have tormented the Hollywood set from day one.

Wow! This book was so good! As soon as I started it, I knew I was going to love it! The dual timelines alternated between the past, as we learned how Ivy got cast on the show and the events that followed, and the present day crime scene investigation. I thought it was so clever how the teen drama that was depicted on the show, paralleled much of what the cast mates were experiencing in real life. This book combines so many things that makes it great thriller…fame, friendships, scandals, secrets, lies, romance, manipulation…and murder! It is filled with tension and suspense and all leads up to a shocking and very satisfying twisty ending that I did not see coming!

Ivy Westcott has been out of the limelight for a very long time, ever since her career imploded and she was dubbed "Poison Ivy" by the press. Needing the money, Ivy agrees to film a secret reunion 10 years later but when she arrives, she finds one of her former co-stars dead and the only person who can help her to make sense of things is her former boyfriend and also the deceased's husband.

What follows is a twisty account of their race to find the killer before they kill again. Fast paced and loaded with surprises, this one kept me guessing and I raced through the second half in order to figure out how all of the pieces fit together.

The only issue that I encountered with this book was my inability to connect with Ivy's voice in present day. Her voice as an actor in her early twenties and her voice as a woman in her 30's was indistiguishable to me and I had a hard time seeing growth there, although this could certainly be seen as symbolic in many ways of how that period of time had stunted her personal growth.

This is an exciting new release from Samantha Bailey, coming in April of 2025. My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advanced copy for review.

Thank you @netgalley @amazonpublishing #partner for the gifted ebook!

Ivy is trying to reignite her Hollywood career after it came to a crash and burn ending a decade ago. She is back in the limelight trying to avoid past pitfalls when she discovers one of her cast-mates dead. Being that she is the one that found her and their last history isn’t perfect, Ivy is quickly under suspicion. She must work to clear her name and in doing so uncover some dirt secrets in the industry.

If you love a good Hollywood drama or setting you need this book! This book is filled with backstabbing characters, mind blowing lies, drama and deceit so if that is your jam…grab this one in April! This book is bingeable and I think will be nostalgic of some peoples childhood and older shows they used to watch. To me, this one felt like slower burn thriller where I felt I lacked connection with the characters. At times, it felt slow and I felt a little bored. I do think this could have been a me thing however because I have seen so many 5 star reviews. I know Samantha is a well loved author, and I’ve adored her other books, unfortunately this one was a bit of a miss for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for this amazing arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.


Ivy Westcott is an actress down on her luck. Ivy was the star of Hello, Juliet which was cancelled and she earned the nickname Poison Ivy. Ivy gets a call from Mac who was the creator of the show to do a tell all which she agreed to to help pay for her mother to finally get her back checked since Ivy believed she has osteoarthritis from all the years she cleaned to pay for Ivy’s career before her big break. The drama on her show translated into her real life and everything feel apart and someone died. When Ivy arrives at the old studio where the show was shot she is alone and finds her ex co star and ex best friend Lauren dead in an apparent suicide which turns out not to be true. Ivy is a suspect until they figure out that the old cast are all targets (at least the ones still alive). The book is told in the present in past with old articles, Reddit posts, and interviews tied into the book. We find out who killed Lauren and Caleb. And how Ivy truly got the role of the main character in Hello, Juliet. This book was so intriguing from start to finish and the final reveal of who the true villain was revealed was so good. Once I started reading I couldn’t stop. I don’t want to spoil everything but it was such a good book.

From page one, I was completely hooked! Ivy’s story sucked me in—the Hollywood glitz, the messy friendships, the deep betrayals—it had everything I love in a thriller. The setting was so intoxicating, all flashy on the outside but hiding so much darkness underneath. It felt like peeking behind the curtain of a real Hollywood scandal!

The dual timelines made this so addictive. Watching the past unravel alongside the present kept me flipping pages like crazy. And those short, snappy chapters were absolute perfection! Each one ended with a cliffhanger that made it impossible to stop reading. Add in the juicy snippets of social media posts and Hollywood gossip articles, and this felt like I was inside a real-life scandal.

But what really made this stand out? The characters. These aren’t shallow, spoiled starlets—they have real struggles, hidden pain, and pasts that haunt them. I loved Ivy. She felt so relatable—just a girl trying to rebuild her life and make her mom proud, caught in something so much bigger than herself. I was rooting for her the whole way.

And the second half?? PURE CHAOS. Twists everywhere. Just when I thought I had things figured out—nope, another twist. And that ending left me absolutely shook!

If you love fast-paced thrillers, Hollywood drama, and jaw-dropping twists, this is an absolute must-read. Go in knowing as little as possible, and \you won't regret it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Co-stars from the hit show "Hello, Juliet" are called together for a reunion after a 10-year hiatus. Part of what made the show such a smash wasn't just the on-screen drama - what happened behind-the-scenes had fans enthralled. Ivy Westcott, who played Juliet, is infamously known as #PoisonIvy. Things haven't been easy for Ivy since her stint as Juliet. She's hoping that the reunion show will offer her a chance to start over (and maybe get some work to earn some cash). When she arrives on set for the reunion, she's in for the shock of her life when she finds one of her co-stars dead. Ivy makes it her mission to find out what happened to her co-star, and get to the bottom of what tore the cast apart all of those years ago.

As a high school student in the 90s, Hello, Juliet gave me some of those 90210 vibes (but these days, Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars are probably closer comparisons). The story alternates between the past - at the height of Hello, Juliet - and the present. I'm always a fan of an alternating timeline and secrets that are slowly teased out. I felt that Ivy was a relatable character. She wasn't perfect and struggled trying to make ends meet. This one kept me guessing and had a wild twist that was perfect. This was a quick read with the longest chapters being around 10 minutes. I really enjoyed Hello, Juliet!

This was a WILD ride! I loved this book, such a juicy thriller/drama showing behind the scenes of a good classic teen drama, filled with twists I didnt see coming!

This was my first Samantha Bailey book and it will not be my last. I did not read the blurb prior to starting (I do this with authors I haven’t previously read). I’m so glad I did. I was kept in suspense and didn’t want to put it down.

I will not go into details. Just read the book for yourself and enjoy the ride!!!

I absolutely love Samantha Bailey and will always read what she writes! I was so excited for another book by her and lucky to get an early copy. The premise of this one has been done a lot in thrillers and books in general, the teen stars, coming back years later to reunite. This didn’t have enough originality for me. I feel like it could have had some promise with a little more editing and adding to the story. I’m not sure exactly where it fell flat, but I kept waiting to really get pulled into the story and it never happened. It was just an ok thriller for me. While I will still look forward to more from this author, this one wasn’t my favorite of hers.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer for the gifted digital ARC.

I unfortunately decided to DNF this one just over halfway through. I couldn't connect with the story, didn't care about the characters, and if I'm honest didn't really care "whodunnit."

I fully recognize every book is not for every reader, and I love Samantha Bailey's books so I will not hesitate to read whatever she writes next.

Perfect for fans of a dark thriller that involves TV celebrities. Full of drama, suspense, and betrayal. It took me a bit to get into it, but once things started moving I was completely hooked! The book quickly went from a 3 star read to a 5 star read. The twist at the ending was unexpected and jaw dropping. I never saw it coming! I love the different modes of delivery such as social media posts, news articles, etc. between chapters which breaks things up and made things more interesting. This is one dark and twisty thriller not to miss!

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ivy Westcott is desperate to make a comeback, and get some financial issues taken care of for her mother. When she is called back for a TV reunion after ten years, and a expose that nearly totally ruined her career, she hopes that the future looks promising, until one of her co stars in dead.
Ivy finds Lauren hanging in her old dressing room, and is tortured by the past, and present as she struggles for find out who the killer is. The target is on her, but IS it her????

Another well told story by Samantha M. Bailey!!!! I will (and have) read everything this author writes! She draws you in quickly, and has you guessing up till the very end!!!1

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a 3.5 rounded up for me. It was an entertaining story and def made you want to figure out what was going on… however… the twists were coming left and right and while I never saw it coming I was just not buying the ending.

I didn’t really love the main character. She was still like a child and it was annoying to me.

Most I think will love this for the twists alone but it does take a bit to get there!

As with all of Samantha Bailey’s books I stayed up way too late reading it but it was definitely worth it. This book had me hooked from the first page! Everyone at @thrillerbookloversthepulse is so excited about this one. Thank you for my free review copy! This is a fast paced domestic psychological thriller. Ivy was once one of four stars in a TV series. When the show came to an end it was with Ivy’s name tarnished and her confidence shattered. She didn’t know who to trust and what to believe. Ten years later her name is again in the news for even more unfavourable reasons and she is thrust back into the world of her Hollywood past. Again she doesn’t know who to trust and with the great twists and turns we don’t know what to believe either. This book keeps you guessing until the end. Make sure to add this to your TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Samantha M. Bailey’s mind-blowing new release Hello, Juliet. I literally canceled plans today so that I could finish this unpredictable, twisty gem.
When Ivy gets the role of a lifetime in the teen drama Hello, Juliet she finds friendship and family in her three costars. Lauren takes Ivy under her wing and the two become inseparable, and Jesse steals her heart like nobody has before. Caleb is like a brother to them all, and Ivy’s mother Elizabeth nurtures them all as if they’re her own.
But after the death of one of the castmates, life as they’ve known it quickly heads toward a downward spiral. Ivy is down and out and living paycheck to paycheck to help support her mom. Then an invitation to star in a reunion special seems like it could be the key to Ivy’s redemption until tragedy strikes yet again.
This is a five star, completely unexpected thrill ride from the always original Samantha M. Bailey.

So thrilled that Samantha puts her trust in the team over at The Pulse to be early readers for her, because we LOVE her books.

Ivy Westcott is a shunned has-been. She shot to stardom with a starring role on the hottest teen soap, Hello, Juliet, the show was cancelled after just one season due to an IRL death of one of the cast members. Ivy was blamed for everything, losing her first love and best friend in the process.

Now, a decade later, a reunion is scheduled with the three surviving members of the main cast and Ivy sees this as her chance to air her grievances and hopefully reconnect with those she once considered family. However, those plans shift as she arrives the morning of the taping to find her ex-best friend hanging in her dressing room. Back in the spotlight, again for the wrong reasons, Ivy is on a mission to clear her name and discover what happened to her friend…because it absolutely was not the suicide it appears to be.

Okay, why have I not read Samantha M. Bailey before now?! I have a couple on my TBR and one sitting on my kindle, but I’ve deprived myself of the pleasure until now. Won’t make that mistake with her backlist, that’s for sure.

This was fast paced, juicy, and oh-so-twisty. Samantha expertly drops crumbs of info for us to come back to later with an …OHHHHH moment.

I did not love any of the characters, but I was so absolutely invested in either their triumph or downfall (I didn’t really know or care which I wanted, honestly). I always love when an author can get me so invested in characters that I don’t like.

Elder millennials will absolutely eat. this. up. It made me want to rewatch The O.C. and Beverly Hills, 90210 immediately.