This book is perfect for fans of Nita Prose and Freida McFadden. I found the plot line to be entertaining but slightly predictable. Perfect for a road or beach trip.

Just five years into their marriage, Lily and Stig Leonard find themselves having drifted apart. To mark their fifth anniversary, Lily books them a dinner reservation at a restaurant owned and run by celebrity chef, Hector Bolson-Woods. But the differences between them are too deep to be fixed by a dinner. Stig wants to be a father, but Lily doesn’t want to start a family until he tells her about his family and his past. Plus they are both deeply in debt, living on credit.

The evening ends with Hector cooking a meal especially for the couple. While Lily is pleased, Stig is not. But then Hector donates 20,000 pounds to the charity that Lily works for and invites them to dinner at his home.

Before long, Lily is second guessing herself, completely struck by Hector’s charm and feeling increasingly distanced from Stig. Will Lily ever learn about Stig’s past?



The story is written in the first person present tense PoV of Lily and the 3rd person PoV of Stig.

In the early part of the book, the author kept up a high sense of intrigue. Even though nothing untoward happened, I got a sense of something about to go terribly wrong. The plot held my interest until the 46 percent mark, when it began to veer off course. Thereafter it began to pall.

Suddenly Lily, who wasn’t that likeable a character to begin with, appeared to be small-minded and petty. None of the characters were likeable or memorable.

There is mild swearing, which puts me off.

The back-of-the-book text was misleading. It says, “And then another dinner invitation from Hector arrives. This time with a proposal neither Lily or Stig can refuse.” Aside from the grammatical issue in that sentence, it is also incorrect as Stig declines immediately after hearing of the proposal.

There were a number of proofing and factual errors. Stig swallows a banana “without barely chewing”. Ruby is described as a woman “who just want to party and be liked.” In one chapter we are told “ten minutes passes”.

Thing One and Thing Two are from Dr Seuss’ books, not Dr Zeus, as is mentioned in the book.

Lily’s incessant complaints against Stig’s secrecy were a pain, considering her own secrets which she justified to herself. Her internal monologue droned on and on.

The antagonist turned out to be a damp squib. It never seemed as if Lily faced any real danger.

The resolution was forced and unsatisfactory. There were many unanswered questions. The repeated forewarnings and ominous remarks issued by some characters to Lily don’t get explained. I was left equally confused about why Lily felt an odd sense of comfort in the presence of Jack, Hector’s head of security, when the guy never justifies his presence in the book.

Well, This novel starts off with lot of expectation as it has a captivating book cover and title. The blurb as also drawn me closer to look for some mystery that would linger in my mind and thoughts but I didn't like the second half of the book. It could have been better storyline in the end. There is excitement, deception, intrigue in the first half but slowly it dies off not keeping the reader much curious.

Stig and Lilly Leonard are looking forward to celebrate their wedding anniversary and they happen to drive into a restaurant owned by a popular rich Chef Hector Bolson wood's place. Forgetting their problems in marriage there they enjoy a expensive meal prepared by Chef Hector himself and get obsessed about the menu they are about to eat. Later as they get to know each other the story unfolds. Hector sympathizes with Lilly and invites them over again for dinner at his London House at Cotswold. And this is the third invitation...Will Mrs Lilly Leonard overcome her problems with Stig her husband that she has found a fling with Chef Hector as she secretly admires his behavior and empathy towards her. Many other characters like Hector's father and stepson Nicholas come into play at the end which drifts away from the main point of the whole story. It could have played out with the story even better I think.

Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Book's Publishers ARC Copy for my honest review.

Novel Nerd Blog : https://smithareading.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-review-dinner-party-nina-manning.html

Man I really thought she was going to have an affair. Boy did I not see the actual twists coming. How do you marry someone and not know anything about their previous life.

Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat. To begin with, it felt very slow-paced and the 'mystery' element didn't come in until about halfway. It also felt like a reasonably obvious 'mystery'. It was an easy read, with relatively simple language, but I did also notice a number of editing errors which wasn't ideal. I didn't particularly like the characters or relationships and overall this book felt a bit nothing to me.
Overall, I scored it 2.75 stars on Storygraph.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Lily plans a surprise anniversary dinner for her husband Stig at a World-famous chef’s restaurant, even though their marriage seems to be falling through the cracks. Hector the wold-famous chef surprises the couple to have a private anniversary dinner cooked by him then for Hector to invite the couple to his own estate for a dinner party , that’s when things start to unravel.

This was an entertaining book and an easy read, I very much enjoyed it and plan to read more from this author

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for the ARC

I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did.

The cover and tagline were what immediately gripped me and I had envisioned a suspenseful murder mystery dinner party type situation, which I was very excited for.

I unfortunately found all of the characters to be unlikeable and it made it difficult to empathize with them, and in the case of Lily and Stig, it made it difficult to root for them to fix their marriage and remain together.

The book doesn’t exactly feel like a psychological thriller, despite being marketed as one. I didn’t find it particularly “thrilling”, nor did it give creepy/suspenseful/anxiety-inducing vibes. I think too much of the book was focused on setting up the story and the actual “thriller” portion and twists felt very rushed, while predictable at the same time.

I wish that the pacing had been a bit better and that Lily had picked up on the creepy vibes so much earlier on so that we could have had some suspense and fear/unease from her throughout the book.

All in all, while it was written well, the book was not memorable for me and didn’t stand out as a psychological thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Dinner Party by Nina Manning due to be published March 16, 2025.

To celebrate their wedding anniversary, Lily Leonard books a table at the exclusive restaurant of Hector Bolson-Woods renowned celebrity chef. It should be the perfect evening for Lily and husband, Stig, but not even a perfect menu can heal the cracks in their marriage. When Hector wants to get more involved in Lily’s life, what could possibly go wrong?
This was a great book – the relationships between all the characters were slowly revealed – what a bombshell! I thoroughly enjoyed it and never suspected how it would all end! A real page-turner!
Also recommended by Nina Manning: Her Last Summer.

#NetGalley #NinaManning #BoldwoodBooks #TheDinnerParty

THE DINNER PARTY BY NINA MANNING.
Release date set for the 16th of March 2025.
Covers like these pull me in straight away.
I have a thing about book covers and this is one of them.
LOVE IT.
The blurb sounded so good and I couldn't wait to dive in and it didn't disappoint me.
Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and Nina Manning for my early ARC

The Dinner Party by Nina Manning certainly delivers on its promise of mystery, with plenty of twists and turns that keep you guessing. The suspense builds well throughout the story, making for an intriguing plot. However, I found myself struggling with the characters. Unfortunately, they felt more unlikable than relatable, and their actions often came across as frustrating and annoying. While I was invested in the mystery, the lack of empathy for the characters made it difficult to fully enjoy the book. Overall, it’s a great choice for fans of suspenseful thrillers, but be prepared for characters you may not connect with.

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for an early copy of The Dinner Party. The cover caught my eye right away. Interesting book, I figured out the main plot early on but it still continued to be a good story. Lily was definitely not a good character, I did not like her at all. The ending was very anticlimactic, disappointing. All in All it was an ok book.

I am rating this book more as 2.5 stars.

I recognize that I am a very harsh reviewer, it takes a lot for me to even give something 4 stars, so take that information as you will.

This book was OK, the writing wasn’t awful, but the editing was. I realize this was an ARC, so I hope this criticism is helpful. I even took into a account that a some of the words were written in British English and not American, but there were still too many mistakes, especially in the beginning chapters where I think it matters most to keep the readers’ attention. The tense changed a few times as well.

I definitely like the premise of this novel quite a bit, the synopsis intrigued me. However, the story did not live up to the synopsis. I was expecting something creepy, more of a thriller vibe. This story was a family drama honestly. It was like a Lisa Jewell novel, but with less thrills and intrigue.

I will never understand how you could marry someone that never spoke to you about their past lives and family, so that was unrealistic. The central relationship between Stig and Lily was in such shambles that it made me uncomfortable. The reason why they were so strained was understandable, but the extremes of their discontent was not. Like, why not talk it out? Why are you both so miserable lol, just break up!!

Anyway, this book frustrated me a bit, and it was forgettable, unfortunately. It also had a super abrupt ending. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Fantastic fast paced thriller that keeps you totally into the book and the characters, some likeable some not so much but that makes for great reading.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Really intriguing premise and I loved the author's writing style. However, the main character was very unlikeable (actually all of the characters were). She made irrational decisions and refused to actually talk to her husband about anything. It really kept me from enjoying the book because she was so ridiculous. The plot started off interesting but it just didn't hold my attention and the ending was pretty predictable and unsatisfying.

Finished this in one sitting!! This book is fast-paced, addictive and perfectly written. Great for fans of Freida McFadden! Would recommend

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Lily is married to Stig. He’s secretive of his past and Lily is uncomfortable. When they go to a fancy restaurant for their anniversary it starts a chain of events that will change their lives.

This starts slow. I couldn’t see where the author was going. Then suddenly, event after event, reveal after real! I enjoyed the flash back chapters that really explained things. The final big conclusion however felt a bit disappointing for me.

One to add to the to be read list!

I really enjoyed this book. I love the character Lily and her overwhelming positivity. I feel like it’s needed in real life. I hate how Stig lied to her but I’m glad in the end they worked it out and he told the truth. I really like how in the beginning of the book it was all from Lily’s perspective and then near the end it switched over to flashbacks of Stigs. I honestly thought that Hector would have a redemption arc but nope, he was just a bad guy and wanted to be. Really good book, really good writing, great ending.

Ms. Manning starts the story with Lily & Stig celebrating their anniversary. Their marriage has not been the best. Stig wants a child, but Lily doesn't want to commit to starting a family when there are so many secrets Stig has kept from her. She knows nothing about his past. Lily decides to surprise Stig with dinner at a famous restaurant owned by a celebrity chef Hector Bolson-Woods. She expects Stig to be thrilled, however he's not. And when Chef Hector invites them for a private dinner, Lily cannot contain her excitement. The story progresses with Hector introducing them to his friends and Lily feels special that he has invited her and Stig into his circle. Stig becomes very agitated over all of it.

The book kept my interest, however there was alot of repetition on what Stig was hiding and why was Hector so interested in Lily. As you continue the book, many questions are answered. The ending does offer surprises, but some are predictable. I still would recommend this book. I read it in a few hours. It's a quick easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood books for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book as it was suspenseful and I was riveted until the end! It begins with Lily and husband Stig having dinner at an exclusive restaurant with chef Hector who later invites them to dine at his house. It then vacillates in time as we witness Hector at boarding school where he was a bully and frightened every kid there. It's such a wonderfully convoluted novel that kept me reading to make all the connections. It's one of those that I will think about and recommend to friends!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thriller readers keep your eyes open for your next great book. The Dinner Party by Nina Manning is coming soon. It’s a good one!