The Guest Room

   In this blog post, I reviewed Rona Hallsall’s The Guest Room. This shockingly twisted psychological thriller has some domestic suspense elements to keep your head spinning. For Stephanie Baker, all she wanted was to stay in her home, and to be reconnected to her estranged son Max. Due to the divorce with her husband Andy, both he and her daughter Bea wanted her to sell the home. But when push came to shove, she was adamant and stood her ground. Until some incidents had taken place at her home to scare her senseless and made her feel a bit unsafe. Then she met Noah, a homeless man who lived in the shed of her home. At first, she was suspicious about him, but she questioned everyone who wanted to harm her—her ex, Noah, people at work. As she had gotten closer to knowing him better and helping him out, things took a turn for the worst when unsavory people showed up at her home, and then later a house fire.  That’s when Noah saved her life and her daughter Bea became needy. Little did Steph know the truth, when she started adding up the strange happenings at her home and  connected the hard hard truth before it was too late.

This twisted psychological thriller would have you at the edge of your seat.  I cared for  Steph, who wanted to reconnect with her son Max, and to live at her home. I loved how she had a caring nature to help Noah out with his family and residential issues. The dual locations of Harrogate and London had stellar scenic settings from her home to the homeless shelter. The theme is jealousy is a ugly skin when we should love one another equally.

This gripping psychological thriller will have your heart racing and your skin crawl. I rated this book, four out of five stars, for no reason. If you love twisted psychological thrillers with non-stop action, plenty of dramatic suspense, and spine-tingling twists, The Guest Room will keep you up all night. This is recommended for fans of Cara Reinard, Gillian Flynn, and domestic suspense and psychological thriller novels and movies. 

The Den

  In this blog post, I reviewed Cara Reinard’s The Den. This gripping domestic suspense thriller is twisted, dark, and keeps you guessing straight toward the end. It all started for Lucinda Fox, who came home to Pittsburgh to attend a benefit to honor her mother. But when her father suffered a stroke, it caused a ripple effect for her sister Valerie, her two brothers Christian and Jeremy, and even for their former nanny, Marian Vega. While they waited to hear their father’s prognosis, they learned about the Den, a special trust fund set up by their father Stefan Fox, in case anything should happen to their father. Meanwhile it caused sparks and other concerns between them. Christian wants to contest it, while the others don’t. But when he winds up in the fatal car accident, things change. Someone began to target them, one by one, until they were wiped out to claim the money. It’s up to Lucinda and Valerie to get down to the bottom of it before it’s too late for them. In a life-and-death battle, the surprising twist will leave you speechless and spine-tingling at the climax. 

This compelling domestic suspense is dark and twisted with a gripping storyline premise. I cared for Lucinda, who was the unwanted child, and wanted so much to please the people who cared about her. I also cared for Valerie, who wanted to protect her daughter Isla, and give her a better future. The location of Pittsburgh painted the scenes well for the settings. The dual themes of the story is no one’s perfect, and greed is an evil sin when it comes to money and revenge.

This dark domestic suspense will keep you at the edge of your seat and make your head spin. I rated this book, four out of five stars for no reason.   If you love dark domestic thrillers with family issues, non-stop action, heart-stopping drama, and plenty of suspense,  you'll love The Den. It's recommended for fans who love Gone Girl and Hannah Mary McKinnon.

Nanny Dearest

  In  this blog post, I reviewed Flora Collins’s Nanny Dearest. This adult domestic suspense is riveting, dark and twisted with every turned page.  Susanna Keller’s life have been turned upside-down when her father died a year ago. At a chance encounter, she’s reunited with Annaliese “Annie” Whittaker, her former nanny she had when she was three years old. This reunion had brought back memories of her past and her turbulent childhood when she lost her mother from cancer. From Annie’s POV told in the 1990s from flashback, it all started from a simple job for her to take care of Suzy and the household, Suzy’s father was too busy with work and her mother didn’t pay close attention to her only daughter. She clapped her eyes on Suzy and prepared to insinuate into the family further. When Suzy mentions this to her friend Beth, she becomes leery and suspicious of her. The more she felt better about her life from quitting her job to alienating herself from her friends, she’s been sucked into Annie’s warped life like a cult survivor, believe everything she said was the truth about her childhood and her parents. Then she becomes suspicious of her and her actions, playing everyone like a fool, until she discovered the truth and prepared to confront her dead on. Though she denied it, Annie wanted Suzy for herself, driving a wedge into her life, wanting to make her for her own. With every little discovery she uncovered, she distanced herself from Annie and broken free from her hold until they had a final confrontation at her former home, which would blow you away.

This was a dark domestic suspense that’s captivating and gives you chills all over. I cared for Suzy on how she lost both her parents and had her friends to lean on, until Annie resurfaced into her life like a deadweight dummy.  Besides dealing with her grief, she was a sucker and a true believer on Annie’s lies about the past and how she destroyed her family. I loved how she stood up to her in the end. Annie, I had l liked in the beginning, but then I became suspicious of her and her motives, especially with her own niece and nephew. I loved the New York City area for the central location which had fantastic scenic settings, past and present.  The theme of the story is that don’t lie on who you are, or it would sneak up on you.

I loved how it dealt with grief and possibly mental health, which does hit close to home. It also showed the perception of how people view you and how you view others in the same light.  It gave me goosebumps and chills all over. My only nitpick was that we didn’t know Suzy’s parents first names until it was mentioned later in the story, when it should’ve been introduced in the first flashback. And African-American and Black are technically the same thing, when African-American should be the correct form to describe brown-skinned people. I rate this book, four out of five stars, because there were some thing I didn’t like what Annie did in Suzy’s life. This is recommended to everyone who loves to read domestic suspense and thriller novels.

If you love heart-stopping domestic suspense with twisted non-stop action, plenty of dark suspense, and lots of shocking drama, Nanny Dearest will make you leave the light on at night.

SIster Dear

 In this blog post, I reviewed Hannah Mary McKinnon's Sister Dear. This domestic suspense novel would make you skin crawl with goosebumps and the hairs stand at the back of your neck. All Eleanor Hardwicke every wanted was a loving family who appreciated her. But they treated her like garbage since she wasn't pretty enough to deserve their love.  But before her father died from cancer, she learned a shocking truth she shouldn't have heard from her parents: she was born from an affair and was kept a secret. This set her on edge to seek her real father out. But he wanted nothing to do with her and had sent her mother hush money to kept it a secret. So she sent out in a mission to know her half-sister Victoria and to get into her world by befriending her and learning her family's darkest secrets. The only person she told was her neighbor Lewis who had a thing for her. It all started for her from disclosing her identity and "accidentally" stealing Victoria's wedding ring when she'd gotten chummier with her and closer to Lewis. In fears of being found out, she kept up with the charade until she'd been discovered and caught into her lies when she'd lost everything she loved and worked hard for in a twisted blink of an eye with a shocking ending.

 This domestic suspense had me at the edge of the seat and piqued my interest right from the beginning. It was dark and twisted as it would come in this domestic thriller. I cared for Eleanor and how everyone mistreated her, making her feeling unwanted and unloved, even by the way she looked, like a ghost. I did care for how she would handle this situation  when she should've quit while she a head and took a chance.  But her own house of cards had toppled in an epic collapse when everything was yanked from her in a puff of smoke. I liked the intricate locations in the Portland area from Eleanor's home to Victoria's posh apartment and everywhere in between. The theme of the story is that secrets and lies have a way of coming out into the open before you're found out.

If you love spine-tingling domestic suspense novels with twisted non-stop action, plenty of heart-racing drama, and tons of goose-bumping suspense, Sister Dear is right up your alley.

The Marriage Lie

 In this blog post, I reviewed Ali Mercer's the Marriage Lie. This riveting domestic suspense novel would leave you at the edge of your seat and hold your breath. What do you do when someone holds something over you? It all started for Stella Castle's 40th birthday when her husband treated her to a special dinner and gifted her to a home for where she lived alone. It caught her off guard when her husband wanted a divorce from her. If she didn't do what he wanted, he would reveal a terrible secret about their daughter's birth. With no where to turn, she went to her mother for advice. But she later learned that Rob was having an affair with someone else and carried his child. Was this some part of his midlife crisis to ditch her in the ditch? To protect this terrible secret, she would have to reach out to her younger sister Molly, who have been estranged from her family for years. When her mother passed away, she reached out to her sister before she left the funeral service. It only made her more determined to reconnect to her and to break free from Rob's dominating hold on her. Then, when her stepfather passed away shortly after her mother's death, she connected to Molly again and didn't show up for the service. In the end, Stella learned the shocking truth about her daughter and promised to protect her to the end, when they've both told Georgie a partial truth to satisfy her daughter's curiosity, and made their bond stronger than ever and better than before.

 This was a jaw-dropping domestic suspense thriller. I instantly cared for Stella, who was put into a difficult situation and tougher than a rock and a hard place. What was she to do to do his evil bidding and to do what he wants? She did what she wanted to do to break free and escape from his dominating ways to protect her daughter. It made me dislike Rob more and more until he'd gotten what he discovered. I loved the Fox Hill and other select locations in England that depicted the scenic settings so well with the ambiance for the story. The theme of the story is that blood is thicker than water and the ties that bind between family and dark secrets.

If you love gripping domestic suspense thrillers that would knock the pants off of you with non-stop action, dramatic suspense, shocking twist and turns, and chills all over, The Marriage Lie is the book for you.