Chris is a firm believer in love at first sight. So when a brief encounter in the peanut butter aisle leaves him captivated, he’s convinced it’s destiny. A dropped slip of paper gives him the woman’s name—Serena—and from that moment, she becomes the center of his world. He quickly uncovers everything about her: where she works, where she lives, that she’s a single mother. Then, in a move that feels more calculated than romantic, he books a fake house tour just to see her again.

What begins as fascination quickly spirals into full-blown obsession. Chris watches, follows, listens, and inserts himself into Serena’s life—all under the guise of love. In his mind, every boundary crossed is proof of his devotion. He’s not a stalker; he’s just committed. But as their early dates fade and Serena gets closer, Chris begins to unravel—and what starts as charming quickly turns chilling.

Told entirely from Chris’s point of view, this book is a masterclass in unreliable narration. His twisted logic, self-justification, and warped view of love are both horrifying and fascinating. Lissa Lovik does a brilliant job of pulling readers into Chris’s mind, where gaslighting and manipulation are normalized, even romanticized.

What truly elevates this debut is how disturbingly real it all feels. The settings are familiar, the dialogue sharp, the emotional control eerily believable. It’s not over-the-top or theatrical—it’s grounded, and that’s what makes it so effective. The slow build of tension is expertly paced, and the descent into darkness feels inevitable and terrifying.

All Because of You by Lissa Lovik follows a man intent on having the perfect meet-cute romance. When Chris sees Serena in the grocery store, it's love at first sight. His plan to ask her out derails when she slips out of the store before he can approach her. No worries. A few Google searches and he can find her easily enough.

This novel is truly terrifying and definitely disturbing. However, I didn't personally enjoy reading from the perspective of creepy Chris. Please check trigger warnings and be aware that this follows the villain.

I am always so intrigued by books that are focused on obsession and wow did this one deliver. I can't believe this was a debut it was so well written and so worth it. Such a rollercoaster, it was tense and suspenseful all throughout. The character development is great and the writing was fabulous.

Chris sees Serena at the grocery store and he watches (stalks ) her both in person and checking on her online for a while before asking her out, even though he knew the minute he saw her that he wanted her.

Once they start dating things seem perfect, but Serena's best friend gets in the way. Chris just knows he's more than a friend. Chris seems to know everything about Serena, whether it's true or not.

He is determined they will be happy. Will the happiness he's invested in kill them?

Told in Chris' perspective, this book had me from the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of All Because Of You.

The main character in this book was so infuriating and entertaining! He was constantly criticizing everything his love interest was doing but was still somehow calling her the “love of his life”. The story was addicting and the narrator was great. Def recommend checking this one out.

Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5 stars)
All Because of You by Lissa Lovik
This debut thriller just hit the shelves, and I recommend it to anyone who loves delusional villains who think they’re the hero! Or if you need a reminder of how horribly wrong a “meet-cute” can go. And don’t listen to anyone who tells you a grocery store is a good place to meet a date. It’s not.

Meet Serena, a hardworking single mom and Realtor, who is completely unaware that Chris is lurking in the background, convinced he’s being a total gentleman by 'waiting to ask her out' while he’s basically stalking her. It’s creepy in the best way.

Chris acts like he’s the star of a Hallmark movie. He bumps into Serena at the grocery store, grabs her name off a receipt, does some light internet creeping, pops up at her job, and then buys a house for their imaginary future together—before they’ve even had coffee. You know, just the usual romantic stuff. 🤯

Part of the fun (and terror) is getting a front-row seat to Chris’s mind, which is basically a haunted house of dark delusions. He’s already decided that Serena is his soulmate. She doesn’t even know he exists or that his idea of courtship involves surveillance.

“All Because of You” is officially on my list of favorite debuts this year. I can’t wait to see what Lissa Lovik dreams up next.

Thank you to the author and Brilliance Publishing/Thomas & Mercer for providing the #giftedbook via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Stalker books can be hit or miss for me but this was one believable and just so creepy! Now, if you go into this thinking its a typical thriller (or romantic thriller) you will be disappointed. But the tension builds so well throughout you will be hooked. Chris and Serena were excellent MCs. I felt like I was watching a car crash happening in slow motion as Serena ignored every red flag and Chris talked his way out of every problem. The ending was super satisfying.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭.”

𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 7/29/25

Audiobook 🎧/ ebook 📖

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Chris Fox has a chance meeting with Serena in a grocery store. For him, it’s love at first sight.. but he has to convince her that she should feel the same. Told from Chris’s POV, we enter the mind of an obsessive man in pursuit of what he wants.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
🐺Stalker/ “You” vibes
👀Twisted
🐺”If I can’t have you, nobody can.”
👀 Fast paced

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: When I read the first chapter in this book, I was putt off by the vulgarness of the MMC, and how just creepy gross his mind was. But I stuck with it- and this was such a fantastic debut novel. I loved the original POV and the interworkings of a stalkers mind. I was sucked in and couldn’t stop reading. The male narrator (Joe Knezevich) was SUPERB and totally brought Chris’s character to life with his inflection and tone. Lovik does a fantastic job of portraying obsession and control mixing with infatuation. The ending was a bit lackluster, I was hoping for something more explosive- but that aside, this one is a must read!

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫


TW: stalking, vouyerism, strangulation

*Thank you @NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and @BrilliancePublishing (audio) for sending this audiobook and ebook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

#AllBecauseofYou

This is such a big topic as a first novel for the author, because of that I kept wanting to know more about the characters. They weren’t fleshed out enough for me so I never felt invested in them. For this edition I did enjoy the narrator and appreciate the copy from NetGalley.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC opportunity!

Boy oh boy, this was a ride! I didnt fully expect to be in the crazy man’s POV the entire time but it really sheds a light on the delulu that can happen with mental illness.

And poor Serena. 2 wackos in 8 years? Girl Derek is the safe choice at this point.

This was a tough one because of the insane self discussions with the MMC, BUT it had my attention from the start and never let it go.

This book is so amazing! It’s very well written and a great, exciting read!
The story itself was suspenseful and enjoyable, The characters were great and the style of writing was perfect.
An intriguing story with characters who draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
I didn’t want to stop reading the story until I knew how it was going to end!

Thank you Brilliance audio! This was a "my bookstagram friends made me do it" read/listen and goodness, I am glad they did! I admit... stalker plots aren't my usual vibe but I saw so many early rave reviews that I had to check this out. All Because of You is more than the plot summary and stalker vibes, especially with the excellent voice performance from Joe Knezevich, and I admit I was quickly sucked into Cris's thoughts, his immediate and increasingly unhinged attraction to Serena...
Lissa Lovik’s debut is a total page-turner—deeply unsettling, sharply written, and impossible to put down. The story kicks off with Chris spotting Serena in a grocery store and becoming instantly fixated. What follows is his calculated and quietly chilling pursuit of her, told entirely through his twisted point of view. He’s convinced he’s found “the one,” and watching him rationalize every manipulative step he takes is both fascinating and terrifying.

What sets this apart from other obsession-driven thrillers is how grounded and smart Serena is—she’s intuitive, tough, and refuses to overlook the red flags Chris keeps waving. The psychological tension is masterfully built; there’s no big action or violence, but the emotional pressure and creeping control are enough to make your skin crawl. Lovik explores the danger of coercive relationships with nuance and realism, making this feel all too believable. Bonus shoutouts to the sharp supporting cast, Chris’s eerie backstory (his grandfather, yikes), and Serena’s dog Sirius, who honestly deserves his own spin-off. If you like your thrillers dark, tense, and character-driven, don’t miss this one.

This book was not at all what I expected!
We had stalking, romance, girl boss, and obsession.
The book is so creepy! Eek!
The suspense was sending me into a tailspin. It was so well written.
The plot was well structured and well-written. The pace was PERFECT!
The way Chris becomes immediately obsessed with Serena.. whew.. makes you want to check behind you when you read the book.
The way he meticulously brings her into his life - diabolical. It was so crazy, made me incredibly crazy.
The characters. I can't say enough about how well-written the characters are in this book. They are so well developed and well written. Chris is so intense, and you feel it come through the pages. Serena is so caring and trusting. The subtle red flags that build throughout the plot.
I don't want to give away too much, but if you want a great suspense/thriller.
This was my first Lissa Lovik book, and I will certainly look for more of her work to read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC!
Happy Reading!

Wow. This book. Started off slow but then took off like a train. It was so creepy and unsettling. Super stalker vibes and they just got worse and worse as it went on. Chris was an absolute creep and hearing the story from his POV was the perfect way to tell it. Majorly unhinged and I thoroughly enjoyed this read! The narrator did a fantastic job with this and really conveyed the stalker emotions and how Chris insanely was able to justify everything he did to himself.

It's an accidental meet cute turned stalker. When Chris runs into Serena at the grocery store its love at first sight. Chris becomes obsessed with finding out everything about her and then it turns into stalking. When he is finally able to "meet" up on accident to then turns into a relationship. Everything is so perfect he says the right things does the right thing how is he so perfect....

This was a romantic thriller, and the perfect guy doesn't exist and the lengths someone goes to and the ways they act and becoming controlling there are so many red signs, and it takes a while for everyone to see.

This book has the ups and downs and the stalker aspect was creepy.
I enjoyed this book a lot and the story is told from the Stalkers pov

Thank You NetGalley for this audio-arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.

That was a decent read. kept me engaged. Kind of like Joe Goldberg. book in his POV. Nothing shocking,..I would read more by Lovik.

I have a feeling that Chris Fox is going to be compared the OG stalker (here's looking at you, Joe Goldberg), and, while there are similarities, I think Chris is darker. Maybe just because I wasn't expecting his level of obsession, but he is a seriously deranged, unhinged character. Lissa Lovik's debut caught me by surprise with how much I was riveted. I might never look around my house again without wondering if someone is watching, and, to all of those wondering...the dog is okay in the end.

Thanks Netgalley for the audiobook of All Because of You by Lissa Lovik.
The story was realistic with touch of fiction. Realistic especially because of the MMC Chris, who will give you the loathsome creepy stalker vibe (unlike Joe from the book You by Caroline Kepnes, Josh the MMC of the dark romance Lights Out by Navessa Allen etc). Chris's delulu lovesick perv psycho stalker POV is everything you'll find in a controlling abusive person's behaviour. I felt like DNFing the book multiple times because the MMC literally gave me the creeps and icks. Just read it and you'll get it. 3.5/5 stars overall.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BrillancePublishing for the book #AllbecauseOfYou by #LissaLovik. I love stalker books and this was absolutely what I needed. Loved it! Chris meets Serena at the grocery store over a can of peanut butter and it’s love at first sight for him. He positions himself into her life, her job as a realtor, so he can ask her out. They soon start dating and get serious, engaged after a short time. But Chris has a jealous streak and he will stop at nothing to keep her.

Thank you to brilliance audio for the gifted ALC. This book was getting such high praise, I had to see what it was all about! This book was intriguing and immediately gave creep vibes. It was a quick and easy listen, I had to know what happened. My main complaint with this book is that it is so incredibly similar to You, a previously published book and popular Netflix series. Most of the book, I kept thinking I was in the mind of the main character from that show. It was just way too similar and not original enough for me. The book was done well and I enjoyed it, just wanted something different. The narrator did such a great job with this story and characters.