Babyyy in the words of my good sis Meg this took more turns than a key hole 🤭 🔑

But seriously I was guessing every step of the way 🧐🧐🤔. I didn’t know what was happening or what to believe. I trusted no one!

While Rose did make some very questionable actions I just chalked it up to her being a reporter and needing to know answers.

Shanora definitely knows how to do suspense

Now I’m searching up who to send this hospital bill to because I was having heart palpitations worrying about Rose’s safety 😂

I still don’t like Eve though 🫠 and no amount of journal entries or explaining can change that.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC! 3.5 stars! Whispers of the Lake is a quick mystery/thriller, page turner, drama filled, and with a side of action. Really good friendships are hard to come by. In this book, Rose and Eve's friendship is shattered by betrayal. It gets REAL personal! You have the revenge scene with the Cole (soon to be ex-husband) that was magnificent in all its Blackness!! Rose standing tall among colleagues as a BLACK SOPHISTICATED EDUCATED WOMAN not backing down and knowing she belongs. OOOO the bathroom scene with the other girls talking about her MMM Juicy!! Then the cottage comes into play, the neighbors, the police force, the uncle, and all the connections to figure out where Eve go. I'm here for the quick mystery/thriller. Get your heart racing a bit in the end chapters. I spotted Victor a mile away though. HEY what happened to my Man Jayson?
Shanora Williams can do no wrong.

This was my second book by Shanora Williams, and I enjoyed it. The story was well-paced, with new clues emerging as the plot developed. I particularly liked the inclusion of journal entries in the narrative. Eve was a complex character, deeply flawed in many ways, while Rose was loving and forgiving, sometimes to her own detriment. I found their friendship to be quite frustrating at times. Overall, I would highly recommend this book.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Kinsingtonbooks for the eARC.

3-3.5⭐️

I am a HUGE Shanora Williams fan and have read all of her thrillers to date. This one was just okay for me. It wasn’t terrible by any means but it didn’t amaze me or have me on the edge of my seat either. I was able to fly through it in two sittings so it’s a quick, easy read.

I did reallyyyyy enjoy the creepy gems in this story. Some parts gave me ghost story vibes and I wish there was more of this!!! The overall mystery and details behind it were solid but that creep factor would have made this a better experience for me.

I felt sorry for Eve. Her story was tragic. I tried to love Rose but ultimately, she was not a likable character and her decisions were BEYOND questionable. I would have loved a happier ending and more of a resolution of her relationships with Cole & Jayson.

Am I still going to read every thriller she writes? Absolutely.

Second Shanora Williams book and I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed The Bitter Truth! I was engaged the whole time and super invested in knowing what had happened to Eve. The storyline was very easy to follow and I enjoyed the author’s writing. I loved that everything made sense in the reveal, and I didn’t see any loose ends at the end of the book. Wrapped up well. Will continue reading more Shanora Williams books!

I felt like this book was a slow burn for me , but once I was about 1/3 through I could NOT put it down. It became very paced , all my assumptions for who killed Eve were wrong! For mysteries I can usually predict how books will end, but this one had me stumped! I really enjoyed this book and will definitley reccomend it to others, as well as checking out other books by Shanora Williams.

Sharona. My lord. I just love this woman’s books they’re so unique and the ends always deliver. Just perfection to be honest!

First off thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
What happened to Eve? That’s the story of this book.
Rose gets a call from Zoey that her sister Eve hasn’t been returning her calls. Rose is estranged from Eve but still cares for her ex best friend. After some digging Rose finds out Eve booked a place on a lake. Rose books the same place to go looking for Eve.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I needed to know what happened and where was Eve?

#WhispersOfTheLake #NetGalley
Shanora Williams crafts a chilling mystery that blends emotional depth with a gripping small-town suspense in Whispers of the Lake, a story about fractured friendships, buried secrets, and the lies we tell ourselves. Rose Howard, a successful investigative reporter, is juggling the disintegration of her marriage and the pressure of career ambition when a new crisis arises—her estranged best friend, Eve Castillo, has gone missing while reviewing a cozy cottage in Sage Hill, North Carolina. Despite their complicated past, Rose sets out to find her, only to discover that the charming town has a dark undercurrent, and Eve’s disappearance might not be an accident. With townspeople turning cold, cryptic clues surfacing, and danger lurking behind every smile, Rose must confront not only Eve’s secrets but her own. The closer she gets to the truth, the more she risks becoming the next woman to vanish without a trace.
What I like :-
1 Tense, Moody Atmosphere: Sage Hill is beautifully eerie, a character of its own that holds the reader in suspense from the moment Rose arrives.
2 Emotional Stakes: The history between Rose and Eve adds layers of betrayal, guilt, and unresolved anger that fuel the story’s heart.
3 Unpredictable Twists: Just when you think you have it figured out, Williams pulls the rug out with reveals that cut deep and land hard.
Overall, Whispers of the Lake is a page-turning psychological thriller that grips you with its emotional intensity and doesn’t let go until the final, breath-stealing reveal. A haunting tale of friendship, revenge, and the danger of secrets, it’s perfect for readers who love stories where nothing—and no one—is as it seems.
⭐ Rating: 4.7/5 – Suspenseful, emotionally charged, and laced with dark intrigue. Some friendships end. Others… disappear.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for giving me an advance copy.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. I found Whispers of the Lake by Shanora Williams to be an engaging psychological thriller that pulled me in from the first chapter. The book maintained a steady, compelling pace throughout. The main character is complex and well-developed, though her decision-making at times gave me pause. While the plausibility of the story occasionally stretched believability, it wasn’t enough to require a full suspension of disbelief. Overall, it’s an entertaining and tense read that balances character and plot with just enough twists to keep readers guessing. I would definitely read another Shanora Williams book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC digital copy. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Extremely fast-paced book. I read it in two days while camping at the lake. I tend to appreciate settings similar to the one I’m visiting :)

Although I like action, I don’t truly enjoy a book unless I believe the characters. This one fell short for me in that area. I was still planning to rate it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. But that changed when I picked up my kindle to continue reading… completely forgetting that I’d already finished the book.

3 out of 5 stars and my respect to the author.

I loved this book.

The story of Rose, an investigative reporter, looking for her ex-best-friend Eve, is a twisty, edge of your seat thriller with all the page turning excitement.

You see, it’s more complicated than finding a friend- Eve slept with her best friend’s husband, and when she goes missing, it takes everything Rose has to go find her after her betrayal.

When she gets to the little cottage in a town with little cell service she starts finding signs of Eve, and things get weird- and as rose leans on her instinct, she doesn’t just find Eve, but unravels an entire community full of lies.

This is one of my favorite reads of the year with beautiful writing and descriptions of characters that make you want to know more about them. I was fully invested in the story and I couldn’t put it down.

I love all of her books. This one keep me guessing from start to finish. I will definitely be purchasing the paperback version once it comes out.

To start, I found the book to be pretty fast-paced, which I really enjoyed. The backstory was clear enough to understand the context without slowing down the beginning. Overall, I thought it was really well written and interesting tale.

Pub date: 6/24/35

If your best friend betrayed your trust in an unimaginable way and ended up missing, what would you do?

Whispers of the lake follows Rose, who POV the story is told in. Rose is an investigative reporter who is going through a lot of changes in her life. She is separated from her husband and has cut off her best friend Eve (you will find out why early on in the story). Eve goes missing, and Rose, despite her feelings and hurt caused by Eve, decide to go looking for her in a small lake town ALONE (this decision had me shaking my head several times throughout lol)

This was definitely a tense and page turning thriller. About 60 % in, I still didn't know who had a part in Eve's disappearance. This was a story where everyone at some point seemed like they were guilty and a suspect. I loved the progression in the storyline and the little glimpses of the past that helped make sense of what was happening in the present. Another thing I really liked was Eve's journal entries. I feel like they helped the story, and you get to see her thoughts and why she did the things she did.

I wanna say so much more, but I don't want to give anything away. Shanora tied everything up perfectly in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was one that had me on the edge of how it would all end.

Thank you, Shanora, for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your ARC team and also Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I rate this book a 3.5. This book took me so much time to finish because of how much details were being laid out in the beginning for us reads which I’m okay with because I love details. I enjoyed the story but some parts just felt unnecessary and slow paced. A lot of characters to keep track of. I loved how descriptive the story was because I was able to picture the different settings so clearly. I even got emotional at certain parts during the ending of the story. Overall the story was enjoyable. I did wish for a different outcome but overall it was good.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I enjoyed the book. I read it in one day and honestly didn’t figure out who killed Eve, but i also don’t have anything that stands out for me.
The book was written well and the story was complete, no complaints.

I wish i had more to offer but the book was just ok for me. I’ll definitely be reading more of Shanora Williams books to see if maybe it was just this one for me.

Not my favorite book by this repeat author. The story didn't flow as well as her previous thrillers.

The story is quite interesting, but not thrilling. The writing quite good, but not excellent. So a quite nice reading.

From the very first page, this book draws you into its world with engaging prose, well-developed characters, and a compelling narrative. The author's storytelling is confident and immersive, weaving together themes that resonate long after the final chapter.