J.E. Rowney’s Wish You Were Her is a gripping tale of manipulation, vulnerability, and long-brewing revenge, told through the eyes of a woman pushed to her emotional limits. This psychological thriller delivers a tense, unsettling ride as it delves into the complexities of toxic friendships and the cost of trust misplaced.

Rowney does an excellent job crafting the character of Samantha—a woman reeling from years of emotional hardship. Fragile yet sympathetic, Samantha’s internal struggles are written with striking realism. When she reconnects with a so-called friend who has a history of using her, readers immediately sense that not everything is as it seems. As the story unfolds and strange occurrences escalate, Samantha is forced to question her past, her perceptions, and the true motives of those around her.

Wish You Were Her is layered with suspense and emotional tension, with a satisfying undercurrent of revenge that plays out in clever, unpredictable ways. Rowney’s storytelling is sharp, immersive, and psychologically charged—making this novel a must-read for fans of dark, character-driven thrillers.

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an advanced copy of Wish You Were Her.

Sam is at the lowest point of her life. She is broke and staying at a motel when she sees a post from her former friend Erin about her perfect life. Sam accidentally liked the post and Erin reached out to her and invites her to stay with them. Sam has her reservations but she is desperate. Nothing can change what Erin did to her in the past and Sam knows that she always has an ulterior motive.

I thought this book had potential but the execution failed for me.

The beginning and middle of this story were really intriguing. I was so hooked up until about the 80% mark. It was getting super twisty, and I liked the position the FMC took as part detective to try to figure out the maze she found herself in. HOWEVER, when it was time to start revealing the big twist, multiple other twists tumbled out all at once. I was a bit lost with all of the information being thrown at me, and I honestly felt like I was watching a tennis match (reference not intended) with how back and forth the twists were. One character thought that had a leg up on another character until it was revealed that they didn’t because the other character revealed another twist…. It was just a lot of information at once that wasn’t necessarily needed. The ending was overall decent. I wasn’t the happiest with the ending, but it wasn’t a flop either. We see the end result of all of the twists that were revealed, and it’s slightly satisfying to see. Overall, for the last 20% of this book, I think the story kind of flopped compared to what it could have been.

Are you a thriller fan? Check out Wish You Were Her by JE Rowney. It’s out soon and is one you’ll want to pick up.

While the novel presents an intriguing psychological premise, its execution suffers from uneven pacing. The first two-thirds of the story move slowly, largely centered on the introspective and self-pitying narrative voice of Sam, an unreliable narrator. The final chapters, by contrast, accelerate rapidly, compressing a series of shifting power dynamics between characters into a fast-paced, dialogue-heavy conclusion the book itself likens to "psychological tennis." This abrupt shift in momentum creates a sense of narrative imbalance. A multi-POV structure may have provided a more immersive and evenly distributed exploration of the story’s core tensions, enhancing the suspense and character dynamics throughout. Although the book wasn't a personal favorite, it was an enjoyable and fast-paced read—well-suited for light, casual settings such as the beach or poolside.

This was such a fast-paced read for me! Wish You Were Her pulled me in right away with it’s writing and emotional intensity. I loved the premise and found myself flying through the first half, constantly wondering what was real and what wasn’t. J.E. Rowney does a great job getting into the main character’s head. I absolutely loved the writing style.

That said, I did start to feel a little worn out by the end—the pacing felt a bit stretched and I was ready for things to wrap up sooner. Still, I really enjoyed the ride overall and would recommend it to anyone who loves psychological thrillers! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this fun ARC.

i got the E-arc to this book and i read it in one sitting. it was an amazing book with amazing writing and well written characters. I started the book blindly and went just based on the vibes of the cover thinking it would be a random fiction novel. there is a line close to the end that definitely hit though it might not make much sense out of context. if you don’t want “spoilers” then please don’t continue reading.

“I found myself trapped," she continues, ignoring him completely, "unable to move forward into your worthless life or backward into my own without raising suspicions. Stuck in this paradise with someone else's maxed-out credit cards and a passport that couldn't get me anywhere I wanted to go."

This is such an interesting concept - stolen ideas, stolen lives and an attempt at the old switcheroo. I think Sam and her predicament are supposed to resonate with readers, but I found her self pity so annoying and her management of the ultimate undoing of the stolen framework so bumbling that I just couldn’t sympathise. The ending also seemed a bit rushed but was a very satisfying resolution.

When Samantha’s life falls apart, an unexpected message from an old friend offers her a way out and a ticket to paradise. Swept into a luxurious world of beaches, cocktails, and curated perfection, Samantha starts to believe she might finally leave her past behind. But not everything is as it seems. Behind the glossy smiles and sparkling oceans, old secrets are waiting. And the closer Samantha gets to her new life, the more she wonders: Was reconnecting with Erin Blake the best thing that ever happened to her... or the most dangerous?! Good book! This book had suspense, mystery, dark past secrets, and a few shocking moments! The story was interesting! It wasn’t my top favorite but still worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

‘Wish You Were Her’ by J.E. Rowney was a book I was super excited for, but fell a little flat for me. I’ve heard great things about this author, but I don’t think this ended up being what I was expecting.

The story is about Sam, whose college roommate, Erin, essentially took Sam’s motivational ideas and turned them into a multi-million dollar enterprise…without Sam’s permission. A chance encounter brings them back together, with Erin wanting to make amends, but Sam thinks there may be more under the surface.

I feel like the pacing was strange, like mostly drawn out for the first 2/3 and then trying to wrap up quickly in the last 1/3. It definitely didn’t feel like a thriller to me, definitely more mystery. Unfortunately just didn’t love as much as I wanted to.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wish You Were Her is a suspenseful, sun-soaked escape that quickly turns into something much darker. When Samantha reconnects with her old friend Erin and is whisked away to a luxurious island, it feels like the second chance she desperately needs. But the further she sinks into this paradise, the more cracks begin to show.

J.E. Rowney does a great job creating a moody, slow-burning atmosphere. The tropical setting is glamorous and dreamy on the surface, but there’s always a sense that something’s just... off. The friendship between Samantha and Erin is complicated, layered with old memories, secrets, and shifting power dynamics that keep you guessing.

This is a great read for fans of domestic thrillers or psychological dramas. It’s about trust, reinvention, and the danger of trying to outrun your past. Not a full-blown thriller with big action moments, but the tension and emotional stakes are high enough to keep the pages turning. A smart, sneaky beach read with a bite.

Samantha has hit rock bottom. She follows Erin on social media. Erin invites Sam to join her as a photographer. She stole Sam's life, and Sam wants it back.

Living your authentic life. The life you imagined. The perfect life.
I could not stop reading this book, I had to know how it ended.
I am not sure how I felt about the whole plot.
Everything was a surprise, and yet, everything was perfectly planned - the 'like' on the post - the reunion - the whole kaboodle.
Good thing this is fiction, because to my knowledge, the best laid plans never pan out. Like the say "Man proposes - God Disposes".
Couple of twists, unreliable narrator, unbelievable plot.
Not my most favourite book by JE Rowney.

It's a game of manipulation and lies, with multiple parties thinking they have the upper hand and they're the ones who have been planning all along how their brilliant scheme was going to unfold, fooling everyone else. The psychology behind each character - Sam, Erin, a third party I won't name to avoid spoilers - was quite clever and interesting to puzzle through in the end. Though I found none of them even the tiniest bit likeable, their motivations were intriguing. (Mind you, if I have to hear one more time how someone - don't care who - has developed a brilliant "framework", I think my eyes will roll so hard they'll get stuck facing backwards.)

Unfortunately, the pacing of how everything was revealed was very uneven. The first two thirds of the book felt very slow, almost boring, and just full of Sam, our unreliable narrator, giving off self-pity and woe-is-me constantly. Then all the back-and-forth leading the reader through multiple rounds of "Sam has the upper hand now", "no, Erin still has the upper hand", "no, actually, neither of them does" was all crammed into the last few chapters in the form of a verbal sparring match the book fittingly describes as "psychological tennis". It was giving you whiplash! I think the story would've worked much better if it had been multi-POV (at least Sam and Erin and maybe the aforementioned third party too), so that the experience of questioning who has the upper hand and who's been the most masterful schemer all along could've been present from the start, not just retrospectively rushed through in the last few chapters.

I received a review copy from the publisher, BooksGoSocial, via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for an early copy of Wish You Were Her. The cover definitely caught my eye and hearing it was taking place in Aruba, I couldn’t wait to start reading. It did take awhile to get wrapped up in this but eventually that happened. I was confused a few times regarding how Erin hurt Maya and what did she actually write in the laptop about Nicholas, I never found out. It was a Great cat and mouse psychological toward the end, one outsmarting the other. The very last chapter was Awesome, Good for Sam. Stick with it, your mind will be spinning towards the end,

Amanda has hit rock bottom , her life completely falling apart. She’s divorced living in a hotel with nothing to her name. She unexpectedly reconnects with a college friend who offers her a way out of her situation. She has no hope but to take her offer and hope for the best!

This was a fun toxic tale of frenemies reunited to settle the score. A fast paced story with twists you really wont see coming. How far would you go to make things right?

This was a heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat! It was fast paced, edge of the seat thriller that was extremely well executed. I was gripped from the very first page!

I loved the characters and the storyline. I recommend reading this book straight away definitely 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had it all it was a wild ride of lies and deceit that had many twists and turns which lead to a great but shocking finale!

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This was a clever mystery that focuses on an authenticity retreat in Aruba. We meet our main character when she’s at a particularly low point in her life. She’s getting divorced, she’s lost her job, she is living in a cheap motel that she can’t afford and she’s run out of money. At her lowest, she reconnects with a former friend who she hasn’t seen for six years and who there is a significant problem with.

There were a few things I thought the novel did very well. There was just enough positioning of the historical issue that had occurred before it was explained. I really appreciated this as it built up the suspense without dragging it out too much. The main character’s flaws were explored well, showing why certain things had happened to her and there were interesting parallels shown with the content covered in the retreat. There was a really clear focus on the crime committed and I loved that the author stayed so true to their idea rather than throwing other events in for shock value. This made this novel feel like something quite different and felt like a smart choice from the author. I was impressed by the way the story unfurled and the pacing of this book.

Release: June 20, 2025
Author: JE Rowney
Publisher: Booksgosocial

Rating: 3.75 ★ 

When Samantha’s life crumbles, an unexpected message from a long-lost friend, Erin Blake, seems like the perfect escape. Soon, she finds herself whisked away to a stunning tropical paradise—where luxury, relaxation, and reinvention feel just within reach. But behind the sun-soaked days and picture-perfect setting, something darker is lurking.
As Samantha settles into this new life, cracks begin to show. The glamorous surface hides old secrets, manipulations, and truths she’s not ready to face. What begins as a dream escape quickly turns into a psychological maze, forcing her to question whether reconnecting with Erin was a lucky break—or the worst mistake of her life.
Wish You Were Her is a smart, twisty thriller that plays with the line between friendship and danger, illusion and truth. Perfect for readers who love psychological suspense with complex characters, moral ambiguity, and mind games that stick with you long after the final page.
Wish You Were Her is a twisty, sun-drenched psychological thriller that starts with the promise of paradise but quickly unravels into something far darker. The story follows Samantha, a woman at rock bottom, who sees a lifeline in the form of a message from an old friend. What begins as a dream escape soon becomes a tangled web of secrets, shifting identities, and blurred loyalties.
The setting—Aruba—is lush and escapist, yet there’s an underlying tension that never quite lets you settle. J.E. Rowney does a fantastic job building suspense, especially in how she plays with the reader’s trust. You never really know who to believe, and just when you think you’ve figured it all out, the book throws another curveball your way. Not all the twists were jaw-dropping, but the sense of constant unease kept me turning pages.
One of the strongest elements of this book is its exploration of gray morality. No character is purely good or evil, and the decisions they make—often rooted in desperation, jealousy, or the need to feel seen—give the story emotional weight. I especially related to Samantha’s sense of being left behind while others seem to move forward in life. That insecurity, paired with the allure of reinvention, made her a compelling character to follow.
This isn’t just a beach read—it’s a smart, layered thriller that asks how far someone might go to rewrite their story. If you enjoy suspense with messy, complicated characters and a setting that masks danger with beauty, this one is worth picking up. It’ll definitely leave you thinking long after the final page.

Favorite Quote:
"grief changes shape, but it never really goes away"


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WISH YOU WERE HERE BY JE ROWNEY.
5 ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨s.
Release date set for the 20th of June 2025 1 day before my birthday ☺
Love the cover.
This is my 3rd book by this author.
As soon as it landed on my kindle I stopped what I was doing and immediately started reading.
I can tell you this woman knows how to write!!!! Her stories pull you in from the second you start reading and hooks you throughout the story.
Fabulously written.
Great characters.
Intriguing and edge of your seat at times.
I think JE Rowneys books get better and better everytime.

Wish You Were Her was a fun read, very quick and fast-paced. A good, easy reading thriller. I would definitely recommend this one for anyone who likes psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators.