‘Whew! What a ride!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars‘Holy moly! This book was one to remember.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars‘Wow! Just wow!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars‘Left me speechless.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 starsCassie once did something so bad she’s never spoken about it since.When her beloved son, Josh, dies suddenly in a tragic accident, Cassie is overcome with grief. And, as she cries on her … accident, Cassie is overcome with grief. And, as she cries on her husband’s shoulder, her phone lights up with a message that terrifies her.
I know what you did and I’m going to make you pay.
Somebody from Cassie’s past has found her and they want revenge for something Cassie did when Josh was just a baby. They want everyone to know just what kind of a woman Cassie really is. As Cassie tries to hide the message from her husband, there is a knock on the door of their perfect home. Cassie’s biggest secret is about to be revealed. And you won’t believe what she does next…
A truly gripping page-turner that will keep you reading well into the night, The New Girlfriend is perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, My Lovely Wife and Gone Girl.
What readers are saying about The New Girlfriend:
‘Sheryl Browne is a master of the jaw-dropping twist… My goodness this book is a page turner. I couldn’t put it down and read it in an afternoon. The twist has me gasping out loud.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘OMG, I don’t know what to say. A stellar book… Loved everything about it! … Unputdownable.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Sheryl Browne has done it again with this page-turner. Lots of twists and turns, so hang on for the ride of your life!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘A brilliantly addictive page-turner with an ending I never saw coming.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘A captivating tale… An incredibly well written page turner. A gripping tale of secrets, lies and manipulation that had me hooked from the first page.’ Nicki’s Life of Crime, 5 stars
‘I frantically turned the pages until I finished it. An excellent psychological thriller… Keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘I couldn’t wait to read this and now I’m sad it’s over! Another brilliant book by Sheryl. She has such a way with her writing where you are drawn in straight away and the only problem is how to put the book down! I read it in less than a day. It was excellent!!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘An excellent domestic thriller that kept me engaged throughout the entire journey. Highly recommend.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 starsmore
The New Girlfriend is filled with many secrets, kept by multiple characters, and each secret comes to light gradually, with a climatic conclusion explaining all. Cassie and Kim are our main characters. Cassie’s son, Josh, has died a tragic death. She is devastated, of course, but she keeps eluding to a terrible secret in her past that she feels she can never, ever reveal. By the time I found out what her terrible, horrible secret was, I just thought “what’s the big deal about that?” Kim is Josh’s supposed girlfriend, who shows up at Cassie and her husband Adam’s home three months after his death to introduce them to Josh’s son. The story slowly builds to an all out explosion of violence, tension, and thrills. I was left with several questions, and we are left to our own conclusions. I wanted to strangle Kim, shake the nonsense out of Cassie, and another minor character, Jemma. Mixed among the chapters are minor chapters as told by Josh, leading up to his horrific death. All in all, a good read mainly because I just had to see if my assumptions early on were true!
3.5 stars
As a mother, it’s hard to overcome the death of your only child and Cassie is no exception here. Her husband is supportive in every possible way but there’s not much he can actually do in reality. Then comes an unexpected twist when a young woman with a baby appear at their doorsteps pretending that she’s Josh’s wife and his baby. Of course that she takes then in even doubting Kim as she never heard of her , let alone knowing she’s a grandmother now. And now it’s when the story gets more interesting because , with the new girlfriend appearance, there a mysterious trail of letters in her postmail every so often and that swifts the whole plot to another level.
I’ve heard great things about the author’s books and even if it’s just the first for me, overall it was a gripping story but way too predictable for my liking.
Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and the Author Sheryl Browne for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I found this book to be a little confusing and choppy in the beginning, but once I got the characters and plot straight it became the epitome of a cant put down psychological thriller!
More twists and turns than a Country road.
My third read from this Author and I’m definitely a fan, who’s other books I will for sure be reading.
The plot was one of the better ones I have come across. However, I had a difficult time getting behind a couple of the main characters. Cassie was unsympathetic; she was harboring secrets and had to lie in the bed that she made. It was difficult to feel for her grief. I kind of felt the same about Kim. The person I did feel sorry for was Adam. He seemed to be caught in the middle of all of the crazy women. I’m not going to say anything about the plot, but the second half of the book was definitely more interesting than the first half. 3.5 Stars for no characters to really root for. For a detailed review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of the book.
Skillfully drawn characters are showcased amid a well-plotted narrative. Twists and turns, lies and secrets, kept me glued to this thriller from the very first page to the very last amazingly surprising conclusion.
Cassie and her husband, Adam buried their son, Josh, a few months ago. Today a strange woman is at their door introducing not only herself, but the baby she is holding as her son’s child.
But as Cassie tries to bond with the baby, she starts receiving threatening messages from someone in her past … someone she’s been hiding from for a very long time. Cassie is terrified that if her secret comes out, she will lose her husband, her home, everything including her precious grandson.
As the messages get more sinister, Cassie realizes the person behind them knows every detail about her life and she fears that she is being watched.
Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Wow.. ‘The New Girlfriend’ by Sheryl Browne is a wild ride. The kind where you need a scorecard just to keep up with all the moves being made and the lies being told.
Opening with a bang.. or in this case.. practically the screech of metal and the weight of shock and disbelief, Cassie’s only son is killed. Just a few short months later, a stranger appears on her doorstep.. claiming to be his girlfriend and bearing a baby in her arms that is clearly her grandchild.
In the wake of her loss, Cassie is struggling to cope with the changes that have come at her full speed ahead. The idea that her neurosis drove her son out of the house.. leaving her somehow at fault for his death.. paired with what appears to be a serious relationship he never shared with her or his stepdad, Adam.. has her reeling.
Attempting to do what she can for her grandson and his mother, she begins to get cryptic texts in threatening tones referring to a big secret she’s been keeping. Someone knows what she’s been hiding, a potentially life altering act that she’d do anything to protect.
Honestly, this story throws a lot at you. Many of the characters are embroiled in their own nest of secrets, each with something big to lose. While Josh, Cassie’s son, actually seems like a basically good guy.. he’s far from perfect himself and the result is a handful of people who all might have reason to be involved at least peripherally in anything bad that might have befallen him.
I really only found one of the characters to draw any investment from me.. any concern for their well-being, and that was Adam. He’s a kind, genuine man.. who seems to try to do his best for pretty much anyone who enters his sphere of existence, even if they aren’t entirely kind to him. And I’m pretty sure the author intended it to be that way.
It definitely feels as if the other characters are meant to have somewhat ambiguous moral codes to begin with. Most of them seem to make their decisions from a selfish place with little regard to the collateral damage they might cause. I don’t think Browne means for us to feel sorry for them, even if the things they deal with are a bit soul-crushing at times.
The author did a great job at keeping the ball moving.. so your eyes never lingered too long on any one possibility. Though in the end.. the answers are compounded. I was vindicated in my beliefs to a point, but surprised by the addition of some other parts to the puzzle. There was one plot point that felt out of place, unnecessary.. as if it was thrown in simply for a ‘gotcha’ moment, but the story as a whole is a solid read if you enjoy a good mystery.
(More reviews like this at Betwixt The Sheets.)
(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)
This would be a 4.5 rating. I really enjoyed this book. it was a i can’t put it down book. so many hints and ideas along the way. I still didn’t have a clue. towards the end there were a couple points that I was a little lost, but it all came together. it’s set in the UK, so lots of foreign words, but not that that causes a problem for Americans to read. Athos book talks about child abuse so be prepared if that is a trigger. I’ll definitely try more books by this author. Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.
Josh is waiting to take the train home when he starts feeling ill. His girlfriend has just broken up with him and he’s confused. Just then a feral cat jumps on him, frightening him, causing him to fall on the tracks, and unable to get up. Then he hears the train coming.
Cassandra (Cassie) and her husband Adam are mourning their son, Josh’s death. They can’t understand how he could have fallen on the tracks. Their grief is overwhelming. He was their only child and a good man.
A young woman named comes to their house with a baby. She introduces herself as Kimberley (Kim) Summers. She says she was Josh’s girlfriend and the baby, Samuel, is his son. She lives with her parents in a rundown area and cannot stay there. She has no money for a place to live nor a job to support Samuel and is considering putting him up for adoption. Cassie is shocked and knows she wants to keep Samuel. So, she and Adam jump in to see that Kim has a place to live and supplies for Samuel. They have fallen in love with him and want the best for him. But when Cassie receives some threatening texts, things turns very scary and downright deadly.
This book was a bit slow before really getting going, but once it did, it became rather convoluted but very compelling. I couldn’t stop reading until I found out the truth. Whew! Well done!
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
‘The New Girlfriend’ didn’t stop surprising me until the end. The revelations started off like a ripple, then a wave, before rapidly becoming a tsunami; threatening to drown every character.
It pulled on the heartstrings too. I felt the weight of Cassie’s grief and her secret threatening to tear her world apart. Carrying the burden of one of these would be enough for anyone. When Kim turned up with Cassie’s recently deceased son’s baby, Cassie did what a decent human being would.
Okay, it’s no secret that I always love Sheryl’s prologues and the prologue for this book was no exception. It’s full on ‘pow!’ It’s deadly, gripping, and the perfect banging start to a great psychological thriller. And the chapters that follow fantastically set up the rest of the book.
The chapters set in the year before really gave a feel for Josh and Kim’s relationship, and their characters were developed with skill. I found myself wary for him, excited too, and then tense, then concerned for her. My thoughts about what was happening were everywhere and at the end when the reveals started to happen, I’m like ‘no way’ and ‘wow.’ It’s fab, fast and emotionally explosive.
Grab a lot of snacks and shut yourself away for a few hours with this book. Another cracking read by Sheryl Browne. Loved it!
Crazy meets crazy in this book.
Secrets that bloom into avalanches.
Some really nasty characters with no redeeming features.
Some you have faith in.
Your heart breaks for Cassie who has just lost her son Josh in a terrible accident and then his new girlfriend Kim shows up with his son.
Let the games begin.
Twists and turns, I never saw that ending coming even though I was quite suspicious of a few people in this book, the ending took me by surprise.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this roller coaster of a read.
This book is definitely going to be one of my favorite reads for this year. Author Sheryl Browne has definitely done it again with this page-turner with lots of twists and turns so hang on for the ride of your life!
Joshua Colby ends up falling on the railroad tracks and dies. At the funeral, his mother, Cassandra, sees a pregnant girl but does not have any contact with her. Three months later, the same girl, Kimberley Summers comes to their home with a newborn baby and states that he is Josh’s son, Samuel. From that point on, lots of strange things begin to happen making this a fantastic read. This book is told by various narrators which makes it an even better read.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this truly remarkable book that kept me up reading long into the night.