Super cute and quick read! While I enjoyed it, it did feel like it was missing something but I did enjoy it!

Quick, cozy RomCom. This was first time reading a Sandy Barker book and will definitely be reading more!

Thank you Boldwood Books for granting me an ARC! All opinions are my own and not influenced by the publisher.

I enjoyed reading this book, the plot was unusual and entertaining and the characters were mostly believable. I liked how the bettayed women stuck together to get revenge but I thought that the way they went about it was very unbelievable (why would they involve Poppy - she is not even a friend of Kate's?). Apart from that the book is a highly entertaining, fast-paced read.

I really loved the premise of this book! It’s a lighthearted, humorous, and charming, making it an enjoyable and fun experience from start to finish.

The story does a wonderful job of showcasing the power of female friendship and understanding. The bond between the characters felt real and heartwarming, which made it easy to connect with them throughout the story. Plus, it's a quick and easy read, perfect for when you need something light and entertaining.

While it had potential, I was hoping for a more exciting revenge plot. It didn't quite live up to the tension and excitement I was hoping for. Despite that, the book’s charm and humor kept me hooked, making it an enjoyable read overall.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

This book is the fifth book in a series. Its a cute romantic comedy with betrayal and revenge.
The story joins Kate on a mission across Europe to unravel her husbands lies. The journey is fun going through Amsterdam and Verona.
I felt like the romance happened way too quickly, making it not very believable. I was a little confused going back and forth between point of views also. It was a cute read that had its funny moments, offering a pleasant escape into the story.

What a cute story of a cad and the women he conned.

Kate is engaged to Jon. Then, Willem shows up to tell her Jon is engaged to his sister. Betrayal and growth ensue.

Sandy Barker introduces us to Kate, a woman with a tidy life: a job she likes, a hilarious best friend, and a stable-ish fiance. Then, a Thor-like man throws a wrench in it and forces her to examine her life.

It's a romance full of tropes (often in a tongue-in-cheek way), but it also examines the concessions women make to fill the roles they think they should be playing.

Barker's "Ever After' series is a fun look at how women can find their happily ever after. This book also revisits some previous characters giving readers a nice callback to people they already love.

Kate is caught off guard when a man named Willem shows up at her door with unsettling news. A security specialist, Willem had been investigating a man his sister is engaged to—only to discover that Kate is engaged to the very same man. Shocked to learn that her fiancé, Jon, has been leading multiple relationships built on deception, Kate and Willem begin unraveling his web of lies. As they dig deeper, they uncover a third woman who has also fallen victim to Jon’s schemes, and they attempt to bring her into their efforts to expose him.

As Kate and Willem grow closer, their shared mission turns into something more. However, I found the book somewhat confusing, as it shifts perspectives between Kate and Poppy, a matchmaker who seems to be orchestrating events from behind the scenes. Poppy’s chapters felt disconnected from the main storyline, making me wonder if her backstory was explored in a previous book. While the premise was intriguing, the multiple viewpoints made the narrative feel disjointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this free advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving this review.

⭐ 3 Stars

Overview

So, first off—this one’s on me. I didn’t realize this was book #5 in a series when I requested the ARC, so I spent a decent chunk of the book confused by all the name-dropping and character references. If you’ve read the previous books, this probably won’t be an issue, but as a newcomer, it took me a minute to get my bearings.

The title? A little misleading. It’s not Willem who’s “trouble.”

My Thoughts

Despite my initial confusion, there were definitely things I enjoyed about this book:

✔ The romance – Willem is an absolute sweetheart, and I loved how much joy he found in introducing Kate to new foods and experiences. Their relationship had a really gentle, wholesome energy, which made it super easy to root for them.
✔ Kate & Margot’s friendship – These two are friendship goals, no question. Their dynamic was one of my favorite parts of the book, and by the end, the group—including Lucia, Adriana, and Poppy—felt like a little found family, which was really sweet.
✔ Once the POVs settled, the pacing worked – The first third of the book was a little tricky for me because Kate and Poppy’s POVs felt too similar, and I had to keep checking back to see who was narrating. But after the first few swaps, their voices became more distinct, and the rest of the book flowed well.

That said, there were a couple of things that didn’t quite hit for me:

✖ The revenge plot felt underwhelming – I was expecting more chaos, more drama, more “John Tucker Must Die” energy (minus him getting the girl at the end, obviously). It had the setup for a juicy, high-stakes revenge plan, but it just didn’t go as hard as I wanted it to.
✖ The overuse of “wowser” – Not a huge deal, but it pulled me out of the story every time I saw it. It just felt a little repetitive.

Final Thoughts

This was a cute, easy read with a sweet romance and strong friendship dynamics, but it didn’t quite give me the high-stakes drama and revenge plot I was hoping for. If you’re already familiar with this series, you’ll probably enjoy reconnecting with the characters, but if you’re jumping in for the first time, it might take a bit to get into.

Aside from the fact that this is book 5 in a series - a series that I haven't read - I have a few other reasons for not enjoying this book.

Kate is supposed to be a little older than the usual characters in these style of books. Something I was really impressed with when I first started reading. However, she is . . . I was going to say immature but that's not quite right, maybe naive? Considering the fact that Willem has just turned up at her door to give her some MASSIVE LIFE CHANGING news, she has certainly fallen under his spell rather quickly. This was very uncomfortable reading.
Her friendship with her cousin, Margot is weird too.
Still, I powered through , y'know, just in case it turned into something wonderful - but it didn't.
I have no doubt that if I had read the previous books, I would have been more invested and would have understood a few other characters a bit more.

I'm sorry to say that I DNF'd this one. I got past 50% and was so bored, the FMC was also driving me crazy. She couldn't make decisions by herself it seemed, someone needed to tell her to do things in order for her to actually do them. She didn't try very hard to win over the MMC, she had a chance when they went to Italy, he offered to show her around more and explore the city but because the reason they went there wasn't going to happen she tells him lets just change our flights and go home, she should have used the opportunity to her advantage! She spent pages lusting after him and threw away the best chance to see if he was even interested in her. I also didn't like how there was another person's POV that wasn't the main couple, it threw me off and felt like I was reading two different books, I skimmed a lot during those chapters. Her cousin was also very pushy at times but then again, the FMC was basically a doormat. I wanted to like this but it was just a chore to get through.

I have mixed thoughts on this book. I enjoyed the FMC, Kate, as she navigates her thoughts and actions after finding out her fiance is engaged to another woman. This then spirals the book into more of what is going on with everything. One thing I had trouble with was the POV of Poppy as one of the two POVs in the book. As I hadn't read any of the books prior, it was confusing why she was featured instead of Willem, the MMC. I did love the subplot of finding unexpected love when your world has been turned on its side, but I felt there were so many more subplots added that seemed to take away from the overall plot of the book

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪: 3.25/5 𝓢𝓣𝓐𝓡𝓢 ⭐️

I picked up I Knew You Were Trouble by Sandy Barker without having read the previous books in the Ever After Agency series, but since they’re companion novels, I didn’t feel lost at all. The premise immediately hooked me—Kate Whitaker, fresh off discovering her fiancé’s betrayal, teams up with Willem, whose sister has been similarly wronged, to get some well-earned revenge. It’s a fun setup, and I enjoyed following Kate on her journey of self-discovery, heartbreak, and new beginnings.

Barker does a great job bringing the settings to life, and I especially liked the strong female friendships in the story. Kate’s bond with the other women felt genuine and empowering, which was a highlight for me. That said, the romance between Kate and Willem developed a little too quickly for my taste. While they had chemistry, I would have liked to see more buildup and tension between them before things progressed. Some of the subplots also felt a bit rushed or underdeveloped, which kept me from being fully invested in certain moments.

Overall, I Knew You Were Trouble was an entertaining read with a good mix of humor, heart, and romance. It didn’t completely blow me away, but I still enjoyed it and would consider picking up more books from the series.

Thank you so much to Sandy Barker, Boldwood Books & NetGalley for the ARC!

This romcom involved a lot of mayhem as Kate is informed by Willem that her fiancé is not who he says he is. Kate works with Willem, his sister, her best friend and others to create a revenge plan full of drama and chaos. The hijinks push Willem and Kate closer together as they travel around Europe in pursuit of punishment. They are sweet and awkward as they navigate this tough situation and Kate really comes into her own through this journey. It was a good time filled with laughs and girl power.

This one had me hooked right from the first page.

It was pretty fast paced and had lots going on, but it was fun seeing how the girls would get their revenge on their fiance, Jon.

I love how Kate falls for Willem as she works through what her relationship really was (or wasnt) with Jon, but I also loved how others rallied around her.

I've read the other books in the Ever After Agency Series, and while this one wasn't my absolute favourite, it's probably top 3! It's lighhearted, its laugh out loud in parts, and I'm sad that it is the last in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC.

I Knew You Were Trouble, is the fifth book in the Ever After dating agency romance comedy series by Sandy Barker. It’s Friday night when Kate has just put on her cozy PJs and is getting ready to do nothing when someone buzzes her flat. it’s Willem De Vries, and he has some life-changing information to tell her. After a quick Internet search on him, she agrees to meet him at the local pub on the corner where he tells her his sister is engaged to Kate’s fiancé John Dunn and he wants her to go to Amsterdam to help prove that their fiancé is a dudd.. despite the devastating news she still can’t help but notice how gorgeous Willem is. later that night she calls her cousin Margot over for emotional support but more than just support Margo wants revenge. After Kate thinks about this for a minute she decides she too wants revenge but wants to involve Poppy Dean from the ever after agency to help them. while Kate and Margot are in Amsterdam they find out about yet another fiancé in Italy and so off to Italy they go. This is where Kate and Willem will become much much closer and she falls head over heels and lust with him but after they take yet another trip back to Amsterdam Kate starts to feel overwhelmed and overaught and has a breakdown that Willem overhears and Kate wish he wouldn’t have. all these destinations and she hasn’t even asked Poppy to help them yet but once she does Poppy will set herself up to be his next fiancé to help the three women get their revenge. Unfortunately Kate hasn’t talked to Willem since her meltdown and she desperately wants to. Will Katie get the revenge she wants and the guy of her dreams? This is a long review just for me to say this was my least favorite ever after book so far. I love the all of them for one reason or another up till now this one seems so far-fetched and out of the box having three women conned by the same man and they have so much money that they can go fly all over Europe so they could get together and discuss it to me was just too crazy. I do want to say when reading a romance book and hearing the description of the male MC I usually get a feeling of whether they’re hot or not in Willam definitely sounded like a hottie but regardless this was still my least favorite book I will still read books by Sandy Barker in the future and future books in the series I just didn’t like this one. #MyHonestReview,#NetGalley, #BoldWoodBooks, #TheBlindReviewer,#SandyBarker, #IKnewYouWereTrouble,

The premise of this book had so much potential, and I genuinely wanted to love it. But, unfortunately, the execution fell short in many ways, and if it weren’t for my stubbornness about not DNFing books, I wouldn’t have made it to the end.

The writing felt overly repetitive, so reading was a bit of a slog, and I found myself losing interest more often than I would’ve liked. The constant barrage of pop culture references became a bit grating. While I appreciate a clever reference here and there, it was overdone and kept detracting from the story instead of enhancing it.

Then there’s Kate. I just couldn’t connect with her. She lacked depth and, more importantly, self-awareness. Towards the end of the book it mentioned that she had met Jon 6 months before, which I wasn't aware, so it made it even weirder that they were already engaged when they seemed to barely spend time together?!

As for the romance—well, it was hard to believe in it at all. The supposed chemistry between the romantic leads was practically nonexistent (I'm still appalled that the author dared having one of the side characters say they had more chemistry than Kate and Anthony from Bridgerton! 😂) The relationship felt more like a superficial fling than anything real, with most of their interactions happening solely in Kate’s internal monologue. They barely spoke to each other, and when they did, we were told about it instead of being shown. This made the romance feel less like a genuine connection and more like a lust-driven obsession, which really didn’t do justice to the premise.

Additionally, the characters were way too focused on physical attraction, acting like they were still teenagers despite being in their thirties. The way everyone behaved was cringe-worthy at times, Margot especially.

While the book does have a lighthearted tone and some witty dialogue sprinkled throughout, these positives were ultimately overshadowed by weak character development and a lack of romantic tension. Ultimately, the book fell flat for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for a honest review.

dnf @ 30%

this writing style is not for me unfortunately, i don’t really get the humour and it feels a bit young leaning? there is a lot of tell and not a lot of show and i wish we had more of the fmc’s inner monologue instead of all the dialogue. i also find the pacing to be too quick, making it feel quite chaotic.

i haven’t been able to connect with any of the characters, i find kate to be quite naive and frankly annoying. her relationship with margot has also been really overwhelming with how much she has appeared already. i also feel a bit icky with her instant infatuation with willem considering when they meet she is technically engaged, and given the situation it’s not even a meet cute. alongside this, i sense no chemistry at all.

i didn’t know this was book 5 in a series, but also if it’s an interconnected standalone this shouldn’t matter as i should be able to pick up any book and not feel like i’m missing information. unfortunately for me it does in this instance given who the second pov is seen from - which i also wish was from willem as he’s literally on the front cover (or i assume that’s him as im not finishing it)

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

I Knew You Were Trouble is the fifth book in Sandy Barker’s Ever After Agency series and it’s another great addition to series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did wonder what would happen next however this one is definitely a little bit different from the rest. Instead of looking for her happily ever after, Kate enlists Poppy’s help for revenge. When she finds out that her fiancé is actually engaged to another woman, and planning on asking a third to marry him, she needs help to teach him a lesson.

I really enjoyed the twists throughout this one, it was well paced and a bit of a change from a usual romance. I really liked Kate and Margo’s friendship throughout the story, however I just wasn’t a fan of Margo’s thrown in relationship at the end… (no spoilers!).

Overall, it’s definitely a great addition to the series, however it’s probably not my favourite out of them all so far. But I would still recommend it to anyone who is a fan of this book series.

Thank you Sandy Barker, Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advanced reader’s copy of I Knew You Were Trouble by Sandy Barker. This fun rom com, with loveable characters, and laugh out loud moments. Although enjoyable, I definitely think it would have been even better if I read the first four novels in the series. Barker did a great job of creating a fun and quick read, as well as making the reader follow a beautiful love story between two characters. My review can also be found on my Goodreads account: https://www.goodreads.com/nhernandez1888

Thank you netgalley for the chance to review! this was a solid 3 /5 stars for me.
I have really enjoyed the Ever After series, with each book about this unusual match making company being a little more zany than the next. I love how interconnected they have tended to be, especially with Poppy and Tristan (my favs) making appearances.
This one follows Kate as she learns her picturesque, but slightly boring, engagement is a gigantic sham. Williem rolls into her life to let her know that man is also engaged to his sister, and who knows who else. They set off on a hairbrained adventure to find the other engaged women, get revenge on this man, work with Ever After to right the matchmaking industry, and maybe fall in love along the way.
Zany is the best way I can describe this story: it's an absolute fun joyride, but you have to suspend your belief to make it really sing. Williem is adorable and I love him, Kate takes a bit to find her footing (and herself). The action is a bit all over the place and some of the emotions seem a little illogical. But the very tiny bit of spice in this is well done, you really root for Kate/Williem in the end, and I adore watching a philanderer get whats what.

My preferences: Tristan / Poppy, Gaby/Raf, Kate/Williem, Greta /Ewan, Elle /Leo