★★★½
Berkley | 2022
Filed Under: Serial killers with BDE.
This novel is fucking ridiculous, but I read it in one sitting, staying up until 4am to finish it. I was exhausted and grumpy the next day, but I drank an iced coffee the size of my head as a remedy and then it was all worth it.
Win/win situation.
I just could not put this down even though it is kind of dumb… but dumb in a fun way. Like, it just made me happy how bananas the whole plot was. When book nerds say something is a popcorn read, this novel is the definition. It’s pure entertainment without any real rhyme or reason for why any of it is happening. You just know you’re having a good time.
This is Desperate Housewives meets Fatal Attraction meets The Boy Next Door.
Jen, Kittie and Cynthia are lifelong best friends at different stages in their lives who all live near each other. When Will Harding moves in down the street from Jen, there doesn’t appear to be a single woman in the posh neighbourhood who can control herself. And Will is more than happy to take advantage of that for his own sinister reasons.
I mean, literally everybody is flustered and crushing on Will and trying to find a way to get his attention. Married or not, it doesn’t seem to really matter, these ladies are horned up and ready to disrupt the status quo of their families if it means they get a little taste of that Will pie.
I personally don’t believe there is a man alive who is sexy and charming enough that I would ever be involved in something like this. Jason Momoa could move in next door and bring me homemade baked goods, naked, and still, nothing in this book would ever happen to me. Like, me and my husband would smoke weed and eat the Momoa desserts and talk about how nice it was of him to drop by.
But, that’s the joy of dumb fiction. Just roll with it, baby!
You get pool parties, snotty teens you will want to dropkick, charcuterie boards, wine, bikinis, gossipy neighbours, sex on the couch, sex in a bed, sex with ties, sex on a rug, blow jobs in the garden, masturbating by the pool, plans for trips to Europe, tight t-shirts, short shorts, cleavage, obsessive treadmilling, aggressive yoga, ex-husbands, lying, cheating, more lying, backstabbing, Dear John letters, drunk wine moms, drunk teens, teens smoking, teens lying, teens blasting music to avoid their feelings, thirsty MILFs, basement shenanigans, digging graves, shovels to the head, punching, slapping, knives to throats, knives to legs, sneaky knives, sexism, misogyny, self-doubt, red flags that look like regular flags, red flags redder than hell, sweet talking, compliments, hot lust, dangerous lust, desperate women, manipulative men, things that are throbbing, burning and yearning, secret diaries, and lots of “Don’t listen to her, she’s crazy!”
This is a risque drama with a thriller third act. It’s wild, stupid and a little bonker, but I was totally engrossed with the histrionic sexy vibes that the author totally brought to life with pitch-perfect prose and details. But the beginning is slow, the ending feels rushed, it can be predictable and I would have liked more information about why Will was the way he was. Because seriously, that dude has some issues.
But, still, it’s fun. If you can hang with nonsense, this is a steamy popcorn read that might just keep you up until 4am.
🔪🔪🔪
Three lifelong friends plus a dangerous, sexy new stranger in town add up to a scorching summer of manipulation, obsession, and murder, from the acclaimed author of The Hunting Wives.
A woman in the forest thinks she’s going to die.
I know he’s coming back for me.
Jen Hansen, Kittie Spears, and Cynthia Nichols have been friends since childhood. They are now approaching forty and their lives have changed, but their insular East Texas town has not. They stay sane by drinking wine in the afternoons, dishing about other women in the neighbourhood, and bonding over the heartache of their own encroaching middle age and raising ungrateful teens.
Then Will Harding comes to town, moving into one of the neighbourhood’s grandest homes. Mysterious and charming, he seems like the answer to each woman’s prayers. He’s a source of fascination for Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia, but none of them are ready for the way Will disrupts their lives.
As Will grows closer with each of the women, their fascination twists into obsession, threatening their friendships and their families. When he abruptly pulls away, each woman scrambles to discover the source of his affection. But what they’ll uncover is far more sinister and deadly than any of them could have ever imagined.
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